ESSEC Business School Paris, France

Transcription

1 SBM Exchange Report: ESSEC Business School Paris, France Michelle Leung Spring 2014 Exchange

2 Table of Contents Part I Monthly Activity Log Part II General Exchange Information Part III Items to Bring and Contacts Part IV Best Practices of Host University

3 Part I Activity Log February ESSEC Orientation Faculty & Student Society Activities Accommodation check-in & Getting Around in the Campus Settling Down Period: Not advised to Travel March April Heavier academic workload: Mid-term assessments & group project / assignment mid-term deadlines A week long Easter Holiday in mid-apr Intensive courses take place during Easter Holiday Traveling trips organized by exchange students union Intensive courses in the first week of March Class Schedule Amendment : Add-drop Period Take as much intensive courses as you can! Various activities socializing activities organized by student societies & unions : BBQ, Wine Tasting, Clubbing Light academic workload No special holidays except for an empty first week of March if you don t have intensive courses in the week Honeymoon Period: Go for Weekend Travel May Heaviest academic workload: Some final exams in late May & final project submission deadlines A few National Public Holiday throughout May Regular parties organized by student societies Mid-term: Enjoy School / Europe Project Deadline Period June Intensive courses during study week before final exams Final exams in the second week of June Accommodation check-out Last Month of Semester: Treasure Last Sight of France

4 Part II General Exchange Information VISA APPLICATION ORIENTATION ESSEC CAMPUS FACILITIES ESSEC SOCIAL ACTIVITIES ACCOMMO- DATIONS Since I do not have a British passport, I have to apply for a French Visa. I followed the visa application procedure online from Consulate General of France in Hong Kong. But since my visa was a long stay visa of 6 months, not a student visa, I was not eligible for student housing subsidies. ESSEC provided exchange students with a very useful and comprehensive orientation package, which included a briefing on safety issues in Paris & Cergy area, tips on using the public transport, course schedule arrangements and a complementary survival booklet. Therefore students should not skip this session. ESSEC has a library equipped with computer labs and Bloomberg terminals, 2 affordable canteen and restaurant, a range of sports courts both indoors and outdoors as well as a pleasant environment for studying and relaxing. ESSEC exchange student union organized a range of activities for exchange students. We were also free to join other student societies. There was a Paris tour for all exchange students in the first week of semester. Weekly clubbing and drinking parties on Thursdays and occasionally mega parties once or twice in the month. Exchange students can either stay on campus or rent private apartments in Paris. Student residences are well managed by the school but the rent can be high. Renting apartments in Paris can either be cheaper or more expensive depending on the location and how many people do you share the flat with. I stayed in Cergy Le Haut. I was very satisfied with the environment and facilities inside the residence. One key issue I faced there is the safety issue around the neighborhood. Cergy Le Haut is a quiet small town which can turn quite dangerous at night or anytime when the streets are silent. During my exchange, some of my exchange friends had encountered a daylight robbery right outside the residence and they managed to get out of the incident safely with force. Therefore, I would conclude that Cergy is not the safest place to hang around alone. COURSE REGISTRAT- ION The courses available for English speaking students in ESSEC are limited. There are a even spread of courses in different majors and nearly all students are able to enroll in the classes they want unless there s a time conflict. It is advised that students plan ahead for the course schedule depending on your business majors. At the same time, 3-day intensive courses all yielded good feedback and are good choices for students intending to travel on low seasons and enjoy lots of day-offs.

