Going to University in France

In our ongoing mission to provide the widest range of information, we’re trying something new by having a French author pen an article for us. Just because it’s The American in Paris doesn’t mean we can’t ask for help from our French friends. We also don’t want to show a bias that moving to France is only for those who are somewhat established in a career. You can come to France as early as you are able. 🙂 -SH

If you’ve made the decision to come to France for your graduate or postgraduate studies, you should be aware in advance of the thorough and maybe even tricky selection process.

It’s very important to know this process thoroughly if your goal is to go to university in France because a friend of mine missed the application deadline once and she had to wait for the next year — no joke.

Of course, this article applies only to the Public University system and not Private Universities, where you can just submit an application easily through their website and respect the given deadlines. (like AUP for example!)

For those that don’t know, Public Universities in France are “free.” This isn’t exactly the case because the university fees are estimated between 170€ and 380€ depending on your major.

However, since 2020, students located outside the EU must pay a fee of 2,770€ for a bachelor’s degree and 3,770€ for a master’s degree or a PhD.

There are some differences whether you have gone through high school and passed your baccalaureate diploma in France, if you got to France just in time for your first year of university, or if you’ve already studied a bachelor’s degree in the US or another country. For those that don’t know, the baccalaureate diploma is the national diploma that marks the conclusion of your high school years and it’s somewhat analogous to the SAT/ACT in the US.

Before explaining the criteria for the selection process let’s look a bit closer at the application process. The selection process is different whether you are in one of the three following situations.

So let’s break it down to make it easier.

Case 1. You Have Been in France since High School, and You Passed Your Baccalaureate in France

For those that have finished high school in a French establishment, whether private or public, Parcoursup is the website exclusively dedicated for university applications.

If you are wondering, Parcoursup is nothing else than a platform that allows students to regroup their top preferred university choices and apply. However, there are some restrictions. The platform is accessible on www.parcoursup.fr and opens every year around the month of January. It has tutorials for students to understand how to prepare their application files and it closes at the end of the month of March each year. This means you have roughly two months to apply to everything.

Once you sign up on the website with an email account, you have the possibility to enter ten university choices (bachelor’s degree, advanced vocational diploma, or business schools). You have ten additional choices shall you seek to apply to universities that offer the status of an apprentice, where you can specifically study and work at the same time.

For each choice, you must draft a cover letter and a resume motivating your choice to enter the said institution.

Be careful, from the middle of the month of March (specific dates are provided every year), you cannot add new choices. However, you have until the beginning of April to finalize your applications for the choices you have already added. Between this period, the high school analyses the student’s university choices and issues a document called “fiche avenir,” which aims to give an opinion of the director of the establishment regarding the student’s choices.

Let’s say a student has poor grades in mathematics but only has architecture schools in his ten choices, the decision of the director of his high school may have an impact on his selection and application.

Starting from the month of June and onwards, students begin to receive responses to their applications, which may be of three types:

favorable: they are admitted
unfavorable: they are refused
wait list: the student will be favorable if someone that is accepted in the establishment gives up their spot

Indeed, some students may be accepted in all of their choices. Once they make their definitive choice and refuse the other nine proposals, a space will free up each time for students on the wait list.

Students have a deadline of maximum five days to respond to the university acceptance offers, and if the deadline is not respected, the student loses their spot to another person.

For students that obtain no favorable response out of all their applications, there is a complementary application period starting from the middle of the month of June.

Parcoursup is a very selective platform because there are thousands of students every year ready to apply for university and depending on the budgets, some universities have a numerus clausus, and hence, limited spots available.

It is very important to have high quality achievements at least in the last two years of high school, and a legacy of excellence in the curriculum, to stand out from others and make sure you have at least one acceptance offer.

Case 2. You Wish to Come to France for Your Graduate Studies

If you have already finished high school in the US or Canada and wish to come from another country, the process is slightly simplified but the selection process is more thorough because universities propose interviews to students once they receive their applications.

First, you need to research what university in France offers your desired major. Then, make a list and regroup them by city or by university if several graduate courses in one university trigger your interest.

Each university has their own application portal which you can find by researching on Google: called “e-candidat”. (in the future, we can share a list that regroups all of these portals to avoid you losing time on researching them)

You need to create an account with your email and verify that you are within the application dates/deadline window.

Once you the application is open for your requested degree, the portal will ask you to submit a series of information such as your high school diploma, personal information, languages spoken, resume, cover letter.

