In the midst of … preparations!

The waiting is over and I got accepted for the Erasmus+ program! Now it is certain: I will spend the academic year 2015-16 in Nancy, a beautiful little city in the east of France!

First I had to take part in a so-called “Pre-Departure-Session”, where we got all the information we need for our term abroad (well, in my case it is almost one whole year). I had to realise, that the Université de Lorraine is not that popular amongst Erasmus-students. There are only three other persons who chose Nancy as their destination while Paris is a good deal more favoured... which I really cannot understand, I would never want to live in a city like Paris (except for London, but that is another story ;-). Anyway, I am happy with my destination, and I would not like to swap with anyone else.

From our international office I got an enormous stack of documents, really important documents, flyers, information papers, and screenshots of websites that should help me with my application. It took me some time going through all this stuff... but once you think you have decoded everything, the worst challenge is yet imminent. Starting with the online application I began to despair of the online application form, that is generally in English, but with some interspersed French terms, and in some parts it just did not make sense. I solved that problem by switching the language of the whole website to French, as I realised that the unclear points were merely mistranslations... now, I only needed a signature of the international office on my application, before I can post it to Nancy, including all the other required documents. Well, this semester break I drove to university very often... The next task was getting a French language certificate. The problem was that in university so far I only passed one course, which certifies B1+, while my university entrance qualification of 2013 says C1. Université de Lorraine demands a language level of at least B1, but recommends B2. Finally I came to a pleasant agreement with the head of the language centre and got certificated a level of B2. Next I had to generate a transcript of records. Since our online examination authority does not handle the English language (why should it? International relations are just the basis of the university system in 21^st century, what do you think! *sarcasm off*) I had to translate all my passed courses at university into english, send the manually fabricated translation to the international office, and finally drive to university to collect the accredited document. Now, there are only two more documents left: The learning agreement, on which I will report once I managed it successfully (on my opinion the hardest part of the whole application), and the application form for the student residence.

Currently, I am checking the website of CROUS, the French student service organisation, which runs the student residences. I have to choose two preferred residences on the application... Well, to make a long story short, I am still in the midst of my official application at Université de Lorraine, which defined the deadline on 31th may. When I have managed the application and I can pass on the next step, I surely will record everything on this blog.

Until then and with best regards,

Sandra

Waiting

Hi there! Well, I know, I have been silent for a long time. But: No! I have not forgotten to update this blog. The point is: Nothing really happened. Just one thing: I finally applied. I applied for France and Spain, but I hope to get one of my two favourites: Nancy or Lille.

You ask about my selection criterions? Well, there are not many. Since I am learning French for a few more years than Spanish, I would prefer France as host country. In France, there are exactly six Universities having a cooperation with my chair, which is primarily the chair of Romance Literature Studies: Universities in Nancy, Lille, Bordeaux (my choices), and two departments of the Sorbonne in Paris and the University of Saint-Denis which is part of the Paris banlieues. Since I prefer smaller cities (not for love and money I want to study in Paris), there are only Nancy, Lille, and Bordeaux left over. So, for the five choices I can make, I lumped two almost randomly chosen Spanish Universities together with the three French ones, wrote a hopefully convincing letter of motivation for the first one (which is Nancy), and there my application went. Yet another word to my selection criterions: Nancy is a good deal smaller than Lille, which could be a disadvantage concerning the prospects of the University. But a smaller city also implies lower living expenses. For that reason, considering my rather low budget, I chose Nancy for the first priority.

This happened by the end of November, and since then I am waiting. Waiting. Waiting for response. But it is not to be expected until February.

You may be certain that you immediately will hear from me when the case has been updated :)

Until then I remain in curious expectation,

Yours,

Sandra.

First Steps

My name is Sandra. I am studying comparative literature in my third semester in Augsburg, Germany. As this field of study requires the knowledge of at least two foreign languages (in my case English and French), it is recommended to pass at least one semester abroad. Of course there are many obstacles to overcome, such as the financial aspect and the organisational tasks...

Well, here I am. Finally I decided to apply for a scholarship at Erasmus+. The application deadline for the academic year 2015/16 ends on November 30^th, which means I have to hurry up and finish the required papers. I have yet visited various information events of the International Office and next week I am going to talk with the responsible lecturer at our chair (of comparative literature). I have learned that the chance of being accepted for Erasmus+ is much higher in the romance language area (means France, Spain, Italy and Portugal), because there you have to study in the national language. In all the other European countries you can study completely in English and you need only to know the basics of the national language. Since I speak French and Spanish (both more or less fluently), I would prefer France (or Spain) as host country.

Next week I will learn more about the choice of the host university, but I think I will set the Université de Lorraine in Nancy on the first position (in my application I can name five possible Universities). When I have chosen my preferred Universities, I still have to write a letter of motivation, which has to be handed in with the application, a certificate of matriculation, a certificate of my passed courses at university, my CV and my certification of the secondary school.

So far so good. When I have any further information and hence can make the next step, I will share it here. Feel free to comment the posts or contact me if you have any questions!