Mais oui: Sorbonne University, Paris

For Vrushal Khade, studying in France was a dream come true. In her late twenties, Khade worked for five years for a finance company in Mumbai. She left last week to study for an MBA at the Reims Management School, east of Paris. Khade is in good company. After years of hotfooting it to the US and the UK, Indian students are finally heading for France. To be sure, 79,736 Indian students went to the US in 2003-2004, the latest year for which figures are available, while 16,000 Indian students went to the UK in 2004-2005.

But France is catching on as a destination for studying. ?In 2004-2005 alone, 1,000 students from India left for France, many of them from Hyderabad, to study information technology. We?re expecting 300 more this year,? says Catherine Jourdaine, educational advisor, EduFrance, at the French Consulate in Mumbai.

Most students go to France to study management and technology. Another perquisite for foreign students, points out Fran?ois Dupuis, director of studies at the Alliance Fran?aise de Bombay, is the Shengen visa.

So if you want to study in France, drop in at any of the 21 centres of the Alliance Fran?aise, the French government?s cultural and educational wing. There you can seek guidance on pre to post application procedures, from the EduFrance desks at Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Pune, Chandigarh and Bangalore. If you do not live in any of these places, you can contact EduFrance through the Alliance Francaise centres in your city.

The period of preparation recommended for studying in France (choosing your programmes, corresponding with universities, applying to them, applying for local scholarships, getting documents and transcripts in order and translated) is 10 months but it could even take half the time, as in Khade?s case.

One question begs an answer. Do you have to know French to study in France? Not always.

Khade?s management course is in English (many others are bilingual). Indeed, English has been added as a medium of instruction in France. Though to study in France, it would certainly help doing at least a couple of French courses. It would help especially if your course is bilingual though in certain courses where English is the sole medium of instruction, students are offered a French language module.

Once you arrive in France, you have to apply for a residency permit if you have a long-term student visa within the first two months of your arrival. You could save some money if the documents required for this have been translated into French, through the French Consulate back home. In the initial three months ?an Indian student can continue with an Indian health insurance policy, before changing over to a French one (150-180 Euros),? says Aditi Torani, educational advisor, EduFrance, Mumbai.

Assuming that you want to do a management graduate or postgraduate degree, note that among the top ranking schools here are HEC in Paris and INSEAD at Fontainebleau, about 65 km to the south of Paris.

You could also approach some of these schools at the annual World MBA fair held in metros like Mumbai and Delhi. While bachelors programmes could last between one and four years, a masters could range from one to three years.

To be sure, management degrees don?t come cheap. ?MBA programmes cost anywhere between 15,000 and 30,000 Euros (Rs 8-15 lakh),? says Torani. Since the French government offers no scholarships for MBA programmes, Khade had to pay her course fees of 23,000 Euros, in four instalments.

The government does, however, offer scholarships for other areas of study. Prachee Palsule, who did her MPhil at Universit? Paris 3, Sorbonne Nouvelle, got a scholarship. That helps, especially in Paris where the monthly rent for a studio apartment on campus is 600-700 Euros (versus 400-700 Euros at smaller towns). The rent on a university residency hall (a 10-12 sq m room with shared bathroom and kitchen areas) could be 120-300 Euros a month. Still, says Palsule, if you lack money ?the government could help scale down your rent.?

You can also work part-time, up to a maximum of 20 hours a week and you?re guaranteed a minimum wage of seven Euros an hour. ?Students do odd jobs, work at trade fairs or teach English,? says Palsule. If you?re a student below 26 years of age, you can avail of discounts at cinema theatres and for travel within the region. And at the end of your student life, you could even consider getting a job in France, though that?s ?difficult,? according to Palsule.

Bonne chance, as the French would say.

nFor further information, visit the Alliance Francaise website: www.afindia.org or the EduFrance website www.edufrance.fr