Good luck to everyone! I know the first round of interviews are today, and it would be really helpful if those going today could commentate on their experiences. Thank you
One of the big things in the interviews that the Sciences Po administrator will try to do is rile you up. The dean did it with me and for one of my friends who is now in the Berkley program. That is going to be one of the “traps”. Keep your cool, and answer it logically and with reason. If you get a little fired up, thats fine, I definitely did, as long as your do it respectfully. A second test or trap they have, is he will challenge you on a point, and you should stand your ground. For me it was characterization of the international community with a third-first world view. The dean challenged and questioned my use of the terms (which are based on an outdated theory of government). I stood my ground on my use of the terms, and that is a key point.
I will disagree a little bit with one piece of advice that @FalafelHummus and @AllisonNelson said, which is the art about admitting what you do not know. During my interview they asked me at one point about a conference and its effects on the world. They wanted specifics. I only had a tangential idea of what the conference was, but I was not going to let them know that, and I so winged it. I would like to say winging under pressure and formally is one of my strengths, because in this scenario it in fact did work out.
Either way, do research into the program and know about big conflicts that are happening around the world right now and recently. Good Luck!
I was acceoted last year to the Columbia dual program at Menton. I second what @CollegeKidCool said. My interview was intense and the SciPo rep asked tricky questions about the Syrian conflict from “why is Russia so interested in Syria and what do they have there” (by the way Russia has a naval base in Syria) to “solutions to the conflict”. They asked the general questions about why am I interested in the program and so on. The Columbia rep asked about a certain volunteer activity on my application that I mentioned in my essay and why do I think I was chosen for this volunteer position intended for trained teachers when I wasn’t even 17. I stumbled on the naval base question as I had a brain freeze and the SciPo rep gave me hints from which I was able to analyze and draw a correct conclusion as to why they are so interested in the naval base. I cried after the interview thinking I did horrible but my mom was eavesdropping (despite telling her not to) and she thought I did very well. Though I was delighted to be accepted I chose a different college because of the aforementioned cons of the Menton campus. Good luck everyone on your interviews and don’t hesitate to ask any questions as I will be checking this thread daily.
The SciPo rep also asked me to speak in French. I know a little bit of French but certainly not enough to converse in a college interview. I suggested, in French nonetheless, that I am under the interview stress and it is better to hear my French once I improve it in France if accepted to the program (I had prepared this sentence in my head before the interview just in case they ask me to speak in French) but he still insisted to answer him in French. I managed to say that I love France because of the delicious food 
Thanks to all of you for your very interesting and helpful insights!
@Jazatz2 @strive16 I was accepted to the program last year Menton campus. Hit me up if you need to know more about the interview and what they asked. I would be happy to help and good luck
To @student42 and anyone else who got really worried about that long rant against Sciences Po – like @AllisonNelson, I also saw that comment last year and freaked out a bit. But I personally know the 2A who wrote that comment and he is literally – and I am not just saying this to reassure you – the most bitter, pessimistic person I know. (example: he recently picked a fight on Facebook about the fact that we will now have to pay an extra 20 cents at the cafeteria for plastic water bottles; it’s an initiative by Sciences Po Environnement to reduce plastic and help save the Earth.) I hope that helps a bit.
In terms of my experience with Sciences Po, as someone who grew up in the US, I completely agree with everything @AllisonNelson had to say. Don’t go in expecting it to be like an American campus; you won’t have the gym, or the health center, or the career center, or the multiple advisors, or the heated sidewalks, but that’s because you’ll be paying a tuition of 10,000e a year or less instead of $50,000+. The key things are what Sciences Po focuses on – the teachers are exactly the same mix of good and bad as anywhere, and they’re all highly qualified; the academics are definitely rigorous; the buildings are absolutely gorgeous (I’m in Reims in any case, and everything is brand new); there are tons of associations to choose from; and the students who go to school here are all absolutely wonderful, intelligent, fascinating people!
The only other advice I have is from a friend, also in the Dual BA. He would not recommend Sciences Po to people who know they have mental health issues. I understand his concerns because Sciences Po is a French school, and you are expected to figure things out for yourself most of the time. This is fine for most people, and we definitely grow a lot because of it, but college in general is hard, so if you suspect that you will need to see mental health specialists as you adjust to your new life, I would recommend an American college where those ressources will be on campus waiting for you to sign up for them.
