Studying in France: Questions

The first step is to determine how to get a student visa. The school should be able to assist you.

I will certainly post what I learn once I go there and back. The student visa process is a bit odd, it appears as though you have to obtain your student visa before you go over, but one of the requisites is an acceptance letter from the school, but then they want to interview you in person, it seems rather circular.

I went to France as an independent student - 20 years ago. So I share my experience but do keep in mind that some things may have changed.

At first I started to look in doing a graduate thesis with a topic I was interested in at a place I thought would be really nice - Montpellier. However, When I applied there I couldn't get in and there was no hope to get a scholarship. As a totally independent international student you cannot qualify for most available scholarships. However, compared to any university in the States the French public system is very affordable to begin with (the French elite colleges are a whole different story ...).

So I switched plans and applied to enter the 4th year program for Geography (my major) at the Universite de Haute Bretagne Rennes 2 - mainly because I had been to Brittany before, knew people there and was sure they would be able to help me out should some (financial) catastrophy happen to me.

During the summer I enrolled at the Sorbonne in Paris just to brush up on my French to have it at the required level.

I did not hear from Rennes until several months after my application, I was already in Paris when I got the notice that I had to arrive for an application test in Rennes within a week. So off I went to discover that no, there was no need for a test, and no, they would not allow me to enter in year four (Maitrise) even though I had completed 4 years at a German university.

I later had a similar experience going to Canada where my German Masters in addition to the French Licence did not qualify my for a Phd program. I did end up in another Masters program. The big advantage of an established exchange program is that you won't have to deal with getting your credential accepted!!

So as soon as possible I strongly suggest you check out the grad programs in Lyon that interest you, check out their application process and requirements and figure out how your American degrees will onr won't be accepted

Beatrix -

I realize 20 years ago is a long time - you say that you enrolled at the Sorbonne for classes but then could not get into the Masters program - did you attend the Sorbonne on a student visa or short visa?

contd.

When you go to Lyon this summer try to get some personal interviews with some of the profs in programs you're interested in at Lyon 3. Listen to what they recommend you could do. That approach really saved me when I tried to get a spot here in Canada.

Even with very low tuition in France you need to figure out how you will finance that year at Lyon 3. Keep in mind that your relationship with that wonderful French guy may not survive and you could be completely on your own (long-distance relationships aren't easy btdt). Your student visa won't allow you to work!!! I've met international students in Paris that were starving themselves because they were running out of money ... I'm a EU citizen so I simply checked out notices on boards at the university for jobs and ended up working as a pt Au-Pair (nanny) which at least covered room and board. That avenue may be open to international students from outside the EU as well. But you do need to inform yourself BEFORE you go.

Kimberly,

sorry I can't help you with any visa questions as I'm EU citizen and have never required any visa. Summer courses are usually offered for 6 weeks, for that time period you may be lucky (check into it) not to require a visa at all. At the time the Sorbonne offered French language courses specifically to prepare foreign students to enter French universities. Half the students in my class were Americans.

The reason I couldn't get into the Masters program had nothing to do with visas but all with the question of how my foreign credentials were (not) accepted. I had a look at the Lyon 3 website and they do have a specific section on how they deal with that question. It looks like the process has become much more reasonable:

http://www.univ-lyon3.fr/46015105/0/fiche_10__pagelibre/&RH=INS-VIEEetud-futur&RF=INS-VIEEva

Beatrix - thanks again. I work half time here as well as go to school so I have a bit saved up, plus my parents have committed to helping my sister and myself through our graduate degrees so I am not worried about living expenses. I know what you mean about relationships, I am only 21 and have a plan that doesn't include marriage or children for at least until I am 30, so I fully agree with you there. I find it interesting that I cannot find any forums for international American students, you would think there would be more. Not exchange, but independent internationals. Oh well.

Kimberly,

I had talked to people in the international departments at the U of C and colleges here in Calgary. Here too, the overwhelming majority of students prefer exchanges rather than going independently. Apparently, the main reason is that this way you're guaranteed that you won't loose time as all your credits you earn abroad will be accepted when you come back home to continue your studies.

But as you've seen especially when you go to countries that have almost free public universities you can save a lot of money by going independently. In Europe, France and Germany (those I know for sure, there are others as well) have VERY low tuitions that are also applied in the same way to international students. In Canada international students automatically pay double the regular fees. You really want to be in an exchange program in cases like that.

Personally, I think studying abroad is never wasted time even if your credits don't get fully accepted and you end up adding an extra term to get your degree. The experience in itself is so worth it!!! It literally changed my life.

Yes, if I lived in Canada I might think more about an exchange program, but my classes for the minimum credits for a Masters for in-state public tuition is 18,000.00 US. Including books, fees, and rent and food, it comes to over 21,000.00 for a year. We have good universities but the cost is so high, and I have already taken out enough loans. For what I want to do, paying for the education and not for the name is important and I agree with you. Interestingly enough, we are a sister university/partner of Lyon 3 but the exchange plan is 24,000.00 US for a year, and after doing the math, I could live for two years in Lyon and attend school for that amount. I will see what the Lyon school says. There must be other independent students that have done this, I just can't find them! Perhaps they are too busy studying. Thank you for your inquiries, Beatrix, I very much appreciate them.

Kimberly, you are posting on a general travel related site. I suggest that you focus on a scholar/studies/academic site. Good luck,Miss.

I've done my degree in France (a 3 years college degree)

After what you've done, you can send an application for a Master degree, year M1 or M2. (If I understood well, you'll have a four-year degree, so you could maybe go directly to second year) The application period goes roughly from February to the end of May. Most often, you have to complete a small form in internet and then download an paper application to send.

Basically they ask for your High School and College diplomas, your motivations and your experiences. Some universities can expect a language test too, I've never done one (I'm not French either).

For the student visa:
For some Master programs you can enter without an interview, for the best not.

BASICALLY, you can be accepted (in July) without a visa, BUT at the moment of administrative inrolment (in September) you have to have one, because everywhere they ask for the "titre de séjour" that you can not have without a visa.

In a public university you pay 'bout 200 euros for a year + books. In "Elite schools" between 4000 and 6500 a year. Lyon is quite expensive for a French town, I would say 500 euros a month for a studio, 300 euros for a room in "Cité-U". I would say you need 700 - 1000 euros a month for living and then an extra 1000 euros the first month to get everything going.

And yes, for a foreigner, it is quite difficult to lent an apprtement in France. You have to have someone to guarantee that you pay your rent, and that someone must live in France. (most of the time, then they are landlords that do not ask anything, hope you'll find one...)