Before coming to France, I had been told many things about the educational aspect of the program: there’s no homework, you won’t know what your grades are, everything is based off exams, there’s two vacations…
But nothing really gave me an accurate expectation for UGA or the educational system we entered. The first shock that came to me was that most universities in France are public, and cost almost nothing for the students.
When we started taking classes at UGA, the DLST building reminded me of my high school experience. All of our classes were in one building, and they were much smaller than the lectures we take at BU. The classrooms themselves were also set up much more like a high school classroom than a college lecture hall. Most students didn’t live on campus, and would fully dress up for classes. I would often see girls wearing skirts and tights or a coordinated outfit, which was common in my high school but not as common at BU where you live a five minute walk from classes and often just throw on jeans and a shirt and head to class in the morning.
The difference in higher education shows a cultural contrast between Americans and the French. It seemed to me that the French generally cared more about the access to higher education than the average American does. For me, the biggest contrast was the price of education, where students may pay only a few hundred euros per year, and the cost in America is at least $1000 at public colleges, but up to $80,000. To me, this shows that the French find investing in the education of young people worthwhile. It also exemplifies one of the core French values (liberté, égalité, fraternité), where the low cost of higher education makes it available to almost everyone, regardless of background.
We were also told that since tuition was so low (and the grading system was different), French students tended to be less stressed about school and not care as much about getting the highest score. I found this to be true in some aspects, but not overall. The students we shared a physics class with definitely seemed less worried about courses than we did, but they still took school seriously.
Students at the university sometimes seemed a little more immature than American college students, which attributed to the high school feel of UGA. Over the semester, we learned that many of the responsibilities and privileges we acquire in our mid-teens in the U.S. like a formal job and a driver’s license, are not common for French teenagers and university students. Additionally, students seemed to approach the school day as more of a social activity, where we would see people grouped together in the halls, lined up at the vending machines, and whispering throughout class. While students at BU may do this, the overall vibe is more academically focused, and people are often so physically spread out that it seems less obviously social.
The way students dressed played a large role in the social feel of campus. Although we discussed the French dressing in a conformist way because of a community mindset, this didn’t seem to totally apply to young people. It was clear that the French students had put thought into their outfits each day, and classes seemed to be more of an event to get dressed for as one would for the school day in high school, rather than just class as we might think of it at BU.
When one of the French kids asked me what I thought of UGA I answered him honestly, that it reminded me of American high school, which he seemed a little offended by. But honestly, it’s not a bad thing. France and French culture has made college a low(er)-pressure environment where most students can go at their own pace, socialize, and still have time for themselves without worrying about getting all A’s or how they will pay for school. Coming from a higher pressure environment, UGA seemed a little weird at first, but I appreciate the freedom the French education system offers its students. The investment France has made by providing low-cost education to all truly reflects on their values of community, and the importance of égalité.
Julianna Hill 