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Planning to continue my studies in France. Any advice?

PamelaGip

Lurker
Hello everyone,

I have just finished my high school and I am planning to continue my studies in France because many of friends and family are suggesting me to go there. Any of you is studying in France? Why I should choose France instead of other European countries? Accommodation in France? Cost of living and and other similar things.

Looking forward for replies.

Thanks
 

Havox

Sword and Martini Guy!
Emeritus Staff
Welcome to MSO! I'd be interested to know if any of our members are from around those parts as most of us are Australian or New Zealanders.
 

Shiri

Member
Hi

I am French and now living in New Caledonia but I hope to study in Australia next year.
First of all what do you want to study? I would guess something related in health since you're posting this on mso such as medecine, dentistry or pharmacy, etc..
-If that's the case then you will have to do a first year of studies in health called PAES which is common to the medical studies, dental, pharmaceutical and midwife (sometimes of physiotherapy). The students pass a contest at the end of the year leading to four classifications.
An example of the chance to get into one of these fields for one of the universities in Paris (Paris V) (2010-2011):(Les chiffres de la PACES)
medicine: 349 for 2384
dentistry : 41 for 770
pharmacy : 191 for 1063
midwife: 29 for 379
scary numbers aren't they but it all depends on the university you choose and this one is one of the most difficult I think but other unis located in smaller cities such as Brest have better quotas (2012 eg: medicine 171 places out of 559). After you're getting a place in one of those, you'll go to a medical school or dental school etc.. and pursue your studies! Oh also be ready to be sometimes like in the jungle in this first year because in general lessons (eg: chemistry), you are with 800 other students for only one teacher in the amphitheater, you better get good friends to study with and be independent because it will be hard to ask your professor's some help. (This is according to my brother experience in med)
If you want to study in another field such as art, business,etc you will not need to do anything like that but I guess medicine (or health related) is one of the hardest to get into like anywhere else in the world !Some French prefer to study in Belgium or in Romania since it is easier to be accepted into medecine and then come back to work in France (because of the European agreement they can). However if you are planning to go back to Australia to work I think you will need to re-sit a lot of exams to practice there.
Apart from that I don't know much about the other European countries.
-For accommodation, it is quite similar to Australia, you can find on Campus accommodation (usually called cite U) for students or you can share a flat with someone etc..
-Cost of living, depends a lot on where you want to stay, there is a huge difference between Paris (again!) and Lille but overall I would say a bit cheaper than in Australia (since euro is going down compared to AUS dollars). Take note that in France studies are free for everyone (not sure at 100% for international) we just have to pay uni fees (for public from 200 to 300 dollars/year)
-Can you speak French? Most courses at uni are in French and I believe most French are quite chauvinistic and won't make a lot of effort to speak English but everyone is different and you can meet nice people who will be happy to do!

Thanks for reading this huge post, I hope I did not scare you haha good luck and do not hesitate if you have further questions!
PS: Sorry if I made some mistakes,it is getting late and I am still learning English!
PS2: for medicine I found most information on wiki Medical school in France - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
Nice post, Shiri. I left France a long time ago, but it seems nothing's changed. Yes, medicine in France is very competitive. In the first year of studies, you can expect 30 to 35 contact hours, and being fluent in French is highly desirable, to say the least. There are no or only nominal tuition fees, but the cost of living can be very high. Paris is the worst. The exam at the end of the first year is horrendous and many students pay exorbitant fees for private lessons/courses, but I think this is actually helpful, given the difficulty of the exam. I think you need to join a study group, otherwise you can easily loose focus. Having said that, it is feasible, I have friends who got in but be prepared to study night and day, if this is what you really want do. Good luck and feel free to ask more questions. Cheers.
 

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