I graduated HS in June and am applying to universities in France as an American citizen. This requires me to follow the “DAP Blanche” procedure through Campus France USA, an online application kind of like the Common App in the US.
I really need to report my AP scores to have the best chance at admission, but I can’t send them directly to the universities like you would here. They need the official report, not the unofficial one you can download from the College Board site. To quote Campus France, they said, “Please download your official score report.” Obviously not possible.
So my question is, is there a way College Board can MAIL me an official score report so that I can scan it in to the application and have it translated? I understand that usually, opening an official transcript envelope voids its official status, but I know that Campus France will still accept it.
I do not know the answer but the only way to get a definitive answer is to contact College Board. However, what you mention did not indicate to me that the colleg necessarily requires official reports sent by College Board. The offical report is not different from you will find on the College Board site. When US colleges ask for an offical report, what they mean is that you have one sent by CB so that you do not get to touch it (and possibly alter it). That does not appesar to be what is required of you. If they say you should download the offical report and send it, that seems to be saying you can send a copy of the one you can find on the site. In other words, you should be getting clarificatioon of the actual rule as part of this process.
Which schools are you applying to? Are you fluent? I’m thinking about applying to the duel degree University of British Columbia and Sciences Po. I haven’t been on Campus France in a looking time.
Definitely contact the school and collegeboard. I wish I could be more help but I haven’t gotten around to sending in test scores, except for when you register for the ACT.
drusba, I did call College Board and they told me to fill out a “scores by fax” form and fill in my own address. I sent the fax request but have received no response. Maybe you’re right, and if I get no response from CB I will just get the unofficial one translated. My application to another college in Germany was denied automatically because I couldn’t get my scores in time from CB with their slow bureaucracy. Thanks for your answer.
CollegeDayDreamer, the University of Lille 3, U of Strausbourg, and U of Rennes 2. Yes, I’m fluent. That dual degree sounds really cool, hope it works out Vous parlez couramment le français aussi ?
As far as I know they consider the transcript sent to you official, and you then need to confirm once admitted.
I would advise you apply to IUT programs, essec BBA international (if you have interest in business) or insa international for stem, and, depending on what you want to major in, bts. Bts and iut are tuitonfree and have small classes with better rigor than university (iut) or more experential/practical learning including internships (bts) .
You could also add unuversite carholique de l’ouest .
@alecazam3567 Non, ma français n’est pas couramment.
I’ve only been studying for two years. I love the language but I strongly dislike my teacher.
I can read it pretty well, writing is ehhh, and speaking has improved slightly.
If much rather study French in France or Québec or something. The program I’m interested in at Sciences Po will be taught in English but your expected to really know French when you’re finished.
@MYOS1634 Oh, so like does that mean I have to have the official documents on hand once admitted? I have still received no response for my fax request. Hmm.
Sorry, no interest in business or stem. But what is IUT again?
Wouldn’t I have to be Catholic to apply to université catholique de l’ouest ? What is the curriculum like?
CollegeDayDreamer, I know what you mean. A classroom especially in the US is not a place to learn French unless you can learn on your own too, preferably with a language exchange partner. But in my area there were few if any French speakers.
They also accept a notarized copy BTW.
IUT is a more undergraduate - focused program. You have smaller classed and, typically, much better facilities and academics (they’re more selective than 'universite '.)
What are you interested in? IUT don’t offer all subjects. Except for sciences po, you typically apply for one subject.
If you’re interested in humanities and are strong in French, you can apply to a 'prepa litteraire ’ in a small town (lower rent, more livable program) such as Angouleme, Brive, St Brieuc… You’ll study a lot of subjects but must be able to handle long days and lots of studying since the prepa are for top students only.
There’s also the liberal arts program (licence pluridisciplinaire) at University of Bordeaux.
@MYOS1634 I’m definitely more interested in humanities, and am pretty strong in French. Cours pépa are for the grandes écoles, so would I then be able to apply to a grande école after the course? I suppose I could go to a university after that too and the work load would be much easier.
All of my (max 3) licence applications have to be identical, so it would be a bad idea to choose liberal arts at Bordeaux. Then I would only get 1 chance as opposed to 3, since Bordeaux is the only school that offers that particular licence.
Thanks for all your help, you’re very knowledgeable in all this!
No, typically you’d prepare for the Grande ecole but with a 4% acceptance rate the benefit is mostly more resources, more classes, smaller classes, motivated classmates vs. the basic situation at University.
What licence would you apply for?
You’re sure to get into the licence unless it’s ‘contingente’ IE., impacted.
