Sciences Po Paris (IEP)

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!

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.

Our home university had advised on everything we really needed to know. After that it was nice discovering things on my own. It is good to know that it is impossible to get taxis on the stree in Paris. You need to get them from specific places.

Really challenging and academically satisfying. Nobody who signs up for sciences po should expect an easy year abroad, it is hard and it needs a lot of work especially in my case where the year abroad counted towards my degree.

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.

Having lived both in an appartment for three years in London(2yrs) and Paris(1yr) and in university halls in London my first year I would say that I definitely prefer living in my own appartment. It gives you a greater feeling of independence and also you get to chose the area you live in. This is very important, as in order to be productive in what you do,you have to be content with your living environment.