@Teeetwoone If you submitted all of your financial aid documents on time, you should have received a separate document with your acceptance letter detailing projected aid for the four years of the program. If you did not receive this document, please call (212) 854-2772 and ask for the School of General Studies’ Office of Educational Financing.
hey @GSTourGuides, sorry, I’m not sure how to send DMs on collegeconfidential. I clicked on the envelope thing but it didn’t allow me to send messages
Anyone had any luck reaching the financial aid office for clarification or to request that they reconsider the financial aid offer?
Hi All
Any Asian student from South Asia or Gulf Middle east got acceptance in the dual degree…
My son got from Gulf- American school. To Reims campus.
Congratulations to all the admitted students!! Could you people please ask the Le Havre admits on your Facebook group if any of them are considering turning down their seats?? I am the waitlist and need to make my decision soon. Would be a great help!! Thanks ?
I read your comment and it encouraged my daughter.
If you are okay, can you tell more details?
My daughter goes lycee in kuwait, and to enter columbia sciences po, we are considering to change the shcool to american system.
I need to get informations about entrance rate to make plan for her school course.
Thank you so much for your such a warm.
I will leave my email address, If you give me just one sentence, I will be helpful to know what should I prepare.
CONGRATS to everyone who got accepted! My daughter was accepted to Reims. I’m a bit overwhelmed as a parent & find that the info given on the Sciences Po/Columbia accepted students website is not very helpful…Since I’m an old school momma who needs things laid out step by step as to what I need to do next! Trying to figure out how to go about getting a Visa, by what timeline it’s needed, (being that I let her Passport lapse for a year & did not renew it as I should have-we are now waiting for her Passport to show up & also waiting for a replacement Birth Certificate that husband managed to lose)I feel like nothing can get done without her Passport & waiting for it is wasting valuable time that could have gone to applying for a Visa. Also, I’m stressed over how to go about getting housing set up for her. I’ve read a couple different things here & there… we need to choose soon before May 15th, (how do we choose, who do we contact? When can we apply for CAF assistance?) we won’t need to worry about it until we show up in Reims…which is it? We need to have shot records? We need to have everything translated into French…I’m just so overwhelmed!!! I feel like the kids are set up with a FB page, they are discussing how & when they’re arriving in France among other things but I feel like there’s no help out there for us parents…so many questions…
Hi @reimsmum,
The stress is very normal but don’t worry–hundreds of students and their families have navigated this process before and we as a Dual BA community and here at the School of General Studies are here to help you every step of the way! As for logistics, I encourage you to take a look at the admitted student packet mailed to your daughter the week she was accepted. There should be guides detailing how to apply for a visa and housing. These documents break down what seems like an overwhelming amount of paperwork and planning into clear and manageable steps which greatly helped my family and me as we prepared for my move to France.
Although it varies based on nationality and place of application, the visa process generally consists of submitting an application to an online portal known as “Campus France.” Once your application has been processed, it will be forwarded to your the embassy or consulate that manages visas for your region. If you live in the United States, you can find your consulate here: https://franceintheus.org/spip.php?article330. Usually, you will be asked to set up an in-person appointment at your assigned consulate for a quick interview at some point during the summer. You will leave your passport at the consulate after your interview and they will mail it back to you with a long-stay visa in the following weeks. Once you have the visa in your passport, the rest of the process occurs in France during your daughter’s first year of studies. SciencesPo will guide students through this process upon arrival. This was my experience when I applied for a visa in 2014, and though things could have changed since then and vary based on home country, I believe they are generally the same. Again, your best resource for keeping track of this timeline is the checklist mailed with the admitted student packet.
While the application deadline for student housing–but not private apartments–is approaching (varies by campus), the CAF application process occurs once your daughter is settled in Reims.
The only documents needed in French are those expressly required as such by the consulate. During the visa application process, they will make clear which documents need to be translated. The French consulate and embassy staff at all US locations speak English if you would like to call with specific questions.
Please reach out with any other concerns! I will be sending you a direct message shortly with the contact information for a member of the admissions team who would be happy to speak with you.
And congrats again to all of our admitted students! We couldn’t be more excited to have you coming onboard this fall and are here to help however possible in the meantime.
@GSTourguides Thank You so much for the help! Greatly appreciated!
@reimsmum I am also a mom and tried to send you a PM but I don’t have enough posts for that feature yet. I don’t want to post my email address publicly here but I would love to talk to you.
My daughter is in her first year at Science Po and we just visited her there last week. We were there while the student body ran an extremely busy student council campaign week. We hardly saw her because this campaign was so intense…It was still nice to see the town (that means visiting the champagne caves :-)) and see how they live and study.
