Annalie – Universite Paris Dauphine – France
Semester 1, 2025
Bachelor of Laws (Honours)
Law Students:
Law students should save up their university wide electives as core units will most likely not have a foreign equivalent (considering the law we learn is specific to Australia). I personally did a mix of business & arts subjects.
Pre-Departure
The team at the QUT exchange office do a wonderful job of guiding students through the initial stages of the application process and they are always available to help with questions. For the Universite Paris Dauphine (Dauphine), I did not receive my acceptance until mid-November and I needed to be in Paris by the 6th of January. Evidently, there was a very quick turnaround – while this seems incredibly daunting, the university does an amazing job of finding quick housing for their students so don’t worry too much. I have dual citizenship allowing me to live in EU/UK without a visa so I would advise reading other student testimonials for advice on that topic. With the current exchange rate and cost of living it is very expensive to live in Paris. I would recommend using all the bursary options available to you to ensure you can enjoy your time abroad.
Housing
As I said, the university will help you to sort out housing if you choose. I lived in the Dauphine Housing at Saint-Ouen on the 2nd floor. The 4th floor are the ‘dormitories’ where other exchange students live and I recommend making friends with the students there as it is the perfect place for pres! Additionally, there is other CROUS housing in and around Paris. In France, there are 10 business days from the date of move in to photograph any existing issues with the apartment to ensure that you are not charged on your security deposit for breakages etc that you did not cause. BE TEDIOUS!! Any marks, scratches, breakages, loose bits & nails must be photographed and emailed to your house manager/landlord. I recommend buying your bedding outright from the university (if in uni housing) as the dauphine housing will make you dry clean the bedding anyway which equates to the same amount if not more.
Transport
Travelling around Paris is incredibly easy. The ‘translink go-card’ equivalent is called a NAVIGO card – download the Ile-de-France Mobilites App to purchase tickets – they can be used on your phone like apple pay (bare in mind that apple pay cannot be used to tap on, only the navigo card in your apple wallet). Invest in the package options – it is cheaper for you to purchase a monthly navigo card (88.80€) which can be done online OR if you wait until you receive your student ID & relevant documents you can apply for a student card which will stay valid for one year (a better option for people doing a 12 month exchange – overall costs about the same as paying for a monthly one for 6 months maybe slightly less). The university is located in the 16eme. The ile-de-France app will generate the best options for travel to the university for you. From the Saint-Ouen Housing you can… start at Garibaldi station and take line 13 to Chatillon, exit at Place de Clichy and switch to metro line 2 towards Porte Dauphine. Exit at the last stop for the university. OR take the tram from Porte de Clignancourt.
Classes
Courses with the DAI unit code are official exchange classes – they will run for 10 weeks only. Jan-early April. If you are planning on further study in France after QUT graduation they WILL look at your european transcript so I advise that you do attempt to do well despite the fact that it won’t impact your QUT GPA. Attendance is mandatory but you have 3 unexcused absences per class – you WILL fail if you have more than 3. I attended my classes and still had plenty of time to travel & explore especially since you won’t have to vacate your accommodation until June so April-June is also free for travel etc.
Language Barriers
The french have a stereotype as being not very accommodating to non-french born speakers. My level of french when I arrived (despite the fact that I have been learning for like three years embarrassingly) was A2. My pronunciation was terrible too. I have never had any interactions where french speakers aren’t happy to 1. Speak in English or 2. Help me with my french. It is about mutual respect – say bonjour/bonsoir when you enter a shop or boulangerie, say bonne journee/bonne soiree when you leave. Find out how to order food/ask for something in french and that is literally all you need. Parlez-vous l’anglais? (Do you speak english? ALWAYS ASK BEFORE YOU SPEAK IN ENGLISH as a respectful thing). Be aware that you are entering a non-english speaking country and if someone takes issue with the fact you don’t speak french then c’est la vie – the Parisians I met were so lovely, the good will always outweigh the bad.
Life in Paris
Since I was young I have always loved Paris. To live there full time was a dream come true for me. Paris is a city full of art, love and community. Please, please, please take advantage of all that the city has to offer. Going on an exchange is the most beautiful opportunity you can have. The exchange students are entering the coming months with the goal of making friends so put yourself out there and it will be so easy to make friends. With a european student ID card you have free/discounted admission to all museums and some tourist attractions.
Take advantage of travel opportunities & enjoy your semester abroad!
Find out more on how you can apply: Student Exchange
