Applying for a Master’s Degree in France: How to Complete the Online Application
Note: This information is accurate as of October 7th, 2020.
If you are considering doing a master’s degree in France, it’s important that you understand the application process. While it can differ from person to person, often times, foreign students should use Campus France’s online platform to apply to French institutions.
“Applying for a Master’s Degree in France” is a series of articles aimed at helping foreign students, especially Americans, apply to master’s programs in France by providing the information they need all in one place. In today’s article, we will be telling you how to go about filling out the Études en France online application.
Before reading on, please keep the following points in mind.
- We are not affiliated with Campus France, and any advice should be considered unofficial.
- Make sure you read this article in its entirety before you take action on your application.
- This article is geared towards people applying directly to French institutions using the Études en France platform.
- The explanatory images in this article were taken after full completion and validation of the application process. Instead of “Validated by Campus France,” you will see “Complete” or “Incomplete” on your un-submitted application sections.
Making an Account
As mentioned in our article about gathering documentation to apply to a master’s degree in France, prospective students use an online platform called Études en France to fill out their application to be submitted to their schools of choice. It is a common application where information about you, your academic experiences, and your professional path are accessible to several institutions.
Before you are able to start populating your application with information, you must create an account. To do this, you will need to live in a country that uses the platform, an email address, basic details about yourself, and the information from a piece of identification, such as a passport. Once your account is created, you will receive an email to activate your account and create a password. You can now begin your application.
Getting Started
Begin by clicking “Students not yet accepted” in the upper left-hand corner of the page. Next, you will see steps 1, Fill out the application, 2, Campus France USA is reviewing my file, and 3, The institutions are reviewing your applications. Click step 1, Fill out the application.
Filling Out the Application
After clicking step 1, Fill out the Application, you will see options 1.1, Personal Information, 1.2, Fill out the Program Cart, and 1.3, Submit the File to Campus France USA. Start with option 1.1, Personal Information. In the Personal Information section, you will see three more options called Personal Information, Education and Professional Experience, and Language Skills. In each of these sections, you will simply fill in the appropriate information and upload supporting documents where they are needed.
Personal Information
This is where you will provide the platform with your information, such as your name, address, and passport details. You will be asked to upload a photo of yourself for identification purposes as well as a scan of your photo identification – Maria and I uploaded our passports. You will also indicate in this section if you have a special status as a scholarship holder, a refugee, or other particular cases.
Education and Professional Experience
In this section of the application, you will need to upload a current resume or CV in French. You will also need to upload documents showing your academic record, such as diplomas and transcripts. The platform asks that you upload your “last obtained diploma.” If you have not yet finished college and are applying for a master’s degree for the following academic year, the platform asks that you upload your high school diploma along with your most recent official college transcripts. Since you have to upload a copy of these documents, it’s okay to open the sealed, signature-stamped envelope into which official transcripts are usually sealed. As two college graduates, Maria and I were able to upload our college diplomas and transcripts, as well as French translations of these documents. It is up to you to find out if your specific institution asks for translations of these items – Maria and I decided it couldn’t hurt to upload them whether our programs wanted them or not.
If you have relevant professional experience to add to this section of the application, you must provide a supporting document that can prove that you did, indeed, do the work. For example, Maria and I uploaded our work contracts as proof of our participation in the Teaching Assistant Program in France (TAPIF) under the label “other activity.” Another example of proof would include recommendation letters or certificates of completion.
The Education and professional experience section is also where you can add miscellaneous documentation to your application that you deem relevant. Such items can be uploaded under the label “other activity.” Maria and I uploaded two extra documents that we thought would bolster our applications: a letter of recommendation from a college professor and our cover letters that outlined what we hope to achieve in school and beyond, both written in French.
