<p>I’m at Sciences Po and I’ll say that the points enviropol makes are good. BUT… they really only apply to PSIA (the Paris School of International Affairs). PSIA is a relatively new school within Sciences Po. And its huge (1500 students or something). They mix graduate and undergraduate students in very large (lecture-based) classes and, as enviropol pointed out, the style can be a bit… distant (at least from an American’s perspective). </p>
<p>BUT… there is a BIG difference between the PSIA program and the Master of Public Affairs (MPA). The MPA is small and highly selective. It only admits about 40 students a year, but the experience is simply but MUCH better. The MPA costs more – 24,500 Euros vs. 13000 or something for PSIA – but as is always the case in life, you get what you pay for. Definitely do your homework before you make a choice. PSIA is huge–and it has a much larger selection of courses. But the MPA treats you like an adult (that is appropriate since you need to have a few years of working experience before you apply to the program). </p>
Might somebody have an…anecdote…to the comments above? Does enviropol’s story about PSIA’s Master in Environmental Policy - a degree I discounted when I found multiple typos on their homepage - actually apply to all of PSIA’s degrees? I have to think the answer is no. If you look at, say, the Master in International Energy homepage, it looks much more organized and professional, and they’ve even got a MOOC available with professors that really seem to know their material.
I’m very curious to hear any thoughts on this, thanks everyone.
It seems there’s some exaggeration. Also, does PSIA really mix graduate and undergraduate students to a high degree, or are there simply a few undergraduates thrown into a majority-graduate-student classroom?
Enviropol’s comments were posted almost two years ago, and as a current student at PSIA, I can confirm that, unfortunately, little has changed. I had the choice between LSE and Sciences Po myself a year ago, and I really wish I had chosen differently. PSIA is really not a good school and a lot of students here are extremely disappointed. This is especially true for those coming from American and English universities.
I second most of Enviropol’s sentiments, especially the point about classes and professors sounding amazing on paper, but that the reality is often something completely different. I truly miss feeling like I’m in an academic environment here. There is absolutely no interaction with professors, and assessments and assignments are extremely arbitrary and out of line with what I would call minimum academic standards. The administration (Salamé and Scherrer) are extremely unreceptive to feedback and there is a lot of blame-shifting going on (“this is the French system”, “this is Sciences Po”), so I don’t think things will improve any time soon.
I was very close to dropping out of PSIA few weeks after I came, but I didn’t have a back up plan so I decided to stick with it. I regret this today because I really feel like I could have learnt so much more in a masters programme. I also somehow convinced myself that things would get better. If you’re thinking about coming to PSIA, I would strongly advice you to consider other alternatives.
That’s so unfortunate. Berger, would you say this is the case for all of PSIA’s masters? I’ve applied to their Master in International Energy, which (unlike the Master in Environment Sciences, which has typos on its homepage), at least passes the first-impression test. I just finished a MOOC taught by Giacomo Luciani, who’s the program head, and can say it was decent for a purely information-transfer course.
I’m also curious, is it true that you’re drowning in silly assignments? All grad students in the US seem to be overwhelmed with work, and many say it’s of the type that goes in one ear, out the other. That includes SAIS and Fletcher students.
Thanks a lot! This is truly, truly useful info.
RS
The curriculum at PSIA is very broad, so only three out of your 7-8 courses will actually be in your programme (i.e. related to energy). In addition to these three courses, you take one course in each of your two concentrations, a “fundamentals” course, a “skills” course, a language course and possibly an optional course. Hence, depending on what you concentrate in, you may end up taking more courses with someone in a different programme. Again, to reinforce my point, this curriculum looks “good on paper”, but in reality, it becomes a very shallow course of study with very little coherence and specialization. In the first semester, most are lecture courses with 100+ students and no seminar option, meaning that you spend your day going from auditorium to auditorium listening to the professor, but having no real interaction at all. Apart from the fact that you’re in the same room as the professor, it’s really a bit like doing a MOOC…
I do learn things, but I feel like many of the courses here could have been way more profound and specialised. In some of them, you merely scratch the surface of the topic. The curriculum is so broad and people from so many different master programmes take the same courses (as a “master course”, a “concentration” or an “option”), making it all a bit introductory. With the number of assignments to hand in, there is also little time to read the books and journal articles assigned (and indeed, little incentive to do so, since there’s no discussion and little reference to the reading). I’m in my second semester now and most courses are 25-35 students, but again, the professors don’t emphasize any discussion or active engagement with the reading. I’m sure US schools aren’t perfect either, but I feel like PSIA is way out of line in so many respects.
