Studying in France, My Experience, Admission & Visa Process, FAQs**

Studying in France with tuition fee even cheaper than Pakistan? Yeah, It must be a new thing for vast majority but the fact is, even if you don’t secure
scholarship, your study expenses will be less than any Pakistani University (Semi/Non Government). I’m Tayyab Khan and I’m gonna explain how you
can enjoy perks of studying in France and shape up your career in very competitive environment even if you didn’t got any scholarship. Infact very
narrow percentage is able to secure scholarship and majority thinks what if we aren’t on scholarship? So this post is for you if you feel comfortable in
studying on self funding. Give it a thorough read, I hope it’ll clear your many doubts. Your will surely get high ROI of your time and efforts!
My Experience:
Well, Firstly, my aim was to do bachelors from Aus or Germany but due to some personal reasons I decided to wait until the completion of my
graduation and then go for Masters. I was motivated by one of our family friend who was doing his Masters from Germany. That guy is the reason
behind everything. Big thanks to him.
I was in different groups such as Study & Life in Germany, Study and Life in Australia etc and was continuously reading almost every post and
comments (I didn’t understood most of questions and answers in start to be very honest � but was still following groups regularly which is the reason
AlhamduLillah I can help most of the applicants regarding France, Germany, UK, Turkey and Australia). If i was looking for anything, I tried to search
that info by its keyword in Facebook group and found answers of most of my queries. Also, going through file sections really really helped me.
Regarding visa process or any other questions related to admission etc, official websites of programs were the best place to find everything. I
recommend newbies to follow these things also, you’ll find answers of 80,90% of your questions.
Anyway, admission and visa process was so smooth and simple.
Finally the day come when I finally arrived and enrolled in Masters. First week was introductory and all students were welcomed very nicely.
Coursework then started and we had to work right from day 1 to stay in business. Best thing was the competitive and multicultural environment which
surely change your personal and working habits a lot. You get to know people from many nationalities and make friends, study in groups, travel
together which really uplifts your thought process.
My city (like most of small European cities/towns) is a very peaceful and cheaper place to live, there are not much distractions so students are focused
on studies only. There are many events arranged by university and also city administration throughout whole year on campus and off campus.
Regarding studies, it totally depends upon individual but one thing is for sure that you’ll have to work/study regularly (last minute students tend to face
a lot of issues). They encourage independent studies, mostly exams are also open book so our conceptual skills matters most rather than just
cramming some notes. Every course is taught from beginning and then they move towards advance concepts. Getting straight A’s or even B+ isn’t a
piece of cake (like in mostly Pakistani universities, I repeat mostly but not every university is like that). Even though students get good grades and it’s
up to individual but we have to work more here in France than in Pakistan that’s for sure.
Regarding part time jobs, many students ask from me (their first question is, kitna kamaa rhy ho � ) about doing work along with studies. Well I
haven’t been doing work here but it really depends upon your language skills. French is essential to get work because mostly Europeans aren’t
comfortable with English and they prefer their own language. In small cities, barrier is higher and living cost is less and vice virsa in Big cities. But if
you can get job, you can afford your living expenses quite easily and even save 100-200 euros per month without disturbing your studies. Legally you
can work up to 20 hours per week.
About France:
⁃ Top class education system with intensive focus on overall development of students and prepare them for industry/phd.
⁃ Second Biggest European Economy, that means job opportunities are high in every field (subject to language requirements and your skills in
particular field).
⁃ One of the most visited tourist place in Europe with cities like Paris, Nice, Marseille, Aix-en-Provence etc. You’ll love them � �
⁃ Like Travelling and want to visit other coincide? You have dozens of options to go for. It’s neighboring countries are Spain, Germany, Italy,
Switzerland & Belgium which are famous for their tourism.
Major Scholarships:
⁃ Erasmus+
⁃ Eiffel Scholarships
⁃ French Ministry of Foreign Affairs Scholarships
⁃ IDEX Lyon Scholarship
⁃ University Specific Scholarships (Usually highest cgpa holder in class is awarded that scholarship which is fully funded, so give it a try if your cgpa is
3.5+)
Why France? Why Not Germany or any other country in Europe?
