Grandes ecoles? Public universities? Any good?

Question

I was just researching a bit more about French and generally European universities and I noticed that a lot of public ones are obliged to take students after high school.

And the Grandes Ecoles in France don't even offer all the courses the public ones do. Then, why do people keep struggling to get into Frenc universities?

Are the public ones still better and more prestigious than many American and Canadian uiversities?

I also noticed that the web sites aren't clear enough.

For instance, te Conservatory of Paris is a public university. What puzzles me the most is its reputation. How could it be any good when ANY Frenc student can get in?

Is it a lot harder to get accepted than what it 'seems' and what the law says?

Can somebody explain everything to me clearly?

And is it just Wikipedia or the Grandes Ecoles don't offer the various programs the public universities do?

I thought I was getting somewhere; now everything's getting more confusing.

Answer 1

I'm going to relay to you what a Parisian friend recently told me. If you want to go to school for music, don't go to Paris. Jamais, elle m'a dit! She suggests England. Guildhall, Royal Academy, Royal Conservatoire...they are all amazing schools and very close to France no less! But it could be her bias or the fact that she matriculated through the French music system. She's a pianist. Anywho, if you really want more info from her I'll ask her for you.

Personally, I'd stay here and they do semesters abroad. We have some very fine schools in America and Canada. (I dont' know if you want to stay in Canada though).

~Lisa

Edit: But, for non music stuff, they're pretty great. Also, they are taught in French. There is an exam you have to pass. I have info on it if you'd like. Unless you already speak french that is.:)

Answer 2

As Rillifane said French universities and French Grandes Ecoles are different things.



The public universities have to accept anyone who has the right Baccalaureat. The Bac is the final exam for secondary schooling with a minimum of 10 subjects. French, philosophy, maths, science, history, geography, 1 or 2 languages, sport, are mandatory, then you have other subjects depending the branch you chose a few years back (science, literature, economy or technology).  No Bac, no go at the university. As well, accepting anyone with a Bac does not mean keeping them and during the first year there is a huge culling going on, shedding anyone who cannot follow. It is true that the average university in France is no better or no worse than other countries, but we also do have some very good ones which are probably the ones you are talking about.

Grandes Ecoles is a system of specialised schooling particular to France, created at first to produce the administrators, officers and engineers needed by the French government and which through the years grew to include other specialised schools. So no, they don't offer the same programs the public universities do. To enter them you have an extremely hard exam to pass, usually you go to preparatory schools for two or three years to be ready for that exam. To enter those preparatory schools you have to have very high marks on your Baccalaureat.

The two systems run side by side, complementary rather than clones. Grandes Ecoles are specialised from the start in specific subjects, universities are more general teaching with specialisation at the end of the studies. Until some time ago all or nearly all the politicians in France came from the Grandes Ecoles.

Answer 3

french university system is completely differ;ent of US or english ones.

there are universities, there are grandes écoles ; the both are publics ; the both are free (more or the less, abt 200 € per year).

BUT !!

grandes écoles recruit students after a hard selection : only the best french students are allowed to study in. there are a few number. that depends of what you want to study, but there are the best students : that's the reason why people struggle for.

universities are free access, all of them. if you get the "baccalauréat" (end of highschool diploma) you're allowed to go to university.

BUT !!

in every university there are better places with better professors and better results you can get only if you're... a better student. so in the same university you find brilliant and lazy students. you'll never say in france "i studied in la Sorbonne" as you'll say "i studied in harvard", cause you cd be a stupid guy even studying in la Sorbonne (by the way, foreigners dont know but la Sorbonne doesnt exist for 1968...).

so... you spoke abt the "Conservatoire de Paris" (for music or theatre ?). you can't go in easily, it's VERY hard and very prestigious.

well, now, if you want sthg more, you shd tell us what you want to study... so we cd give a better information.

PS: french universities are french speaking.

Answer 4

The Grandes Ecoles are devoted to specific fields of study. therefore they do not offer courses that are irrelevant to that field of study.

Unlike most American universities which spend a substantial part of their time teaching incoming students to read, write, and do simple sums, French schools receive students who, upon graduating from high school,  are already as well educated as the average American college graduate.

To get into one of the public universities in France one must sit for and pass the Baccalauréat exam which is difficult enough. To get into a Grandes Ecoles there is a further competitive exam. I recall a figure for one such school (I won't swear this is true) was that 12,000 applied for 400 places.

While there are certainly American high school graduates who are capable of handling a French university I am constantly shocked at the disparity in knowledge between French and American students.