Paris Unraveled: The Student's Guide to Living and Studying in France
by Allison Grant
Smashwords Edition
Copyright 2012 Allison Grant
Discover other titles by Allison Grant at http://parisunraveled.com/e-books/
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Introduction
Every year, some 17,000 American students travel to France to spend a semester or an academic year abroad, hundreds more participate in the Teaching Assistant Program in France, and still others go to France to work or to study independently of an American university program. In a world where language skills and understanding of foreign cultures is becoming increasingly important, that number is growing every year.
Even though French is hardly considered one of the State Department's "critical languages" and is studied less and less in American public schools, it remains, in many places, the language of diplomacy. In 2005, officials estimated that over 500 million people spoke French as their first language or second language. Other than the sixty or so million speakers from France, the vast majority of those speakers come from fast-growing developing countries in Africa and Southeast Asia. French is one of the six official languages of the United Nations, the European Union, is an official language in 30 countries and an administrative language in 7 others, and is the only language other than English to be spoken on all six continents.
If you're reading this book, though, you probably don't need to be convinced that learning French is important. In fact, you probably don't need to be convinced that going to France is important. What you may not know, though, is no matter how much you prepare yourself for going to a foreign country, actually going is hard.
It's hard because there's no guidebook. Unless you're paying thousands of dollars for an administrator of an American program to hold your hand, nobody is going to tell you what to do or how to do it. Even if you are paying for aforementioned administrator, there's no guarantee she'll be able to tell you what paperwork you need when you want to get a part time job, or how to find an apartment without a garant, or how to transfer money from your US account to your French one. Even if your university provides guides to doing exposés and instructs you to sign up for a card to the Bibliothèque Nationale, you're not the only student the school has to take care of, and at some point, she's going to say, "débrouille-toi!"
That's where this book comes in.
Unlike traditional guidebooks on France, this book isn't going to tell you where to go to dinner in Montmartre, or the hidden gems of the Loire Valley. Unlike books on French culture, this book won't tell you that French women don't get fat because even though they eat more fat and cholesterol than their American counterparts, they eat small quantities and drink red wine and smoke with every meal. It won't tell you, as one generalizing "cultural studies" textbook told me, that the French like to keep the doors in their houses closed and that it represents the compartmentalization of every aspect of their lives. You'll certainly read these types of books, and you should. They'll help you to make the most of France's rich history and culture, and to understand some of the more annoying and frustrating aspects of living in France. But that isn't the point of this book.
I first had the idea for this book in the spring of 2010. I was nearing the end of my second year in France, and I was trying to simultaneously apply to school for the following year at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales and renew my carte de séjour. I rushed to get paperwork to renew my visa, yet couldn't make my appointment on the préfecture's website. Turns out, the site was down for several weeks, and by the time I got to the préfecture to plead for an appointment, there were none available before my departure. I would have to go back to the US and get a new visa in order to stay in France.
Like any French person would do, I refused to accept that answer. "C'est pas possible!" I said. Rules are for other people. I begged. I pleaded. Immigration officials are tough in any country. They held their ground.
I went to the other préfecture office. The woman at the information desk was sympathetic, and told me to check with the regular carte de séjour office. Normally they don't process students, but they might make an exception. They couldn't. Again, the woman listened kindly, and sent me to the Service des Amériques. "N'importe quoi!" said the man behind the counter. "I mean, I understand that they have regulations, but they shouldn't screw with your studies." He sent me to the secret, hidden Service Etudiants on the fourth floor in a hallway under construction. Clearly, nobody was supposed to know of its existence. After some crying and begging, the secretary made a few phone calls and got me an appointment.
I told my mother the story on the phone that night. "I don't know how you do it," she said. "I would never be persistent enough to live there." How many other students gave up and went home, I wondered, when they faced the obstructionist French administration? And how many never came at all, because the prospect of going to another country was so overwhelming they didn't know where to start?
This book is not only a step-by-step guide to moving to France, getting established, and taking advantage of the many opportunities Paris has to offer, it is also a guide to the guides. In other words, this book will tell you where to get advice about job hunting, or cheap tickets to the ballet, or a list of museums that are free for students.
Because everything from immigration laws to the price of movie tickets is constantly changing, I decided to publish this guide as an e-book in order to be able to provide periodic free updates. I also wanted to create an English language forum where students can share their experiences and guide each other to the best of Paris. In this format, you can access your book from any computer with your personal code, and I can use the site's blog to guide you to events and deals for students announced throughout the year. If you have any questions or suggestions, or just want to touch base, please feel free to contact me by email at parisunraveled@gmail.com.
I hope you enjoy your time in France unraveling the mysteries of Paris.
Allison Grant
January, 2012
Chapter 1: Preparing to Study in France
American Programs versus Direct Enrollment
If you're reading this book, you're probably one of the almost 20,000 American college students that decide to study in France each year. Maybe you're enrolled in an American college and looking for an opportunity to study abroad, or maybe you've already studied abroad and want to return to France. In any case, your two options for studying in France are either to go with one of the many American programs that offer semester or year abroad in France, or to enroll directly in a French university for the year. Here are some of the advantages and disadvantages of each option to help you make your decision.
As an American student, the advantages for going to France with an American program are numerous:
You can get college credit through agreements between your program and your university.
You'll have administrators who speak English and are familiar with American culture, and who can help you to speak better French and to understand aspects of French society.
You'll have French language classes and other American-style classes with other students in your program, so your French will get better and you'll be with other students and professors who are used to the same standards as you are.
