I came to Sciences Po for a completely different educational experience from what I’m accustomed to in the States. For example, the classes I signed up for here are so specialized (which makes sense, at a political science institute) that they’re rarely found in undergraduate programs at American universities. But after I finished my first week of classes here, I’ve realized that there’s a much bigger difference in French universities than just the subject matter. Just as there’s a different culture to eating at restaurants or drinking your coffee here, the French also differ in their campus and classroom environments.
One of my first introductions to the hectic scheduling of French universities was picking my classes. Online course registration was such a chaotic mess that our advisors actual emailed us beforehand, to give us advice on how to survive “D-day”. Doesn’t instill much confidence in the system, does it? But I consider myself extremely lucky, as I was able to sign up for 4 out of the 5 classes I needed to transfer to NEU credits. Some poor souls didn’t get any of their courses, and were forced to register in random electives that they could hopefully trade with other students. Say you wanted to take “War and the Sovereign State”, but that class filled up in 3 minutes (true story)…so instead you pick some random course that still had openings, like “Paris and the Avant-Garde Scene”. Then you’d pray to the Sciences Po gods that some art student needed that course and had coincidentally also registered for your class as a safety-net. This system of trading spots was extremely risky and didn’t pan out very well oftentimes. Many of my professors asked the students on the first day of class, “How many of you are here because my course was the only open one?” But to be honest, class registration is a mess at every university, in every country.
Secondly, the class structure. Now I’m not talking about the class struggle between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, but instead the literal structuring of the mere 12 classes we have with our professors. Each class meets only once a week, so the professors aim to fit in as much as possible in every session. In every single class, I have either a group or solo presentation to give on a pre-selected topic. Because there’s so many students though, the presentations start as early as the second week of classes! This is definitely giving advantage to those with later presentation dates, but I’m not complaining too much as mine is only due in late November! By using this presentation-heavy format, the teacher only has to lecture for half of the period, and leaves the second half for students to present their own supplementary findings or opinions. There’s a special French methodology we have to follow, which includes a strict structuring of the context, “problematique”, dynamic arguments, and limits of the research. This specific metholody is so unique that we actually dedicated a whole week during orientation to learn the basics. Sciences Po puts a great emphasis on discussion and encourages discourse between students, which explains why there is so much time devoted to student “exposés”.
And I didn’t expect there to be a difference in on-campus food. At most American universities, there are dining halls and lots of other options for a quick bite of food (R.I.P. Boloco). This is only logical, as half of the American college experience is living on campus with your classmates and friends. But in France and many other countries, there is no on-campus student housing….which means no dining halls! But a “quick bite” to eat doesn’t even align very well with the French gastronomic culture anyways. There is a tiny café in the basement of the main building (see above picture), but they only serve very basic baguette sandwiches for 2 euros. But realistically, this hasn’t been too much of an issue, as Sciences Po is located in the heart of Paris!
Which bring us to the location… Sciences Po is seamlessly integrated into the 7th arrondisement of Paris. Some American universities, such as Boston University, also claim to have a city campus. But you definitely know when you are in BU territory by looking at all the banners, signs, and students walking around sporting collegiate wear. The 7th arrondisement is (arguably) one of the trendiest, and most happening areas of Paris, which means the shopping and dining surrounding campus is absolutely phenomenal. You leave the campus building, and you are transported right back into the hustle and bustle of a metropolitan city. There aren’t even Sciences Po placards or banners adorning the buildings, so you really don’t know if you’re going into the right building until the security guards ask to see your student ID. It’s nearly impossible to differentiate between a Sciences Po student, and a working professional stopping in at one of the surrounding designer stores or famous Parisienne cafés. Café de Flore, an old Picasso hangout, is right across the street!
Now all of these differences I’ve mentioned so far are easy things to adapt to— just quirks of studying abroad in a different culture. But one thing I still haven’t gotten used to? The paper. This sounds ridiculous, but check out what French ruled paper (formally known as the Seyes grid system) looks like here. That’s a lot of lines, isn’t it? And check out that margin! I’m just hoping that those fat margins means that teachers and great thinkers of this school have lots of constructive criticism to write on our papers. The idea behind the many lines and boxes is that you can plan your letters better, with more consistent sizing and spacing. I can’t help feeling like I’m in elementary school learning cursive again. Also, the paper used in Europe is also a different size than our normal 11 x 8.5 ” sheets— it’s slightly taller here and called an A4 size. This means that if you brought any folders or binders from home, they’re probably useless and all of your papers will stick out of the top. But who doesn’t like shopping for new school supplies?