Sciences Po Paris Reviews

Type of housing: Apartment/House

Arranged by: Independently - I had no other choice

If returning, I would choose: Apartment/House

Why? Part of experiencing French culture is dealing with Parisian landlords and living in one of the many 'historic' buildings. Even though landlords might be a hassle, it is a genuine part of parisian culture, and much better than living in a stereotypical dorm facility.

Personal comments:
The university does not help students find housing, however I did not find it difficult to locate an apartment. Students should allow themselves around 2 weeks to look for an apartment.

Describe host city: Students interact with the local community without much university involvement

Nightlife, Travel: Takes place mostly outside the university/student environment

Activities: Takes place both within and outside of the university/student environment

Personal comments:
Paris is an amazing city!!It offers anything one might desire.I loved walkig along the Seine past the Notre Dame and then through the Ile St Louis where you can have the best Ice cream. The rtestaurant I really liked was coffee parisien which you can find in the 6th and the 8th arrondissement.

Course recommendations:
In general, sciences po is a very demanding university. On the bright side, teachers do give consideration to the fact that you are an international student. The local students don't though. Courses are very competitive but at the same time very challenging. I would recommend Economics with Dominique Strauss Kahn as a lecturer. He is amazing. However seminar teachers are not equally agreeable and the specific course needs a lot of work!

Personal comments:
In general science-po is doing really well catering academically for international students. I just think that teachers in the specific institution should give some credit to international students even though they do not come form the french system of education. This would make life easier for international students.

Language of instruction: French

Main source of funding:
Family

Other sources of funding:
Socrates Grant

Work opportunities:
I didn't explore any work options

Personal spending habits:
In my case, even though Im Greek, my home would be the UK since that's where my home university is. London in general is much more expensive than Paris especially foodwise. In Paris you can have a really good meal without paying a lot of money. Whereas in London you can pay a lot of money and still eat really badly. I paid more on telephone in Paris since most of my friends where in London and my family in Greece. As far as nightlife is concerned, Paris is less expensive and if you live in a central location you rarely need to use taxis. In London nightllife is really expensive and taxis are a factor that make it so unbelievably expensive. In the case of travel, the reason why I spent more in Paris is because I actually travelled more during my year abroad. Paris offers you the opportunity to visit many places by train and also in very good prices. I visited Switzerland, Spain, Holland and also the South of France and Corsica.

Travel, Telephone: was more expensive than at home.

Overall, Housing: was the same price as at home.

Food, Nightlife: was less expensive than at home.

I wish I had known...
I can't think of any "bad" surprises - I have a friend who was in an exchange programm the year before me and she gave me a lot of insights - so, not there isn't anything.

In my opinion:
Everybody loved it, you will too!