You'll have the opportunity to take classes in at least one, or maybe more, French universities.
You may have tutors to guide you and help you write assignments for French university classes.
Your program may organize trips and cultural exchanges during your stay, provide a stipend for cultural activities, and host events with French students.
Your program may provide or help you find housing, set up your bank account, provide support for the visa process, find a job or internship, or help you with other problems you may encounter.
Your program may help you communicate with professors, reschedule exams, and get you the right to use a dictionary during exams.
Aside from the many benefits American programs offer, consider also the following disadvantages:
You'll pay the American tuition rates of your home university, plus a program fee for the program you choose.
You may get credit but not grades.
You'll meet many American students, but probably not many French students.
You won't necessarily get lots of opportunities to practice your French, and you may end up speaking English most of the time.
Your program may have strict attendance and travel requirements that the French universities don't have.
Your program will probably have classes two or three times per week, or every day for language classes.
Many programs require you to complete extra coursework for French university classes.
Advantages of direct enrollment in a French university:
You'll pay the same rate as any other French student (about 237€) and have a year of health insurance for 200€.
You'll meet other French students, get information on student groups, and get to practice your French a lot.
You'll take the same number of classes and do the same work as French students (which is either an advantage or a disadvantage: this means more classes if you're an undergraduate, and fewer if you're a master's student).
Your professors will probably be somewhat indulgent if they know you're an American student enrolled on your own.
Disadvantages of direct enrollment:
You won't have administrative support for finding housing, getting your carte de séjour, doing other administrative tasks.
Your home university may not award credit, so you should check in advance.
It can be hard to make friends with French students in a university setting.
Nobody will help you communicate with professors, and you probably won't get special advantages like the use of a dictionary if you're directly enrolled. Your professors will assume you speak French sufficiently well to complete all regular class work.
Since you have this book, you already have support to guide you through the administrative and academic requirements of living in France, and if you are enthusiastic and persistent, you will certainly be able to te débrouiller tout(e) seul(e). When considering American programs and their fit, ask yourself whether the benefits they provide are worth the thousands of extra dollars you'll have to pay for them, and read the sections of this book geared towards directly-enrolled students to decide what is right for you.
Applying to French Universities
If you ultimately decide to enroll in a French university, you'll need to follow the procedures and timeline for applying and enrolling from abroad in order to get your paperwork and student visa before the fall semester begins. Because French high school students don’t apply to school until they’ve passed the bac in May or June, applications for French universities generally become available in mid-April, and admissions run until mid-October, a few weeks into the fall term. Schools are closed from July 14 to September 1, so you’ll want to apply in the spring, so you’ll get your paperwork during the summer.
To get accepted to a public university in any department, all you have to do is prove that you’ve successfully completed the level below the year for which you are applying. In other words, if yo want to do a master’s degree, you have to show that you’ve completed your bachelor’s. If you want to enter L1, you must provide your high school diploma. And if you want to spend spend your junior year abroad as a directly enrolled French student, and you’ve verified that your college will accept your course credits, you’ll have to provide a transcript showing your grades for the first two years. You must get a certified translation by a translator listed on the French consulate’s website to accompany your English-language transcript. For some of the grandes écoles that require a high level of English, this is unnecessary, so check with the school you’re applying to before dishing out $50 or $60 per page.
In addition to proving this level equivalence, foreign students who did not attend French high school or pass the bac in French must prove that their level of French is sufficient for succeeding in a French-only higher education system. To do this, you’ll have to take one of the French language exams sponsored by the French government and administered in France and in major US cities a few times throughout the year, and get an attestation of your French level, valid for 2 years.
Finally, you’ll have to fill out the very brief application on the university’s website, stating your personal information and the department in which you’d like to enroll. Depending on the school, you may have to provide a copy of your birth certificate with its certified translation, something you’ll need to get anyway for your visa and carte de séjour applications.
Applying to Grandes Ecoles
While there is no definitive list of “grandes écoles,” the schools that are most often recognized as such are engineering or technical schools (School of Mines) or schools that lead to careers in politics. As American students, the two schools that you are most likely to apply to are Sciences Po (for undergraduates or master’s students) or the Ecole Nationale Supérieure (graduate students only), the more generalized schools with social science and literature classes. Ecole Polytecnique, a science school, is also an excellent choice for those who wish to pursue medicine or graduate careers in the sciences. There are many other engineering grandes écoles open to international graduate students and exchange students, but since the vast majority of American students coming to France are in the social sciences, we’re not going to discuss those schools here.
Note that the procedures outlined in these pages have to do with students who want to apply directly and who plan on spending the entire undergraduate or graduate career at these schools; the application procedures for studying abroad at Sciences Po, for example, are vastly different from the direct application procedures, which are far more demanding. While Sciences Po requires its third-year students to study abroad and thus has a complete third year filled with international students, the ENS has far fewer temporary study-abroad students, and the procedures are not as standardized.
If you plan on applying to one of the Grandes Ecoles, keep in mind that you’re not accepted until you’ve passed the exams, and it’s impossible for you to have your visa paperwork before you go to take them. If you don’t want to make two trips and prefer to spend the summer in Europe, however, you can get a “visa provisoire” – a visa contingent upon your acceptance at the school to which you are applying. In this case, you’ll need to submit your application online and contact the school’s international office. They will sign you up for the exams and send you a certificate proving your candidacy. You can get a visa based on this candidacy, which is only valid and renewable if you are accepted to the school. Once you are accepted, the international office should be able to provide you with the paperwork and instructions you’ll need to convert your temporary visa into a full-time student visa. Since there are not a lot of international students who apply directly to these schools, this procedure is not very publicized. Of course, you can also go to take the exams on a regular “vacation,” then return to the US and await your paperwork before applying for a visa.