Basically, the portal is a platform that regroups several elements of your academic identity and acts like a resume, in its totality.

You have a limit of three choices per university.

Once the application is submitted, the university has approximately one month to reply to your application via email and let you know of their decision. If their decision is potentially favorable, you may be invited to a formal interview with the director of the diploma.

Bear in mind that for very specific fields such as environment law for example or very precise fields, there may be a very low number of universities that propose the graduate diploma.

We recommend you apply to a maximum of establishments to increase your chances of being accepted.

90% of university programs in France are in French and there are few options in English. Hence, you need to take this into consideration if you don’t speak French well enough to pursue higher education programs before applying, because French university programs do not offer French classes for foreign students.

So, you have several options in this case:

If you’re brave and motivated enough, you can sign up to FLE classes (Français Langue Etrangère), which teach French to foreigners in parallel to your university classes. You can come to France in the summer prior the beginning of university (university generally starts at the end of September or October in France) and prepare in advance for the basics and then pursue the classes throughout the year. There are several private institutes that offer FLE classes, and you can even inquire in the French Embassy of your town to sign up in advance prior to even moving to France.

Take a year off and dedicate yourself to learning French and pass the DELF exam which is the equivalent of the IELTS and TOEFL. The DELF starts at level A1 and goes up to level C2 (professional proficiency).

However, in any case, we do recommend that you come to France with at least some basics of the language because it is quite a technical language especially in terms of grammar, and also because certain establishments require a certificate proving that you have a minimal level of French. Moreover, the most challenging undergraduate programs and prestigious establishments have a thorough selection process and language skills may make a difference in this case.

This is why we recommend you take all this into account when deciding to move to France so that you come fully prepared.

Another possibility would be to take advanced level French classes two years before you graduate so you master the language accordingly and you can attend classes in French.

Case 3. You already Have a Graduate Diploma and You Are Seeking to Move to France for Post-Graduate Studies

France has a particularity: you can have two master’s degrees called M1 and M2. It is not mandatory but for some fields of activity such as law for example, it is recommended to have a more generic M1 and a more specific M2 targeting your future specialty as a lawyer for example.

While M1 diplomas generally have a capacity of a thousand people, M2 are very selective and have a capacity between 10 and 25 people maximum from the whole country.

The application process is the same as the one described above, in Case 2, and takes place via the e-candidat portal for each establishment.

Unlike the US and Canadian systems in which you can study something during your undergraduate studies that is not related to your graduate studies (e.g. getting an art history degree and then moving on to becoming a lawyer, or getting a history degree and then going on to medical school) in France the two types of studies are almost always related (i.e. an entirely medical undergraduate program paired with a graduate one).

Many students drop the idea of going forward with an M2 since the process is highly selective. It is also subject to a formal interview and for some diplomas practical questions may be asked, to test your competences and practical abilities and confirm whether you are suitable or not. Generally, the e-candidat portal acts as a filter and the chances are that if you get an interview proposition, and you do well, you will be accepted in the M2.

We recommend that you choose an M2 diploma that truly aligns with your future professional goals and is perfectly in the continuity of your graduate studies. Otherwise, you may easily be rejected.

Be careful, if you apply for an M2 diploma, it really needs to be in alignment with your M1 diploma and they need to be complementary.

Fun fact that is not so fun in reality: there are many students that end up doing a second M1 because they got rejected from the M2 of their choice or didn’t have an M2 at all.

Fun fact: you can do as many M1 diplomas as you please in France. I had a Brazilian friend that couldn’t find a job after her first M1 diploma and for her visa purposes and regular right of stay in France, she ended up doing three M1 diplomas.

General tip whether you’re in Case 1, Case 2 or Case 3: Start making your research at least one year in advance so you’re sure of your university choice, have the time to prepare all the documents and MOST IMPORTANTLY, you don’t miss the application deadline!

Make sure you take into account any potential practical questions that may be asked during the interviews and anticipate them as much as you can. Don’t hesitate to join dedicated Facebook groups that students make every year to update each other of the application and selection process for specific diplomas. This is a great way to see if the university has started sending acceptance or rejection letters for the diploma you have applied to.

If you’re interested in the application and selection process for Law School and Medicine school which are a tad different than other disciplines, and you found this article insightful, stay tuned for a future article on the topic.

Photo is of the Sorbonne in 2018 and was taken by the author.

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Why Study Abroad in Paris?

