by Justine Altmeyer-Wagner, Class of 2021
As a Student Ambassador for the Bachelor in Management (BSc) programme at ESCP Business School, I get asked this question quite often, “What are your days like? What’s the life of a Bachelor student in Paris?”. It’s a very legitimate question that I surely asked myself as I was applying to the Bachelor program. So, here is an insight into a typical day in my life as a B2 student in the beautiful city of Paris.
I can’t say that one day is just like the other at ESCP. Of course, the class schedule is quite similar from one week to the other, but additional activities always come up, such as group studying for a project, a conference hosted by Tribunes or simply hanging out with friends from the program.
On average, I have one to two classes per day, five days a week, which leaves the weekend for studying/exploring the city. Let’s take a typical Friday in my life, just because Friday is my favorite day of the week!
7h – At my flat
It is 7 am and the alarm rings. I wake up and go straight to the kitchen to make some coffee. Coffee is much needed for me in the morning, especially when today’s class is Finance. After having drunk my coffee, I’ll typically do a quick yoga workout and then get ready. I leave my flat at 8h15 because I live quite far from Paris Campus, on the other side of the Seine, but also because I cannot stand being late. So, it’s 8h15, I grab my bag, my Navigo pass, and head for the tube. Thirty minutes in the tube and three changes later, I arrive on campus.
8h45 – Paris République Campus
After having filled my water bottle, I head to the lecture room. Usually, I am the first one to arrive. I like this moment of quietness before my classmates enter the classroom. I usually use the next 10 minutes to check my emails and review what my schedule is for the day.
This Finance lecture is going to be three hours long (yes, three hours, it is okay I promise), from 9 am to 12 am. It is 8h58, the teacher comes in. Lots of people are still missing, but he knows that everybody will show up between 8h59 and 9h.
9h02 – Amphithéâtre GUY
The class has started, today we are working on stock valuation – definitely not my cup of tea. I go on Blackboard, download the material: it is now time to focus.
10h30 – Building 3
Break time! Teachers typically give the students a 15-20 minutes break when lectures last more than 2 hours. Students either go to the vending machines or cafeteria together to grab a coffee and make it through the last hour and a half or stay in the room and chat together.
Today, I’m staying in the room to chat with my friend Oriane about our upcoming plans for the weekend. We decide that we want to go check the Village Royal as a new exhibition was just set up there. It’s now 10h50, the teacher has come back and the class will start at any minute.
12h – Cafeteria
It is now lunchtime! Today, I’m eating at the cafeteria with my friends, like most days of the week. The cafeteria is a great option for lunch on the République Campus as it is relatively cheap, and it offers a great variety of food options. We chat together about group projects we’re struggling with, the upcoming parties, and life in general. Time always goes by too fast during lunch. It’s 12h45, we all part ways to go on with our respective days.
13h – Library on Paris République Campus
My schedule for the afternoon is quite usual for a student of the Bachelor. I will study for the next two hours at the library, and I will then go down the street to a Startup incubator in Parmentier to work for my Collective Project. I will elaborate more on this specific project later on.
Today in the library, I’m going to work on a German assignment due next week and I will also sum up the Finance lecture I had this morning. Summing up lectures the same day I had them is a life-changer for me. I started doing this at the beginning of the year, as I noticed the study pace had picked up a bit compared to the pace of the first year. It has made studying a bit easier for me, and that enables me to work regularly and to not push to tomorrow what I can do today.
15h – IONIS 361, Parmentier location
It is now 15h and I have arrived at the incubator my Startup is located at. For the second year of the Bachelor, the Collective Project consists of a 6-month collaboration with a Paris-based Startup. The Startup I’m currently working for is called Eiffo Analytics, and it is specialized in Data Science as a service, and more specifically on predictive analysis. Our team is composed of six students representing five nationalities, and we are working in pairs and switching tasks around to be more productive and so that we each discover different areas of business.
This experience has been such a great way for us to apply theoretical knowledge to concrete cases, but also an eye-opener as I realized what interested me within a business. I’m surely going to bring all the skills I learned during this project to my professional life. I’m so thankful that ESCP Business School allowed us to take part in such a great project.
I will stay at the incubator for the next two to three hours, depending on how fast I can get my work done. Today, I’m working on the future website to make the content more accessible, but I’ll also be proofreading an article about churn prediction that will be uploaded to the Startup’s website. Today I’m being helped by Alex, one of the two founders, as he is in charge of the Marketing & Content creation parts. We brainstorm for a moment about ideas for the website and then allocate my work so I can work independently for the rest of the week.
18h – Back at my flat
After having finished my work at the Startup, I came back to my flat. Today was a busy day, and I’m excited to unwind and see my friends in a bit. Indeed, I invited a few over for a chill evening at my place. We will chat, eat, and drink for a few hours before everybody goes back to their flats. What a nice way to end this hectic Friday in Paris!
A big part of the Bachelor’s experience at ESCP is making good friends while studying. Even though we all come from different education systems, countries, and backgrounds, we get along really well and I’ve met people that will surely be my friends for life. Your friends will be such a big part of your experience at ESCP, not only for the “fun” aspects like outings in the city or parties, but they’ll also be your moral support when you have four projects to hand in and six exams to study for in three days (just kidding, that never happens 😉).
Your university years are such good moments to socialize, and it’d be a shame not to take advantage of what this Bachelor has to offer. Obviously, it’s important to study hard, but it’s almost equally as important to go out there and make lifelong friends. These people will likely be part of your social and professional network later on in life and socializing during your university years is a good way to build a strong connection with brilliant people.
As I said above, no day is like the other at ESCP. The possibilities are endless. It’s up to you to seize them and make these three years as exciting and rewarding as can be.
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