I was at Polytechnique a long time ago for a long exchange program (since discontinued). That’s why I’m somewhat fuzzy on the details, although honestly, a number of things have changed since then anyway.
Yes, it’s more than just a normal military uniform. We’re talking THIS military uniform: A military School - École polytechnique
Looks like the hats are slightly updated from my time, but still very Napoleon-ish - a bicorne. They also get a sword.
I’m no expert on current offerings with European programs, but you might look at the Sciences Po dual degree programs - esp the one at Berkeley if you are in California (in state tuition!). My older kid applied to that one. It’s 2 years at one of the Sciences Po campuses (Reims, Le Havre, Menton - each with a geographic focus on Europe/North America or Europe/Africa, Europe/Asia or Europe/the Middle East), and then 2 years at Berkeley. https://sciencespo.berkeley.edu There’s an info session coming up. The majors are all in the social sciences at Sciences Po but there’s some variety, and then at Berkeley your kid could do any Bachelor’s of Arts degree, though the more social science-y ones are easier to connect to the Sciences Po (others might require extra coursework, but you still would probably be saving money overall). Tech friendly majors under the Letters and Sciences school could be applied math, cognitive science, linguistics, etc., but of course tech hires out of lots of majors depending on the role. There’s also a program at Columbia (in the General Studies program)- it’s more expensive. With that one, your kid could do data science or some other majors, but there isn’t much time to explore, esp since he’ll need to do core curriculum requirements as well as major requirements and he would only be there for 2 years.
If your kid really really wants a tech-heavy/robotics curriculum, then the Sciences Po dual degree program is probably not right for him, though. I don’t know enough about what else is out there, though, since my kid wanted a liberal arts experience and wasn’t into tech. Just be aware that in general, European programs are just REALLLLY different from US ones so look carefully at what these programs really are like and how they work. I mean, as an example - how exams work (oral exams may be more prevalent), or how grading works (admissions can be super easy at some schools in Europe but then many many people fail out). Costs are a lot lower, but so is support.
This is also my biased opinion and maybe I’m just influenced by my own experience there a long time ago, but, while the math and engineering programs can be very strong, I’m not sure France is where I would go to get ahead in the tech world, esp coming from California. I mean, it depends on what you mean by tech, but France was just not always the biggest hotbed of innovation in my experience. Just something to consider.