(Image by LucasTheExperience Flicr)
If you ever thought that the UCAS application in the UK was a challenge, think again. Having recently had a lengthy conversation with French students about their university application process I have realised how easy it is for British students to apply, and get a place at UK universities.
Currently in France all the students are preparing for what they call the ‘conours’ or the ‘competitions’ in English. These are countrywide competitions that will decide these young French student’s futures by means of the university selection process.
According to what subject a student intends to study they must do a ‘concours’ all the medics for example will do one kind of ‘exam’ while architects or politics students will do another. These tests are condutcted in huge public halls with thousands of students in the various rooms.
Once marked all the students in France are put in a list of how good they are in their chosen subject. From that list the universities choose their students. According to my French friends HEC (Haut Ecole de Commerce), the most reputed business school in France only offers places to some 200 students. If these students decline the offer they do not accept anyone who had a lower grading than those top 200 students.
Due to the ruthlessness of the universities, the students are equally as cut throat. They will do all they can to improve their chances of getting into the best universities. This is because, according to some friends, the better the university the better the job will be after and therefore the better the pay. They also regard the university alumni network very highly, adding to the desire of getting into the top schools.
As a friend said to me ‘the network is everything, if you have the network you get extra job opportunities, more consideration when applying for jobs and just a foot in the door generally. The university you went to mean everything in the French job market.’
In order to maximise the odds of reaching their highest potential many French students attend ‘les prepas’. These are intensive summer courses that aim to prepare students for the ‘concours’. Students choose their ‘prepa’ course according the success rate of the university or private company course. According to many these classes can be good, but they are extremely expensive.
With prices as high as 1500 Euros for a 2week session it could be said that some students are being excluded from the opportunity of getting into a top end school. ‘Anyone who can afford it does a ‘prepa’.’
In the ‘concours’ many students have strategies to put off the other students. One guy I talked to said he and his friend would shout out things like ‘YES, man look this is exactly what we studied, OMG this one is SO easy’ etc… at regular intervals during the exams in order to put the other students off. Another strategy is to disrupt people as much as possible when leaving the exam hall, and generally causing as much chaos as possible to distract and disrupt everyone else. The aim of this is to ensure other students’ failure in your subject in an effort to ensure you get a better mark.
Another astonishing fact I was told was that there is 1 school that allows its male ‘prepa’ students to choose a number of its future female students. The reason for this is that the director apparently believes that if women who will ‘maximise’ their potential surround the male students they will perform better in exams.
So what about the less well off students who cannot afford the ‘prepa’ fees, or who have to work all summer, students who cannot perform in the stressful environments of mass examination halls, and female students who are put off because they are being treated like bits of meat?
Are the French students and education system abiding to the age-old French motto ‘Liberte, egalite, fraternite’ (Liberty, equality, fraternity) or is it every person for themselves?
