Hello everyone!

In theme with the recent start of school, I thought today it would be interesting to talk a bit about my experience going to a university equivalent program here in France compared to my university experience in the US. Now first off, when I say university-equivalent, I mean that the program I am doing here in France is a higher-education program, but because the university system here does not work in the same way, it’s not exactly the same as a university degree in the US. First off, this program is only one year long, however, in the end, I will receive a “European Bachelor”. So clearly, the equivalent, in this case, is not the same. But the closest comparison is to university, so that’s what I’ll be comparing. 

Before I start, I want to make it perfectly clear that neither my experience nor my program are at all typical of programs in France. Even my French classmates all agree that our school is very atypical. I’ll do my best to be general about what university is like in France, as opposed to what it’s like simply in my small school.

So, without further ado, what is it like to do a university-like program in France?

1. Well first off, the experience differs depending on if you’re in a Grand Ecole, a Universite privee, or a Universite publique. My school is a Universite privee (or closest to that, at least), which is essentially a private university. So in my case, the school is quite small, there is no campus, it’s just one building, and there are a small number of administrators and faculty. It’s much more like doing a little private training than being in a university.
   
2. In general, French universities are much less fancy (and way less expensive) than American universities. There is not as much of an abundance of fancy technology, at least from what I’ve seen and been told. This makes sense. While we spend thousands of dollars in the US, in France it costs about 150 euros to enroll in university per semester. There’s a much lower investment and therefore equals fewer amenities.
   
3. There are a lot of admin hoops to jump through in France. Lots of paperwork, lots and lots of forms to sign, lots of ID pictures, lots of running around. While this was true when I enrolled in a university in the US as well, it was more streamlined. I could get all my paperwork done in a couple of hours. It’s likely to take a few days here. (Not always, but often).
   
4. Lunch breaks are longer. Every day I have an hour and a half for a lunch break. At first, I thought it was such a waste of time, but now I like the fact that I can go take a long walk every afternoon to move around between classes.
   
5. The teaching style is so different. This is true not only in my school, but also in other schools based on what I have been told by my friends, and what I saw as a teaching assistant last year. Most classes are LONG lectures, involving watching a PowerPoint presentation and with little talking. In my personal experience, it reminds me of being in class with my most boring professor at university in the US, but all day long. To be fair, this is particular to my school (the lack of interaction and lack of engaging, easy to follow lectures). However, pedagogy, in general, is quite different here and students are expected to just be able to stay engaged no matter what, which is different than what I experienced in my academic career in the US. There seems to be less of an effort, in general, to make lessons unique, creative, or engaging.
   
6. Finally, there is not as much equality between teachers and students. At universities in the US, students have the ability to easily voice their opinions about their experience and demand change. This has not been my experience in France, however, once again, I want to emphasize that this is not necessarily all-inclusive of the country as a whole. I am speaking from my own lens of experience and cannot tell you for certain how this is in other schools. However, culturally, there is definitely a bigger emphasis on authority and differentiating levels of authority in France, so likely this would be more or less similar in other schools as well.  

So, if you are thinking about doing some university studies in France, how should you decide where to go? Well, I would recommend looking at a bigger school, with more resources, more faculty, more options, and more engagement. My experience with a small, private school has been quite difficult to adjust to. However, I did a lot of research into larger schools and was impressed with how they seem to run. The system in France is recognized as being very good. So I would recommend looking into the schools that come highly recommended, because there are definitely many opportunities for a great education here. But don’t expect it to be like it is at an American university (unless you’re paying for one of the few very expensive schools in France!). 

Also, if you are thinking of studying in France, know that you will be able to choose from a far greater number of courses (and much cheaper options as well) if you speak French at a high level. English speaking programs are most often in the biggest cities (especially Paris) and have price tags that are more similar to American universities than French universities.

À bientôt! 

Shannon