Hi Everyone, so I am currently entering my sophomore year as a UCSB student, and am planning on study abroad my junior year through UCEAP. My first choice originally was France, as I love the culture and the people, and would like to further improve my language skills (I studied abroad there in high school actually, junior year as well ironically) so that I could be entirely fluent. The specific program I would be looking at would be in Lyon http://eap.ucop.edu/OurPrograms/france/Pages/univ_of_lyon.aspx , Pre-ILP + Year. I have heard many wonderful things about Lyon, however my research online has led me to question the university system of France itself. The common theme is that the they are severely underfunded, the professors don’t give a two rats about their students, the adminstration is a nightmare, the failure/dropout rates are quite high, and it feels like being in machine. Examples:
Even when I was in France in highschool, tossing around the idea with my friends that I might possibly come back to study here [France] for university, they were quick to tell me “No you don’t want to come here! French universities are ****! The professors won’t care about you as an American, they already have too many French students as it is”
Does anyone here have experience with the French university system first-hand? Would it really be that bad considering I’m only intending to stay there for a year? Again, France is far beyond my first choice (by the end of my first year it felt much to be my second home. I would love to be able to experience a new region considering I was in Normandy before). After all, it would be the only country I could do an immersion program in (meaning=take all classes in native language). Is it really as bad as the doomsayers claim?
If so, how about Sweden? I’ve heard only great things about Lund University and the Swedish system, and best of all the people and culture are very welcoming to especially foreigners. I already know basic Swedish (and sitll learning), I love the cold, and always was curious about Scandinavia. The Swedish program for our school is listed here http://eap.ucop.edu/OurPrograms/sweden/Pages/lund_univ.aspx . I’d be really appreciative if anyone with experience of either the French or Swedish system could help me out here! Thanks!
Hi Purpletitan, I just looked into it, though the problem with it is that it is only a “Language and Culture” program with other UC students. My aim is to do full immersion in a French university with other french students (taking all my classes in French as well). The Lyon ILP + Year program includes a summer in Paris, anyways, I think at the UC Center.
How would the UC translate your grades? If you care about your GPA (for grad school or maybe jobs) and they don’t ignore the grades, I would not advise going through another university system. Assume worse case if you do go that route.
Life is about trade-offs and you can’t get everything you want.
That is a very good question and I am going to find that out. One of the documents on their website stated this:
"
Host institutions maintain their own academic records and follow their own grading practices, which differ from those of the UC system. UCEAP maintains its own UC student records of courses, units, and grades.
The grades you receive from your host institution may or may not be your final UC grades. UCEAP converts coursework taken abroad into UC courses, units, and grades, so your UC transcript is the complete and only official record for UCEAP.
Host university transcripts are not provided to students by UCEAP because in the conversion to UC credit, the course titles, units, and grades may be represented differently from those of the host university. The presence of a host university transcript would represent a duplication of the UCEAP coursework on your official UC transcript.
Host institution grading scales are not necessarily applied in awarding UCEAP grades. To determine UC grades, UCEAP uses host institution grades and, where applicable, other aspects of your academic work, which may include attendance, distribution of class scores, and narrative evaluations given by host institution faculty. At some host institutions, where the curricula and grading practices are similar to UC’s, the grades reported do not require any conversion or amendment."
Thus I should probably go into their office and ask in fall quarter. I do remember the girl at the office saying (when I expressed interest in going right before summer break) that I won’t need to fear a gpa risk as in general students in the French program tend to on average raise their gpa while abroad. Details would be nice though !
The UCSB EAP office can probably put you in touch with someone who knows specifics about the French university system and maybe students who have recently done study abroad in France. I’ve heard that the French university system is very stratified, so you would probably be better off at one of the top universities. We have a friend who is an accomplished researcher and wins international awards. However, he has tenure or whatever they have at a 2nd tier university and gets very little recognition there but can’t transfer and it is difficult for him to get grants because of the 2nd tier location. He is somewhat bitter about the whole thing.
Also, the UCSB EAP office website says, “Our summer hours are Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday 9:30am-4pm, and Friday 9:30am-2pm.”
If you’re still looking at Lund, I’d definitely recommend it - it’s a really nice student town and a really good option if you want to go to Scandinavia.
Regarding France, it really depends on what and where you study. There is a 2-tier university system. On the one hand, there are the “facs” like the Sorbonne. You are, I believe, talking about these: they are diploma mills in the worst sense, though even there, you can find exceptions of excellence. On the other hand, there are subject-specialized grandes ecoles, where French students get in by entrance exams. These run the gamut from “sciences-po” for poli-sci, which I went to as a foreign student, to engineering and lit schools. Sci-po was absolutely excellent, a training ground for the future elite, and I made many connections there that last to this day. Each of these has its own entrance requirements and exchange policies, so you will have to do your homework.
I would encourage you to go to France, if that has been a dream of yours. It was for me, and I am still here.d