“Travel, in the younger sort, is a part of education; in the elder, a part of experience.”
-Francis Bacon
I once was told by one of my European friends who came back from her semester abroad in the United States that American students have an unbelievably large workload and that she believes that her student life wouldn’t be nearly as “social” if she studied in the US. This observation surprised me to say the least. While I was always aware of the very obvious difference between the lifestyle that I have and the lifestyles of my Russian friends: I have a continuous workload throughout the semester and slowly but surely acquire my grades, while most of them receive their final grades based on one or two oral exams. I always was a big admirer of the so-called American system but the fact that I have never experienced the contrasting European way prevented me from forming a fully objective opinion.
I must mention that Sciences Po has a very special status. Not only it is one of the most selective universities in France with an acceptance rate of 10%, it is also an alma mater of many famous French (and international) politicians, including presidents Francois Hollande and Jacques Chirac. Sciences Po is constantly striving for innovation, that’s why couple years ago the administration decided to add the so-called Elective in addition to more traditional Lecture and Seminar courses. At Sciences Po I am taking three Electives and one Seminar course. I must say that while Electives considered to be an innovation for Sciences Po, I find them very very similar to the ordinary Social Science classes at Northeastern…Well, here, I must admit that as a member of the Honors Program at Northeastern I was fortunate to be a part of very small classrooms which, as I know, is not the case for every Husky. The Sciences Po Elective courses are limited to 20-30 students per class and most teachers use oral presentations and research papers as a method of assessment. While I certainly have done many presentations throughout my college career, none of them had such rigorous requirements as the once at Sciences Po. Most of the presentations resemble a research paper and require quite a lot of preparation, they also count roughly for 40% of the grade. The Sciences Po grading system was another shocking surprise. All the assignments graded on a scale out of 20 points, no Sciences Po student (with an exception of language classes), however, has earned a 20 in his or her college career. The very best mark that is usually granted to students is 16, and as one of my British professors put it “when my daughter receives 12, I open a bottle of Champagne.” This discovery was shocking to say the least. Coming from the American system which is based on the believe that there is no better motivation for improvement and excellence than a good reward for already presented work…It is hard for me to accept the French attitude and I highly doubt that I would be able to happily exist in this system in a long term.
The major difference between my studies at Northeastern and at Sciences Po is that at Sciences Po I had to purchase only 1 (!) textbook which cost me…7 Euros. Yes, this is not a typo. 7 Euros is the total cost of all student materials. All other class readings are made available on the shared class dropbox in a pdf format or can be borrowed at the Sciences Po library. Compare to Northeastern? I would have to spend around $200 per semester on books.
Sciences Po Spring semester lasts a total of 12 weeks plus the final exam period. I have two hours of each class per week plus four hours of French language. After two weeks of classes or 24 hours of class time total I have a so-called Spring break.
