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Please click "read more..." for information about your arrival in September.
This general information is given to all MICEFA students, however if you are a CUNY, CSU IP, or UCONN student please refer to your Resident Director for more information about your arrival schedule. It's important to get the proper visa before leaving the U.S or Canada. Any student whose papers are not in order will be obliged to return home to rectify the situation as any inappropriate visa cannot be modified once you are in France. Follow the instructions in your acceptance letter regarding CampusFrance and the French consulate nearest to your place of residence for the visa application and the list of documents which must accompany your request (health insurance certification, statement of financial support, birth certificate, [translated if not in English] etc.). Make sure you acquire and keep at least two copies of all the necessary documents for your application in order to avoid delays. The financial statement from your bank and a notarized letter from your parent or sponsor claiming financial responsibility for you should be submitted to the French Consulate with the other documents required for your visa, and you will need them again to apply for a carte de sejour in Paris, if you are staying for a year.
If you have applied for a teaching position through our program (poste de lecteur en lycee), you should wait until you have received the official contract from the French Ministry of Education before applying for a visa. This contract, the "arrêté de nomination," should arrive by the end of June or early July. Please contact us if you do not receive an arrêté as it serves as proof of your financial resources for the visa de longue sejour.
In addition, you will be required to take a medical exam here in France in order to obtain your carte de sejour. The cost of the medical exam is 55 euros.
ARRIVAL All students should plan to arrive by Wednesday, September 1, 2010 at the latest (this means departing North America on Tuesday, August 31st)!
If you arrive at Charles de Gaulle Airport you can get to Paris by RER (train), cost approximately 8 euros. If you have a lot of baggage you can contact one of the shuttle buses, (www.parishuttle.com, www.yellowvanshuttle.com, or www.airport-connection.com), which charge 20 to 25 euros. If you take a taxi, it will cost about 50 euros.
To find out where we are located, check our website under Contact Us.
SHORT TERM HOUSING Housing will be your first priority upon arriving in France. We highly recommend the short term housing option, which enables students to get a sense of Paris before they jump into a living arrangement. We will reserve temporary housing for 10 nights (Sept. 1-11, 2010). If you would like to reserve a spot in the temporary housing, please confirm your spot by email by sending a message to
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. Once we have received your confirmation we will send you the instructions on how to pay for the housing as well as the orientation program. The deadline to sign up for housing is June 1, 2010. Payment must be received by June 15, 2010 in order to secure the reservation. We have reserved temporary housing for you at the Maison des Etudiants Canadiebsn 31 boulevard Jourdan - 75014 Paris at the Cité Universitaire. It is located on public transportation line B of the RER at the station Cité Universitaire, a direct line from the Charles de Gaulle airport. The housing search should not be seen as an ordeal, but rather as part of the process of exploring and getting to know Paris and its excellent transportation system. If you come determined to live in the Latin quarter, you should expect to spend more money, but if you are flexible, you can find housing in many parts of Paris which are safe and attractive. Given the transportation system, it doesn't take more than a half and hour to get to most places in Paris. Unfortunately there are very few possibilities for dorm rooms or student foyers in the center of Paris and many of them have constraints which American students do not like, such as restrictions on having guests, specific closing hours and limited phone access. Graduate students can try applying directly to the Fondation des Etats Unis. Normally students count on spending a few days to two weeks in temporary housing while they look for permanent housing. This will allow you enough time to get to know your way around Paris and eventually choose something you can be happy with for the rest of the semester or academic year. Our office staff will be available to help you. LONG TERM HOUSING Our office has a list of student housing which we make available on a first-come, first-served basis. We do our best to arrange stays with families, apartment shares, or rentals, but sometimes run short and also refer students to the American Church housing listings, where many of our students have found good shares and rentals. We also refer students to the FUSAC (France USA Contact) newspaper, online at www.fusac.com or
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. We do NOT recommend that you rent an apartment from abroad sight unseen. But since MICEFA students are among the first study abroad students to arrive in Paris, they usually have a large selection of options.
AU-PAIR POSITIONS Students interested in working 12-15 hours a week babysitting or tutoring in exchange for a room should ask to be put on the au-pair list. Students have found that this is a good way to integrate into a French environment and to improve their French. Do not mention your intention to work as a demi au-pair when you request your visa. PLEASE NOTE: Most au pair positions are for the full academic year. It is VERY difficult to secure an au pair position for only one semester. Please also keep in mind that this is not a home-stay situation and the families are taking you in to work, not to be another member of the family.
COMMUNICATION You can come with your laptop (international plug adapter) and wireless equipment. The MICEFA is equipped with a wireless connection and we have a list of wireless hot spots around Paris. If you have a tri-band cell phone, you can probably buy a SIM card to use in it. The MICEFA also works with an American company called Piccell Wireless from which you can pre-order a phone before arrival that will be functional upon your arrival in France. Please check out their offer on their website (special link for MICEFA students) at: http://www.piccellwireless.com/micefa. Please note, this might not be the cheapest option for students coming for the full academic year.
SCHEDULE :
Fall 2010 students : General Orientation will start on Thursday, September 2. All students should meet at the MICEFA (26 rue du Faubourg St Jacques, 75014) at 9:00 am. We will then walk through the Latin Quarter ending up on the campus of the University of Paris 3 - Sorbonne Nouvelle (13 rue Santeuil, 75005, métro: Censier-Daubenton). You will then attend a General Orientation Meeting with the MICEFA staff from 9h30-12h00. The meeting will take place in room 520 at the Censier campus of Paris 3. This meeting will provide important information about University registration, housing, practical matters such as banking and the titre de sejour, student restaurants, etc. You will then take your French Level Testthat afternoon (Thursday, Sept. 2) from 13h30-15h00 in room 520.
The Preliminary Intensive French Courses and Orientation program will run from Monday, September 6 to Friday, September 24th. Classes will meet four hours daily for and you may receive 3 hours' academic credit for the course. During that time, students should make appointments with Dr. Mireille Prodeau, Academic Director, to discuss their intended academic program at the Université de Paris, to consult course listings and to make known any specific course requirements they may need to fulfill. We will be enrolling you at one of the Parisian universities in the MICEFA consortium, depending on your field of study after consulting with you and the French teachers. You will be receiving your student card after your registration in October. LEARNING FRENCHMICEFA FRENCH CLASSES: The MICEFA offers 3-5 courses per semester including: Advanced Composition (depending on the semester), the History of France and the French, the Architectural History of Paris, the Literary History of Paris and/or the History of Franco-American Relations. ELEMENTARY AND INTERMEDIATE FRENCH: Courses are offered at the University of Paris VIII-Saint Denis and the University of Paris XII-Creteil (intensive) on a semester basis.
HIGHER INTERMEDIATE: University of Paris X-Nanterre offers higher intermediate and advanced courses in French language, civilization and literature. ADVANCED: Advanced students can take courses with French students at any of the French universities. Tutorials can be arranged by appointment with Professor Nossenko if you need help.
If you are interested in housing a French student for a few days or on an exchange basis upon his/her arrival, please let us know. It might lead to reciprocation for you, as well as a good contact.
We look forward to meeting you in September! 
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