364 reviews
4.03 / 5 based on 364 reviews
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Ronan O
Housing
Type of housing: Apartment/House
Arranged by: Independently - I had no other choice
If returning, I would choose: Apartment/House
Why?
It gave me independance to do what i wanted. It is also a better way of integrating with fellow students at the university e.g having parties and the like. I shared an appartment and found that it was by far the best accomodation option although initially i wanted a place of my own. You meet new people and experience different cultures etc if you share with "new" people.
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Personal comments
They organized a month long integration course before term actually started. Finding accomodation in Paris is a nightmare of psycopathic inducing anger. I used the month to find an appartment, but i was put up in a student accomodation campus for that period whilst searching. Science Po had organized this months provisional lodgings but also has a service which tries to help students find accomodation. The university can only give you advice and sometimes a few addresses. You will end up slogging it out with the rest of the student population of Paris if you want somewhere reasonable to stay, unless you have contacts or have started looking in the January before you come over.
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Ronan O
Student life
Describe host city:
Students interact with the local community without much university involvement
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Nightlife, Travel: Takes place mostly outside the university/student environment
Activities: Takes place both within and outside of the university/student environment
Personal social experience
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Ronan O
Overall
I wish I had known...
Go but be prepared to suffer. It makes the fun bit more enjoyable. Or if you dont have to suffer, spend all of mummy and daddys hard earned cash and justify it by saying that you only live in Paris once as a student.
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In my opinion:
Most people loved it.
Important factors in my choice
(1) Unimportant – (4) Very important
Personal recommendation
Bit small and far too elistist fro its own good. Believes its own propaganda. But you will have superb teachers and academic facilities. Am approaching things differently than the anglosaxon model and have actually been forced to learn stuff and not cram fot end of year exams.
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During my experience abroad, I ...
(1) Never – (4) A lot
Became familiar with another culture
Met people from other countries
Experienced a change in life
Advanced my studies & career
Final comments
Get a laptop, and ask loads of stupid but intelligent sounding question in class. In a room full of foreigners who have difficulty understanding what you are saying, you will be seen as intelligent and witty.
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Ronan O
Academic
My academic experiences
Interaction with teachers
Interaction with international students
Interaction with local students
My opinion of the university assessment
Exams throughout the course
Essays and/or projects at the end of course
Essays and/or projects throughout the course
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Ronan O
Languages
Language of instruction: French
Was learning French a key decision factor?
Yes, I wanted to improve my French
How much did you improve your French?
My level before: At ease in most situations
My level after: At ease in most situations
Language difficulties
Administrative / Institutional
Personal comments
Comparing my experience to friends who went to other universities in the Erasmus context, Sciences Po seems more difficult. They have an expectation of a high level of proficiency in the french language before you come over. It is not seen as somewhere that teaches the french language as such. You go there to learn the Sciences Po method of doing things, to open new fields of academic interest etc. Being relatively fluent in the language is almost taken for granted by the university and those that dont struggle a small bit, although this is only in the first months of "acclimitisation".
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Ronan O
Expenses
Main source of funding:
Family
Other sources of funding:
Personal savings<br>
An ERASMUS grant
Work opportunities:
Personal spending habits
Housing, Telephone, Travel:
was more expensive than at home.
Nightlife, Overall:
was the same price as at home.
Food:
was less expensive than at home.
Accessibility of student needs
Second-hand household items
Personal comments
buy the metro student all year pass the second you get there. it will save you a packet. Drink is really cheap in the supermarkets. Drinks in nightclubs arent.
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