Well, once you are on the programme, you will need to find somewhere to live.
Doing this in Sheffield is fairly easy. However, Paris is quite a
different story!! (unless you are very lucky)
Where are you going?
First year and third year - Sheffield
Second and fourth year - Paris
SHEFFIELD
Moving to Sheffield is the same as moving to any University-City in the
United Kingdom. The University will provide a reasonable amount of
assistance in your house-hunting whether you are moving from France or just from
the deepest-darkest corner of Wales.
The first thing you should know about accommodation in Sheffield is that
there is loads of it around. There are basically three types of housing
available...
Halls of Residence
These are university-owned and run buildings with large number of
one-room flats with shared facilities. The majority of these flats are
reserved for first-year students and anyone applying to SHU will receive
information on these as soon as (if not before) they are accepted on to the
programme. It should be noted that Halls are not suited to everyone.
They are often noisy. Anyone who doesn't relish the idea of being made
to stand outside the Hall at 4 am in the rain due to clubbers coming back
from the clubs and setting off the fire-alarms would be advised to stay
away!!
This said, the Halls are
relatively cheap and clean, always warm enough, catered for by on-campus
restaurants and have 24hr-a-day security. The main advantage of
Halls is often said to be that they give you the chance to meet so many
other students. This is quite important to enhance the university
experience but is particularly important to french students as it limits the
extent to which they can "hide themselves away". The whole year group
for this programme tends to be very close-knit and this can be both an
advantage and a disadvantage. For my part, I was in Halls in my first
year and it was truly the best year of my life.
Private-Sector Housing
This simply means that the student finds a landlord with a property to
rent and moves in. The university has a housing department which is
based at the City Campus. This department keeps a list of vacant
properties (or parts thereof) which are approved by SHU. SHU also run
"house-hunting tours" of the city at various times of the year. These
tours are intended to allow a whole group of students to get together and
look at properties which are vacant. This can be a good opportunity to
meet other students and find potential housemates. These tours are
quite heavily subscribed so contact the Housing Department at SHU as soon as
possible if you want to join one. The problems with private-sector
renting are mainly related to the behaviour of the landlords and also the
other tenants. Be warned, if your landlord is on the SHU list, it
doesn't necessarily mean that he will not be awkward! Likewise, if you
are going to live with a group of other people, try to make sure that there
will not be any clashes over bills, cleanliness of the house, music,
smoking, shopping etc. Living with the wrong housemates can make a
year at university seem like a lifetime! It is always a good idea to
try and sort out financial issues right at the start of the year so that
there is no confusion.
In England students are not
eligible for housing-benefit. The rent you pay is usually inclusive of
certain
bills but it is ESSENTIAL that you find out what is and what is not
included in your rent. Also, try to find out before you sign, if there
are outstanding utilities bills (e.g. gas and water) because you may find
that these companies will try to obtain arrears from the previous tenants'
lease time.
Despite all of these
cautionary tales, living in a shared house or on your own can be a great aid
to
studying and concentration. Life can become a bit out of control
if you are constantly being dragged-out clubbing during term-time - just ask
any final-year student!!
Living at Home
This is obviously only possible if you are in easy reach of Sheffield.
The french students will be no strangers to this concept as it is the norm
in France. The benefits of doing this are obvious. Cheaper (if
any) rent, more money to spend on beer at the Leadmill, familiar
surroundings in which to study and a nice evening meal cooked by your mum!!!
Although this may be an
attractive option to those living in or around Sheffield, it also has a few
down-sides. Your university-based social life can be a bit
difficult (or non-existent) and you may feel like you are missing-out on the
real "student experience". The nice thing about this programme is that
you will never totally miss-out because you have to spend at least two years
in a foreign country!
People considering this
option should also be aware that you may have to be very flexible as to how
you get to university. A university student can be in the library
or having a study-meeting at some very odd times! 3am at the SHU
Learning Centre on the night before a piece of course-work is due is not
unusual!
Moving to Paris
Moving to Paris can be a pretty stressful time for an english student.
Unless you are totally fluent in French by the end of your first year, you may
find the prospect of having to negotiate housing contracts with a 60 year-old
Parisian (inaudible due to the mandatory disc bleu cigarette between his
lips) a little un-nerving. You will probably have to become fluent in the
finer points of french small-ad abbreviations and you may get through a
ridiculous amounts of phone-cards and easyEverything login tickets before you
find a place you can truly call Chez Moi.
British students BEWARE!! French Universities DO NOT provide any type of
assistance in finding accommodation. This is a bit of a culture-shock to
students who move there. Many previous students have complained about this
(and the inequity that french students get all the help they need and the
British get nothing). One response to this is that the french system is
not "wrong" but "different". This response does little to appease the
frustration of students but does make our anglo-french relations work smoothly.
Make up your own minds!
