Back in the Before time, when Olive was spending her senior year of high school as an au pair in Montpelier, France, it was time to think about college. We know from experience, the process is overwhelming, so Ben Blair and I scheduled weekly calls with Olive, specifically to discuss college options and track application progress. Olive knew she wanted to attend a film program, and she started the process by making a spread sheet where she would list info about potential schools, so she could compare and contrast. The first three entries on the spreadsheet were her top choice schools in Paris, London, and New York, and the school she chose in Paris was EICAR (which is where she is now enrolled!).
At the time, figuring out how to attend college in France felt overwhelming, and as she looked into EICAR their website described very limited enrollment, so she felt her chances there were slim and maybe not worth the effort. She decided not to apply.
Eventually she settled on New York. She applied to Manhattan Community College, because they have a transfer program relationship with NYU. Her plan was to attend Manhattan CC for 2 years, then transfer to NYU’s Tisch film school. She applied and was accepted. But as the year continued and the pandemic reality set in, New York no longer felt like a good option. The idea of moving to an expensive city, and then sitting in a tiny apartment and taking all her classes online seemed like a poor investment of funds. She considered enrolling in Manhattan CC and taking her online classes from France, but wasn’t very excited about that option.
Olive was in Montpelier until July, when her au pair position ended, and then she moved home with us in Argentan. Since then, trying to make fall plans became increasingly stressful. I feel for her entire graduating class because it’s really hard to know what to do, or what the best plan is. Enrollment is down at colleges everywhere; many students are taking a gap year. Others are enrolled, but not living in dorms, and doing their freshman year on line. It seems like no one is getting an ideal first year of college.
In August, as her Oakland friends started moving to their college towns, and Olive was still undecided, she felt increasingly discouraged. At that point, we decided to get serious about looking into French schools. We knew it was late to apply, but we hoped that with the pandemic, maybe they would have some flexibility and allow late enrollment.
We started dedicating time to researching, emailing, and calling. Since it was August, most people weren’t in their office (in France, August is a vacation month), so initially we didn’t get many responses. Eventually we learned that public schools were not taking on any foreign students at this point (applications for foreign students were due in January), but it sounded like private schools might still be an option.
As we researched, we found an organization called Campus France. From what I understand, they are a government service. You apply to Campus France with a full college application — CV, short essays, letters of recommendation, transcripts, portfolio, etc. — and once accepted, they basically pitch you to schools you are interested in. If you are accepted to a school, you pay Campus France a fee (300 euros). If you’re not accepted, you don’t pay them anything.
So Olive completed the Campus France application. It was an intense process (very similar to other big college applications our kids have done). I’m not sure if she would agree, but I think it boosted her confidence. Receiving glowing letters of recommendation, listing all her accomplishments, putting together a portfolio — it was a reminder that she is an excellent university candidate, with a lot of incredible experience.
We didn’t hear back from Campus France for about a month. In early October, we called them to check in, and suddenly action was happening. Within a few days from that call, Olive had heard from 3 film schools — two in Paris and one in Lyon — all three had liked her application and wanted to interview her and give her a tour of campus. She preferred the idea of living in Paris over living in Lyon, so she went to Paris and toured both schools there. She had to take a test at both schools, and write essays from film-related prompts, and she had to be interviewed (yes, the tests and interviews were in French).
Then the happy news: She was accepted to both schools! Which school did she choose? The very first one she listed on her spreadsheet: EICAR. It was some full circle happiness.
About EICAR:
They have an International program in English, and they have a French program as well. Olive is enrolled the French program, but she’s hoping the students in the International program will be good connections and friends, knowing they’ll all have English, and being away from home, in common.
EICAR is considered expensive for a French school, because French public universities are free. But it is affordable compared to American schools. The cost of Olive’s full “bachelors degree” program is equivalent to the cost of 3 semesters at Berkeley. I put bachelors in quotes because they don’t call it a bachelors degree here, they call it License.
