Education Paris (RLN)

• The educational system in France has its similarities to the U.S. system but is in general much more complicated. They are educated in many of the same subjects but with a more euro-centric focus. The primary educational system is fairly similar to the one in the U.S. in the way that it is structured the main differences in structure occur at the post High School level. Once you have graduated from their version of highschool most people go to some sort of college but their is a huge difference between the kinds of colleges that you can go to. There are normal colleges for which the application process is fairly similar to that of the U.S. however they have their own entrance exams. Besides normal colleges their are two other kinds which more or less fall in to the same category. There are the grandes ecoles and superior colleges for which the entrance process is far more rigorous. These two kinds of categories cause an insular and highly elitist group of private and public sector upper officials since once you are admitted to one you are essentially guarantied an upper position in some form and their students are almost 96% from the upper classes of society. To enter these schools there are several layers of entrance exams and presentations which the students are given around a week to complete leading to an extremely educated but sometimes non-practically educated group of elites. There is no such thing as a liberal arts education here and people generally have a positive view towards attaining higher education but are very skeptical about the grandes ecoles and superior colleges. 

• The institution which I study at in Paris is a branch campus of Boston University therefore the program is overall very similar to colleges in the U.S. Though we are taught by French professors, in French, the kinds of assignments are generally the same. However, since my program is two months of classes and two months for an internship the two months during which we have classes are essentially a compressed semester's worth of work. Therefore, though the work is generally the same, the work load is much higher and and generally leaves for very little free time to see the city. A regular week at BU Paris could consist of a couple of presentations, tests and group projects each and one usually has about 5 hours of class each day.

• Though the system which I was in was very much similar to the U.S. it was much more accelerated. That acceleration will help me manage my time more efficiently once I go back to Allegheny and prepare me for high stress situations that I may encounter in my last year at 'Gheny.