Posted by Gracie Bialecki

My first visit to France was with my family when I was thirteen. We were the classic sweaty tourists in late-July Paris, dragging ourselves from monument to museum. But I loved old buildings, narrow streets, and outdoor cafés — everything we walked by was tinged with foreign magic. And when we met French friends of my father who had a daughter my age, I knew I would be back.

I kept studying French and visited over a few high school summers, but I was waiting for study abroad so I could live in the city. It would be my chance to speak French until my accent didn’t mar my words. My chance to drink wine in cafés, take the métro to non-touristy neighborhoods, and meet real Parisians.

While I had a few specific reasons why I wanted to study in Paris, it was less of a rational choice and more of an emotional one. I’d been in love with the city for so long, that the thought of spending time there was a dream come true. Here are some of the more (and less) concrete reasons why I chose Paris:

To Speak French

The easiest way to get better at a language is to speak it, hear it, and live it. I already knew this from the time I’d spent with our French friends, and I also knew I needed more practice before I could be anywhere close to fluent. Since I’d started studying French in middle school, speaking it was a comfortable challenge — something I’d already made progress in and knew I wanted to keep working on. Of course, there are other study abroad programs in other French cities, so my other reasons for choosing Paris are specific to it.

To Spend Time in a Beautiful City

If I ever make a list of stunning cities, Paris will be near the top. The historic buildings, tree-lined boulevards, myriad gardens, the Seine cutting through the city and forming two surprise islands — it’s hard to argue against these aesthetics. What’s more, because it was built before cars were invented, Paris is highly walkable (assuming you’re measuring within the bounds of the périphérique). Even better, as you make your way through the city, each neighborhood has a distinct character.

To Learn More About French Culture

American media has a tendency to idealize French culture — carelessly beautiful women, artists in cafés with their endless cigarettes, fine wine, renowned food. It all adds up to a half-glamorous, half-bohemian lifestyle that had me entirely enthralled.

While the rational part of me knew French life couldn’t be this dreamy, I’d fallen for it years ago. What was most fulfilling about my study abroad experience was deepening my relationship — I took a course on architecture in which we toured the city and visited specific buildings. And another on theater where we read French plays before seeing them performed in a variety of venues. Rather than being on the outside of the city looking in, I was immersed in its offerings.

You Never Know What Will Happen

No, this isn’t the part where I say I fell in love with a Frenchman who is now my husband. My study abroad program had us take a single course at a French university while the rest of our school time was with the American cohort. This meant that we glommed together and spent most of our time wandering Paris and speaking English in a sort of extended tourist outing.

I was lucky in that I already had two French friends, and I was able to tag-along to their truly “French” life. While I did spend a good amount of time exploring the city, I only lived in Paris for one semester — from September to mid-December. In order to have truly felt like I was committing to this adventure, I would’ve needed to stay longer. This is one of the reasons why I decided to move back in 2018 and have another go.

When I think back on my study abroad experience, it’s a distant blur. But I’m grateful for the way my French improved and all I learned about the city. And instead of worrying that I didn’t make the most of my time, I see my experience as a stepping stone to my current Paris life.

If you’re thinking about studying abroad in Paris, it might be helpful to make a list of reasons why you’re attracted to the city. Is it to speak French? To have access to its museums and rich cultural history? Or simply to go on an adventure? What’s your why for studying abroad in Paris?

Photo is from a French classroom which will be dramatically different from a US university setting. 🙂

How to Earn Money as an Expat Student in Paris

Posted by Molli Sébrier

I’ve had almost every student job imaginable since I’ve been in Paris. I’ve traded daily English lessons for my apartment and picked up a child after school while speaking exclusively in English. I’ve cleaned Airbnb properties and met guests to hand over the keys. I’ve done babysitting, dog sitting, cat sitting, and housesitting.

As a student, you’re legally allowed to work “up to 964 hours per year, or the equivalent of 60% of the maximum working hours permitted.” That’s around 20 hours per week.

If you’re an expat student in Paris who wants to start earning an extra euro or two, below you’ll find several different options that aren’t soul-crushing and actually kind of fun.

