Signing up For Classes

la fac (for la faculté) is how university is referred to here. French students will ask you questions such as: il fait combien de temps que tu es à la fac? (How long have you been at university?) Qu'est-ce que tu étudie à la fac? (What are you studying at university?)

The poli sci stream at Lyon 3 is in international relations, with a strong focus on war studies. The university curriculum for French poli sci students at Lyon 3 is relatively rigid,the course selection for majors is planned out for each year, and their only option is in choosing a minor - which also has a planned out curriculum and is closely related in subject matter.


As an exchange student (in Europe, exchange students are called ERASMUS students) you can pick and choose your courses however you want from various departments. You can choose courses from different years and from different faculties - note: for students on a full year exchange, you can take any number of courses so long as they meet the minimum credit and language requirements to qualify for the DEUF.

Courses
Poli sci courses are separated into lectures (cours magistraux or CMs) and tutorials (travaux dirigés or TDs). You can take CMs without taking the TD but you can't take a TD without taking the CM. You are required to take at least one TD per semester for the DEUF. You will be given a little booklet of all the courses that you are allowed to take.

Exams
Exams in the polic sci department usually take place in January and June. I was told in the orientation session that most of the time exchange students are given oral exams however, for TDs, you are required to take the written exam with French students. Your final grade is split between your TD and CM grades. The exam schedule is usually posted in December and you can expect to receive your grades around March or April.

There are various types of exams. Sometimes you will have a three-hour written exam, other times it can be 1,5 hours for short answers, and sometimes it is a 1-hour QCM(questions à choix multiples) which is a multiple choice exam. Oral exams take place with the professor and usually last about 10-20 minutes. You are given a topic or question and about 10 minutes to prepare (make notes on a sheet of paper to help guide you) and you will either be expected to talk or be interrogated by the professor.

Tutorials
At Lyon 3, political science is part of the law faculty and all exchange students in law have an optional tutorial session* once a week for the first few weeks. Your tutor is there to answer all of your questions and to help you with your choice of courses. You have until about mid-October to finalise your course choices. Much like everything else here, signing up for courses is also archaic: you fill out a piece of paper by hand and then somebody in the administration manually enters the information into a system (a computer, I think).

*Lyon 3 students also have optional tutorial sessions which you can also attend. The times, dates and locations are usually posted on the boards for the corresponding years, located in the pasage area right outside of the administrative building for the Law faculty.