Sciences Po (Institut d’Études Politiques)
Sciences Po, an undergraduate and graduate “grande école,” is unusual in that it accepts students who have just passed their baccalaureat, instead of taking primarily students who have taken “cours préparatoires.” Ranking 203rd in the international ranking of universities, it is the 6th French university to place, after the ENS-Paris, Ecole Polytecnique, Université Pierre et Marie Curie (public), the ENS-Lyon, and the Sorbonne (Université Paris IV, also public). As its name suggests, its primary focus is political science and economics, and many of the French students plan on applying to the famous Ecole Nationale d’Administration (ENA) after graduation. It also offers courses in social sciences, like literature, sociology, and history.
French students who apply to Sciences Po are accepted through their master’s degree (M2), and study there for five years, completing their third year abroad. They must have an excellent level of English, and must usually speak the language of the country in which they plan to spend their third year, although English-speaking American universities are highly sought-after. Thus, Sciences Po has exchange programs with many American schools, inviting third-year American students to spend a year on its campus (sorry, no semester-only students) while its students go in exchange. Some American schools also offer a dual-degree program with Sciences Po, allowing students to leave after their third year to complete a master’s degree in Paris. Those who want to apply directly will have to choose which Sciences Po campus they wish to study at.
There are several Sciences Po campuses, and the ones outside of Paris are the easier to get into than the Paris campus. To be admitted to the regional Sciences Po schools, you need only to complete an application on the website. If you are a candidate for acceptance, Sciences Po will contact you for an interview, which they do all over the world.
Applying to Sciences Po Paris for the full term of studies, though, is a more intense process, and you’ll be required to take the exams, or concours, along with the French students. The exams take place over four days at the end of June, around the same time as the French baccalauréat, and students are often taking both at the same time. In fact, students may only apply between July 6 and 8, right after the results of the baccalaureat are released. Those who receive “Mention très bien” on their bac do not have to take the Sciences Po exams, but of course that only applies if they submit their applications the following year, after receiving the results.
In any event, students must receive an average grade of 12/20 on the four exams: 20th century history, a dissertation or commentaire de texte, and an exam of the student’s choice in literature, mathematics, or social sciences. All students must also take a foreign language exam and score at least 7/20. Those who receive grades higher than 14/20 are exempt from the interview and admitted automatically; those who pass the exams with a 12 or 13/20 are invited to an interview, and the acceptance list for those students is determined after interviews have been completed and their applications have been examined. Students with strong academic records who received a grade just under 12 on the exams can be considered and admitted by the jury as well.
Ecole Normale Supérieure (ENS)
In 2010, the École Normale Supérieur ranked 33 on the list of Top Universities in the World as determined by international scholars, and it was one of only two French universities to break the top 100. (The other was Ecole Polytecnique at number 36,) which we’ll discuss next). The ENS is one of the most sought-after French schools, and not only because their students receive housing and a stipend. It’s also a very prestigious line on a résumé, and proof of being among France’s best and brightest. “Nomaliens” are held in high esteem, obtain top jobs, and often go on to pass the difficult “aggregation” exams to become the top professors in France.
The Ecole Normale Supérieure is the only “Grande école” to offer studies in both social sciences and hard sciences, and their entrance exams and procedures are designed to attract the best students from around the world in these domains. Students usually apply to the ENS after their second or third year of university (L2 or L3), although, as an American student in a four-year system, one could make the case for applying after graduation. Keep in mind that while the ENS doesn’t require a specific level of French, and won’t ask for the results of a French language test for admission, the coursework and lectures are generally in French. Intensive language classes in the fall before the start of courses and during winter break are generally offered to those who need them. There are four different ways to apply to the ENS, which we will outline here.
By passing the “concours”
The most obvious way to get into the ENS is to take the exams held every spring for French and international students who wish to apply for the status of “fonctonnaire-stageaire,” or “intern-employee of the state.” These students are housed near the ENS (in the posh 6th arrondissement, nonetheless!) and given a stipend of 1250€ per month after taxes for four years. It’s a good deal. Non-European students are awarded a scholarship.
There are two sets of exams: one in “letters,” and one in “hard sciences,” and they are both extremely competitive. Taking the “letters” exam leads to studies in language, literature, or an area of the social sciences, while taking the science exam leads to the biology, physics, medicine, and computer science departments. Each year, only 100 students pass the literature exams, while 94 are accepted from the science exams. Students can take the exams twice, in two different years, but no more than that.
By submitting an application
Students can also apply for the « Diplôme de l’ENS » after completing L2 or L3 by submitting an application to be evaluated by a jury. First, the student must declare his or her intent to apply online, and print the application from the website. After selecting the course of study, the student sends his or her application, including passport-sized photos, grade reports, and a cover letter directly to the department in which he or she wishes to enroll. The juries of each department meet in the beginning of July and the beginning of September to select their students. These students do not receive a scholarship from the ENS, but if they have outside scholarships, they can sometimes get housing from the school.
By competing for the international program
Students who wish to apply to the ENS as international students must first submit an application online between January and March for the following fall. Those who are selected are invited to Paris in July to take exams and pass an interview, and the final admissions decisions are released at the end of July. Anyone accepted to this program is awarded a stipend of 1000€ per month for the duration of the three year program.
