Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris, France 2025: "One of the best times of my student life"

Preparation

My experiences from the semester abroad in France may differ from those of other students. Due to my work as a student assistant at the Viadrina International Office, I may have been better informed about the application procedures. However, if you look at the website and the information sheets of the International Office, you will get enough information.

I personally applied to SciencesPo Paris in the second round. I received the acceptance letter from Viadrina within the next few days. When applying, you have to prove your language skills in either English (C1) or French (at least B2). It is highly recommended to look into the study programmes at SciencesPo. Sciences Po is one of the best universities not only in France, but in the whole of Europe and offers numerous Bachelor's and Master's programmes. You can find more information about the degree programme below.

In October 2024, I received an email with a link to the Sciences Po application portal. As with the application to Viadrina, you also have to submit your letter of motivation and CV to Sciences Po along with other documents. Here you should go into detail about which "Master School" you would like to study at and which courses you would like to take. It was interesting that a SciencesPo employee called me at the beginning of November and asked me a few questions about the letter of motivation. She pointed out to me that my desired programme did not match the Master's school I had specified and recommended that I change Master's schools. It was therefore very helpful that she contacted me and corrected this mistake. Personally, I will recommend visiting the website of each "Master School" and getting detailed information about the programmes offered.

In mid-November, I received an official acceptance letter from SciencesPo. I was thus enrolled at SciencesPo for the spring semester 2025. As I already had a certificate of enrolment, I was able to start the visa process. Note: The visa is required for non-EU citizens. If you come from an EU country, you do not have to deal with this. To apply for the visa, you have to submit all the necessary documents online and book an appointment to hand in the documents at the French Consulate General in Frankfurt am Main (not at the embassy in Berlin). I had a very positive impression of the consulate. I had made a small mistake when filling in the form online, but the employee gave me enough time to make a new appointment on site. I needed a copy of all pages of my passport (not just the personal information page) and they allowed me to submit it later via email. Since I have a scholarship from a German foundation, I was exempted from the visa fees. However, I had to travel to Frankfurt again after a month to get the visa. The consulate offers the option of sending the visa by post. I was not informed about this, so I did not consider this option. However, I will recommend using this option to reduce travelling costs.

The spring term at SciencesPo starts at the end of January. Before the start, there is a week of information events, like the Orientation week at Viadrina. However, unlike Viadrina, participation in this Orientation week was not free of charge. The participation fee was around 350 euros, which I thought was too high, which is why I didn't register. I later realised that this week was a good opportunity to make new contacts and get to know people. I personally missed that later on. However, there were other opportunities to make new friends during the semester. There was also a compulsory information event for all exchange students. At this event, the SciencesPo staff presented some of the rules, such as compulsory attendance. Student initiatives also provided information about their associations and future events. Finally, SciencesPo has a buddy programme. You receive an e-mail with the form for this programme. Later, SciencesPo will try to select a buddy based on your wishes. The buddy will contact you later by e-mail.

Accommodation

Finding accommodation is perhaps the most difficult part of organising a semester abroad in Paris. Due to the high demand, it is difficult to find affordable accommodation. As my friend is French and from Paris, she helped me with the search. That's how I found out that one of her friends wanted to rent out her flat in the 19th arrondissement. That was a great relief for me. That's why I would recommend first finding out information from your personal network, e.g. from friends and family or via the Franco-German Youth Organisation.

If it doesn't work through acquaintances, there are many websites where you can apply for a room or a flat. Before I found the flat through my friend, I applied for accommodation at the Studentenwerk Paris. It took several months to process the application and after I got the flat, I forgot about it. About two months after the start of the semester, I received an email saying that there was no possibility. Although it didn't work out for me, I would recommend submitting an application. It worked for a fellow student of mine who arrived in Paris a semester earlier. It was cheaper than renting a room in a shared flat, but she had to share her room with another student. It's best to submit your application to the Studentenwerk as early as possible, even if you don't have a confirmation from SciencesPo. You can submit this certificate later. There is also the "Maison Heinrich Heine" hall of residence, which is primarily aimed at students from Germany. It is worth finding out more about the application criteria. Finally, I would like to recommend the website "La carte des colocs", which is similar to the German "WG-gesucht". This means that you move into a room and share a flat with other people. This can also be interesting if you want to meet new people and improve your French.

As far as the neighbourhood is concerned, I can only recommend avoiding the banlieues. They are outside Paris and it takes about an hour to an hour and a half to get to the university. However, I must say that Paris has an excellent metro network and you can reach all parts of the city and the banlieues.

Studying at the host university

As I am studying for a Master's degree in European Studies, I am particularly familiar with the Master's programmes at SciencesPo. There are a total of seven "schools" for the Master's programme, which can be compared to the Faculty in Germany. Each Master's school offers many overarching programmes, but with different focuses. As I would like to develop a research career in the future, I opted for the "Research School". In this school, you are assigned to a discipline (economics, sociology, history, law) depending on your interests. I was bound to the economics programme because of my interest in economics. I was therefore able to register for two seminars in the fourth semester of this Master's programme. To do this, I had to register with the programme secretariat. I found this a bit chaotic, as I could only complete the registration after communicating with several contact points. If you are not sure how to register for the courses of the enrolled programme, it is best to contact the International Office of SciencesPo.