You already got some answers regarding the visa. We would not be much help with that as we are dual citizens (US and German) and don’t need a visa.
Finding housing was very stressful though. But you can learn from our mistakes. My daughter insisted that she does everything alone and over the internet. That was a mistake. Being from Europe I knew that it would not be so accommodating as it is in the US. She got turned down from a lot of student housing. We agree now that we must have done something wrong but don’t know what. She also tried to share apartments with other incoming students but these plans also fell apart for various reasons. By July she still had nothing and was in major panic. She then signed a lease sight unseen for a tiny, overpriced, shabby room very close to the school. The landlord spoke enough English to accept our US income statements. She is still living there because the lease was for one year and she could not break it. For her second year she will now move in with a friend and share an apartment.
So what I suggest is that sometime in May or June you take a trip over there. I had always wanted to do that but my daughter insisted that that was not necessary and we could just sign up for student housing remotely like for US universities. Maybe that is possible and maybe some other alumni can tell you how. We could not. And when she asked around how other students got housing it was usually through a visit and early on. So there is student housing all over Reims and then there is private landlords. You can check out real estate websites and contact landlords ahead of time and set up appointments. I’d say to find housing you need about 5 days. But make sure you check out the French business hours, as they have different working hours and days. The good thing about the May/June timeframe is is that a lot of students are leaving and their apartments are becoming vacant.
The CAF process will not start until the lease is signed and if you sign up late I believe there is retroactive pay but there is a waiting month anyway.
One of our problems was although my daughter spoke relatively good high school French she was not good enough to navigate contracts, solve problems over the phone etc. The rest of our family speaks no French at all and a lot of French people do not speak enough English to solve more complicated matters. My daughter is now fluent in French and things are much easier for her. What is your language situation?
I don’t want to scare you though. There is a solution for everything and you are on the right track by doing your research now. It is still super exciting. And all that will be such an enrichment for your family. My daughter always says she is now light years ahead of her American counterparts…
Next we’ll talk about bank accounts, health insurance, picking classes etc. if you want to. 
Thank You @Parentalhelp, any advice is helpful especially from a parent who has already been through much of the 1st year battles. We are from the US & cannot find the time or the extra money to make a trip over to France beforehand to figure out the apartment situation.We will struggle with just being able to get one of us, as a parent, & my daughter flights to get her to France to attend university. I’d assume we will need to figure out apartment accomodations online. We, as an American family, do not speak any French. This will be a whole new world we need to figure out-hopefully it’s not too difficult. All the same, it’s quite stressful. If there are any other parents out there with any tips or suggestions I’d love to hear them! Thanks so Much!
Any waitlist students who have heard back? Any Le Havre waitlist students here?
Hey, I’m a student on the waitlist for Le Havre and this is my top choice. The deadline for a reply is May 15, and I haven’t heard back yet. @GSTourGuides would you know by when would they release decisions, as I have other deadlines fleeting, and UK colleges to commit to (otherwise accommodation issues arise ). Thank you
Hi @blackhairedgirl, your best bet is to contact the School of General Studies directly to discuss your situation. Do you have contact information? If not, send this account a direct message and I will connect you.
Hello, my DD is a fall 2020 hopeful. @GSTourGuides your posts have been extremely helpful. Could you point to a thread for the next batch. Would you be yet guiding through the process…I hope you do…
I second this request. @GSTourGuides would you kindly begin a new 2020 thread?
Hi @DBA2020Mom and @2020TwinsMom,
Thank you for reaching out!
We are here and happy to monitor threads, but we neither create them nor officially manage them. As College Confidential is a forum for students to discuss the college application process, it has been students who have created these threads the last few years. We will be on the lookout if and when a thread pops up this year and will gladly respond to questions at that time. And as always, please feel free to contact to the Columbia University School of General Studies as spo-dualba@columbia.edu, +1 212-854-2772, or +1 800-895-1169 (toll free) if you have any questions or concerns!
Thanks @GSTourGuides , I do see a new thread now. Will switch to the other thread now.
@Parentalhelp, @mom2grad and @reimsmum I’ve followed your comments and appreciate your journey. I wonder if you would be willing to share your kids’ experiences with the application processes with me? My DD will be applying to Reims. Ever since she heard about this program, it’s been her dream situation. I don’t want to get her hopes up but I do want her to go for it! My email is ejo63@email.com. Any guidance would be so appreciated as I don’t speak French and by no means come from an Ivy background.
Hi @blackhairedgirl I have been waitlisted for the Dual BA and I wanted to know if you would be able to share your experience with me please? Thank you very much! As this Dual BA is my top choice I am extremely stressed.