French Universities

Yes but 1) you will have to stay 5 years to be awarded a sc po paris master

Way off the mark there. People who do their first two years at ScPo Poitiers (or Dijon, Menton, Nancy) get the standard ScPo Diplome - that they did the first two years at another French site is not even mentioned. In fact, a student who does their premier cycle somewhere else (in or outside France) and joins ScPo (either through dossier or CIEP) for the final 2 years gets that same Masters two. Since one semester will have been an Internship, he will only have spent 3 semesters in ScPo....

2) the sc po brand name is inferior to the top UK schools (Cambridge, Oxford, LSE).

Possibly-probably but it's reputation is improving. It's also up to you to sell your education to possible employers ; ScPo graduates seem to do just as well outside France as inside. (without the "wow" factor).

I'm a firm believer that the ScPo education has to be preceded / complemented by something else. It teaches wonderful work ethic, way of approaching things and public speaking ability but there is some depth lacking which you get in anglo-saxon universities for examples.

Only Sorbonne has a powerful brand name in France (known by everyone in the US for example).

A good name outside France, a poor name inside France...

Reply 22

You must be a big fan of Sc Po and that's OK. But don't try to sell the guy what's untrue. Doing a Sc Po de province is lame and its reputation exists only because of the Parisian Campus.

The brand name of Sc Po might be improving, but we don't care a damn. The thing is Sc Po is good but it's not wow. Of course it's a top schools and you will always be able to get a top job (always slightly below top engineer+ business schools).

And stop bull***ting us, I'm french so don't get tired in explaining how the thing goes. The Sorbonne has the best and the worse. First cycles are just bad (except for the few selective sections: bilicence, magistère). But the 3ème cycles (masters) are incredibly good especially in Law and Finance. May I just remind you that Sc Po is not allowed to deliver law degrees and is seen as a general school (ie, even if it has fantastic economics courses, you won't get specialized education in mathematical finance, econometrics--> the useful stuff if you want to work in the field). And yes, it has a big name outside France and that's how, if you mix it with a Grande école or some other top foreign school (Oxbridge, LSE... the US ivy's of course), you will get the best from both worlds.

For our argentinean friend: aim both, aim as much as you can. But if you get into cambridge, don't even bother considering Sc Po poitiers. If you are really that attracted to Sc Po, you can always go to Sc Po Paris for a masters. This is not mentionning you might want to aim something higher than Sc Po with a Cambridge MML.

Reply 23

Angelil

19

Paris IV requires that you take a French test before they'll let you in and they have practice tests available on their website.

Reply 24

hanae

science po is well known for its prestige and so on..For a french student, its very hard to get in..abt 2000 students take the exam and only 150 pass it
When you are Bac + 0, it means that you take the exam straight after the A-level without ppréparation before..most of the students take one year to prepare the exam.
In the exam, you've got history ( from 1914 to nowadays..i think), english or any other language and 'culture générale'
I don't know if people from outsise the country have to take the same exam..perhaps you could try to go here as an exchange student from LSE or whatsoever.

Anyway good luck and maybe see you next eyar in sciencepo if i succeed at the exam in september !!

Reply 25

Octavius85,

You sound like one of those (many) who’s just very bitter because they failed the concours.

But don't try to sell the guy what's untrue. Doing a Sc Po de province is lame

You are still confusing the IEPs and ScPo’s Paris provincial sites. Your final ScPo Paris diplôme will not even reflect that you spent two years in one of the above cities so please…

As for the rest of your post, comparing apples with oranges...

Reply 26

Nope sorry, I did the concours so I can't comment on that. But if I did, I would have tried the Parisian campus, the only one who (with all legitimacy) provokes "wow" s and "ah" s if you manage to get there at undergrad. Not that I m busy, but I don't waste my time with the Sc Po de campagne.

And dude, plz, don't be stupid, I completely agree that you will be getting the same degree. But he will still have to go through 5 years of sc Po and not 3 (like it used to be and like they do it for a bachelors in the UK).

Be honest with yourself: would you rather go to a Sc Po de province or to Cambridge? And don't come up with some crap like "Dijon is one of the top capuses for birmanian relations and Poitiers has cool people from latin america". Cambridge is Cambridge and his job prospects will be a lot more enhanced by going there rather than by going to Poitiers. Talking about apples and oranges... :smile:

Reply 27

TheEntertainer

1

Octavius, I agree with you about Cambridge being internationally more recognized as a university; however, if you look at things from a course-wise perspective, Sciences Po Paris has many contacts in the field of international relations and politics, therefore rather comparable to Oxford's PPE course.