Through university exchange
Several universities have exchange programs with the ENS, usually at the graduate level, and the Fulbright program offers between 20-25 scholarships annually to study at the ENS.
Applying for Master’s Programs
While admission to undergraduate programs in France is automatic upon receipt of a high school diploma, master’s programs admit students based on applications, and can be more competitive. To choose a master’s program, you’ll first have to decide what you’d like to study, find a professor who specializes in your topic, and have that professor agree to direct your thesis project. You’ll probably have to do some research.
Project Proposal
The project proposal is the most important part of your application, because it shows your ability to come up with an interesting research idea and to formulate research questions on your own. Since the professor’s job in France is more to evaluate the quality of your work rather than to guide you in creating it, it is important that you be able to organize your thoughts on your own and figure out what’s important without your professor’s help.
If you don’t have an obvious project that you’d like to undertake, the first thing to do is to write down a list of all of the topics you’re interested in. Try to be as specific as possible. Don’t say “French history,” or even “World War Two,” say “women’s history” and “the French resistance” to come up with “women’s contributions to the formation of the French Resistance in 1941.” And even that is more of a dissertation topic than a Master 1 forty-page thesis. Write down some authors you’ve enjoyed reading, and then read a little bit about their time period and politics contemporary to that time.
Once you have a list of maybe 10 broad topics or authors, pick a few of your favorites, and try to link them. I had “folklore,” “Algerian immigration in France,” “bilingualism,” “Algerian women,” and “education in Algeria/education of immigrants in France.” I ended up proposing the topic of “Transmission of folklore in Algerian immigrant families in France,” and the topic I ended up working on for my Master 2 thesis in Comparative Literature was “Initiation and Emancipation of Women in Nora Aceval’s Algerian Libertine Folklore.” The topic I proposed was too complicated for one year, according to my professor, and we ended up modifying it to a more text-centric project that could be completed in one year. But I was able to combine several items from my list and come up with a few good project possibilities.
If you’re struggling with combining the topics, come up with a few ideas, and then discuss them with your departmental advisor at your school. He or she might be able to guide you to some questions that haven’t been fully developed yet by academics, which will make your topic seem all the more intriguing to your future professor. Try to avoid developing topics that have very little research, though, because French professors are generally not great believers in their students having original thoughts. In master’s programs, students are learning how to research, organize their thoughts, and argue, and most French professors prefer that students do so within established research domains. In their eyes, masters’ students are in training, whereas doctoral students can try to find out something new.
After choosing your favorite topic, you’re going to have to justify it. Make some notes on a piece of paper to answer these questions: (It goes without saying that writing your notes in French will make transferring them into a coherent proposal much easier)
How did you come up with your topic? (I don’t mean the process above; I mean, what questions were you asking yourself that led you to thinking up this topic?)
Has the question you’re asking been asked before? By whom?
What were their answers?
How are you asking the question in a different way, or looking at it from a different angle?
What have you already found out about your topic?
What conclusions do you expect to get from your research?
Why is your topic important?
When you’ve answered all of these questions, you’re going to have to synthesize the answers and develop your topic in a 2-3 page paper that will serve as your project proposal.
Don’t write your proposal without going to the library. Find a few books on your topic, flip through them, and see if they mention people or sources that would be particularly helpful to you. If so, write down their bibliographical information. Since you’ll also need books in French for your bibliography, search on the site of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, find a library or two in Québec, and even search on Amazon.fr. Your bibliography doesn’t necessarily have to be as broad as it would be for a paper you’ve already written, but it should show that you know where to look for information related to your topic and that you know how to do some research. Be sure to model your bibliography on the French bibliography in Chapter 4 instead of using the MLA style.
When you send your project proposal, you’ll have to include your curriculum vitae in French as well. A model French CV is included in Chapter 3 in the section on Working in France.
Sample Project Proposal
Transmission des contes algériens en situation décontextualisée:
Vecteurs et formes de cette transmission
Je propose une étude de la transmission de la tradition orale dans des familles d'origine algérienne ayant immigré en France, afin de mieux comprendre la place du savoir traditionnel et de la transmission de ce savoir dans des familles qui ont été déplacées d'une culture à une autre. J'aimerais étudier les circonstances et les modalités de cette transmission : pourquoi les mères partagent (ou ne partagent pas) cette tradition avec leurs enfants, quelles traditions ou rituels accompagnent cette transmission.
Ayant enseigné l’anglais en écoles primaire à Drancy cette année, j’ai pu nouer des relations professionnelles avec trois enseignants de CM2 qui travaillent sur les contes en cours d’année. J’ai proposé à ces collègues et au directeur de l’école Romain Rolland de mettre en place un projet sur les contes algériens des recueils Contes du Djebel Amour de Nora Aceval et Traditions Algériennes de Jeanne Scelles-Millie avec ces élèves pour compléter leur formation littéraire avec un projet culturel. Ensemble, nous demanderons aux parents d’élèves d’intervenir en classe s’ils détiennent des contes de tradition orale qu’ils aimeraient partager, et nous demanderons également aux élèves de raconter un conte de leurs parents et d’en écrire leur propre version.