⁃ Without any second doubt, Germany is the best option to go for in Europe, but wait a minute, there’s one big issue in getting German visa (if you are
not on scholarship). That is, to deposit 8000€ in Blocked account (or sometime 16,000€) in Germany which are considered as your living expenses.
Issue is, not everyone can put/arrange this much money just for depositing in their account. So here comes the deal, you don’t need to deposit a
single rupee in French account.
⁃ Opportunities wise Germany is always ahead than France or any other European country. Preference for France is just because of money issue in
Germany. Otherwise, if you can arrange that amount, then close your eyes and choose Germany.
⁃ University cost wise France is also cheaper than Germany. Tuition fee in Germany is 250€ per semester while it’s 250€ per year in France.
⁃ Also, Students get allowance in accommodation rent (it is called CAF) so your 25-35% rent is payed by French government in France.
⁃ Something for those who fear to take IELTS, good news is, mostly universities accepts English Proficiency Certificate in France which means you’ll
not have to appear for IELTS (neither for admission, nor for Visa) if your university allows you to present EPL only. However, personal suggestion
(highly recommended) will be to take IELTS and expand your chances.
⁃ You don’t need any medical or travel insurance also for France.
⁃ You’ll get job search visa after completion of your degree, you get it in Germany also.
⁃ Visa process is quit straight forward and everything is very simple. A big NO to any consultants out there.
Admission & Visa Process:
France ��:
1- First of all, for general questions, visit campus france pakistan website (http://www.campusfrance.org/en/page/pakistan-program) for all questions like
how to apply, life in france, scholarships, per month expenses, after degree opportunities etc.. Spend your at least an hour and read everything
thoroughly, trust me you will find it really helpful.
2- After getting an overview, if you are interested to apply for France, Next step is to search your course/university.
There are some portals like Mastersportal.eu (http://www.mastersportal.eu/), StudyinEurope (http://ec.europa.eu/education/study-in-europe_en),
Topuniversities (https://www.topuniversities.com/) etc where you can easily search for your course and get many universities. These portals are helpful
for searching for universities all over the world. For Germany, best option is to search on Daad.de which is the official portal.
3- After making a list of universities, apply there by simple doing signup and upload your documents there. I'm sure most universities accepts online
applications with no application fee so you can apply to as many universities as you want. They take around two weeks and reply back to you.
Here are the required documents for admission in most universities:
-Bachelors degree
-Bachelors Transcript
-Letter of Motivation OR SOP
-English Proficiency Letter or IELTS..Well most universities accepts English proficiency letter also which you can easily get from your bachelors
university.
-CV
-Research Publication,If any.
-2 Recommendation Letters
-Passport
3- After getting Admission, You will need to book residence as its certificate is required by embassy. Ask your university to book on behalf of you.
There is also an organisation called CROUS which provides accommodation to students in very less price. But you will need to apply for CROUS very
early as there are a lot of applications.
3- Then You can go to AEG office Islamabad (American Express Travel Service) which is official institute for taking appointments from French
Embassy. No need to worry about that as there is no issue of appointments in French visa. Anyway you still need to gk early as soon as you get
admission to avoid from any hassle in future. They will give you appointment and also give you CHECKLIST OF REQUIRED DOCUMENTS which u
need to prepare before visa interview. Here are the documents list for visa:
-Admission letter
-Residence Certificate
-Copy of Attested Educational Documents( Bachelors, FSC, Matric)
-CV
-Cover Letter
-Bank statement of Blood Relative (Father, Mother, Brother, Sister,Uncle) of last six months which must have your Tuition fee plus living expenses
-Copy of All pages of Passport
-3 Pictures
-2 Visa Forms
- OFII form (available on website)
You will appear for visa interview, submit all these documents, pay visa fee of 11,580pkr and then wait for result which you can get within a month.
Best of luck. I hope I answered all questions. Please, Please visit official websites and Google before posting questions.
Thanks
**** You can send us your success stories if you have got a scholarship abroad or in Pakistan. We shall publish it in Humans of Scholarship Network.
Send us your stories with facebook profile link and a photo at engrr.awaiss@gmail.com
Crous
http://www.crous-bordeaux.fr/international-2/apply-accommodation-6-steps/
MesServices.etudiant.gouv.fr