International French student

Applying to College
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Dear members.

Since i wasn’t able to get this account back because my email was having probem. I had to create another account in order to seek for guidance. Due to duplicate accounts the other one got suspended but ı have found this one back. But im still not able to write on the other one because the administrator closed it that is why i am reposting. Apologies

I was born and raised in France. I’m sad there are no websites like this one in France that is why im writing here. Please forgive me.
I’m gonna turn 23 in July. I had a terrible high school experience. Including harassment, bullying, publicly exposed in my city, high school but I have managed to pass the university entrance exam ( baccalaureat ES). With an average grade of 11.92. Then I have started law school in a city called GRENOBLE that i have left because I didn’t like this major and i got publicly exposed in my university because of my sexuality. Corona times were tough but then i have decided to do a world tour. From 2021 till now. Honestly i feel a little bit behind compared to my friends because they all have master degrees and everything. EVEN if i have convinced myself sometimes that degrees aren’t that important, I have realized that they were important or at least important enough for me. I DONT wanna study in France. Maybe another city could work but im really tired of the french mentality i feel horrible.

My question is, anm i late to start undergraduate at 23?
are there any other countries where i can study a bachelor degree in English ? I really wanna start in fall 2024.

My grades are the following ;
FRENCH Writing : 12
French speaking : 7 ( terrible )
Sciences : 11
History and geography : 15
Maths : 6. ( ı regret it I didn’t know that maths were that important and were a selection criteria im most universities )
Social and economical sciences : 11
English : 19
Spanish : 18
Philosophy : 15.

I have passed the SAT MATHS and i have scored 800.
Do i have options in Europe? Online undergraduate degrees?
In terms of budget I dont have that much since i will be self-financing. Probably 7k.
Thank you so much for your answers.
And by the way i got rejected from every jobs at the last stage because i dont have a university degree. I have a passion for aviation so i would love to work in the office in an airline company.

Please I REALLY need some guidance and help because it starts to consume me from the inside. I REALLY wanna study abroad.

Take care
Kind regards

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I’m not familiar with your grading system, where you list a 6-19. Is this from high school? College?

The SAT has English and Math, up to 800 for each, so I’m not sure that you’ve listed the correct test. You take an SAT in a testing center, and you would get a score for both English and Math, up to 800 each. It is only relevant if you haven’t yet started college; if you’ve already begun college, you’re a transfer student. It sounds as if you already began undergraduate, with a track not available here - in the US, you first get a 4 year bachelor’s degree, and then you go to 3 years of law school.

From what you describe, I would say that your best bet in the US would be to apply to a not very selective, relatively inexpensive public college. You would then need to prove that you have the money to support yourself AND pay for tuition in the US, without working here, which would be illegal for you. So you would need a bare minimum of $15K/yr, for 4 yrs, for the absolute cheapest state college, and probably more than that, that you would have to prove you had beforehand, or that a family member can prove that they have on hand and would be giving you, in order to get a student visa.

It’s not that it’s too late to start an undergrad degree in the US. It’s that you don’t seem to have the resources. Assuming that you are an EU citizen (you say you were born in France), then the cheapest place for you to study would surely be in the EU.

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Here is the link to the OP’s thread from the Spring: Past mistakes affecting my present and future [in France]

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I do not think that I have a solution for you. I do have one thing for you to think about. I am assuming that you have French citizenship.

Universities in Quebec give a significant tuition break to citizens of France. There are a number of French language universities in Quebec that I do not know much about. However, the University of Montreal is quite good (and relatively large). There are quite a few others that you could look at (eg UQAM, U. de Sherbrooke, …).

There are three English language universities in Quebec that you might want to consider. McGill is the best known. It is large, academically very challenging, and difficult for admissions. Concordia is just up the street from McGill and is also very good. Bishop’s University is a small English language university in Lennoxville, which I think is now considered to be part of Sherbrooke. Lennoxville appears to be almost completely bilingual (although there may be a few students at Bishop’s who only speak English). Two of my relatives graduated from Bishop’s and both speak highly of the school. There is talk of requiring some minimal proficiency in French to graduate from the English language universities in Quebec, but it sounds like this will not be a problem at all in your case.

All of these universities will give a significant price break for citizens of France. However, I do not know whether any will meet your price point. You will still need to pay something.

Also, the University of Ottawa is officially bilingual, and gives a tuition break for bilingual students.