M’appuyant à la fois sur ces textes et sur des interviews faits auprès des élèves, je poserai des questions sur la culture d’origine de leurs parents et leurs voyages « au pays » pour mieux comprendre leurs histoires. Une analyse des interviews des interprétations des contes faits par les enfants révélera l'importance de la tradition orale et la culture d'origine pour ces familles, et les idées que se forment les enfants de la culture de leurs parents. Il sera intéressent en même temps de voir quels ateliers et activités sont proposés par les écoles et les centres culturels de Drancy, de Bobigny, et du Bourget pour mettre en valeur la culture maghrébine. Si les enfants assistent à des cours de langue, des évènements littéraires, ou des concerts de musique maghrébine en dehors de l’école pour connaître la culture de leurs parents, nous pourrons apprendre ce qu’ils pensent de leur double culture. Évidemment, tous les élèves dans les classes seront invités à participer à ce projet dont j’espère faire une sorte de spectacle à l’école, mais mon mémoire portera uniquement sur les contes des élèves maghrébins.
Mon étude se concentrera en particulier sur la place des femmes dans ces contes – dans le récit comme dans la transmission – et les interprétations des rôles familiaux que les enfants se font de ces histoires. Ce thème est particulièrement intéressant parce que mon mémoire sur cinq contes merveilleux algériens collectés par Jeanne Scelles-Millie a montré que ces contes sont très riches en personnages divers à analyser et que les possibilités pour les personnages femmes sont distinctes des possibilités pour les personnages hommes. Si les femmes ont une certaine liberté d'action dans ces contes lorsqu’elles quittent la maison, elles n'ont aucun pouvoir sur les hommes, et les sexes ne sont pas égaux. Par contre, mon mémoire sur les contes libertins de Nora Aceval a révélé que dans ces contes, ce sont les femmes qui détiennent le véritable pouvoir, et elles arrivent souvent à faire ce qu’elles veulent. Recueillis à l’époque contemporaine, ces contes (de Nora Aceval) reflètent-ils des changements dans la société algérienne depuis les années 1970 ? Comment les élèves conçoivent-ils la masculinité et la féminité dans les contes de leurs parents ?
Puisque une polémique qui se trouve au cœur de la politique française de l'immigration est justement l'égalité des sexes et la soumission des femmes dans certaines traditions musulmanes, cette étude est importante parce qu'elle montrera jusqu'à quel point les enfants biculturels s'identifient avec la culture de leurs parents et acceptent ou rejettent les rôles familiaux dépeignés dans ces contes. N'ayant pas grandi dans la même société que leurs parents, il se peut que les enfants issus des familles immigrées n'arrivent pas à comprendre ces contes de la même manière que leurs parents. Élèves dans l'école française républicaine et laïque, ces enfants ont peut-être une conception de l'égalité des sexes et des rôles familiaux bien différente que celle de leurs parents. Leur interprétation de ces contes serait donc influencée par leur héritage biculturel: étudier ces interprétations des contes traditionnels et les comprendre montrera comment ils négocient ce biculturalisme, et illuminera la valeur que le conte peut avoir comme modalité de transmission des valeurs traditionnelles en dehors de son contexte d'origine.
Choosing a Professor
Choosing a professor to direct your master’s research is the next step in applying to a French university for graduate school, and you shouldn’t even begin to think about professors until you have a good idea about what your project is going to be. After you’ve written a project proposal, think not only about where in France you’d like to go, but more importantly about what department and/or specialty your project falls under. Most topics can be in several categories, depending on the research approach you want to take. The topic on folklore in Algerian immigration, for example, could be literary if it’s the text of the transmission that’s important, or anthropological if the recording of oral traditions is a priority. A literature professor may reject the idea of doing interviews, while an anthropology professor will guard against focusing too much on the text and not enough on the human context. Figuring out how you want to frame your work from the beginning will prevent you from having to change your topic or adapt your work to your professor’s research mode.
After you’ve decided what you want to study and how you want to study it, you’ll have to figure out who is qualified to direct your research by looking up professors in your area of study.
If you studied abroad in France as an undergraduate and took a class with a professor who inspired you, this might be a good place to start. When you write your cover letter, be sure to indicate how you know the professor and what class you took with him or her, since they have many students and may not remember you without help.
If your university has a study-abroad program, you may also want to check out their course offerings and see if any of their professors also work in French universities. Abroad programs will usually have their professors’ information on their website. You can also check with the French department at your university to see if there have been any visiting professors from France who have worked on your topic. If a professor has worked at your school, it means that she is used to working with American students and is familiar with your school’s curriculum, which can help her to direct you better.
If you don’t already know someone you’d like to work with, you can try searching for professors in the city you’re most interested in going to. Most universities have an online directory of professors who can direct master’s theses or doctoral dissertations, along with their areas of specialization. Consulting those lists and finding several professors at different schools in your area is a good place to start. If the professor doesn’t know you, he or she may not make much of an effort with your application, since most professors take applications from students who took their classes as undergraduates at the same school.
If you are accepted with multiple professors at different schools, you’ll have to choose without really knowing what you’re getting into. There’s no such thing as rating one’s professors in France, and the idea of students being able to have opinions about someone’s teaching ability is all but nonexistent. The rentrée is too busy a period to consider meeting a few professors beforehand and choosing between them; they would also be very put off by the idea of having to be selected by a student on the basis of something other than their area of specialty.
If you realize after a few weeks or months that you don’t see eye to eye with your thesis director, try changing your subject slightly so it falls into the expertise of another professor you know and like better, and then ask the new professor if you could switch to his direction. If you’re in Master 1, your thesis is only about forty pages, and you can try putting up with your professor until the end of the year, and then switching to someone new for Master 2.
Cover Letter
Like a cover letter for a job, the cover letter for your application is a one-page explanation of who you are, what you’re applying for, and how this particular research project fits into your career goals. It’s designed to show that you’re a serious student and that you’ve thought carefully about what you want to do and why you want to study in France.