There are three types of university degrees in France (info here):
–Licence (L1, L2, L3) is an undergraduate degree awarded after a period of study lasting 6 semesters (3 years).
–Master‘s (M1, M2) is a graduate degree awarded after a period of study lasting 2 years (a total of 5 years’ study).
-A doctorate is awarded after a period of study lasting 16 semesters (3 years, or a total of 8 years’ study).
Olive’s program is an Undergraduate Licence program, so it’s three years. From what I understand, these undergraduate programs don’t cover general ed classes; they are specialty focused from the beginning — like you pick your “major” before applying to a specific program. French students typically get their GE education during high school. In Olive’s case, her program is focused on Film Directing specifically.
On timing: a program starting mid-October seems late to me, but apparently it’s not unusual here. Though we know some programs started in September, so maybe it depends on the school.
EICAR’s campus does not have it’s own housing, but it has a partnership with a nearby apartment building (about a 15 min walk from campus). The building has students from at least 3 different area schools. It’s college housing, but not quite a dorm — no cafeteria, and more studio spaces than shared spaces.
Housing is pricey, but not even close to Bay Area prices. Olive’s studio apartment is about 600 euros per month. The apartment has a kitchenette and enough space for a big air mattress for guests if we want to stay with her (or if she is hosting other friends). Electricity and wifi are extra (about 50 euros combined each month), and we had to set up an account for both. It’s a newer building with very basic dorm-like furnishings. We will help her make it as homey and comfy as we can.
She can get out of the rental contract with 30 days warning, so if she decides to find an apartment in a hipper neighborhood with new friends, she can do that too.
The EICAR campus is at the end of the 12 line of the Metro. The 12 also has Musee D’Orsay, Montparnasse Station (which is the station that has trains that come to Normandy), Tuileries Gardens, and other good stuff. For people who grew up in the French countryside and are now working in Paris, it’s common to go home to the countryside for the weekend, and hopefully we’ll see Olive whenever she needs a break.
Her classes started Tuesday. A combination of in person, online instruction, and time in the film studio. (Yes, masks are required.) All of her classes are in French. Topics are things like Screenwriting, Theory of Editing, and Theory of Lighting. (Yes, she’ll be writing screenplays in French.)
Olive hasn’t been in school for over a year (because she was an Au Pair during her senior year), so she’s a bit nervous about getting back to good study habits. And she’s never had to write papers in French before (let alone college-level work), so that’s definitely intimidating. But mostly, it’s really exciting. I mean: She just signed a contract for a studio apartment! She was accepted to her first choice film school! She is going to college in Paris! Studying Film Direction! How cool is that?
One funny thing is that after two days of classes, she’s realized one of the challenges is that she doesn’t always know the names of films in French. Some films have the same name, like Forrest Gump. Some films have similar names, like Finding Nemo is the World of Nemo (Le Monde de Nemo). But some films have unrelated/unrecognizable names, like Shawshank Redemption is The Escapees (Les Évadés). So sometimes she doesn’t understand what film is being referenced, even if it’s a film she knows well. Hah!
We’re super proud of her. This is a scary thing to do. Goodness, I never had to set up an electricity account when I was her age — and doing it all in her second language. It’s rad.
She doesn’t have classes on Thursday, so she came home this morning. She’ll finish packing up, and we’ll run any errands to pick up anything else she needs for her apartment. Then we’ll drive back to Paris early tomorrow (Friday) morning.
We hope this college experience is wonderful for Olive. If it’s not, she can pivot to something else. But a 3 year program sounds just right. And if she is still craving New York, she can move there for summer internships, or go to NYU for a masters degree, or both.
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Okay. That’s a long post with a ton of info. Hopefully it answered many of your questions, but if you have more, feel free to leave them in the comments. And I’d love to hear if you’d ever consider having your kids attend college in another country — International programs are typically in English, so even if they haven’t learned another language, it may be a good option. I would say it’s definitely worth checking out Campus France if you’re curious.
