@pr0crastinator Thanks very much for sharing! Your information is really helpful(although it makes me feel quite nervous). And interestingly, I come from China! So hopefully i can get into the dual ba program and i can help you practice Chinese 
So glad I found this thread! I’ve been invited to interview and have my interview on Friday. I was glad to see some numbers here as I wasn’t sure if everyone has an interview or not. I have a friend who is currently in the Dual BA program with Columbia in his first year at Reims. I talked to him yesterday and here are some notes I took (not sure if they’re all in coherent sentences, but I think they make sense!). Some of the notes are more personal, just in case they don’t make sense.
· Starts out very informal
· Goes off into academic, sciences po rep is more academic, Columbia rep is more informal
· They want to see you’re not a freak, have a life outside of academics
· You should guide the interview
· His view: Best thing about program is the people, people from all over the world
· When asked about career goals, push more for politics/diplomacy
o Better if you know what you want to do, can say it might change, but seem passionate about something
o Have to be determined
· Talk about how I like economics, social sciences, sciences po will give me the best foundation in the social sciences
o Atm I can say I think I’ll go into economics at Columbia
o BC of solar energy, my commitment to helping LEDCs (backed up by the Columbia course in summer 2014) I should address issue of energy in developing countries
§ Also in developed world
o How this program will enable me to achieve my goals
· Can mention both my politics passion and energy passion
o This is great as energy is not mentioned in essays, I should try to include things that are not mentioned in my essays so they can get a better view for who I am
o Create a direct connection between the two (politics and energy), such as UN environmental program
o Mention stuff you didn’t necessarily mention in application
· First 2 years are much more in depth than in the US
o Grading is very strict
o You go much more in depth at sciences po (than you would at a typical US uni)
o Everything connects
o Great electives
o Much more structured in method of teaching
o Big advantage of program as you spend 2 years in france, then 2 years in very different system, US ivy league, etc
o Employers love this program, prefer it over normal Columbia
· He was drawn to Dual BA bc:
o He had interest in social sciences, lived in Europe when younger, US when older, so splitting between the two seemed great for him
· You can take classes in French if you want to
· Questions they might ask:
o In one of your essays you talk about your experience with immigrants in Madrid, do you think that played a role in wanting to get into politics?
o You should emphasise key points
· What he did in his interview:
o He had started the environmental club at his school, connected most things back to a passion in helping the environment, but also has a passion for economics
How did the Interview go?
you had yours already? @toune160
@toune160 I think it went well! It didn’t last too long, only 20 minutes, and they asked both personal/informal questions, e.g. about when I lived in Puerto Rico, and also very academic ones, e.g. regarding the EU migrant crisis & US presidential election.
@vossari thx for sharing! were the questions tricky or just general knowledge?
@vossari thank you for being so generous with your sharing. Good luck to you!
@HectoraB no prob The were somewhere in between. The way they phrased them was usually so that you had to explain the situation, so it wasn’t ever tricky, but you had to have read up on the events to know how to answer them well.
@dowzerw no prob Good luck to you too!
Always read CC and finally signed up! I spoke with Patrick Martinez, director of the dual-degree program at Columbia-Sciences Po, few times since Columbia emailed back in the summer inviting me to apply to this program. I asked him specifically about the number of applicants and acceptance rate. He said that they received last year 1000 applications, they enrolled a class of 95 total (about 30 per campus). of the class of 2019, just under half of those 95 students come from the US and the rest are international (including French). Only the finalists get invited for an interview. It is quite impressive to have an interview. A current student said they accept more than half the finalists and they do have a waiting list too. They are expecting more applicants for this year though.
@vossari thank you for sharing your interview experience. I will share mine in a week Hopefully it will go well.
@HectoraB @toune160 @randomhaus @frenchyjr please share some insight if you already had your interview.
Good luck to all!
I’m having my interview tomorrow, hope it goes well. Good luck to all and thank you for those who’ve shared their experiences. It helps a lot.
@DualDegreeSeeker thanks for sharing those stats! It’s great to have some numbers to know where I stand and how competitive it is. I’m impressed at how difficult it is to get an interview. Good luck to you with your interview and application!
I’m having my interview next monday. hope it goes well. And also good luck to everyone else!
@HectoraB good luck!
@toune160 how did your interview go?
Anyone applying to Menton? I heard the French interviewer for Menton is a stickler and grills you about the current events in the Middle East.
@DualDegreeSeeker I’ve heard the same and will have my interview for Menton Tuesday.
Hey guys, I had my interview a couple days ago. I think it went alright, though I was extremely nervous… To be honest, there was no way to prepare for it other than knowing how to describe yourself shortly and why you applied. It’s really stuff that you either know, or you don’t, and since you all got the interview, you probably do (so do not worry at all). The personal questions I got were: “Tell us a little about yourself and why you applied.” and “What interests you about the curriculum in Columbia”. Then the rep from Sciences Po asked me if I had any political or economic interests and what political or economic interests had particularly marked me in the past. After each answer he’d ask me a follow up question. For example, I said that I was keeping up to date with the war in Syria, and he asked me to elaborate on the US’s position in that war / their role. I also said I was interested in the US 2016 elections and he asked me the differences I saw between French elections / politics and US elections / politics. The interview lasted exactly 26:31.
I cannot stress this enough: there is absolutely no need for you to be nervous. If I don’t get in, I think its because I didn’t follow my own advice and spaced out on 1 or 2 questions as a result. So don’t worry. And remember, these guys aren’t trying to break you, so just tell them if you don’t remember or have to start your answer over. They’re just trying to see if you keep up with current events, and are who you say you are in your essays.
Btw I think I had the guy from Menton, and he was really nice! He just was interested in what I knew a lot. Good luck!!!
@toune160 thanks for sharing. I’m actually having my interview in one hour! It’s really helpful to know how will the interview start. Hope everything goes well. Good luck to you!
Hey guys! I’m a French applicant and I have my interview tomorrow. Thanks for sharing your experiences, it really helps. @HectoraB would you mind telling us a bit about how your interview went? Good luck to you all 
So glad I finished my interview, such a relief! I think it went well, not as difficult or intense as I expected. One of my interviewers is Mr.Patrick Martinez(the one who send us all the emails) and the other one was the dean of Reims. The dean was very nice, she smiles a lot, which really eased my nerves. The interview started off by asking me to introduce myself and why do I want to go to this program. Then continued with some very basic questions that you would expect from regular college interviews, like why are you a good fit, future plans and career goal etc. One thing that surprised me was that they didn’t spent much time on current affairs. Actually the only question they asked me was about what’s going on nowadays in europe. No questions about my area of focus, the US. I don’t know if they forget or what. The last part was for me to ask them questions. It last for 20 minutes sharp, which is much shorter than I expected.
So from what I gather, it’s important to:
– Think about why do you choose this program over regular undergrad programs with studying abroad. (Why is it so special and how does it cater to your needs)
– RELAX! there is no need to be nervous. the interviewers don’t mean crush you or give you a hard time. I guess they just want to make sure that you are the person in the application essays, and that you have a basic understanding of what’s going on in the world.
So hope this is useful and good luck to you all!!