The following bits of information could help you along the way...
Living at a Cité universitaire
This, so far, has not been a popular choice with Maitrise students.
There are a few reasons for this. The cité
is located south of the Seine. It
is on RER B. The rooms are quite drafty (according to my sources!) and
they do suffer from "noisy Halls of Residence" syndrome. Finally, you
may find that the cité will not be very helpful in providing you with
application material. It has seemed in previous years that the cité
rooms mainly get leased to Sorbonne students. The management of
these buildings have been challenged about this in the past but, as yet,
nobody from the Maitrise has taken this option.
Cité
universitaire rooms are acceptable for those wishing to claim
APL/CAF - see further down for
information on this...
These criticisms made, there
are a large number of rooms available in a Hall reserved exclusively for
British students. The rent is competitive for Paris. The
rooms themselves are well-equipped and seem quite secure. Go on, be
the first! (or not).
How romantic is the idea of a "studio apartment in Paris"?
Probably more romantic than is the reality.
A studio apartment generally
means a one-room living-space comprising of a bed, kitchenette area and
(sometimes!!!) a shower/bath/toilet. These rooms vary in price
tremendously between areas. A 14m2 studio in the fashionable Marais
area will cost substantially more than the same size studio in the
Voltaire/Nation area. This said, the prices of studios in Paris do not
always reflect the quality of the apartment or the area. The only way
to be sure is to go to Paris and have a look. This is where the fun
begins!!
YOU MUST ASK THE PROPRIETAIRE
IF HE IS REGISTERED FOR APL/CAF - for details see further below...
See below for details of how to house-hunt in Paris...
Private sector housing - two or more rooms for two or more people
Although, in Sheffield this is the norm amongst students, in Paris it
can be difficult to arrange. Apartments for two or more people, if you
can find them, are probably an ideal way to live in Paris. They are
generally better from a security and personal safety point of view.
The rent can be more affordable if it is shared. Some of these
apartments may have provision for internet access or other such amenities.
A few problems with this type
of housing are that:
>> they are often located in family
residential type buildings where noisy students don't make very
popular neighbours;
>>
even if the property is registered for APL/CAF, only one of the tenants may
claim;
>> properties such as these are few
and far between!!!
>>
you may find yourself speaking only english at home which will not help your
french!
Carte de séjour
This is a sticker which goes inside your passport. It's
"real" purpose is to
register you within the french tax and benefits system. This is helpful if
you are going to work in France.
Students' experiences of applying for the carte de séjour
are varied. The one constant is that
it can take quite a lot of waiting around. Your first step is to gather
together all of the documents needed for the application procedure. This
list has been know to change from year to year so make sure you have as much
documentation as you can find. You may be surprised by the difference
going over-prepared makes on how quickly they process your application! More
papers = less time (usually!)
Things you will definitely require are:
Passport (and at least 4 copies of photo page)
4 Passport-sized photos
Copy of your E128 form
Copy of your housing contract
Translation of your birth certificate - stamped by SHU - see Collette
White
Copy of your birth certificate in english
An EDF/GDF or France Telecom bill
Proof of enrolment at both SHU and at Paris XII
Anything else that you feel may be helpful in processing your application.
You need to go to St. Michel Metro Station and find the Préfecture
de Paris and go to Door E. When you arrive follow the signs and chat
to the other stressed-out non-french applicants while you wait.
NEWS FLASH!!!: It has recently become the case that you
can apply for your Carte at your local Marie in your
arrondissement. You may find it easier to go to St. Michel anyway!
It may be helpful to look at the process as you having to convince them why
they should let you receive this "temporary citizenship". It's a bit of a
challenge and the carte itself is a bit of an anti-climax but it will be
worth it when you get your housing benefit!!
CAF/APL
This can be thought of as
equivalent to housing-benefit in Britain. Essentially, when you arrive at
your apartment and pay your first rent installment, you will be given a
quittance de loyer which is receipt for the rent. If you are not given
this receipt, ask the landlord for one straight away. Without this
document, you will not be able to claim APL.
When you have your quittance de loyer, take it along with your
carte de séjour, passport, EDF/France
Telecom bill, several passport-size photos and your housing contract to your
nearest caisse.
AN ALTERNATIVE APPROACH: You can now apply for your
APL via the CAF website! Here, you simply follow the links for students
and answer a few questions online. You may then save and print the .pdf
type document which the website produces. This has to be signed and there
is a copy of the document to be signed by your landlord. This method means
less hassle with quittances de loyer as the CAF only need one copy of
this form.
Many people (not just students!!) find that it can take a
very long time for the CAF to process and pay your APL. Normally, it
should be done by the end of the month and you should receive your APL number by
post. If this does not happen, I would recommend a swift email (via the
CAF website) to remind them. It worked for me and I was payed just a few
days later! Good Luck!
