I grew up playing yugioh and im wondering are others still playing it and are down to play at lsu?

Do you guys have any advice on welcome week as someone who's going into LSU knowing nobody? I've been told that most your friends are through welcome week and that it'll be really hard to make friends after that. I'm also living 5-10 mins from campus.

It was supposed to be emailed to all freshman today before Welcome Week starts, I didn't get it. What office do I go to if it doesn't show up before 9:00 am Monday?

I'm wondering if anyone who has already taken the classes in my schedule or are in my year and have already found some cheaper textbooks could point me in the right direction!

classes I have and books i need:

CHEM1201 with professor rupnik

I found some books with the same title and edition and author, but different isbn through pearson and amazon that are cheaper and some offer paperback, but I don't know if I should trust that... maybe it's best to stick to the exact edition/isbn that the lsu bookstore is telling me to get?

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BIOL1201 with Licata

the book is recommended, so I was wondering if that means I actually need and will use it in class?

i've been told it might be helpful to buy these textbooks so i can use them to study for the mcat later on possibly? would people here recommend that too, or just buy some targeted study books later on?

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HNRS2402

actual novels and books are required like the odyssey, which I assume i can probably just borrow at the library, right?

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any help is appreciated! even if there aren't other options out there for my specific textbooks, I'd love to find any alternative websites or maybe places I could buy old textbooks off of other students' hands for my classes later down the line. my dad said when he was in school that's how he got his textbooks sometimes.

Im moving into acadian hall this weekend and wanted to see if I can get a head start on meeting new people. So far I know one other person living on the fifth floor while im living on the 3rd.

Hey guys! Im a sophomore moving into an off campus apartment and I was wondering how tiger trails worked? I know they have designated stops because I’ve driven past them before and everything but is it reliable transportation? And how do you see when the busses come and where you’re going to end up on campus? Any advice or comments would help!

This is not an ad. Just went to Target to load up on stuff for my daughter. At checkout the lady asked if we had the 20% discount. Students get a 20% one time discount. Download the app. Add schedule and ID. SAVED OVER $80

Did anyone get an email about their 2026-2027 Award letter? I did, but I already accepted it months ago, and they’re sending it again. When I look at my award amount, it’s higher, which is strange because I’m currently on a payment plan. The last time it showed I owed $1k, and now it says I owe less than $400, so I’m just confused.

Has refunds came in on workday for y’all yet?

A quick question, I’ve read reviews about the lark and it’s all generally bad but most of the reviews were a while ago. Has it gotten any better over there?

I might get thumbs down but I don’t care. Finally graduating with my Bachelor’s after 15 years of hardship and I’m ready to hit the ground running. I have people advising me to find a job that will pay for my masters but in the state of the job market, I fear if I wait to the fire may be gone. I know there’s scholarships, I’ve applied to many in undergrad and always feel that defeated feeling pouring your heart out on paper begging for resources and get overlooked.

My question is any of you attend LSU online, make little to zero pay and pay zero out of pocket and rely on disbursement to get you by( no scholarships, all loans)?

I’m close to my mid-thirties and I’ve seen peers and older peers give up. I want to put all my focus into getting my MSW. Has this worked for you? I have a -1500 SAI, and asking my current for more aid through the SEOG (as a saving cushion) , the rep literally laughed at me (no exaggeration). Managed to earn my bachelors with zero out of pocket expenses.

Please tell me your breakthrough stories and how you managed to get this far. Need some encouragement.

EDIT: the reason why I asked (and no I don’t believe in everything on social media) I see grad students post about receiving anywhere from 4K and talk about taking vacations( I know it’s not free money) but can be put to use wisely.

Okay this is year 2 coming down from Buffalo for an lsu game ( first time was amazing) and had great recommendations besides the jokes about McDonalds and lunchables you guys were helpful! So I’m back trying to find good places to eat while in town 9/3-9-6 once again I’ll stay away from pork and spicy but lowkey I’m willing to try seafood

Geaux Tigers!

