As one would expect, the academic systems between America and France are quite different. Actually – they’re ridiculously different, like a night in Tigerland vs. dinner at Tsunami.
Unfortunately, while my program tried to prepare us for culture shock and how to spend our money wisely, there wasn’t nearly as much preparation for the differences we would encounter in the classroom. So, I thought I would lay out a few of the big ones for anyone who is considering studying abroad in France, or even just for anyone who’s curious.
(Disclaimer: This blog is based on my personal experience and that of a few people in my study abroad program here in Nice, France. It may not be like this at every French institution.)
1. Register for classes like it’s 1999

At LSU we have a wonderful, albeit sometimes flawed, system where we register for classes online. However, it’s much more…prehistoric in France.  In order to register for classes, you have to find the “emplois du temps” which is essentially a course offering list. This list will sometimes be found on the department’s website, but most of the time you have to go to the department’s secretary on one of the school’s many campuses so she can print it out for you. But, you’re still not registered. For me, since I’m an international student here, once I choose all of my courses, I have to fill out a form and turn it into the secretary at the International Relations Office. Then, I am finally registered for classes.
2. Courses take place only once a week, but not every week (wait..what?)

If you thought anything I’ve written above was weird, this one will really throw you for a loop. At LSU, if you’re a full time student, you generally have at least one class every day. You go to the same classes MWF and the same classes on TTh.
Here in Nice, you get all of the hours per week for a class out of the way in one day. So instead of going to a class on MWF for one hour each day, you just go for the full three hours on Monday.
I actually prefer the French way on this one because even though I’m taking 14 hours per week, I have a four-day weekend every week because I get all of my classes done on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.
Another thing is that there are many courses that only last halfway through the semester or some that meet for the first three weeks of the semester, but not again until the last few weeks. And the only way to figure out when to go and not to go to class? Not emails from your professor (lol they never send or respond to emails), but Facebook groups for each department and level. The native French students have really come up with a system to deal with this organized chaos and I’m just trying to decode it all.
3. Professors don’t introduce themselves…or the course they’re teaching

On the first day of courses, I had to ask someone to make sure that it was actually the first day. Unlike at LSU, the professors here generally don’t introduce themselves, they don’t pass out syllabi, nor do they give a general synopsis about what you can expect to learn in the course. They just jump headfirst into the material.
4. You won’t drown in a sea of Macs

I’ll never forget my freshman year at LSU when I took out my giant Dell PC laptop in the middle of literally hundreds of Macs in Cox Auditorium. While I have switched to the Mac side since then, it’s interesting to see that most students here either hand write their notes or use PCs.
5. Actual tests and textbooks are rare

First of all, the idea of multiple choice tests here doesn’t really exist. Any assessment that’s given is in the form of a final paper, essay exam, and/or a 20-30 minute long presentation in front of the class (in French, of course). For all of the classes I’m taking this semester, we only have one final, comprehensive assessment that will be given at the end of the semester. There are some courses at LSU that function the same, but this is just the first time in my college career where 100% of the courses I’m taking are like that.
While I’m on the topic of tests, I do want to mention what the grading scale is like here. Instead of a typical letter grading scale, French universities grade on a scale from 1-20. From what I’ve heard, 20 is for God, 19 is for Jesus, 18 is for the professor, and 17 would be for the brightest students in the class. Essentially what that means is a perfect score is impossible to attain. Passing would be anything above 10. 
Now, about those textbooks (or lack thereof). At LSU, even if the professor never mentions a textbook during the course, they at least recommend one in the syllabus. However, the professors here don’t even try to pretend that they will eventually use a textbook. While I’m glad I won’t have to splurge on expensive books this semester, having a supplementary study tool like that would be useful here since French isn’t my first language. 
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Do you think you would be able to handle these differences? Tweet me your thoughts at @AggiAshagre!