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Sciences-Po Paris

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Reply 20
Hi everybody. Thank you Jana, this information is so useful! Just wanted point out that apparently rules have changed this year and you can now put down two choices of campuses.
Hi, thanks for the reply!
I was thinking about the one in Nancy because I'm currently doing the IB at an international school (in english) however i am actually fluent in german as well... so it seems like the perfect campus for me, especially because i'm not fluent in french. Of course i would much rather live in Paris than in Nancy, so that's why i just wondered if they would have the undergraduate program in english...
Thanks for all you've posted so far, Jana! I'm actually applying to the Menton campus this year, as first choice, because I'm an Arabic student strongly interested in (and knowledgeable about) the Middle East. Are there any Americans there? Also, I'm greatly appreciative of how you described the interview because I'm having an interview in New York City in a few months. I assume it's quite different from how American universities conduct their interviews.

Is there anything you wish you knew before arriving at Sciences Po Menton? Hard mode: don't say "French!" :biggrin:
Reply 23
GG20 - Lucky! Would have saved me hours of clicking between Menton and Reims!
Katharina - I know lots of people that went to Nancy and loved it, pretty good social life and you'll get to go to Paris for your Masters afterwards... One thing about Nancy is do you want to spend your third year in a french/german speaking country?
I Kant Spall - There are 5 Americans + a French/American in my class of 17 people + there are normally 4+ American exchange students here. So we have quite a few Americans here (even two from Boston!). It's not a problem! I hope it all comes in useful and helps you not be quite so stressed out about the interview if you have anything else you'd like to ask about fire away! Hm I think the most important thing about Menton is quite how small it is, some people can't stand it and drop out you have to be willing to give up the traditional college life, life is quieter here still a hell of a lot of work to be doing but a lot of people struggle to adjust to life in Menton. Also buy Hourani's History of the Arab People, read it, worship it and learn every little thing off by heart (it will make the first semester a lot easier!) Hm also be prepared for the terrible reality that is French bureaucracy, nothing will be on time the chances are you'll have to do things two or three times before they are accepted because you didn't have this paper but once you've done it once it gets easier! Menton is an incredibly unique experience and as for French you'll be doing enough lessons of it to be pretty comfortable within a year!
Jana
Original post by jana_sweeney
I Kant Spall - There are 5 Americans + a French/American in my class of 17 people + there are normally 4+ American exchange students here. So we have quite a few Americans here (even two from Boston!).


Wow, I guess we Bostonians get around! I don't know why we'd be so desperate to get away from our own city (Harvard, Tufts, MIT, BC, etc.) but hey, Sciences Po is worth it. :cool:

Original post by jana_sweeney
It's not a problem! I hope it all comes in useful and helps you not be quite so stressed out about the interview if you have anything else you'd like to ask about fire away!


First off, that was a very quick reply and I was so excited to find a Sciences Po student at Menton because that was the exact reason I came back to TSR after all this time: to read threads about Sciences Po! I rushed to get a quick question off but now that I've had time to think, I'm more interested in what a typical Sciences Po lesson is like. Here in the USA, we like to bounce ideas off professors and have a friendly debate. A French student once told me that in France, if a student is wrong, the professor will tell you flat-out that you're wrong! Is this true?

Original post by jana_sweeney
Hm I think the most important thing about Menton is quite how small it is, some people can't stand it and drop out you have to be willing to give up the traditional college life, life is quieter here still a hell of a lot of work to be doing but a lot of people struggle to adjust to life in Menton. Also buy Hourani's History of the Arab People, read it, worship it and learn every little thing off by heart (it will make the first semester a lot easier!) Hm also be prepared for the terrible reality that is French bureaucracy, nothing will be on time the chances are you'll have to do things two or three times before they are accepted because you didn't have this paper but once you've done it once it gets easier! Menton is an incredibly unique experience and as for French you'll be doing enough lessons of it to be pretty comfortable within a year!
Jana


I'm way ahead of you! :colone::colone::colone::colone::colone:

Spoiler



That small college feeling is what I'm going for and you make it sound so wonderful. I can't wait to finish my application. :smile: Thanks again!

