My “France at Hand” dialogue officially ended August 7, and since then, I’ve been exploring the country and appreciating the last few days of summer weather until my Fall semester at Sciences Po starts. Coming to France before I started my program was one of the best decisions I could’ve made to prepare myself for the the next few months. The time I spent in Lyon on my DoC gave me a great insight into the French culture and language, and I would definitely feel a lot more overwhelmed by Paris if I hadn’t experienced all of that beforehand. I wholeheartedly recommend that everyone that has the opportunity to travel to their host country before should do so.
Why SP?
Studying at Sciences Po (officially known as Institut d’Études Politiques de Paris) is the main reason why I wanted to come to Paris. Although I appreciate the great food, fast-paced lifestyle, and beautiful gothic architecture of my new city…the opportunity to study at one of the most elite political science institutes in the world was hard to pass up. Sciences Po is considered a “grande école”, one of France’s higher-education institutions that are outside the main framework of the public university system. Even though all of these specialized schools are renowned for being highly selective and prestigious, there is an even smaller subset within that group. These seven schools are known as the so-called “elite grandes écoles”, and they represent roughly only 1% of the higher education students in France. And Sciences Po is one of those schools! So for Northeastern to have a partnership with this university is quite the impressive feat.
A Little Background…
The French are very proud of their higher education system in this country, and they have every right to be! Sciences Po was founded in 1872, following the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian war of 1871. The founder, Émile Boutmy, realized that many world conflicts could be prevented with the proper training of future politicians, businessmen, and intellectuals. And this approach has worked wonders. Sciences Po graduates dominate both the public and private sector here, with the past 5 French presidents all being alumni of this school. A girl can only hope that Emmanuel Macron is one of this year’s speakers…
One of the most important components of the Sciences Po education is having current working professionals as the lecturers. Just like how Northeastern University’s co-op program enables students to gain real-life work experience, having lecturers that are active in their field gives students a relevant, insider look into their future industry. For instance, my professor for my “Global Disorder in the European Union” class just finished his stint as the Strategy Advisor for the French Prime Minister. As you can only imagine, he has some great insight on populism and protectionism to add to our lectures.
The Welcome Program
Sciences Po has a huge exchange program, as all third year students are required to spend their year studying abroad. At orientation they told us that although there are 600 incoming freshmen this year, the number of exchange students coming from all over the world was well over 800! So making friends has not been an issue. Northeastern graciously paid for our Welcome Program fee, which included a week long of activities put on by orientation leaders and the student union. I had already seen all of the tourist hotspots during my DoC’s last week in Paris, so luckily the Welcome Program spent the majority of our time showing us more underground, local areas.
This coming semester is undoubtably going to be filled with excitement and adventure, as I have just under 4 months to explore one of the most exciting cities in the world. It’s safe to say many Americans are familiar with the “city of lights” Paris that is described in books and portrayed in films, but I know there’s more to here than just wine by the River Seine and pastries in the morning. I’m looking forward to discovering the other side that exists to this eclectic city— the side that only locals (and study abroad students!) are able to discover. With over 20 arrondisements to explore, I’m bound to find some exciting stuff!