Childcare

Providing childcare is one of the easiest and most common ways to earn extra money as an expat student. There are a lot of French families who want their children to learn English, and a great way to do so is through an English-speaking babysitter:

Au pair “lite:” one of the biggest benefits of being an au pair is that your “host family,” or the family you’re working for, provides your housing. If you don’t want all of the responsibilities of a traditional au pair, like dinner, bathtime, and bedtime, keep your eye out for what I like to call au pair “lite.” I’ve had several of these types of positions. One was 10 hours of English lessons/babysitting per week in exchange for a tiny apartment. Another featured the same hours but in exchange for a salary.
English lessons: this doesn’t mean you’ll have to come up with a strict lesson plan. If you cringe at the thought, opt for families with younger children, who learn much better through games and simply speaking in English around them. Those 10 hours of English that I mentioned above? Those were 10 sweet hours of simply speaking in English while playing with a 5-year-old.
After-school pick-up: my favorite childcare student job in Paris was so simple that I couldn’t believe someone paid me to do it. I was required to pick up a 10-year-old from school, walk him home, and stay with him until his mom got home from work. All in all, it was about an hour and a half per day. The caveat? I was required to speak in English the entire time, which wasn’t a problem.

If you’re interested in childcare and have control over your class schedule, you’ll want to try and keep your Wednesdays free. Most French children don’t have school on Wednesdays, or only for half a day, so, it’s a great day to get in those hours!

You can find childcare jobs in several different places online. First and foremost I would look on Facebook for groups of au pairs, students, and parents in Paris. Then, you may want to check out other websites such as MisterBilingue, Mômji, or Angloinfo. You’ll find a lot of French families who are looking for a helping hand who can also teach their kids a new language. Or, you may find Anglophone families who are looking for a babysitter who can speak their language. Either way, it pays to be an English-speaking babysitter in the French capital.

Pet sitting and dog walking

Another one of my favorite student jobs in Paris was dog walker. If you miss your pets from back home but don’t want the responsibility of owning one here, the next best thing is pet care! I’ve walked dogs of all shapes, sizes, and ages, and it is one of the easiest and most rewarding student jobs I’ve ever had. Pet care is a great option if you don’t like kids or don’t want to teach English:

Dog walker: there are several different dog walker jobs out there. I’ve had everyday gigs and others just one or two days a week. Some people will want to pay you hourly, others, a weekly flat rate. Dog walking is also a great way to get outside and enjoy the city — while getting paid for it.
Pet sitter: whether it’s for a dog, cat, or both, pet sitting is another easy way to earn extra money as an expat student. Most pet owners will require that you stay in their house or apartment, but I have also come across some people who are willing to take their animal to you. However, most people who want a pet sitter will also want you to be their house sitter — but more on that later.

I’ve had great luck as a pet sitter in Paris, and, in addition to being a way to make money, it also gave me the opportunity to explore certain areas of the city I would have never gone to. And, for those of you with teeny tiny apartments, it will give you the chance to stay somewhere with a little bit more room, while getting paid to do it.

I found most of my gigs in a Facebook group called Paris Expat Dog and Cat Owners.

Housesitting and Airbnb

If you don’t want to work with children or pets, you may consider housesitting or working as an Airbnb cleaner and/or greeter. I’ve done all three in Paris and, again, it’s a nice way to earn money and explore different areas of the city:

Housesitter: as mentioned, a lot of potential pet sitting jobs will involve housesitting as well. But, there are also people without pets who are simply looking for someone to water their plants and keep an eye on their place while they’re out of town. Sometimes you’ll be asked to stop by a few days a week to check in on things, other times you may be asked to sleep there.

Airbnb: Paris is one of the most visited cities in the world, but did you know it has more than 50,000 Airbnb listings? What do all of these properties have in common? They need to be cleaned between each guest. Some Airbnb properties will also require that someone be there to meet the guests for a key handover.

Again, I found most of these types of jobs in Facebook groups and on Craigslist. Similar to childcare and pet care, once you build up a good reputation you’ll also be able to find more gigs through word of mouth.

These options are not the end all be all for making extra money in Paris — far from it. Other options include working in a bar, restaurant, café, or even at walking or bike tour companies. Rest assured, there are plenty of ways to make money as an expat student in Paris.

Molli offers private consultation services which range from help with visas and adjusting to life abroad to Paris travel itineraries. Fill out the contact form to learn more.

Photo by Steven Lasry on Unsplash

How to Go to University in France as a Foreigner

Posted by Molli Sébrier

When I graduated with my bachelor’s degree I was one of those “I’m free!” people. I was so happy to have finally wrapped up my schooling after what seemed like 16 long years. I truly never thought I would go back to school.

