Going to college in France?

Question

If I graduate high school in the US, can I attend college in France for the same price as a French citizen if I move to France and live there? By the time I graduate high school, I'll have 5 years of French, so the language difference there shouldn't be troublesome.

For admittance, would I have to pass the Baccalauréat? Or would I be able to transfer our SAT or something?

I'm not sure what city exactly I would want to study in, but the subject area I would like to 'major' in is Japanese and/or Chinese language. I'm not sure how France's system works, if they have majors or what? How do French universities' studying abroad systems work? Do you have to pay for that yourself, or is part of the college cost like it is here in the US?

Please, any info you have on any of these questions is greatly appreciated!

Answer 1

Just to correct something, there are majors/minors in French university, but you have to choose among some, I mean when you choose a major, they will tell you, okay you can tell these minors....you can ask for a special request, though you can have problem with your schedule...

about Chinese and Japanese, you have INALCO, Paris VII, Paris III, Lille I, Lyon III, maybe some others, but well I'm not a specialist ^^

Answer 2

Technically, if you don't do an exchange program with a university in your home country, you will pay the same amount as a French citizen if you are accepted to a university in France. You acceptance will be conditional on you passing a French test that is quite difficult.

The bad news is that French universities do not except an American high school diploma directly. The equivalency levels are not the same. You have to either pass the International Baccalaureate, or have two years of studies in university under your belt. Also, SAT's mean nothing in France. No one knows what they are.

As an exchange student, you can bypass a lot of these demands, but you would continue to pay a university here your tuition to participate in the program. However, this would allow you to go before completing two years of college in the states, if you go your sophomore year, for example.

French universities do not have a major/minor system. Basically, you pick what you want to do, and that is about it. Each program has classes you have to take, and those classes will take up all of your time, so even electives are not really possible. Unless you find some joint program, or a program in Asian studies with both Japanese and Chinese, you pretty much have to stick with one.

Hope this helps!

Answer 3

To go directly from US High School to a French University is a very difficult process due to the distinct differences in the education system progression.  In France, by lycee level (equivalent to high school) most students are already focused on specific areas of study to prepare for the Bac and have a list of universities they want to attend.  Their performance on the Bac largely determines which university they have the option of attending in France, since every lyceen can be ranked against each other based on their performance on the Bac.

Your best chance is to find a North American University with strong ties to a French University.  In fact, you may want to look at schools in Canada, especially Quebec, who almost certainly have well developed exchange programs with France.  It should be easier to go to school in Canada coming from the US, and  is cheaper than attending a comparable US school.  (I have a friend who got his engineering degree from a school in Canada and he paid next to nothing)

This will also give you a good stepping stone to being abroad at school for a long period, since college is such a big departure from high school.

Answer 4

in france you ve got 2 types of universities: private business school where you re gonna have to pay around 5000euros for a year if you re not in an exchange program. Or you can go to a public university which is quite cheap.

Many universities propose their programme in english, so i would suggest to start with some courses in english and french before attending only classes in french.

Then the best way to learn french is in front of a good bottle of wine ;)

About the cities Paris is great but expensive also, i would recommend you Toulouse (maybe because I m from there!!!), because you ve got a really good student life, flats are much more cheaper than Paris, and for a one day trip you can go to ski during winter, go to spain, go to the sea or to the ocean.

A bientôt et amuses toi bien