<p>I am European, but I did my undergraduate degree in the US. I got admitted to the Master in European Affairs (English Track) at Sciences Po, which is a great program considering my career interest - work for the EU. However, I am very concerned about enrolling in Sciences Po with my poor French skills. While academically this should not be an issue (since the program is in English), I am very VERY worried that my bad French:
- will screw up my social life and I'll have a hard time making friends
- will make it harder to find a student job (which I will need to support myself)
- will prevent me from taking advantage of the university's resources (for example, the fact that the career website is only in French raises a red flag!)</p>
<p>In short, I am quite worried that having no French will basically impede me from functioning normally.So I was hoping that any of you who have studied at Sciences Po or have otherwise gathered impressions about the school could address some of my concerns. Am I overworrying or are my concerns legitimate?</p>
<p>Really any info/insight would be sooo welcome :)</p>
<p>Don’t sweat it. Everyone can speak english in this day and age and you could use the year (or two) to learn the language. I imagine most of your classmates will speak english and a bunch of people in France and the rest of Europe already speak english,</p>
<p>Yeah, just take a French class while you are there if you can and you’ll be fine, especially since you will be there a while in order to finish your degree. Also remember there will likely be plenty of students that don’t speak French either. Also remember if you do want to work for the EU it may be a good idea to learn French anyway…it’s a fun language! Bonne chance!</p>
<p>If you are like me, you will socialize mostly with other international students at first but you can branch out once your language skills improve. </p>
<p>Can you contact current students about their experience? You say that you would need a job to support yourself - that might be tricky without conversational skills in French. I strongly suggest you research your options in advance or bring sufficient funds to get though the first semester.</p>
<p>A bit of personal experience: I barely spoke English when I arrived in the US at age 15. I could read a simple letter and ask for directions, but I could not read my textbooks or follow an everyday conversation. It took me about a month to follow my teachers in class and after three months I could talk about everyday topics without scrambling for words. I remember my first involved political discussion towards the end of my first year. I am saying this to give you some idea of a possible timeline. Your mileage will vary.</p>
<p>As always, b@r!um has excellent advice. The only thing that I would add is that you should take some time to think through what your immediate French language needs are going to be. You may be able to find a short intensive course that will help you hit the ground running.</p>
<p>b@r!um and happymomof1, thanks a lot for your input!</p>
<p>b@r!um:
I did try to contact current students in my program, but the head of the program is not getting back to me even though I have been sending him one email/week for the past 3 weeks. Not the greatest strategy to attract students…
As a whole, communicating with the Sciences Po admin has been a complete pain. Initially, I was sending out emails only in English, but since people were not getting back to me at all and I needed urgent answers, I started using Google Translate to translate my emails into French, and people replied on the next day…
This just makes me wonder about the admin’s capacity to support non-French/English speakers.</p>
<p>But this is not my biggest concern. My greatest worry right now is money. I did not get as much as I expected from Sciences Po, and many people I talked to confirmed that without French, my chances of getting a student job are close to zero :(</p>
<p>I am also starting to worry about the type of degree I’ll be getting - Master in European Affairs. While I am very interested in the EU, I am afraid that this degree may pigeonhole me too much. Also, with a MA in European Affairs from Sciences Po coming back to the US (if I decide I want to) would be impossible unless I get transferred by a European/French company or accumulate a wealth of experience…</p>
<p>So right now, I am thinking about deferring for a year to improve my French, save money and perhaps apply to more graduate schools…hmmm…</p>
<p>Thanks again to everybody who replied to this thread!</p>