Liberal arts a Bordeaux is impacted. On the other hand, I wouldn’t recommend the non impacted programs…
Are you sure you can’t apply to several different programs? Ask directly if possible. It sounds strange. I know students using ‘apb’ the application for domestic students that ours is supposedly similar to, they can have 20 choices… Isn’t it 3 universities and several programs within each?
Prepa litteraire almost never leads to Grande Ecole, but rather makes you a priority for the licence of your choice at L3 level.
Oh I see.
I am applying for a licence in lettres, parcours lettres modernes at l’Université de Lille, de Rennes, et de Strasbourg. I chose them for their high international population, but Lille is my top choice because it has a good faculté de lettres, so i’ve heard. You are allowed, as an étudiant étranger, at least through campus france, to apply to 3 formations at 3 different universities, all with the same “mention” (i.e. lettres). That is just for DAP blanche. You can add up to 15 other programs that aren’t DAP blanche, such as IUT.
So after a prepa litteraire you can apply directly to L3 instead of L1?
APB is admission post-bac, right? But I wouldn’t be able to use it since I haven’t actually passed the bac.
Sorry for the delay, I haven’t been logging in as often as I should.
No, you use campusfrance instead of APB. APB is for students studying in France only.
Yes, after a prepa littéraire you apply directly to a L3. My advice is to take a small-town prepa, as you’ll get the same benefits (great preparation for licence in humanities) without the horrible tension that comes with big-city prepa (where the students all compete to be one of the 4% admitted). With a prepa littéraire you’re also allowed to grandes ecoles de commerce and some IEP (after a year). Essentially, you skip the dreadful L1-L2 years in non-impacted programs.
One thing you could do, and where your bilingualism would be huge advantage, would be to apply to the joint degres humanities/English. Unlike the Bordeaux 'Liberal arts" one, whih indeed is unique, there are several so you could apply to - history/English, Philosophy/English, and if your interest is French literature don’t worry you can study that too in your optional modules.
Use Diplodata to search for programs. Choose recherche avancée.
Look for Bi-licence, as well as Licence Pluridisciplinaire, DUT… Nivau d’ntrée: bac (meaning, you’ll be a freshman, not a transfer or “bac+2”).
For licence, you really want an impacted program :s.
Also, check with campus France if “Lettres” means you can choose programs within “Lettres” with subtopic, ie., “Lettres” with a specialty.
(Lettres is basically a program with French literature, Comparative Literature, Linguistics, a new foreign language and/or English, Computer literacy, and 2 classes of your choice. But there are different flavors.)
Personally I’d advise Montpellier or Bordeaux as one of your choices - those are top universities with top cities for students. Montpellier has the added bonus of being 10mn from the beach and 1H from the mountains, with good weather year-round. Bordeaux is no far from beaches, has tremendous traditions (wine!) Both are close enough to Spain that you can go on Friday after class and be back on time for Monday (4hours by train roughly), and both are about 3 hours from Paris.
Based on a quick search:
In IUT, you have Info-Com: journalisme, Info-Com: Métiers du livre et du patrimoine, Info-Com: Publicité.
In Bi-licence, you have histoire/anglais in many places, histoire/information-médias in La Sorbonne, Histoire de l’art/Lettres in Grenoble, Info-Com/Anglais in Bordeaux, Lettres/Philosophie in Grenoble, Lettres/Anglais in la Sorbonne, Lettres-Edition/Anglais in La Sorbonne, Philosophie/Anglais in Paris Ouest, Sociologie/Histoire/Développement Social in Lille… Plus others that include math or management or law.
Okay, I’ve added a licence LLCER parcours anglais, which is offered at Lille. It should be DAP Blanche and sayd “1ere année” but it’s listed as 2eme année, probably to allow me to add it outside of my 3 DAP blanche choices.
Now I’m just looking for classes prépatoires. CPGE littéraires are called “hypokhâgne.” Any advice on finding lycées, or can I pretty much just choose a few towns and apply?
You’re lucky I had to look it up for someone else interested in Mediterranean and southwestern France
Toulouse has 'lycee rive gauche ’ which ideas has holistic admissions (weird for France) but I know nothing about it.
In Montpellier, Lycee Jules Guesde has a brand new prepa litteraire which isn’t the bloodbath of Joffre, and because they have a section Americaine for the bac they’re likely to be very welcoming to you. And it’s Montpellier, meaning art, culture, beaches etc.
A small town with cheap rent, safety, many festivals (from late August till January) is Angouleme. It’s also superbly located for short trips : One hour and a half from Atlantic beaches, 2 1/2h from Paris, basically 45mn to Poitier or Bordeaux, plus dordogne, cognac, Loire valley within easy reach .
Vous parlez couramment le français aussi ?