<p>lol i've never heard of any French universities.</p>
<p>What was the last influential thing to come out of French academia? (this is not rhetorical for the sake of mocking, this is a genuine question)</p>
<p><a href="http://www.polytechnique.fr/portail/recherche.php%5B/url%5D">http://www.polytechnique.fr/portail/recherche.php</a>
<a href="http://bioc.polytechnique.fr/activites.html%5B/url%5D">http://bioc.polytechnique.fr/activites.html</a></p>
<p>just go to <a href="http://www.polytechnique.fr%5B/url%5D">www.polytechnique.fr</a> and browse around and you'll find their most recent discoveries</p>
<p>Many americans have NO idea what the good schools in France are....Just for the record polytechnique is 99990128993104 times harder to get into than Harvard. The french education system is the most rigorous in the world, the "Grandes ecoles" in France are very good and deserve more international regard. However, As far a PHDs and MBAs then US is undoubtedly #1 along w/ OXBRIDGE</p>
<p>I don't know whether polytechnique is 99990128993104 times harder to get into than Harvard, but it is true that it is very selective and offers an excellent education. Yes, the French system is rigorous. (I don't think it's the most rigorous in the world though). However, if you're looking for a diverse, wider education, France is not a good place to go. America will give you a much better liberal arts education. In French schools, you don't get much (any) choice for choosing your courses.
Also, French universities have much less resources. Their endowment is ridiculously small. I was born and brought up in the city where ENA is. ENA is the most prestigious school in France. But I'm afraid its computer cluster is pathetic.
Finally, French univs dont give a **** about your extra curriculars. You'll spend 40 hrs a week in class and wont get time to do anything else. If you're into a varsity sport, you'll have to drop it.</p>
<p>Did you guys know that to go to a french college, an american needs a BA degree? Yes, they consider their kids ready after high school, and that we are at that level after the roughly four years in college. This would indicate a very rigorous schooling system. Also, French schooling has some strange aspects. Many students go to the nearby university and live with their parents. Many schools have little but classes, and professors are often not seen. Many classes are year long, and then you must take a test at the end. It is out of 20, and you must get a 10 to pass. Many do not pass. I think one has three years to pass a certain number before being kicked out. Oh, and it's free, as in the government pays for college.</p>
<p>By the way, if i'm wrong about any of this, i'm sorry, it is what i have learned, and please constructively correct it or give it a more accurate context if you wish to do so.</p>
<p>I met a girl here on the tennis team. She's french and came here because here, she could play tennis and go to school, but in France, she would have had to choose.</p>
<p>John Paul Sartre is a famous example of someone coming out of the French system, as is Simone de Beavoir. The Curies studied at Le Sorbonne, as well as worked in the laboratory (where they met). It's hard to find lists in English. Anybody know French well?</p>
<p>I believe that Sorbonne is highly renowned for its history moreso than its present-day standings, which are outstanding nevertheless. To my best knowledge, it is the oldest or second oldest university in continental Europe, perhaps outdone in its history only by the University of Prague. </p>
<p>P.S. I believe that it is very good in Medicine, or at least was a few decades ago.</p>
<p>what you say is essentially right.
except for the part about needing a BA to go to college.
to go to a competitive business or engineering school, french kids basically take two years of accelerated high school which they call "classe prepa" (preparatory classes). you work your ass off (40hrs a week) to prepare for competitive exams. After that, it's usually a three to four year program. you come out with the equivalent of a Masters.
Science Po is different. you go into it directly after high school and stay there for 5 yrs</p>
<p>Wait, i don't understand. What i learned is that to go to French universities, Americans must get a BA. Is this not so?</p>
<p>Europe's oldest university is in Bologna.</p>
<p>Actually in most of the European countries (including France) all you need to get into college is good exam scores and nobody cares about ECs.</p>
<p>Ecole Polytechnique requires the passing of the French Bac with highest honors. That by itself is very difficult. The French Bac is the equivallent of taking 8 APs classes and getting "mention tres bien" is like getting all 5s on all 8 of those AP exams. </p>
<p>After successfully passing the Bac with the highest honors, French students graduate and are eligible to attend French universities,, but that's not enough to get into Engineering programs in France. If a student wishes to matriculate into Ecole Polytechnique, she/he must also take two years of advanced Mathematics called "Math-Sup" which is the equivallent of getting a BS in Math and Physics and the expected results are very stringent if one hopes to make it into Polytechnique. Only the top 10% or so of the students who go into Math sup actually get inot Polytechnique. </p>
<p>In short, only the best and most qualified students get into Polytechnique. </p>
<p>On a side note, my uncle (currently a Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Michigan) did his BS at Polytechnique getting his PhD at MIT. </p>
<p>At any rate, the average non-French person may not know much about French universities, but I can guarantee that in academic circles around the World, as well as corporate recruiters and intellectuals from around the world, know the top French universities very well.</p>
<p>French schools put emphasis on only academics that is 100% true... and also you dont have to get a "mention tres bien" to get into any of the preparatory classes...just so long as you pass the exam the only thing they look at are your grades...then they rank you. After 2 years of preparatory you do the "concours" in order to get into the grandes ecoles...the best Math Physics is polytechnique, the best business is HEC paris...preparatory is some of the most intense, rigorous, education. Im passing the french baccalaureat at the end of this year, I have classes from 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM every weekday not to mention and incredible amount of homework and four hour exams every monday afternoon....I don't plan on going to preparatory because if you fail your concours exams at the end of preparatory you've wasted two years...I'm hoping american university will be a very smooth transition</p>
<p>same situation here</p>
<p>Le Couron Bleu
American Uni of Paris</p>
<p>A wonderful place to study French language and culture is the Universite de Tours/Institut de Touraine in Tours, France. The purest form of French language is spoken there. Georgetown University, Davidson, Kenyon, and others offer programs there. The area is relatively close to the chateaux de la Loire, Angouleme, Bordeaux, Toulouse. A lovely location. I studied there many years ago. While I was quite fluent in the language, my work there raised my speaking abilities to an entirely new level.</p>
<p>the american university of paris</p>