I haven't learned anything about the French system, but as far as I know, the 1st two years of the 1er cycle are part of Sciences Po Paris, and they're located in different places of the "campagne" France depending on the applicants origin language.
http://sciences-po.fr/formation/cycle1/index.htm

Hence, french students obviously start in Paris, latin americans in Poitiers and german speaking students in Nancy, etc.

Considering that - depending on the student's abilities - the third year can be done at any other "wow" university in Europe and U.S.A. (LSE, Columbia, etc.), and the additional fact that there is a wide choice of "Double Master" degrees you can choose to do in your final two years, you can still mention another important institution in your educational curriculum.

Among the wow universities for the Double Masters are...
Sorbonne, London School of Economics, Saint Gall (Switzerland), Columbia (New York)

Reply 28

Carl

14

I'm a sciences Po Bdx student and I feel so dissed....

Reply 29

TheEntertainer

Octavius, I agree with you about Cambridge being internationally more recognized as a university; however, if you look at things from a course-wise perspective, Sciences Po Paris has many contacts in the field of international relations and politics, therefore rather comparable to Oxford's PPE course.

I haven't learned anything about the French system, but as far as I know, the 1st two years of the 1er cycle are part of Sciences Po Paris, and they're located in different places of the "campagne" France depending on the applicants origin language.
http://sciences-po.fr/formation/cycle1/index.htm

Hence, french students obviously start in Paris, latin americans in Poitiers and german speaking students in Nancy, etc.

Considering that - depending on the student's abilities - the third year can be done at any other "wow" university in Europe and U.S.A. (LSE, Columbia, etc.), and the additional fact that there is a wide choice of "Double Master" degrees you can choose to do in your final two years, you can still mention another important institution in your educational curriculum.

Among the wow universities for the Double Masters are...
Sorbonne, London School of Economics, Saint Gall (Switzerland), Columbia (New York)

I m afraid it's a bit more complex than that. For instance, I graduated from the Vienna french High school (Austria - german speaking school). There were 2 brilliant students who applied and were admitted to Sc Po Paris. 4 other people went to nancy (the german speaking campus). That is, when you are really good, you aim and can be admitted at Sc Po Paris. It's not like an automatic or arbitrary procedure where you are appointed at one of the campuses according to your linguistic background.

Sc Po holds the most powerful international network in France. Fact. That, and the quality of the school explains the top exchange/double masters programs. But its brand name is inferior to Oxford's. It's not even close. And, this is not even mentionning that even if course wise, both enjoy equal respect, it's not the case career wise. In the UK, an Oxford PPE can aim IB/consulting/industry from a competitive position. France's labour market is less flexible in this aspect and Sc Po is not competitive against a top engineer/business school for say finance/IB.

And after all there must be some reason why you are picking Warwick PPE over Sc Po de campagne.

Adesso ti lascio, vado vedere la partita. Forza azzurri !!

Reply 30

TheEntertainer

1

Carl

I'm a sciences Po Bdx student and I feel so dissed....

From the cultural side, language curriculum, etc. even ScPo Bordeaux offers a number of "filieres internationales" ( http://www.sciencespobordeaux.fr/filieres-internationales/ ) If you're into adventuring and want to experience the real life, culture, language, people, etc. you should apply to this one, too, in addition to Cambridge and ScPo Paris - for safety.

---

Octavius,

N.B. My signature depicts my only U.K. offer (very late application, very conditional offer). I will not know exactly where I'm going to until August/September, when we're having all admission tests to universities in Italy; but I'm also applying to Germany and Switzerland.

Okay, I understood :smile:

I didn't know about us, too, being able to apply to Paris, but I guess I would have been too late anyway. I was attracted by the Nancy programme also because it would offer me a more gradual transition into the "french mentality", so to say.
Not everyone has the chance of being overly brilliant at once... (like people who think properly about UK & USA applications after deadlines ^^'' )
How are your two friends in ScPo Paris doing?

Career-wise; don't employers also look at your flexibility in different countries and knowledge of more languages, especially in a context of growing "Europization"?
I know that Oxford offers language modules, but if an employer looks at your curriculum, the names of your different institutions (maybe this is especially in the case of us "internationals")? Wouldn't that be a pro?
Someone might master and create all thinkable methods of econometrics, but wouldn't one who knows them quite well but can communicate them in different ways also be an asset of a company/governmental branch?
One can learn languages on his own, too, but in courses like ScPo Paris and also the Bordeaux courses, they learn all technical material of their entire programmes in those languages...

Adesso ti lascio, vado vedere la partita. Forza azzurri !!

ma lol, stasera si festeggia!

Reply 31

There were 2 brilliant students who applied and were admitted to Sc Po Paris. 4 other people went to nancy (the german speaking campus). That is, when you are really good, you aim and can be admitted at Sc Po Paris. It's not like an automatic or arbitrary procedure where you are appointed at one of the campuses according to your linguistic background.