شكرا جزييييلا يا جنة :cool:
Hi Jana,
No actually, I would much rather spend my third year in one of the Ivy leagues in the US (i looked at the partner unis and they have some pretty amazing ones there)... does it depend on your grades whether you'll go there??
Also i did a little more research yesterday and i found out about the Double BA program that Science Po reims and Columbia University are offering, which sounds really awesome...!
Reply 26
Katharina L - you would only be allowed to spend your time in one of the Ivy Leagues if you completed certain linguistic levels and have good grades, if you want to go to an American University head for Reims. The only other way to go is to the Double BA with Columbia which runs with all the sub-campuses so you can still go to Nancy and head to Columbia afterwards (and it is an incredible programme!). Hope that makes your decision easier!
I Kant Spell - Hhhmmm, our classes really depend on the teacher some we have active discussions and bounce our ideas off one another but some we just get talked at and are expected to memorise and then we can express some of our ideas but they will mainly be quizzes on dates or battles. This is the first semester though so we are doing all the basic intro classes, after that we get to do a lot more discussion and form our own ideas. The system is really a mix of the French and American teaching styles so it can be a bit frustrating but you learn a lot even in the first few weeks! Hahahahaha if you have a man called Mike Fakih at your interview drop in that you've already read it (he might marry you) No problem at all I wish you the best of luck with your application I'll be here if you need anymore help and hopefully I'll be seeing you next year!
Jana
Reply 27
Katharina L - you would only be allowed to spend your time in one of the Ivy Leagues if you completed certain linguistic levels and have good grades, if you want to go to an American University head for Reims. The only other way to go is to the Double BA with Columbia which runs with all the sub-campuses so you can still go to Nancy and head to Columbia afterwards (and it is an incredible programme!). Hope that makes your decision easier!
I Kant Spell - Hhhmmm, our classes really depend on the teacher some we have active discussions and bounce our ideas off one another but some we just get talked at and are expected to memorise and then we can express some of our ideas but they will mainly be quizzes on dates or battles. This is the first semester though so we are doing all the basic intro classes, after that we get to do a lot more discussion and form our own ideas. The system is really a mix of the French and American teaching styles so it can be a bit frustrating but you learn a lot even in the first few weeks! Hahahahaha if you have a man called Mike Fakih at your interview drop in that you've already read it (he might marry you) No problem at all I wish you the best of luck with your application I'll be here if you need anymore help and hopefully I'll be seeing you next year!
Jana
Original post by jana_sweeney
I Kant Spell - Hhhmmm, our classes really depend on the teacher some we have active discussions and bounce our ideas off one another but some we just get talked at and are expected to memorise and then we can express some of our ideas but they will mainly be quizzes on dates or battles. This is the first semester though so we are doing all the basic intro classes, after that we get to do a lot more discussion and form our own ideas. The system is really a mix of the French and American teaching styles so it can be a bit frustrating but you learn a lot even in the first few weeks!


Sounds like a lovely institution. Thanks for the reply. :smile:

Original post by jana_sweeney
Hahahahaha if you have a man called Mike Fakih at your interview drop in that you've already read it (he might marry you) No problem at all I wish you the best of luck with your application I'll be here if you need anymore help and hopefully I'll be seeing you next year!
Jana


I already conversed with Mike Fakih via e-mail since I was having difficulty with the application website and scholarship information. He was a helpful guy then and I hope he's one of the people who comes over here to NY for the interview! Just one quick question (last one, I promise :tongue:): approximately how much free time do you have each day and what do you do with it? what is there for a young student to do in Menton?
Reply 29
Not a problem at all, its what I'm here for! He was present at my interviews and most of my friends interviews, he will actually be one of your professors so you'll get to know him pretty well. He possibly the most helpful person on campus and a really good contact as he seems to know pretty much everything and everyone in the Middle East! Free time, well it depends most evenings we don't get a lot of free time, maybe an hour or two if you are managing to get all your work done and quite a bit more over the weekend (probably a day off or more). There are quite a few societies (sports/arts/political/debate) to join here, I'm part of 4 so most evenings we'll be having meetings or doing things. Otherwise there isn't very much to do in Menton, there are watersports, the odd bar and restaurant otherwise we mainly have house parties or sit on the beach instead of clubbing or going to bars. Most weekends someone will go in to Nice or Monaco or elsewhere to do some exploring or enjoy the nightlife there... You can make of Menton what you want to really you've got to be willing to go out of your way and go out otherwise you'll just go a bit stir crazy!
Jana
Reply 30
Hey everyone!

I'm currently a first year student at the Sciences Po campus at Nancy. I did my A-Levels in the UK (Classical Civilisation, Maths, French, German) so if you have any questions regarding the application process for international students or about the course don't hesitate to contact me :smile:

btw for all of those who aren't that good in french you can also apply for the bilingual course which is taught in english and german!
Reply 31
Hello again,
The admissions person from Sciences Po sent me this link which I found very useful. For those of you who want more information, it's much clearer than the general website: http://www.sciencespo.fr/en/content/8095/study-sciences-po-paris
Reply 32
Hi guys!

I am also a student at Sciences-Po Nancy, the franco-allemand (german) campus and started this year. Its a great campus and I would certainly recommend it, as the other Alex said a bilingual course started this year in English and German in which you learn french too with the aim to join the trilingual course (which is the standard course) in year 2. The courses are certainly extremely interesting and your learn so much! As we are a small campus there is also a great atmosphere and everybody knows eachother. We are also part of the prestigious Science-Po Paris. Basically it's an amazing and very unique opportunity!

