(A non-MBA related post for a change)
I've been studying for 3 years in a French public university. The institution in which I study is famous in France and is considered one of the best in its area in Europe. Because of that, the surprise that I had when I started attending the university was huge. The university is so badly managed, and the classes are so weak, that I wonder how any French descent researcher ever came out from this institute and others alike.
Let me explain why.
1. Student acceptance and success rate in studies: French public universities are "democratic". That means that anyone can just sign up to a university, the only demand is that he has finished his high-school education successfully. Let me repeat that: no entry exams, no application to send, no recommandation letters, no interviews, nothing! although this idea is great in theory, it sucks in reality. Students have to do zero effort before attending university, so a lot of them just attend default universities because that's what everyone else does. They have no motivation, and remain in their high-school state of mind. You can see them in amphis talking loudly with friends, or on the phone. They are there because they didn't know what to do in life after high-school, and it was so easy to attend university and make daddy and mommy shut up.
Beside the obvious consequence of having lots of teens hanging around without a real desire to study, lays a more dangerous one. Schools know that they have way too many students admitted than the industry and academy can absorb later when they graduate. A direct result of that is that they came up with a brilliant idea to filter students by making them fail in exams. The best proof is that according to a survey published last week by the OSEIPE (http://www.oseipe.univ-paris5.fr/IMG/pdf/TAB_doc_final_24sep08.pdf) only 21% passed from 2nd to 3rd year of Psychology undergrad. Let me rephrase: out of every 100 students, 79 failed to pass to third year. This is HUGE!
So you have a lot of failing students who lost 1 or 2 years of their lives, just because schools found a stupid method to adujst graduation numbers to available jobs post-graduation.
2. Teaching method: So you have the obvious lectures, boring and anonymous. Without student-teacher interaction whatsoever. And then you have the TD, or Travaux Dirigés (Guided Work) where you'd expect to see some reflexion and interaction right? well think again. The entire french teaching method, at least in my university, is based on boring lectures. I guess they never heard in France about group work, cases, projects etc.
3. Anonymous student and bad social life: In a French university, the student is completely anonymous. You'll never speak with the professor and don't even dream that he'll know your name even if you took a small class with 25 students in it. Don't wait to be invited to a students party or a university social event, these just don't exist. Of course the students could organize something, but the sad fact is that student in France attend the university closest to their parents' home, so they can live with them during school, and keep on seeing friends from high-school. The students social interaction is limited then to the casual "bonjour" to faces that you've been seeing for 3 years every day.
Maybe I'm just in the wrong French university, and maybe in other schools the situation is better, but from what I've seen in the last 3 years, French universities suck!
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5 comments:
I thought the requirements is DELF B2 or TCF DAP-niveau 4 in order for them to accept you? Which french public university are you in? Please reply me Merci
This is the same thing for me in lyon. Everything you said also apply to my situation. Should have gone to another country.
You could even add one of the shittiest administrations in the world, opening hours are also atrocious for a lot of shops.
I completely agree with you. I think it is in the mentality. I mean this is not only in public schoo. This is everywhere. The only difference, for example in a " Grande Ecole " is the level of students. Teachers are same, social life is same even maybe worst, etc. but students are the best students that's the only difference.
But whatever. French like their system and don't want to change it.
I myself made the mistake of enrolling in a French university which is famous in france in the field of Economics. No case study, absolutely no team work, no reading, just pure repetition of model problems. Student life completely sucks if you aren´t the friendly type (which luckily I am)
My theory now is that the better the researcher the worse teacher it will be. The teching "skills" of most of these bright guys are nonexistent. Language classes are a joke and well If you ask me, French university is just a way of keeping young people out of the job market for as long as possible. So if you absolutely want to come to France to study i strongly recommend you come visit the university, even take some classes, before you enroll.
I've been studying at French university in the south of France (not going to name it) for about half a year now and I couldn't agree more with what you said. I'm literally in a lecture right now and all I can think about is transferring to an online university (like OU). I honestly have like no motivation to be here. It just feels so depressing and forget the TD (group work) there's no group work that I'm aware of, I refuse to even attend the 3 hours long b.s lectures they call T.D's. I'm done with this crud.
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