Fast forward to 2017 and I found myself in the admissions office of Université de Nanterre in a suburb just outside of Paris. I had already spent one year here studying French in order to a) be able to carry on a conversation instead of just responding with “oui” or “non” and hoping for the best, and b) to obtain the B2 level of French that I need to get into the master’s program I had my eye on.

Say what? The girl who basically ran off stage after she was handed her bachelor’s degree now had grand plans to get her master’s degree? In a foreign country? Guilty.

Why I Made the Decision to go to University in France

Let me back up a little. When I first arrived in France I was an au pair for a Franco-American family. I was required to speak in English with the children which was both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because I knew next to no French, and a curse because I was able to stay in what I like to call my “English bubble” for too long.

I was speaking in English with the children, the American mom, and even with the French dad because he wanted to practice. My friend group included other Americans, an Irish girl, and several Australian girls. We spent our time together and we often went to English and Irish pubs with other Anglophones.

In some ways, it was a relief to be able to speak my own language in the midst of a foreign country. Moving abroad is filled with ups and downs, and it can be lonely. Plus, all of the sudden change is…intense, to say the least. My English bubble was comforting and so I stayed there for two and a half years.

After those years of nannying, I decided that I wanted to move on, but that didn’t mean moving back to the US. I wanted to stay in my newfound country but I knew at this point that I needed to start speaking the language, not to mention think about what I wanted to do with my life. I realized that I couldn’t be a nanny or live in my English bubble anymore.

And so I started the process of determining how I could legally stay in France. I found out that if I had a valid visa, I could go back to school for the same price as a European.

This has now, unfortunately, changed. In 2018, the government announced that foreigners would need to pay 2,770 euros for an undergraduate degree and 3,770 euros for a master’s degree. Most universities disagree with the new rule and refuse to comply, other universities have gone forward with it. Before you decide on which university you’d like to go to, make sure you’re aware of the admission fees for foreigners! However, the new admissions fee for foreigners is still a fraction of what I would have paid in the US.

Things to Consider Before you go to University in France

I started thinking about what I wanted to do for work, as I had lost all interest in the field in which I got my undergrad degree in. I finally settled on becoming a writer (how do you think I’m doing?), and so I started looking into master’s programs in French literature. At almost the same exact moment, I realized that I not only needed to prove that I had a B2 level in French, but I would be completely lost at university if I didn’t have at least that.

I recalibrated my search for a program that would help me learn French as well as give me a diploma with my new French level on it. In Paris, there are two well-regarded programs: one at La Sorbonne and the other at Nanterre. I settled on Nanterre because I had already missed the deadline to apply for La Sorbonne.

I ended up having an amazing year at Nanterre in their FETE program, which I recommend to anyone looking to up their French skills. Not only was I on a university campus (which just made it feel more legitimate), the teachers are qualified and helpful and the curriculum is interesting and relevant.

I finished the year with my B2 in French and decided that I wanted to stay at Nanterre for my master’s for a few different reasons. I enjoyed my time there, I understood how their administrative procedures worked, and I knew that the admission process would be easier seeing as though I was already in their system.

I headed to the literature department to speak to an advisor to make sure that I had the right requirements. We got to talking, and she asked me about my plans, she looked at my resume, and she also asked me about my interests. She told me that although I had the correct level of French to enroll, I would probably have a hard time with the course material. Did I know that the school had an English Studies department? That offered a bilingual literature program?

My eyes lit up — that sounded right up my alley.

Ultimately, I’m so happy that I decided to speak with that advisor before I enrolled in the French literature program and that she was so honest with me. I would be able to handle the course material now, but that’s because I have four more years of speaking and reading French under my belt.

Although I technically had the correct level to enter into the program, I did not have the brain capacity or level of vocabulary to seriously study, analyze, and write French texts. And, because I decided to go for the bilingual English/French program, I was able to write my 80-page thesis in English (what a relief!).

I ended up thriving in the English Studies program and I finished my degree with a mention très bien. I also scored because my program was truly bilingual and most of the English or bilingual master’s programs in Paris are at private universities — which come with a much higher price tag.

So, what should you consider before you go to university in France?

Why you want to go to university — if it’s to simply obtain a student visa there are other options, like the intensive French course that I took
Your level of French — be brutally honest with yourself
How much you want to pay — private is much more expensive than public (don’t forget to be sure of the admission fee for foreigners at whichever institution you decide on!)
What you want to study — again, be honest with yourself!
Whether you want to go for a license (bachelor’s) or master (master’s)

Tick off these boxes before you start looking into French universities and you’ll set yourself up for success.