The double Bachelor programme with Columbia does not run with the Nancy campus (however you can still go there for your 3. year abroad if your marks etc. are good enough etc.), however, there is a similiar programme with UCL (University College London). I can probably get more information if anyone wants!

If you have any question don't hesitate :smile:

Alex
Hello everyone !
First thanks a lot for having created this conversation I'm sure it will help me a lot.
I'm a french student and I'm actually hoping to be accepted in the SciencesPo campus of Reims or Menton through the "procédure internationale" as I live in Italy. I would like to know if you had some informations about the way the oral exam is , the type of questions they ask, what to expect,... in fact everything that could help me...:colondollar:
Thank you !!! :smile:
Reply 34
JetLeechan - I talked to my advisor and he said you should have no problems applying, as long as your course has done basic politics/economics!
Assassindunord - Where are you currently living in Italy? You should come down and visit Menton to help you choose! The interview is mainly about your motivations for choosing the campus you have chosen, you are given an article from an American or English newspaper and you have to give a brief summary of the piece and then give your own opinions (it will tend to be on the region of choice mine was about the Arab Spring). They ask why you want to come here (both in France and Sciences Po), what you have done in your life to give you the attributes needed to study here, if you can cope in this atmosphere and the international style of the campuses, if you are actually motivated and your academic/extracurricular and personal background! So keep up to date in current affairs (they won't ask you many specific questions as they are here to teach you they don't expect you to know everything) and prepare your motivations! Any other questions?
Jana
Original post by jana_sweeney
...


I'm not from the EU, so I'll have to pay ~27k euros for the tuition fees. I never thought about what kind of job one could get with a BA or MA degree from there. Truth be told, I was only interested in the things I could be learning there until I saw the tuition fees, which coupled with living expenses, would result in quite a large loan. (I'm guessing at least ~40k euros!) Anyway, is it realistic to be able to pay that kind of loan relatively easily, once one graduates?

I would also like to know about grade requirements for students studying A-Levels. I have found no such information on their website. I completed my exams last week and frankly, while I will probably pass, my grades won't be anywhere near excellent. I'm certain I can do better, but I won't bother if the unis I'm applying to don't require any better grades, as I don't particularly like A-Levels (only did them because I need a high school diploma). So, does the Sciences-Po look for straight As, any specific subjects (like the LSE, with their list of subjects they don't like!) or anything like that? Is emphasis for admission mostly placed on grades achieved or do things like the interview, essay and extra curricular activities hold a lot of weight?
Reply 36
@Lilium They seem to indicate in their FAQ that they require 3 As: http://www.sciencespo.fr/sites/default/files/FAQ.pdf but also that grades are not all that matters.
Sorry for intruding, but I would like to ask a question. I was considering an international exchange to SciencesPo, but then I started to realize that there were many satellite campuses across France for this institution. If I were to only take English courses (probably some French, don't know my proficiency level yet), which campuses would offer the most Political Science and History courses in English (without considering the course specialization of each campus)?
Reply 38
Original post by jana_sweeney
JetLeechan - I talked to my advisor and he said you should have no problems applying, as long as your course has done basic politics/economics!
[...]
Jana

Thank you very much! Now this is unfortuenately exactly the problem. Even though I do this basic courses right now, they are not officially part of my degree. Because of that, I was already rejected from other courses. Thy obviously dont care whether I can do what is required, or even if I had certificates, stating the credits I earned in one of those courses, if those credits arent counted toward my degree. Well, I will just try to apply and then see whats going to happen.

Greetings
Reply 39
Lilium - I have a friend that got accepted with the equivalent of AAB but I think thats generally about as low as they'll go, although academics aren't the most important thing for sciences po, you need to be able to prove that you have the intellectual capability to keep up with the course so if you don't have incredible grades but you have a great extra-curricular and ways of proving that you are capable of this course then you should stand of a chance of getting in. A few stats 80% of graduates get a job within 6 months and the starting salaries are on average between 30,000-50,000 euros so you stand a good chance of getting and job and beginning to pay off your loans pretty quickly.
Zero_Gravity - the sub-campuses that offer the most courses in English would be Le Havre/Reims/Menton as we have dedicated purely English tracks Nancy, Poitiers and Dijon run partly in English but either end up with classes in French or are bi/trilingual courses.
JetLeechan - Sorry I can't be of more help, I'm not exactly sure on how to advise you but applying does no harm! I wish you the best of luck but here at sciences po at least at the undergraduate level they look beyond the basic academics so hopefully at masters level they do the same!

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