In terms of bullying due to sexuality, I do not know much about it. I do know however that gay marriage has been legal in Canada for a very long time. The first gay marriage to be eventually officially approved by any major country in the world occurred in Canada. Admittedly this happened because some parts of Canada have a strange system where you first publicly announce the intention to marry, then get married, and then get a marriage license. There was a church that catered specifically to gay men. They had two men publicly announce their intention to marry, then they got married, then then went to get a license. The license clerk said approximately “I do not know what to do, you might need to take this to court”. They took it to court, and eventually the Canadian court system decided that their marriage was legitimate (back dated to when the ceremony had occurred) and the laws were written to allow this. We might note however that before the marriage took place there was enough publicity that the Governor General of Canada sent the couple a public and kindly worded letter supporting their marriage and expressing best wishes. I have some relatively conservative Canadian relatives (including at least one family that is too conservative to drink alcoholic beverages) and none of them would question the fact that of course gay and lesbian marriage should be legal – this is an issue for the couple and maybe for the church, and not for the government to care about.

No. You are not too late.

I think that universities in Quebec are worth at least considering. You may be running up against application deadlines. In my experience many universities in Canada do sometimes allow late applications on a “space available” basis, although whether space will be available for fall 2024 I do not know.

One other issue: Changing majors at universities in Canada is generally speaking similar to changing majors at universities in the US, in the sense that over here in North America it is very common for students to change their major. One daughter got her bachelor’s degree in Canada. She changed her major after her freshman year. In her case the new major was very different so that she had to take 4 lab courses at the same time to catch up, but this turned out to not be a problem at all for her.

By the way, I do not know how to interpret your grades in the European system. Universities in Canada will know how to interpret them. As I mentioned in your earlier thread, there is also the possibility of starting at CEGEP (basically junior college) in Quebec.

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Hello! Our grading system is between 1-20. 20 is the highest score which is I guess a 4 gpa in the subject and 1 meaning 0.

The reason why I got 6 in maths in high school was due to the horrible high school experience I had. But after studying for months; I took the SAT and scored a perfect score in maths and an average one in English; with a total of 1320.

For the past years I have been traveling around the world a lot; living for a short period of time in multiple countries. I have; somehow; a kind of experience that I can’t show through academics but maybe through interviews. I feel like; due to my terrible high school experience and grades I’m
Stuck for my whole life. University degree is something that I need, I keep getting socially bullied because of that.

My average grade for the university entrance exam
(Equivalent to the SAT) is 11,97 which is same as 2,9GPA or 1100 SAT. Do you guys think these universities will accept me? I think a few years ago I have applied to the most remote cegep in Quebec and got rejected.

I do have French citizenship
I think financially it will be difficult to support myself alone in the United States. And if the opposite; which universities are you guys recommending?
Maybe I can apply to European universities; but they still require a high score or very nice high school transcripts right?

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What have you been doing since May when you posted your other thread?

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I have been studying for the SAT; traveled in South America. Passed the SAT two times and scored a perfect score.

This university thing is killing me from
The inside since a long time. I really wanna start. Is it a shame to start at 23 years old? I feel terrivle

Also, i was browsing the university of Ottawa. Is it possible to apply to their history or French studies program with my grades ?

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The SAT is a test designed for students to take during high school, not many years after HS graduation. Perhaps someone else can comment on whether colleges will consider the timing of your SAT testing. @MYOS1634 perhaps?

And for the record…the SAT does not have a “passing score”.

All that being said, you aren’t the first person to start college at age 23 or even older. What you need to find is an affordable college, where you have a good chance of acceptance, and get going.

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But how can I get out of this loop. I can’t take the time back. I have failed my high school; because of my lack of contribution and toxic environment. I feel like I’m stuck. That I’m not able to enter any college because of my high school grades; and even if I make/take the step to get a perfect score in math SAT it still doesn’t work.

What can I do…

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There must be some college where you can enroll. Unfortunately, i don’t know anything about non-traditional students in France, but hoping @MYOS1634 will contribute.

If you want to do this, there likely is a way for it to happen!

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The idea of applying for college in Quebec province, which includes Montreal, is an excellent one. Quebec is encouraging French speakers, from France, to come for college, probably hoping that they’ll stay and improve the balance of French speakers.

McGill is very selective, but Concordia is not. This is a really good option. Tuition will be relatively cheap (although still more than you can afford), and Canada is easier, immigration wise, than the US. However, instruction is in English, and frankly, Canada is just very similar to the US. You could get your education, start a life, and even immigrate to the US from Canada, possibly, if you were to find a US based job that would sponsor you.

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I would love to attend university of Montreal or Ottawa. What are my shots on that?