Oh, and also - best of luck to all for your interviews! Be prepared to explain why you like the program, why you like the campus that you chose; read the news, esp. for your region of focus; and re-read your essays - they sometimes ask questions about things you said there. If you don’t know the answer to a question, you can say something like, “I don’t know specifically, but I do know that…” and then you say something that’s related to the topic at hand. Expect them to try to destabilize you. And remember that the way you feel about your performance often does not line up with what they thought Bonne chance!
Thanks for sharing @CollegeKidCool ! I wonder if you could elaborate a little bit on how they tried to “rile you up”? Is it like they opposed or even attacked your standing on purpose just to test your bearing? Could you please give an example on that? Thanks!
My interview went well! Don’t worry everyone, you should do great. If anyone wants to know the specific questions they asked, you can message me! They did ask a little about current events and why you wanted to do the program
The interviewers were very nice and were not tricky. They just want to know if you are informed about the schools, programs, and current events.
To add on to a few things said here. I was so scared that they’d make me talk in French, because even though I’m semi-fluent I was afraid I would screw up under pressure, but thankfully they didn’t! I don’t disagree with winging it, I think you should just do wtv you’re most comfortable with. In my case, the SciPo rep asked about some EU conference going on and something the Greek PM said, and I blanked but and said I didn’t know and then he explained it further and I recalled some things I’d read and basically formed a position and it worked. But I don’t think there’s an issue with just saying you don’t know, they know you’re human, they don’t expect you to know everything, this is under pressure, it’s all OK. You can’t mess up more than me mixing up what the Truman Doctrine did during my Princeton interview when I had written my Extended Essay (s/o to my IB peeps) on the Marshall Plan.
@vossari do they ask you specific current events questions about some of the smaller countries? like i’m applying to le havre and I know quite a bit about hong kong, and china but I’m scared they might ask me something about the thailand or something and I have nooo idea what is going on there omg!! and also how current are the issues they ask about? Like events that happened just this year or up to 3 years ago??
and to be clear there aren’t any articles or anything they make you analyze on the spot right?? 
If you chose a virtual interview they will not make you read an article, I am not sure about the in person interview option.
thanks so much! im doing virtual haha
@juliaxa I apologize for causing confusion; you will NOT have to analyze a news article or anything. However, you should all be keeping up with current events and world news, especially those going on in the campus’ region of choice (Asia, Europe, Africa, or Middle East). They could also ask you questions related to your own country (especially if you are something other than French or American), as it’s something SciPo interviewers like to do with their international applicants. For instance, an Indonesian friend of mine was asked about the LGBT movement (homosexuality is illegal in her country), and a Moroccan friend was asked if she thinks Morocco is first French or African. They weren’t dual BA applicants, but it is the sort of thing that the SciPo representative could likely ask.
Also, they take the interview very seriously. I was interviewed by Patrick Martinez (admissions officer in charge of the dual BA program) and Florent Bonaventure (who is the head of the entire Le Havre campus). Personally, I think the interview felt a bit like a good cop, bad cop interrogation. Patrick asked me questions to get to know me better as a person and explore my reasons for choosing this program, while M. Bonaventure was the one asking tricky questions about current events and putting pressure on me for my answers. You really do get a sample of the American and French college interview processes for sure.
To answer your question about country-specific questions, I think they will only ask questions about countries that have been especially prominent in the news (therefore I would highly recommend reading up on the corruption scandal with the Korean president and other major news events in Asia). They’ll probably only focus on recent current events (within the past year). Since you already know a lot about China, you should be fine on that front! They won’t ask country-specific questions unless there has been some kind of major news event relating to it.
@juliaxa depends. In my case they didn’t ask anything about small countries, might have been 1 question on the Asian region but it was mostly Euro-American bc that’s the focus of the program. As I said, no issue if you happen to not know about something they ask, they don’t expect you to be a walking encyclopedia
@juliaxa and no, no articles (at least not last year)
@vossari haha thanks so much for your advice, could i ask which campus you applied to? bc im doing le havre so they will ask me about asian not euro-american relations right? thanks!!