How To Register and Choose Classes as an American Master’s Student in France
One of the many differences between French and American higher education is the class registration process. Though the ins and outs can vary from school to school in both countries, Jalen and I want to share our personal experiences with you as American students pursuing our master’s degrees in France. During undergrad in the United States, our university offered a multitude of classes each semester, and we had a great deal of freedom in deciding which classes we wanted to take and when we wanted to take them. Comparatively, our French university is much more restrictive. Master’s students generally have limited choices as to which classes they will take in any given semester.
Maria’s Experience
Four days before the first day of classes, I went to campus for my Inscription Pédagogique, or course registration. For my program, this consisted of an in-person meeting of all of the first-year master’s students studying law. We all had to fill out and turn in a piece of paper including our student numbers, our names, our contact information, and our class choices for both semesters of the first year of our master’s degrees.
The semesters are broken down into five unités, or units, in which there are a total of eight matières, or courses. Within certain units, students can choose between multiple courses offered according to their interests. However, because many of the courses are found in multiple units, there is in reality very little freedom of choice in the curriculum.
My Inscription Pédagogique was required and ensured that I would be signed up not only for my classes, but for my exams at the end of each semester. The process was relatively painless, and it was a far cry from the online class registrations that I experienced during my bachelor’s degree in the United States.
Jalen’s Experience
Because Maria signed up for her classes in person, I assumed that I would also need to attend an Inscription Pédagogique. However, after finally receiving access to my university email the day before classes began, I realized that my program handled things pretty differently than Maria’s.
Each semester of my program is broken down into five unités, that break down into twelve matières in the first semester and eleven matières in the second. Within this structure, everything is chosen for me. This means that the little choice Maria described having in terms of courses is nonexistent for me! After enrolling in school, students in my program have everything set up for them, and don’t have to complete an Inscription Pédagogique to get signed up for classes or exams.
All in all, having my classes sorted out automatically removed a level of stress in comparison to the online class registrations I completed during undergrad in the United States.
Final Thoughts
It’s difficult to say which system we prefer overall. Having an abundance of choices served us well in regards to our bachelor’s degrees, but we also appreciate the simplicity of having fewer options in our master’s degrees. Our American degrees gave us an extremely personalized, robust, and well-rounded education that has been helpful in all of our endeavors since graduating in 2019. Our French degrees, by contrast, are affording us the precise, specialized, and practical education that we will need going forward in our professional lives. Both higher education systems have their merits and we are grateful to have been able to experience both.
If you have any questions or want to know more about our master’s degrees in France, let us know in a comment!
Check out our video about the first month of our master’s degrees!
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