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Not to mention that they ask transcripts of the last two years of high schools. And transcripts are including remarks from professors (grades and behaviors in class)

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UQAM is a strong possibility in addition to UdeM.
Sherbrooke and UQTR are 2 others that are worth applying to. Both cities would be cheaper than Montréal.

Each program is likely to have a Cote-R indicated - look for programs with 20-24 Cote-R. Your 11.97 is likely 22-23 so you could apply to 1 23 or 24 coteR program, 1 22, and one lower (uQAM allows you to apply to 3 programs I think).

Apply to a MAJEURE.

Ottawa would love to have you in the bilingual stream as long as you apply to a program without any math. You’d get a discount, too. But Quebec universities would be cheaper.

You can apply to Bishop’s and submit your SAT score.

But if you’re worried about your bac grades, attend a CEGEP for 2 years - it’s entirely FREE for French citizens and while most students are 17-21, a large percentage are returning adults trying to upgrade or change careers. Then university admission depends SOLELY on your R-rank, or “cote R”, ie., GPA at the CEGEP. Basically you get a free 2-year do-over and whatever you did in lycée is erased. You’re only considered on the basis of that Cote-R. Entirely up to you to be the best and do as well as you feel you can.
If you apply to any cegep (or university) program that requires math, you should submit your SAT score for the math score as an example of what you’re capable of v. Bac math grade.

11 in the bac = roughly 22 cote R. The most selective programs, such as medicine, would require 32-33 coteR (but medicine requires you to be a Canadian citizen).
So if you think you could get 14 now, that’d be aiming for ~28 Cote-R and keeping ALL programs open to you.
Cegeps also offer 3-year programs that lead to a degree with direct job opportunities. Some programs are called “ATE”, ie., with co-ops or avec alternance travail/études - after a year, you’re paid to work for a company that sponsors your studies.
You could pick Economics with Math (PreU) or a Dec Technique with a Management or Business concentration.

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Beside of my bac grades; im worried about the required documents. They are asking transcripts from la Premiere and Terminale. Which in all of them; I have bad professor reviews. Are they asking for these transcripts … or?

What are my options in Europe?
Is studying a degree in Europe a better choice and if yes which country?

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The advantage with Québec is the do-over at CEGEP - it’s free, you get a degree, you can continue on to equivalent L3 if you wish. Should be perfect for you.

If you apply to a Quebec university directly yes they’ll look at your 1e and Terminale bulletins but if you choose UQAM (or UdeM or UQTR or UQC or UQO or Sherbrooke) programs with a Cote-R 22 or thereabouts you’ll be admitted. In fact if you’re 23 they may have a special process for “mature applicants”.

If I were you, since there are some Feb1 deadlines, I’d send an application to one of the CEGEPs above AND to whatever university programs have deadline in 2 days. (You just need to fill out name address etc and send your transcripts for evaluation).
Cegeps shouldn’t care about the teacher reviews which is why I urge you to apply to one at least.
This sounds like it’d be right up your alley :slight_smile:

In the rest of Europe, you could apply to University of Malta for History&English studies. Classes are in English, life there is cool, it’s free for EU citizens. With a Bachelor’s degree you could return to France, do a Masters degree, or anywhere else.

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Thank you! I’ll do that tomorrow. What about; applying to programs in France. Let’s be realistic; i know some factors are urging me to leave; it’s terrible to live in France as a gay. But what about if I apply to Paris Sorbonne for non competitive programs through parcoursup? I do have an address in Paris. Or any other cities.

I’ll consider Malta for sure!
And also; all of them are asking for transcripts right? Transcripts means the results paper from the bac or all the bulletins from
High school? I can’t believe I’m considered as a mature applicant it breaks my heart to be that late.

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Apologies; also; can I still have access to good masters with an undergraduate degree of history or philosophy? It’s not that im criticizing these degrees but I would like to enter airline management in the future. And with good grades can I also apply to good universities in the US for masters ?

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Access to good masters would depend on your grades, access to honours, etc.

My advice would be to start looking at the various programs in cegeps, especially sciences humaines/avec maths and Histoire&Civilisation.

Assuming you do better than for your bac it’d open all doors in Canada (including McGill and Concordia). You’ve been asking for a do-over: here’s one. And it’s free.

At UQAM you could combine Majeure Histoire with PPE or American studies.

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But if you want to enter Airline Management, you should study… Management. For that you MUST go through a CEGEP. Either the 2 year social science programs with math like the one above or the 3-year Techniques de gestion program.
Here are more:
https://www.cegep-heritage.qc.ca/

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Thank you so much!
What about the options in France as said above. Such as the Sorbonne ?