Student review [#10057] for International Development
at Sciences Po

I spent my whole academic experience in Sciences Po (except for one exchange year) and I will be talking about both bachelor’s and master’s without making any distinction. ____In my opinion Sciences Po is a very good university, often not because of the high quality of the academics but in the tools it leaves you with, if you are able to exploit your time there appropriately. ____Yes, Sciences Po is prestigious in the sense that you have a good chance of having high-profile personalities as professors and of getting chances to see the world leaders at conferences. However, this does not mean that all of them will teach you well. Most of the time, those classes are the ones where you will want to learn about the experience rather than getting any academic knowledge. ____In fact, because of the width of subjects touched, classes tend to remain on the surface and very often you leave the classe without having the impression to really have learned something new and useful that will stick. The amount of work in total is quite overwhelming and definitely tries your organizational skills. ____Experience and practical thinking, readiness and getting used to tight deadlines are most definitely what Sciences Po will definitely give you. You will not be able to understand the whole history of political science as an academic package but when you start working you will find that your experience in Sciences Po left you with a deep understanding of relations, a sense of teamwork and a rapidity in thinking and getting things done that you would not have gotten by studying theory of politics for three years (if you were able to see and exploit the pertinent situations in your favor of course). Of course that will be your gap: if you did not fill it on your own, you will be less prepared in terms of academic knowledge. ____Associational life on campuses is very rich and my advice would be to really get into it as it is an integral part of the bachelor’s years. It is very intense and really helps to develop some fundamental relational and sometimes technical skills.____In conclusion, while in terms of knowledge and conventional university learning acquired you might find yourself frustrated at the end of your time at Sciences Po, you will also find that it gave you some skills that are not only useful to you but are also quite required in any job.