In addition to the courses of the registered programme, there is another possibility to attend a maximum of two courses from the "Common Academic Curriculum" programme. This is a compulsory module for Master's students from SciencesPo. In this programme, courses from your own and other schools are offered. The core idea is that you gain insights into other disciplines during your studies. In general, there are two types of courses in this module, namely introductory and in-depth courses. However, I found that the two courses do not require any prior knowledge and you can register if you are interested. These courses were lectures and we had to write two essays for one course and take two multiple-choice tests and write a research proposal for the other course.

The everyday life at the university is very similar to studying at the Viadrina. Courses take place once a week. Attendance is compulsory and you are only allowed to be absent twice. A doctor's certificate must be submitted in the event of illness. However, attendance is not monitored in all courses. Professors usually let students know in the first session whether attendance is important to them and whether they should sign the attendance list.

SciencesPo offers language courses free of charge. There are more than ten languages available and sometimes there are several dates during the week. However, registration for the language courses was not opened to foreign students until later, so the choice of dates was much smaller. In addition, some language courses were already full, so it was not possible to enrol. From my experience, I can say that you can find a place on a French course. There are different levels from A1 to C2 on offer.

There are various options for lunch. In every university building there is a room with a microwave so that you can heat up your own food. You can also buy sandwiches in the university cafeteria. There are also canteens run by the Paris Student Union. The meal costs around 3.70 euros and includes salad, fruit, a hot dish and a piece of bread. I can recommend the canteen in the university building opposite Sciences Po in Rue des Saints Pères.

I found the communication with the staff at Sciences Po exemplary. The International Office responds to emails within a day and always endeavours to be helpful. In the event of technical difficulties with access to the library, the technical team solved the problem with the card very quickly. There are several contact points on campus, such as the Point Service at the Viadrina, which you can turn to if you have any questions.

Everyday life and leisure

The cost of living in Paris is high. I personally had to reckon with 1,300 to 1,400 euros per month. The biggest expense category is accommodation, closely followed by food. There are a number of different supermarkets and discount stores for food. I mainly shopped at Auchan because of the large selection and the proximity to my flat. However, there are also Lidl and Aldi, where you may find cheaper prices. However, they are not represented in every arrondissement and offer a smaller selection of groceries.

In Paris, you can travel everywhere by metro. In return, you can take out a monthly membership with the RATP. Students under the age of 26 who are enrolled at Parisian universities can apply for a student discount for annual membership, the so-called Forfait Imagine R. This means you pay around 45 euros per month, half the normal price. However, you will need a French SIM card to purchase this ticket, which you can buy online in advance or anywhere in Paris. You can cancel your membership at the end of your stay in Paris.

Paris is characterised by its valuable cultural heritage. There are a large number of museums, cinemas, theatres, libraries and other cultural spaces. If you are under 26 years old or a student, you get free access to these cultural spaces. I can only recommend everyone to take advantage of this offer and benefit from the city's rich cultural programme. In addition to the museums, Paris has many cinemas and theatres. In the cinemas, you can get a ticket for 5.90 euros on weekdays if you are under 26. Between Tuesday and Thursday, you can attend theatre plays for 10 euros. You have to book your ticket in advance by telephone or buy it at the box office one hour before the performance starts. Finally, there are a large number of public libraries in Paris. At SciencesPo, it is often difficult to find a place in the library in the middle of the semester. But you can study in one of the beautiful Parisian libraries, for example in the Salle Ovale of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, in the Bibliothèque d'Hôtel de Ville or in the Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève.

Finally, I would like to draw your attention to the sports programmes offered by SciencesPo. SciencesPo offers sports courses for all levels. You can sign up for one or more courses. They usually take place once a week in one of the sports halls in Paris (not directly at SciencesPo). Registration for the course is subject to a fee and varies between 25 and 50 euros for the whole semester, depending on the sports course.

In addition, there are many libraries in the city of Paris where you can borrow books, magazines and newspapers free of charge. These libraries can be found in every arrondissement of Paris.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I would like to emphasise that my time studying in Paris was one of the best times of my student life. Even though it wasn't a "classic" Erasmus semester with lots of parties, I learnt a lot at SciencesPo and enjoyed the cultural programme. For me, there wasn't just one "best" experience. Every time I entered the Paris Cathedral, Notre-Dame de Paris, and the library "La Salle Ovale", I was overwhelmed by the beauty of these places. When it comes to a negative experience, I remember a situation on the metro. A younger man stopped me with his hand and asked me to give him my bouquet of flowers. After I refused, he walked away. That was just one situation that I don't want to generalise to the whole of Paris. Something like that can also happen in other places.