The goal of the letter is to introduce yourself, explain what your course of study is going to be, and to show how this course of study will help you advance your professional and educational goals. It also provides some background information for the professor, who needs to know that you’re going to be able to complete the coursework in French and work independently as a researcher.
A word of caution: It goes without saying that you should make sure that the letter and the Project Proposal are written in the best French of your life. In situations where language proficiency is important, I’m generally not a fan of having someone edit work that could mask potential problems for completing the degree. Having someone correct your letter and proposal to the point of rewriting it is only going to hurt you in the long run, since not all professors will be sympathetic to second language learners, and you could be at a disadvantage for completing the work successfully and getting a good grade. That being said, if you are applying to French schools, you probably feel that your French is good enough for you to succeed in France. In that case, you may want to ask someone to look at your work to correct grammar, but not style. That way, if there are any of the cringe-worthiest errors, your reader will catch them, but the paper will still show your overall style of writing in French, even if there are some Anglicisms.
Begin your page with the place and date you are writing the letter, and then open with the professor's name and a colon. Do NOT write « Cher Professeur » or « Cher Monsieur. » It’s very familiar, and will make it look like your French is not very good. More traditional professors, especially those from old schools like the Sorbonne, may be offended.
The first paragraph of your letter should be very short, and should state clearly what program and degree you’re applying for as well as the name of the school. Some professors have appointments at several universities, so you don't want him or her to lose track of where you're planning on enrolling.
In the second paragraph, give some information about your educational background and explain why you’re choosing to pursue this diplôma.
In the third paragraph, explain your research interests and identify the questions you’d like to study. Introduce the subject of the thesis you want to write specifically with this professor.
In the fourth paragraph, explain the resources you have at your disposal to complete the project, especially if it requires fieldwork, like this one does. State what courses you’d like to take with the professor or in the department to complement your research, basically stating how the professor and program is a "fit" for you. You can also discuss how this diplôma advances your career goals, and what you are going to use it for, or you can address this in a separate paragraph
Before closing, identify any attachments (your project, cv, and your academic transcripts). Close with the standard French formula that expresses respect and thanks, and sign your name, omitting any equivalent of sincerely, cordially, etc. In an email, you can sign, "Cordialement," but in a letter, there is no formal equivalent.
Sample Cover Letter
à Paris, le 13 juin, 2010
Professeur Lefébure:
C’est avec grand plaisir que je vous écris pour poser ma candidature pour un M2 en Anthropologie à l’École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales pour l’année prochaine.
Diplômée de Columbia University et de Middlebury College, je termine actuellement mon M2 en arts, esthétiques, et littératures comparées à l’Université de Paris VII – Denis Diderot, où j’écris mon mémoire intitulé « Pour votre sérénité, laissez-leur la liberté !: L’initiation et l’émancipation des femmes dans les contes libertins de Nora Aceval » sous la direction de Bernadette Bricout. Ayant suivi une formation plutôt littéraire avec quelques cours de base en histoire, je souhaite désormais m’orienter vers l’anthropologie pour compléter mes connaissances de la littérature et des contes maghrébins par des connaissances des peuples et des cultures maghrébins.
Je m’intéresse particulièrement à l’interculturel : les points d’intersection des cultures maghrébines et de la culture française. Dans un cours d’histoire, j’ai étudié le processus d’arabisation de l’enseignement dans les trois pays du Maghreb après la décolonisation, et j’aimerais aussi étudier le biculturalisme chez les enfants issus de l’immigration maghrébine en France. J’aimerais savoir si leurs parents partagent un patrimoine oral avec leurs enfants, et comment ces enfants interprètent les contes et la culture de leurs parents. Le mémoire que je souhaite écrire sous votre direction portera sur ses questions et sera intitulé « Transmission des contes algériens en situation décontextualisée : vecteurs et formes de cette transmission. » Il examinera les circonstances de la transmission de la tradition orale algérienne dans des familles immigrées, et l’interprétation de ces contes par les enfants.
De par mes connaissances de la tradition orale et mes relations professionnelles dans des classes de CM2 à Drancy et au Bourget, je pense avoir les qualités et les contacts nécessaires pour réussir un projet de Master 2 original qui alliera une recherche nuancée à de multiples entretiens avec des élèves et des parents. Les cours en anthropologie à l’EHESS tels que « Anthropologie du monde arabe » et « Anthropologie entre primitivisme et postcolonialisme » fourniront des réflexions sur les sociétés arabes dont j’étudierai les ressortissants. Je continuerai en parallèle ma formation de langue arabe, cet été à l’Institut Bourguiba à Tunis, et l’année prochaine en Diplôme Universitaire à la Sorbonne.
Ce cursus correspond parfaitement à mes objectifs de carrière, puisque je souhaite faire mon doctorat par la suite dans une université américaine afin de continuer mes recherches dans les domaines du folklore, de l’histoire postcoloniale, du bilinguisme, et de la littérature maghrébine.
Je mets en fichier joint le projet de recherche que j’aimerais proposer pour l’année prochaine avec sa bibliographie, mon cv, et mes relevés de notes des universités américaines.
En vous remerciant de votre aide, je vous prie de croire, Monsieur, à mes sentiments les plus distingués.
French Language Tests
The CIEP, or Centre International d’Etudes Pédagogiques, is the national institute in France that administers French language testing according to the European Union language standards. The tests are administered all over the world, and are graded according to a seven hundred-point scale, similar to the SATs. After the tests are graded, the numerical score converts into one of six grades: A1, the lowest, A2, B1, B2, C1, and C2, the highest grade. Most universities require a level of at least B1 or B2 for students who wish to take a full course load alongside French students. Students who score below that level are probably not capable of understanding course content well enough to succeed, and those students should probably enroll in language classes at the Sorbonne or an American study-abroad program that offers speaking and grammar-intensive coursework.
