Beyond The States
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In general, there are plenty of schools in Europe that do have FAFSA #s, and sometimes there are other options for financial assistance through country/school generated scholarships or grants, even for international students. We make a note on each school listing if they accept FAFSA #s, and so this should be a helpful way to filter your searches, if necessary.
Check out our podcast episode below on this very topic!
Each US university will have its own transfer policy, and so you should contact individual schools for this information. Give yourself enough time, applying further ahead than you may think to prepare for application requirements, keeping in mind that application deadlines for transfer students may be different than ones for first-year applicants.
We’ll look into this program and add it into our database if it meets our criteria. Thanks for calling it to our attention. There are, however, 3 other Sciences Po programs reflected in the BTS database.
Yes, you’re right, student housing can be challenging to find in the Netherlands, in particular, and so you should certainly work as closely (and early) with those in the international student office or affairs office for their wisdom and support. There are multiple types of housing and multiple ways of finding it (such as via Facebook), but you’ll need to get savvy, particularly in the Netherlands. In other European countries it really does depend on the city and school. We include info on student housing for each program in our database, and so you should start there.
Yes, each academic department, each faculty, is run independently, and they are almost like freestanding units, although they’re part of the university. They have their own admissions staff, and their own administrators. They even often have their own little cafeteria. So they function almost as their own mini university. And that’s because the university is “decentralized”. So at the university level, you’ll be able to access resources, but 9 times out of 10, you’ll find what you need at the faculty level.
And yes, this term is also a geographic thing. All of your classes are going to be with your faculty, and so it’s not like in the US where you have to get from your Intro to Philosophy class all the way over to your Chemistry class, where you have to cut across campus. In most European cities, the buildings are spread out throughout the city itself, and so there’s no “true” campus. (There are a handful of exceptions to this.) In the end, the city itself feels like a campus, especially when it’s a smaller city vs a capital city. The city takes on a college campus feel, even though it’s several local universities that make it so. It’s pretty cool.
“The workload at European universities isn’t necessarily, or inherently, more challenging, but programs may be structured differently than what we’re used to in the states. Overall, expectations of student independence are much higher in Europe, where there is far less hand-holding than what we’re accustomed to in the US.
Students are expected to do a lot of studying on their own. Unlike many classes in the United States, this is ungraded work that is not monitored by the professors. The work in between classes is done to prepare for the next class discussion, as well as to prevent the need to cram for tests. The professors let students know what they need to read and do each week, but it is up to the student to actually get it done. “
The most important thing here is that you’re looking to apply (I assume) to a school in Europe with a US high school diploma. This diploma is what you bring with you, and this diploma is what the school uses to judge whether or not you meet their admissions requirements. Suffice it to say that you’d be applying with an international student with a US high school diploma.
This really isn’t done in Europe as much. Some schools do allow it, but most don’t. First of all, there isn’t really a reason to do it, given the transparent admissions processes. Further, it makes more sense to apply the year before you apply because a) admissions is so transparent b) there will be other options the following year-not only new programs that are added but also Sweden is then open as an option (given Sweden requires a US high school diploma in-hand at time of application). Regarding the essay, most schools don’t require the motivation letter. If they are applying again for the same program and it does require a motivation letter, I would suggest an updated motivation letter that speaks to the relevant experiences that occurred in the year since they wrote the initial one.
Not likely. There are very few that have spring admissions asnd so looking for that would be very limiting. Not impossible if a spring start is a deal breaker (AAU for example), but I would advise against it.
Sometimes there’ll be a required interview, which often has to be done by Skype. There are some cases in which the interview is really structured and formal, and you have to do it in-person. Sciences Po is a good example of that. Toulouse Business School uses the interview — it’s a recorded interview, but it’s sort of an entrance exam at the same time where they give you specific questions that you need to answer in a recorded interview.
But one of the main reasons for a Skype interview is to make sure that the English language proficiency matches the scores that they’re seeing. Those from the US should have no problems here!
Either way, it’s generally just a discussion of your motivation letter, but you don’t want to just regurgitate your motivation letter. So take your motivation letter and next to each point, note a few other examples that you didn’t include in the letter to make it a more interesting conversation and one that you’re then prepared for.
They do exist, but there aren’t as many for international students, and the ones that do exist are often for students from third world countries. It’s usually school-specific as to whether or not they offer them, and there are sometimes tuition waivers based on merit. But there are other opportunities as well. For instance, in Italy, at public universities, the tuition is based on family income. So in our database, we have Italian tuition at public universities listed as the highest bracket that they have, so that you can budget accordingly. Because you actually don’t find out until you get there and have been accepted, we think it’s best to budget high, just in case.
In France, they have CAF, and this is something that even international students can apply for. It’s a type of housing stipend, and around 100 euros a month.
In the Netherlands, most schools offer Holland scholarships (5,000 euros) but they are just for the first year.
And then there’s Finland, which is really interesting. Finland used to offer free tuition to everyone (including international students), but they recently shifted gears and started charging tuition. At the same time a rule passed that required universities to offer scholarships to tuition-paying students. And they are substantial. For instance, some Finnish schools offer first year students an 80% tuition waiver. And if a student passes their first year of full-time study, then a 60% tuition waiver is offered for each of their remaining years of study. They go further, and if you graduate on time, you receive a refund for the final year of tuition.
This is such a great question! If you’re lucky enough to be able to visit schools ahead (and many of our members aren’t able, or choose not to), you should prepare well ahead.
School tours are not as common as in the states, but some things to look for via a school/program’s website are “open” days, or “experience” days. If you don’t see that info directly, email the school’s int’l student office or int’l recruitment office, or even the head of the department you’re interested in, for a meeting. If you’re finding it difficult to get this information, and/or you’re not hearing back from the school with your query, this may be a red flag.
Time of year is critical when considering a school visit to a school, and that is true for virtual visits as well. For instance, you’ll have very little luck during the summer since schools in Europe more-or-less shut down, and their staff are on holiday. (We often say that Thanksgiving is an ideal time to visit, since US students have days off, but schools are in session in Europe, and travel to/from is typically reasonable. )
There are virtual options for getting to know a school as well, like virtual experience days, and many schools have virtual opportunities to meet a student. Even if they don’t have this set up, you can always inquire. As well, we encourage you to look at YouTube for school/student videos and Facebook in order to make connections with the school/program community there, as other ways to get to know a school and community.
Once you’re either there in-person, or taking advantage of virtual offerings for the school/program, you’ll want to think ahead about your personal quality indicators and what would make for a good, overall educational experience for you. Once you’ve built this list, you should come up with questions you may have for school staff or students, and consider things to look out for, including any red flags. We discuss this topic in great detail in our Mini-Courses, allowing you to determine these indicators, and from there what questions to ask of the school and program before considering and applying.
One more thing to remember is that our member Facebook group is a great resource for connecting with (and meeting) other BTS students and families in the city or at the school you’ll be visiting.
Yes. It’s not binding and they don’t ask for tuition until summer.
You can’t choose another 4 after you are rejected. However, there are only some programs (selective and numerous fixus) in which you won’t basically know ahead of time. I suggest having at least 1 program that is non-selective and if acceptance will be based on AP scores they don’t yet have, then one that doesn’t require AP scores.
Not for Europe in general, but some countries (like NL) have countrywide limits. I think (but you should check) Sweden and Denmark do too. It’s only when the country has a countrywide registration (like studie link) or coordinated application process (like Denmark) that it would be the case. You can find this information on each country’s college information website. You can find links to these in our database of programs.