I will be attending the Dual Undergrad Degree with Sciences Po Paris and UBC (B.A./B.Com) at the Reims campus (Euro/American Relations). Reading your reviews and experiences makes me quite nervous about the Sciences Po system. Do you believe the undergrad experience would be just as lacklustre, even if it is at the Reims campus? I too am coming from the Anglo educational system (Canada) so believe that your opinions and experiences would relate most closely with my own. Thanks a lot for any input you have.
Bergur, I forgot to say thanks for the clarifications in your last post. I’m still debating between school, but thanks to you all (and alumni I’ve contacted on Facebook - fyi, this is a great way to learn about programs, Sci Po and many other Euro schools’ students associations are based on Fb so you can easily find students/alums) I would be going with very realistic academic expectations. For what it’s worth, I spoke with a professor at PSIA who confirmed that the admin, at least at PSIA, is a shitshow, but says the classes in a select few masters, such as International Energy, are worthwhile.
On a remarkably unprofessional note, Sciences Po has delayed my admissions response date! From “no later than May 7” on April 16 to “around Mid May 2015” on April 22. I have never heard of another school at any level, let alone a graduate school, doing this.
I’m a french student, but I’ve been living and studying in the US during the 5 last years ; last year, I was admitted to PSIA for the master in environmental policy, I choose to go because I had not enough money to pay the tuiton fees in the LSE (where I was admitted as well), and I was quite scared after I read this post. But I’m actually quite satisfied with my master programm. So now I’m back to give some feedback:
The work load is really heavy: you've at least 8 courses + language classes, but I find the quality of the courses really high. Just to give you some examples: I have a class on climate change negociations with the former president of the IPCC, Risk managment with one of the best sociologist working on it, Russian policies with the former French ambassador in Moscow... Also, I think that this might have changed compared to previous years, students now have to speak up in class, to do the (many) readings, and we have really interesting debates. Contrarly to what I read in this post, undergraduates and graduates are never mixed, expect for language classes.
-4 out of 7-8 courses will actually be in your programme (related to enviromental policy). In addition to these four courses, you take one course in each of your two concentrations (usually a regional concentration and a thematic one), a “fundamentals” course (I’ve philosophy of international relations), a “skills” course (basic statistics, you can skip it if you’ve done that before), a language course (I’ve Russian, 4 hours/week) and possibly an optional course(fourth language, methods, public speaking, collective project…). Most of my course (5 out of 8) are seminars with no more than 25 students. 75% of classes are in english, 25% in french, but you can choose only classes in english.
Very often, you've master classes with "celebrities": Aung San Suu Kyi, Jimmy Carter, Al Gore, Karl Lagerfeld, Enrico Letta (he is the new Dean of PSIA), Martin Schulz... just since the beginning of the academic year.
I'd agree with previous comments on the fact that grades are quite arbitrary (especially concerning professionals). Some professors never explain their grading system. But last year, some students made a protest group to talk about it with the administration, and professors now have to give you a detailled feedback if you ask to.
It's really intellectually stimulating to be among such a great student community. You've got student from all over the world, everyone has brilliant projects. There are nearly 200 student associations in Sciences Po.
There is an optional "course" called "collective project" which I find really useful: during one year, you lead a team project together with 3/4 other students for an enterprise or an international organisation (World bank, UNESCO, OCDE, Areva, City of Paris, Mac Donalds and many more). I really learn a lot from it, you meet highly qualified professionals in your field... The mission I choose is to organize an international conference presenting climate change issues to professionals from the public sector.
Paris is a very nice city, but the rents are VERY high, I had to go in the suburb (30 mn train from the university). Apart from that, the cultural life is very rich and quite cheap (museums are free for everyone under 25, some theaters as well, cinema is quite cheap (5-6 euros for a ticket in "cinéma d'auteur") and the food is amazing (I've missed it :P))
Don’t hesitate to contact me if you need any informations !
Hi EnviPol2015, I am a prospective student, wishing to go to Science Po, PSIA to pursue my Master in International Energy. I come from India and have a bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering. I wanted to get some insight into the application process and the programmes at PSIA. Let me know, if you can help me out.
Thanks.
