Life at Sciences Po, Columbia’s French counterpart

In 2010, the Dual BA Program between Columbia University and Sciences Po, one of the most distinguished universities in France, began.

It consists of spending two years in France, at one of Sciences Po campuses, and then two years at Columbia. In the end, the students enrolled get two bachelors’ degrees: one from Sciences Po and one from Columbia.

As a regular French girl (born in France, always lived in France) being admitted to this program was like a dream come true. I was about to study at Sciences Po — the university where four of France’s last presidents went —  and then Columbia University! The difficult part was choosing the campus where I wanted to study. I chose Reims, focusing on transatlantic relations, not only because it provided classes in English, with outstanding teachers, enhanced by an international student body, but also because it is the home of champagne.

Here are the main reasons why studying in Sciences Po on the campus of Reims is amazing. It’s not just because of the teachers, or the courses, but rather the whole student body. Clubs, events, parties, debates, interesting people. We belong to The Purple Wave – which is what we call our our team during competitions.

Here’s why the Sciences Po student life is like no-other.

Photo credit: Léna Sant’Anna

Our traditions

Living in France provides great insight to the French way of life. I’m not only talking about baguettes, champagne and fashion. I’m talking about “La Peña”, which to be honest, is the weirdest thing I saw during our first party. It consists of people sitting in a line, swaying their arms, while someone just throws himself on those arms. Yay. I’m talking about songs like “les Lacs du Connemara” that you’re supposed to know by heart by the end of your courses.

We debate about pretty much everything: are austerity measures a fallacy of composition or not? Who is the hottest between Obama, Trudeau and Macron? And we debate pretty much everywhere, during class, or parties, around a flute of champagne.

Also, important of course: champagne. We sip champagne at parties, or as a competition where your team has to finish the bottle as quickly as possible.

The student body

What is great at this campus is the international dimension. So many people come from literally everywhere around the world: United States, Mexico, Argentina, Italy, Spain, Nigeria, Niger, China, India, Kenya, United Arab Emirates… This is actually the best way to get to know traditions and customs from their country, and especially important to debating international issues.

The clubs on campus are active, and plan our whole year when it comes to partying, trips and events. The clubs are quite diverse, and organize lectures with celebrities and sports tournaments against other schools. I belong to a club which meets with ninth graders from difficult neighborhoods. During these meetings we talk about culture, politics, and international relations to develop their general knowledge, and perhaps inspire them to pursue their studies.

We have great guests: Dick Cheney’s chief of staff came to my law course.

Our director

We’re all in this together

We all know that when the director of our program wears his New Balance, it means that midterms are coming. And that we are all screwed.

In the end, among all this fun, all those weird traditions, and the champagne, studying at Sciences Po on the campus of Reims is a great experience. We learn a lot, read a lot, write a lot, give a lot of presentations, and build a network made up of interesting and talented people. And here is what I am: a Beaver. And guess what? We are 38 Beavers coming to Columbia in two years. Be prepared for the purple wave.