Alex McDermott (BBS Marketing student) shares his experience as a Study Abroad student in Novancia Business School, Paris:
Dear School of Business Students,
Hello from Paris. I am currently here on a study abroad programme for one year during my BBS Marketing Degree.
I am absolutely loving it so far. I'm here two weeks now and starting to settle in. I've made loads of friends which was nice seeing as I thought the language barrier would be annoying but everyone I've met are fluent in English which is a great boost. It's seriously expensive in some places but if you are smart you can budget the same as you would in Ireland. Most nightclubs are free before a certain time and the general grocery shopping is pretty much the same at home. The first day I was here it was 28 degrees so I decided to buy two cans of coke near the Eiffel tower, cost 9.60! So I learned my lesson from that! The weather has been unbelievable as well. It's only rained about twice in the two weeks each time only lasting about an hour so it's a nice change.
On the academic side of things the timetable is fairly strenuous. I have 31 hours a week with all of them compulsory. I'm allowed miss 2 days all year or I have to sit repeats with a maximum grade of 40/100! I'm about 1000 times more productive here than I was at home which should set me up nicely for final year when I come back. The lectures are 3 or 3.5 hours long. Usually you get 15/20 minute break in the middle depending on the lecturer. But most of the modules are good and I am capable of good marks. The timetable changes every week which is weird but the amount of hours stays the same. Just as you have the timetable understood it changes again.
But for second years thinking about coming here I would definitely recommend it. You don't worry about the workload because everyone has it so you just get on with it. And there's a cafeteria in the college with a subway and gym attached to it pretty much which is ideal. The nightlife is out of this world and the people are ridiculously friendly. On All-Ireland final day I even brought 2 Germans 2 Spaniards and a Russian to watch the match and they all loved it. There's plenty of Irish around as well. In my course there are two girls that go to DIT and I'm playing football for Paris Gaels. The local GAA team in Paris.
I'm only two weeks here and I am absolutely delighted I did it without a doubt. It's even making me think about doing a Master’s in Europe somewhere rather than at home!
Kind regards
Alex