I still don't quite agree with you.

Entry to ScPo's for school leavers (ignoring the prep. classes)

Out of a lycee w/ the Bac.

* Can apply to Paris or the other campuses but you do a concours in both cases.

You come from abroad (French lycee w/ a bac, or other high school without)

* Can apply to Paris by concours (or by dossier with mention TB)
* Can apply to the other campuses by dossier.

Coming from abroad, it's damn hard for anyone to get in the concours....

I still see absolutely no evidence that employers make the difference between someone who has completed their first two years at another campus and those who did so in Paris (or those who didn't do them at Sciences po at all for that matter of fact, remembering Sciences po takes in several hundred students directly into their Masters).

***

TheEntertainer,

I think your last post speaks a lot of sense. I hope you get what you want and do let us know.

Reply 32

Dude, that was ages ago.

And I don't see why you keep arguing since we are talking about the same thing. Sc po paris is the best because it attracts the top students. Let me give you an example. One of the peop from my high school in vienna who went to sc po paris got there through the concours. She got mention très bien but her dossier was rejected nevertheless. So she prepared for the concours (2 months later) and she got in. So, when you are really (really) good, the province isn't going to satisfy you, regardless where you are from (home, abroad blabla you name it).

Employers check everything you ve done, not only your masters (which is one from sc po paris, ok, perfect). The fact you spent 3 years somewhere else than the elite sc po paris is not without consequences, that's all. It's more or less like doing an école de commerce de province and completing it by some specialized masters at HEC. It's no big sin, it won't be a big deal but there is a difference (and the difference is even bigger if you pretend to apply for jobs in the UK where people spend less time studying (3 years on average) compared to France (5)).

Reply 33

Employers check everything you ve done, not only your masters (which is one from sc po paris, ok, perfect). The fact you spent 3 years somewhere else than the elite sc po paris is not without consequences, that's all. It's more or less like doing an école de commerce de province and completing it by some specialized masters at HEC. It's no big sin, it won't be a big deal but .

What I find quite funny is that you talk of it not being a big deal/sin but then go on to make it sound like the biggest sin in the world. While ScPo Paris may attract the cream of the cream by academic standards, that does not mean the job prospects at the end are at any different... in fact someone who has done something else and enters ScPo in 4th year may be the better candidate overall.

there is a difference (and the difference is even bigger if you pretend to apply for jobs in the UK where people spend less time studying (3 years on average) compared to France (5))

Difference is in the UK after 3 years you finish with a Bachelors while after 5 years in ScPo you come out with a Masters.

Reply 34

What I find quite funny is that you talk of it not being a big deal/sin but then go on to make it sound like the biggest sin in the world. While ScPo Paris may attract the cream of the cream by academic standards, that does not mean the job prospects at the end are at any different... in fact someone who has done something else and enters ScPo in 4th year may be the better candidate overall.

Think what will make you feel better punk. But I suggest you get in touch with some top employers and they will tell you how they just don't have a place for peop with lesser degrees. When did you see top management consultancy firms (ie McK, Bain or BCG) / IBs taking peop with sc po de province backgrounds? If they ever take someone from sc Po (which will be competing with the likes of HEC, Essec and X, Centrale etc...), they take the one guy who is a brilliant at sc po studies, because they can't bother in taking someone weaker. THey just don't like peop who are good at what they do but not on top (as you already agreed with me that when you got what it takes, you go to sc po paris and there you find the top peop).

Difference is in the UK after 3 years you finish with a Bachelors while after 5 years in ScPo you come out with a Masters.

WOOOOOW, REALLY? Thanks for this great input to the conversation (although it might be relatively good with what you said so far.. at least accurate). The point is, don't bother in applying to jobs in London with your licence equivalent (after 3 years) from sc po de province because they won't even look at you. The story is different if you hold a bachelors equivalent from sc po paris. And even after our masters, they wil consider you did a bachelors at a lesser university and a great masters at the true and only sc po, sc po PARIS.

Reply 35

TheEntertainer

1

Just saw the topic again.
Hold on folks!

Does this mean that if I do the 1er cycle franco-allemand I'm getting a certificate (license?) stating that I studied in Nancy?

P.S. does this mean that after I get the license, I'm free to apply to any other university (HEC, Essec, overseas..)?

P.P.S. Do you think that the educational quality at Nancy is not the same as in the Paris campus?

Reply 36

Lottie

9

Have you thought about applying to the British Institute in Paris (U of L)? I believe you apply via UCAS, which would probably streamline the application procedure somewhat, but I don't think you would be able to study Spanish.

Reply 37