As always, check on the website of the program in which you wish to enroll to make sure that the test you plan on taking will be accepted. While they are mostly interchangeable, some programs, such as Sciences Po, have specific requirements and like to have the scores directly reported to them. Score reports are usually available by mail within six to eight weeks of the test date.
Test des Connaissances du Français – Demande d’Admission Préalable (TCF-DAP)
If you want to enroll in L1, L2, or architecture school, you must take the TCF-DAP, a test specifically for foreign students wishing to enter the French university system. The test takes three hours to complete, and is taken in two parts. The first part is a multiple choice section with thirty questions of listening comprehension, twenty questions on grammar and syntax, and thirty questions on reading comprehension. For the listening part, a brief conversation is played twice and the test-taker must select the correct reply from a series of possibilities. For the other two parts, the student has the full time allotted (1.5 hours) to complete the test in any order he or she likes.
The second part of the test is a written part, with two exercises. Both parts must be completed to receive a score, and there is a minimum number of required words that the response must contain. The test will also not be graded if the essay does not answer the question. Words joined with a hyphen (c’est-à-dire) or an apostrophe (s’il) count as one word.
In 2010, the TCF-DAP cost 63€ in France, so expect to pay at least $100 if you take it in the US.
The CIEP site has a sample test, guide for completing the test, and a few sample essay topics for those who would like to practice:
<http://www.ciep.fr/tcfdap/index.php>
Test des Connaissances du Francais (TCF)
Like the TCF-DAP, the TCF evaluates a student’s level of French and readiness to take university classes. The TCF is for students who want to enroll in L3 or above, or who want to study at Sciences Po.
Also similar to the TCF-DAP is the exam layout. The obligatory section of the exam consists of three parts: oral comprehension, grammar and syntax, and written comprehension, and is made up of multiple-choice questions. This part of the test lasts about 1.5 hours, and is in common with the TCF-DAP. In fact, the two exams are usually administered at the same time and at the same test sites.
The TCF also has two optional components: the oral and the written exams. Test-takers can choose to sign up for one or both of these exercises upon enrolling for the test. The written exam takes place right after the multiple-choice exam, usually with a ten-minute break. There are a variety of written exercises demonstrating the ability to write in different types of situations: an informal postcard, an informational essay, a formal letter of introduction to a professor, etc. This part of the exam takes 1.5 hours, and the student completing the written section must complete all of the exercises in order. If a student skips an exercise, the ones that follow will not be evaluated, so if, for example, a student were to skip the second question but complete the rest of the test, he would still only receive a score on the first question, probably failing. The questions get progressively more difficult, and the exam is graded by two professors on a scale of 20. The average score from the two graders is the score that is awarded.
The oral exam is also optional, and takes place individually with the test administrator after the written section has been completed. The test proctor has a several questions at each of six varying levels of difficulty, and asks one question from each section at random. The student is recorded by a tape player and graded once by the test administrator and once by another professor, who listens to the tape and assigns another score. Like the written exam, the questions elicit a variety of speaking styles, from informal and friendly to polite and academic. The test is designed to evaluate not only whether you can understand French and produce thoughts in the languages, but also if you can use language and grammar structures appropriate for different situations. For both the written and oral exams, if the two independent scores are very different, a third grader will evaluate the test.
The TCF usually costs the same as the TCF-DAP (about $100), but the supplemental sections may cost extra. Practice exercises and sample written and oral exam questions are posted on the CIEP website.
DILF/DELF/DALF
These three tests are the DILF, Diplôme Initial de Langue Française, the DELF, Diplôme d’Etudes de Langue Française, and the DALF, Diplôme Approfondi de Langue Française. While they test the same skills, the DILF presumes only a low level of French language, while the DALF assumes an Advanced level.
Students who take the DILF are generally people who have recently arrived in France and begun their study of French. They often want to take the exam to become employed. This test will not really concern university students wishing to study in France.
The DELF is for students who have taken a few years of French classes and who have an intermediate level. This test has several different variants, including for children and teens who are going to spend a few months in France in a public school. University students can take the “DELF tous publics” or the “DELF Pro,” designed for those who want to live and work in France.
The DALF is for those with an advanced level of French, but is a similar test. The DELF and the DALF are independent, so you can take both. The cost of taking the exam is set by the exam center and the consulate in the United States, and by the rectorat, or regional education office, in France. To know the dates and cost of the exam, contact the nearest consulate (see the next section) in the fall before you wish to enroll.
Chapter 2: Setting Up a Life in France
Pre-Departure Administrative Procedures
Any stay in France or Europe for longer than 3 months requires a significant amount of paperwork, because you'll need a visa to study and (possibly) work. There are many steps to each process, and you'll need lots of different documents in order for your visa and residency permit to be approved, and this section will guide you through each step of the visa and carte de séjour process, identifying the documents you'll need to get, the fees you'll need to pay, and the appointments you'll need to make. This section will be updated regularly, since French immigration and extended-stay laws are constantly changing, but you should also double-check information on official French government sites before going to any official appointments.
Securing Your Visa
Since 2007, France has eliminated short-stay visas for students who wish to stay in France for fewer than 90 days. If you’re completing a summer study-abroad program, you will not have to go through the CampusFrance procedure or obtain a visa, provided that you have the right to enter the Schengen Space without one. Students planning to stay in France longer than 90 days still need to follow all of the administrative steps outlined in this section.
