12 Registration and Credits

In the context of any given course, you are expected to complete all work that degree-seeking students at the FAC, SUL and Sciences Po are expected to complete. However, you should be aware that the structure of the French institutions in which courses are taken is not the same as undergraduate programs in the United States. Degree-seeking students specialize from the beginning of their university studies.

Courses at the FAC and Sciences Po are often embedded in larger and more comprehensive modules (groups of courses) meant to be taken together, sometimes as pre-requisites and provide in-depth training in a particular area. APA students rarely take all the courses in a particular module. Rather, you will choose parts of the module that interest you and fulfill your needs.

Some of the large courses have parallel travaux dirigés (TD) for discussions, questions and and answers, and supplementary work. If you enroll in such a large course, you must also enroll in a parallel travaux dirigés section. Similarly, you may not enroll in a parallel travaux dirigés section without also enrolling in the related lecture course (cours magistral).

French educational institutions are often less “user-friendly” than American ones. The period between the distribution of the plaquettes (see Academic Structure and Courses below) and the first few weeks of class often strikes APA students as disorganized. Once you are in Aix, APA will give you all the information necessary to register as a student.

No matter where you are enrolled, the general rule is that you will do the same oral and written work as that required of French students. You will take the final examinations at the same time as the French students, unless the professor of the course, in agreement with the Faculty Director, wants to evaluate your work in a different manner. This may depend on the level of the course. If you are enrolled in one of the certificate programs, you will be required to meet the academic obligations and final exam requirements as specified for that program.

Both the academic structures and the process of selecting and enrolling in courses are different from anything you have been used to at your home university. During the first weeks in Aix, there will be several useful orientation meetings during which the FD will explain in detail important matters such as:

• academic calendar;
• the policy regarding attendance;
• the layout of plaquettes (course descriptions);
• the codes used to designate various disciplines and levels;
• the procedure for selecting and registering for courses;
• program policy regarding course contact hours and home university credits;
• preparation of year-end transcripts.