Language Skills
In this section, you will provide proof of your language skills and detail any of your previous stays in France. You will be asked about your level of French as well as your level of English. Everyone is different, of course, but Maria and I provided our DALF C2 test scores as well as our certificate of achievement. We also selected that we are native English speakers. In any case, you will need to provide information about your level in the languages you speak as well as upload supporting documentation. As for the Stays in France section, at the time of application, Maria was the only one with previous stays in France to document, so she filled this section in while I left this section blank.
Fill Out the Program Cart
Navigate back to step 1, Fill out the application, in order to click on option 1.2, Fill out the program cart. This is where you will select the programs to which you would like to apply. For master’s degree candidates, you may apply to up to 7 different programs. Once you have clicked on Fill out the program cart, you will be able to add programs to your cart by clicking “+ Add a Program” on the right side of the screen. This is where you will search for your particular programs and add them to your cart. After you have filled your cart with your desired programs, it is time to begin writing your essays for each program, which should be written in French. These essays are only permitted to have a maximum of 1500 characters. Do not make the mistake that we made of writing 7 separate essays of 1500 words each! The purpose of these short essays is to convince the program that you merit admission at their school. We suggest you include your educational accolades, your professional background, your career goals, and why you are interested in each school and particular program. We would suggest drafting all of your writings in a program like Microsoft Word before submission in order to catch any spelling and grammatical mistakes.
Submit the File to Campus France USA
Navigate back to step 1, Fill out the application in order to click on option 1.3, Submit the file to Campus France USA. This is the section where you will be able to review the information and documents that you entered in previous sections. Once you have reviewed your information, you can submit your application to Campus France USA. It is very important to know that even after submission of your application, you are not finished with the process until you pay the Campus France Fee and submit your paperwork.
Paying the Campus France Fee and Submitting Paperwork
After you submit your application, you will need to go to the Campus France DOCBOX website to finish the process. Here, you will be asked to provide some personal information, such as your name and Campus France ID number. You’ll also pay the Campus France fee of $190 (as of February 2020). You will be redirected to another page where you will enter your payment information and pay – careful, don’t close out the original DOCBOX tab! Once you have paid and received your receipt by email, you will need to go back to the original DOCBOX tab to upload the digital receipt as well as the Admission Cover Page, available for download from the Campus France DOCBOX website. This is a sheet that applicants upload in place of an “acceptance letter.” You will fill out the sheet with your name, your Campus France ID number, your desired level of study, your desired field of study, and the kind of diploma that you last received. Upload the completed sheet to the Campus France DOCBOX website and click “I submit.”
Once you have paid your Campus France fee and submitted your paperwork, you will get a notification on your Études en France platform that confirms your payment. You will also receive a dedicated Campus France representative to help you with the rest of the process by reviewing your application for accuracy and quality, setting up a phone interview time with you, and answering any questions you may have.
Maria and I paid the Campus France fee and submitted our DOCBOX paperwork before submitting our application on the Études en France platform in order to have the guidance of a dedicated representative prior to doing our final submission. You might consider doing this as well in order to have a dedicated Campus France representative to help you throughout your application process. Be sure to read the official Campus France USA guide for more information and tips on applying to French institutions.
At this point, you have done everything you need to do to properly fill out and submit the online application on the Études en France platform! You will need to be in contact with your Campus France representative in order to conduct your interview and review your application together. Depending on when you submit your application to Campus France, there still may be time for your representative to allow you to add things to your application before it is sent off. Do not count on this being an option, however – we advise you to complete your application to the best of your ability the first time around.
We hope that this article has given you some insight on filling out the the Études en France application as an international student. Make sure to leave us a comment if you have any questions or want to know more!
Check out the other articles in our Applying to a Master’s Degree in France series:
- How to Choose a Program
- Important Documents You Need
- Detailed Application Timeline
- Campus France Phone Interview
- Will You be Accepted to a Program in France?
- Accepting an Offer of Admission
2 Comments
Maurice
Hi Maria and Jalen,
Who did you use to get your transcripts translated into French?
If you prefer to mention this offline, you can just send it to my email address. No worries.
Maurice
Jalen & Maria
We used RushTranslate.