CampusFrance
Every student going to France must register with CampusFrance before applying for a visa. This online process takes two to three weeks from start to finish, and once you have the email receipt, you can go to your visa appointment.
In order to register, you must first create an account on the CampusFrance website and fill out the online form. After completing this step, you must send a copy of your acceptance letter from your French or American university, along with a money order for $70. The letter must have your name on it, and only money orders are accepted. Once you send these documents, you should receive an email confirmation within three weeks. You must print this document for your visa appointment.
If you are studying in France independently, you must apply to a university and receive a letter from them before creating your CampusFrance profile. You can also apply to certain French universities through the CampusFrance system; in that case, you are required to submit your university application through the CampusFrance site, and complete a telephone interview with a CampusFrance agent before your file will be considered complete. If you are accepted by a French university and have a letter before beginning the CampusFrance process, you are not required to complete an interview. The fee for independent students is $140, which must be paid by money order.
CampusFrance, 4101 Reservoir Rd., Washington D.C., 20007. <www.usa.campusfrance.org>
French Consulates in the US
There are ten French consulates in the US, and you must obtain your visa at the consulate designated for your state of residence. If you attend school in a different consular zone, bring proof of your student resident status when you go to your appointment to show that you are eligible to get your visa in that consulate.
The consulates are:
Atlanta (AL, GA, MS, NC, SC, TN): The Lenox Building, 3399 Peachtree Rd. NE, Suite 500, Atlanta, GA, 30326. <www.consulfrance-atlanta.org>
Boston (MA, ME, NH, RI, VT): Park Street Building, 31 St. James Ave., Suite 750, 02116. <www.consulfrance-boston.org>
Chicago (IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, MI, MN, MO, OH, ND, NE, SD): Michigan Plaza, 205 North Michigan Avenue, 37th Floor, Chicago, IL, 60601. <www.consulfrance-chicago.org>
Houston (AK, LA, OK, TX): 777 Post Oak Boulevard, Suite 600, Houston, TX 77056. <www.consulfrance-houston.org>
Los Angeles (AZ, CA, CO, NM, NV): 10390 Santa Monica Boulevard, Suite 410, Los Angeles, CA, 90025. <www.consulfrance-losangeles.org>
Miami (FL): Espirito Santo Plaza, Suite 1050, 1395 Brickell Avenue, Miami, FL, 33131. <www.consulfrance-miami.org>
New Orleans: The French consulate in New Orleans does not issue visas. Residents of Louisiana must go to the Houston, TX consulate.
New York (CT, NJ, NY, Bermuda): 934 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY, 10021. <www.consulfrance-newyork.org>
San Francisco (AK, CA, HI, ID, MT, NV, OR, UT, WA, WY, American Samoa, Guam): 540 Bush St., San Francisco, CA, 94108. <www.consulfrance-sanfrancisco.org>
Washington, D.C. (DE, MD, PA, VA, WV): 4101 Reservoir Rd, NW, Washington, D.C., 20007-2185. <www.consulfrance-washington.org>
Your Appointment
Visa appointments at all consulates must be made online several weeks in advance. All consulates require personal presence to issue a visa, and most take your passport and mail it back to you in a prepaid (by you) USPS envelope.
To obtain your visa, you’ll need the following documents, with at least one photocopy of each:
Passport with at least 2 blank pages, valid for at least 3 months beyond the end of your trip.
2 passport-size photos.
Fee of 50€. (about $63)
Receipt from CampusFrance.
Acceptance letter from university with dates of attendance.
Financial Guarantee from your parents stating that they will provide you with at least $800 per month for the duration of your stay in France. They may ask for proof of your parents’ ability to pay, in the form of a bank statement or pay slips, so it’s a good idea to bring along some financial document. If you take out a student loan to cover your year in France, you can bring that along as well.
Flight reservation.
Proof of accommodation for the first month.
If you’re not a US citizen, copies of your visa or green card.
The last two on the list are new since I last applied for a visa, and they seem a bit odd to me, especially since the consulate site reminds you elsewhere NOT to make travel arrangements until you have received your visa. Is this a way of encouraging students to purchase way-more-expensive refundable plane tickets on, say, AirFrance? Call me cynical. In general, as long as you have all of your paperwork in order at the time of your appointment, you shouldn’t worry about getting your visa refused. I’ve made non-refundable reservations before scheduling a visa appointment, and never had any problems.
If you’re going with an American program, your school will usually find you housing and should be able to provide the necessary documentation. If, however, you’re going on your own, it’s pretty near impossible to find a good, honest deal on an apartment from far away unless you have friends or family who can look for you.
We’ll get to this in the next section, but for the purposes of visa acquisition, the best thing is probably to reserve a bed in a hostel for a month online, so you have a printed receipt of your reservation. You can usually get a bed for about 10€ per night, which is less than what you would pay for one month’s rent in most studios. Once you arrive in France, you can look for an apartment during the first few weeks, and then cancel your hostel reservation once you find a place to stay. You may have to pay for an extra night or two, but it will save you a lot of worrying about being homeless in France.
OFII Paperwork
Once you’re in France, you’ll need to declare your presence and your address within three months of your arrival to the OFII, or the Office Français de l’Immigration et de l’Intégration. This process is very simple. Once you have a place to live, you must fill out a form with your address and send it, along with a photocopy of your passport, visa, and the stamp of your entry into France, to the OFII office.