Sciences Po 2016

[Danbrenn]

Anyone been accepted to Sciences Po or have any opinions about or knowledge of the school? Applied on a whim because I like Paris and got into the Masters of International Security today. 

How does it stack up to SAIS/Fletcher? 

[went_away]

Lots of commentary on the board about Sciences Po; I've seen quite a lot of criticism that the administration is quite disorganized. Personally, I'd love the opportunity to study there for the name/history/French imprimeur, but would probably do so expecting to be relatively on my own when it comes to career guidance. My feeling is that few if any international schools can approach the personalized service and level of organization of top private American universities. 

Hopefully some other posters with personal experience at Sciences Po will chime in here. I'd be curious myself to hear opinions on academics there.  

[Danbrenn]

I read a few of the more scathing posts on here and was maybe hoping for someone to say something positive as I love France and definitely wouldn't mind spending some time in Paris.

[CakeTea]

Hey Danbrenn,

Congratulations on yr admission, how long did it take btw submission and offer? Fellow Sciences Po applicant (albeit not International Sec). I know some current Sciences po students and they have mixed reviews. they are mostly positive with some constructive criticism with regard to career office support for international students and course registration system. Most managed to land good internships with NGO and IOs. A first yr International Security told me that the workload in her first semester was intense, but she learned a lot. Do you have a prefered thematic and regional concentration for PSIA?

PM me if you have more questions, my friend who studies International Sec is not on this forum. I visited Sciences Po and spoke to some students and attended a few lectures to get a vibe.

 

[Danbrenn]

Definitely thanks for the help.  I haven't really settled on any concentrations yet.  I need to do more research.

As far as timeline, I think I submitted around mid November, so just over six weeks.  

[LiamShag]

3 hours ago, Danbrenn said:

Definitely thanks for the help.  I haven't really settled on any concentrations yet.  I need to do more research.

As far as timeline, I think I submitted around mid November, so just over six weeks.  

Wow, already admitted? Congrats. Their applications don't even close until March 15th. I will be sending an application in the next few weeks. I would love to chat with you about the admission process, as I am also applying to Int. Security.

[CakeTea]

@Danbrenn: The Sciences Po website is very informative. You can click to all modules listed and it lists: reading list, learning methods (lecture, group based work with presentation, exam), exam valuation/goal and even difficulty levels (101 course or intermediate with required preknowledge). You can play around and build yr fantasy syllabus. There are some core and concentrations.

[Danbrenn]

@CakeTea, thanks again for the heads up.  Immensely useful. 

@LiamShag, hit me up with anything you have.  I'd be happy to talk about it.  

[gaia12]

On 1/8/2016 at 7:55 AM, CakeTea said:

@Danbrenn: The Sciences Po website is very informative. You can click to all modules listed and it lists: reading list, learning methods (lecture, group based work with presentation, exam), exam valuation/goal and even difficulty levels (101 course or intermediate with required preknowledge). You can play around and build yr fantasy syllabus. There are some core and concentrations.

Hey CakeTea, would you be able to elaborate a bit on the problems with the career office and its relation to international students? 

Did your friends have great difficulty in finding their internships, and did they leave France/Europe to complete them?

[CakeTea]

@gaia12: most internship opps at Sciences Po careers office are for French undergrads in French orgs. PSIA has expanded international intake in past 10 yrs without catching up in staffing or personalised career guidance to reflect internationalisation. To be fair, I hear similar complaints from internationals at US programs about restricted internship opps.

The internationals from US. Europe and Asia share the experience that they had to rely on their own leads (undergrad alumni network, previous employment, national government schemes). There was a frenzy around Jan-Feb with resumes and interviews. I think the main reasons are fluency in French and transferable skills from prior employment. 2 US students found internships for NGO and think tank in DC, relevant to their degree and goals. The third US student is fluent in French and worked for a non profit in Paris. She was well prepared with French resume and asked French students to do mock interviews with her. The Europeans/Asians landed internships with UNESCO and OECD in Paris, private consulting in Germany, IO in Geneva and gigs back home. 2 Europeans came straight out of undergrad without French proficiency or prior employment and had few transferable skills. They failed to land internships, but this is due to their moderate skill set.

So if you neither speak French nor have prior employment, you will face an uphill battle to land internship in France. One needs a plan B such as internship back home.

[gaia12]

18 hours ago, CakeTea said:

So if you neither speak French nor have prior employment, you will face an uphill battle to land internship in France. One needs a plan B such as internship back home.

What happened to those who didn't get an internship? Were they forced to complete the thesis option instead?

Can you speak at all about post-graduation employment, particularly for international students (I'm from Canada). Do you know of any grads who have secured full-time employment in Europe? Or do most have to go home to continue pursuing leads they have made for themselves?

I guess what I'm saying is, does a Sciences Po degree make it easy? Or are you more or less back at square one compared to program at home?

 

Thanks for your reply, these little things really help people that are freaking out

[CakeTea]

@gaia12: I don't know many students from Canada. I strongly suggest you contact the Canada alumni chapter of Sciences Po and ask alumni about their first job after graduation. They can say something about opps in Europe and Canada. It gives you a good idea of their career trajectory, their experience of internships and how Sciences Po helped them to reach their goals (or not).

http://www.sciences-po.asso.fr/gene/main.php?base=334&base2_gpe=C&id_details_groupe=186

I reached out to my country's Sciences Po alumni chapter and they were a great source. They meet on a monthly basis for mixer and an alum invited to come along to meet other alumni, asked questions and see where they end up. It was informative to see about their career post Sciences Po, 1/5/10 yrs.

Those without internships wrote dissertation in third semester.

 

[Indri]

Hi all! I already got accepted at Sciences Po (Human Rights and Humanitarian Action). I'm currently waiting for KSP Excellence Scholarship at Sciences Po - they said that the announcement will be by mid-March 2016. But it is extremely close to the deadline whether or not to accept/reject PSIA's offer. Anyone applied to this scholarship/heard any news from the scholarship?

[seaglass0025]

Haven't received any official email from Sciences Po yet regarding my application, but got a strange e-mail today commenting on how I would be a good candidate for the program and inviting me to take a closer look at the program. Has anyone received this kind of correspondence? Not sure what to think. 

[seaglass0025]

Received acceptance today to the MPP program! Who is officially going?