If you are reading these few words, you must have passed the baccalaureate exam. And for that, there is a great comrade, goodbye senior year and goodbye student life. Now you want to move on to higher education that suits you;a preparatory class, a professional bachelor's degree, a BTS, a university year? Here we will guide you towards the different opportunities that are available to you in terms of higher education. Spoiler alert! One of the proposals will even allow you to reconcile travel and studies...
Short studies: BTS, DUT
It is initially the brevet of superior technician, more commonly known as BTS. This is aimed at students who already have a precise idea of their professional project and who wish to rapidly gain in competence. In 2 years, you will obtain a diploma that you can convert into a licence (3 years), or master (5 years), if you feel capable of doing so. There are about 500 BTS and more than forty specialities concerning the DUT. From communication to real estate, audiovisual and social work, everything is possible! Unlike a BTS, the DUT is prepared in an IUT (University Institute of Technology). It is intended to be a little more generalist than the BTS.
With an average of 30 students per class, about 30 hours of classes per week and some homework, there is not really any difference with your final year except for the professionalization.
The challenge is to be operational and meet the needs of a company in a specific professional field.
University: from bachelor's degree to doctorate
The famous university campus! During the week, you will attend lectures in the amphitheatre. You will take part in practical and/or supervised work, observation sequences or professional role-playing.
In the meantime, you can take advantage of the campus and its inexpensive services like the University Restaurant, the crous, the student centre or the sports areas.
You will have the opportunity to meet students from other fields of study and other faculties. Moreover, the associative dimension is very important; the university is like a mini-society in which you can meet people who are interested in practising a sporting, cultural or disciplinary activity.
As far as personal work is concerned, the university corresponds more to autonomous and organised profiles, so expect to have work outside of classes.
Going to university is also not expensive, but it is a unique experience that has nothing in common with what you would have experienced in a general high school or university as part of a reorientation.
Erasmus: studying abroad.
Studying abroad? It's possible! Scholarships, state support, visa application and a little courage - that's all you need to be a student abroad.
Erasmus is a European student exchange programme that allows for study or work placement mobility in more than 33 countries. International mobility will obviously help you improve your foreign language skills, especially English.
Choosing to study abroad also means making the choice to leave your family and friends, but it also means discovering a multitude of cultures and landscapes different from those we may know.
Specialised schools
Accessing specialised schools means choosing a profession, or at least a sector: business schools, engineering schools, art schools, communication and marketing schools...
Whether it's at a specialised school, you must first of all succeed in projecting yourself over 5 years, and keep in mind that the more you advance in your training, the more you will need to specialise in a specific field, for example: school of communication and marketing > marketing specialisation > then digital marketing in a master's degree. In any case, there are many opportunities after graduation.
If you want to go to a specialised school, you will have to sit an entrance exam and sit selective examinations. This will enable you to demonstrate your general culture, foreign language skills, writing skills and case study reasoning.
The average tuition fee is around 7,000 euros per year and it is even possible to enter a specialised school on a parallel admission basis, i.e. in the 2nd or 3rd year of the course, for example. Throughout the academic programme you will have to accumulate ECTS credits, which will enable you to validate the semesters of the first year to obtain a Master's or MBA degree.
Finally, higher education is for everyone. From the rigour necessary to enter university, to perseverance to maintain your level in the preparatory class, it only depends on your application file and above all your motivation!