5 Part II General Exchange Information (Cont d) HEALTH Bring adequate home-use medicine & bills. They would be useful in cold season and the time when the weather is unstable and the season is changing. There is also a doctor on campus while I had never visited him. The medical expenses in France can be enormous if you do not purchase your own medical insurance, and the most doctors do not speak English. Therefore the best way is to keep yourself healthy throughout the stay. SAFETY TRANS- PORTATION Paris is obviously not the safest place in Europe. Safety issues in Cergy are known to be usually under the spot light. Pick-pockets were everywhere while robberies were rare. Wandering or travelling around in the night streets of central Paris can be dangerous unless you are with a French speaking crowd. Walking alone in the Cergy area no matter it is day or night can pose a risk to personal safety. Like I have mentioned earlier, my friends had themselves encountered a day-light robbery for mobile phones outside the residence. Despite all the seemingly alarming issues around Paris and Cergy, I traveled around Paris and Europe, sometimes alone, safely, without coming across live-threatening incidences or losing personal belongings. The key is to be careful and stay alert all the time especially at night. After all, I still regard Paris as a safe place to stay and travel around as long as you are mindful of things happening around you. Getting around in Paris is convenient. Living in Cergy Le Haut, I have to take public transport to school (15min RER) and to various attractions in Paris (~1hr RER). Trains, Metro and Bus are the usual public transport I had used to travel around Paris. Much of the information over the latest traffic condition available in the public transportation is in French. For instance, materials include the maps, strike notices, railway renovation are mostly in French. Having a good knowledge of these, getting around Paris is fairly easy. For frequent Paris travelers, getting the Navigo might be a good choice. Navigo can be a weekly or monthly pass for RER, Metro and buses. Unbelievably frequent delays and strikes are commonplace, just handle with patience and try not complain to the staff in English. Traveling around in Europe starting from Paris is very convenient. Cheap flight, bus or cross-country train tickets are available. While cheap tickets usually have bad timing, you have to plan very carefully your transportation plan as you travel out so that you are sure that you can get to the required station or get back to the residence on time and safely with anticipations of temporary strike and delays. For instance, the Ryanair Airport is very difficult and expensive to reach. You would need to take this into consideration as you select the means of transport that you are taking.

6 Part II General Exchange Information (Cont d) TELE- COMMUNI- CATION I had SFR s monthly top up plan for the phone & data plan. 10EUR was for the SIM car and 20 EUR monthly to support a plan of unlimited minutes and 1 GB of 3G data. But SFR s network only provide services within France, international calls are not possible. Therefore do not choose SFR if you plan to make international calls for personal or career-related reasons. FINANCIALS, COST & EXPENSES French Bank Account Acknowledging that carrying and keeping too much cash is unsafe, and that some online payments require a French card to process, many exchange students would consider opening a French Bank Account. I set up my bank account with BNP. The experience over most of the exchange period was positive. But problems came when we wanted to close the account. Firstly, the tellers don t speak English thus there s a communication issue. Secondly, although the bank promised to transfer the remaining balance in my French account to my HK account in 1 week s time, I was not able to get my money back up till now (over 2 month s time). Cost & Expenses Total Cost & Expenses HKD $95, ESSEC Exchange Expenses HKD $56, (Accommodation, Transportation, Food, Insurances & Deposits) Traveling Expenses HKD $38, (UK, Spain, Italy, France, Czech Republic) Part III Items to Bring & Contacts DOCUMENTS & MONEY Personal ID & Copies HKID, Passport, Birth Certificate, Translated Birth Certificate A few passport photos Adequate Cash EUR & POUNDS CLOTHING Heat pats Scarfs & think jackets Water-proof coats or umbrella Multiple bags of various sizes Boots & Sports Shoes ELECTRONICS & OTHERS Adaptors USB Laptop Computer Phones & Battery (More than one to spare) Camera Medicine Stationery note pads & pens

7 Part IV Best Practices of Host University Intranet Portal & Life-long Service In general, ESSEC s intranet portal is very user-friendly, except that some pages are only available in French. ESSEC partners with Google in providing the service and various internet portal services. The school and professors manage teaching materials, appointment schedules and communication channels with students through Google s cloud services: Hangout, Calendar, Gmail and Google Sites, making everything very easy to manage and adopt. The ESSEC Gmail account is life-long so exchange students can keep in touch with the school and professors easily, even after exchange. Career Advisory & Related Services Leveraging on its strong reputation as one of the top 3 business schools in France, ESSEC provides all students with a strong alumni and career network across different industries, particularly with French luxury brands and consultancies. From time to time, there are career mingling and briefing sessions jointly organized by companies and the school for students to explore their career aspiration. This is a strong advantage of the school if exchange students are looking for internship opportunity in Paris in light of the Working Holiday policy which HKSAR has agreed with the French Government. Weekly Drinking Parties on Campus Drinking and clubbing are integral component of European youth culture. French students in ESSEC will gather together every Thursday night and every weekend for party and drinks. The school bar is located at the heart of the ESSEC campus, providing students with affordable drinks and a mini dance floor to have fun and relax right after class. Furthermore, the student society will also hold biweekly drinking or clubbing tour in central Paris. Detailed event information and related announcement are done through their Facebook Page, all students are open to join or skip the event. For those who want to experience the drinking culture in Paris, ESSEC Paris is the right stepping stone.