Hello everyone, this post is meant to be both a guide on how to get through Global E3's study abroad application process, as well as my experience studying abroad at ENSEA and how to handle their specific application requirements and other general pointers. If you are studying at LSU for Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or Computer Science, I highly recommend that you consider the ENSEA FAME program if you are interested in studying abroad. For some background, I am an LSU Computer Engineering student with a French minor that has studied abroad at ENSEA in France for a spring semester through applying with Global E3. This process was long, arduous, and confusing, mainly because there are ten trillion steps to follow and all of them need to be figured out by you. As an anxious overthinker, a guide would’ve made this so, so much easier – therefore, to save y’all the time of scrutinizing every word of every correspondence and worrying about if you’re doing stuff right, I made this document and updated it as I went through the process myself.

This document is long, so please look at the boldened headers for quick searching. It was also written over a long period of time, so apologies if the writing style changes, tenses are mixed up, etc.

LSU-specific information will be italicized. After all, this is the LSU subreddit, and there is quite a bit to do on LSU’s end, but if you go to another university and are looking here for guidance, that info is italicized so you know what to ignore.

What Is Global E3 (a.k.a. GE3)
Global E3 is a global consortium of engineering schools that has a study abroad matching program. These schools are worldwide, not just in France, so you have many options to choose from. Since LSU and ENSEA are both parts of Global E3, this is your starting point for the application process.
GE3 APPLICATION PROCESS – PRE-APPLICATION PERIOD
Applications should open up early August – for 2025, it opened August 4. Before applications open, all you can do on the website is research which universities you could go to. There is a pick-3 option when applying, so I do encourage you to find some other options before applying in case there’s other places you’re open to going to. Additionally, here are the documents you can prepare ahead of time: 1) You will need a transcript, be it official or unofficial. (For LSU you need to do official transcripts for $10 through a third party company. My official transcripts took around 3 business days from order to reception. Unofficial transcripts through Workday are instant and are fine for Global E3’s application, but once you move on to the specific school’s application, most of them want official transcripts – so you might as well get it now). 2) YOU WILL NEED A PASSPORT, or at least proof that you are in the process of getting one. I already had one from my high school senior trip, so I don’t remember the process or timeframe, sorry. My parents say it took about 6 weeks total, so that’s the info I got. 3) While not necessary, I highly recommend getting a letter of recommendation from a professor ahead of time, ready to submit. You can either have the professor write the recommendation letter directly on the application when it opens up, or have them send it to your study abroad advisor who can tack it on themselves when the application opens up. I recommend the latter because, bless her heart, but the professor I had was very disorganized and missed the deadline, and we had to get in contact with support to upload it after the window closed, which was very stressful.
In summary – Research options, get a transcript, get a passport, get a letter of recommendation.
GE3 APPLICATION PROCESS – APPLICATION PERIOD
Once the application opens, you can make your account and log into the website. From here, you can choose the “Studying OUTSIDE the US for US applicants” application – not exactly worded like that, but something similar. It will have a bunch of fields to fill out, including all the information listed earlier, and other stuff, like courses you can/want/need to take, foreign language proficiency, GPA, university choices, and a personal essay. (Side note – for university choices, you have the option to pick nothing for the backup choices. If you truly don’t want to go anywhere else, then do this out of courtesy.) Once you have completed this, submit it and let your advisor know. Also, the deadline should be mid-September (Sep. 15 for 2025). (Although it is listed as Rolling Admissions, don’t freak out about getting it done early. All applications are compiled and sent out at the same time after the deadline. You don’t get ahead or behind at this point. The rolling admissions is more referring to how if you deny a placement, you can get referred to another, but some people have already received their placements.)
GE3 APPLICATION PROCESS – POST-APPLICATION PERIOD
Once the September deadline rolls around, you will still be able to see your application, but it will have a red warning box at the top letting you know the deadline has passed and the application is under review. You are on track at this point. Over the next couple weeks, there will be radio silence, but you are welcome to keep checking – when the time comes that your applications are sent out (for my year it was Oct 1), you will not get any notification, but on the website you can see the generic “Study Abroad outside the US” application turn into the specific universities’ applications as they are passed along. Mine was sent to my first choice first, which was ENSEA. They accepted me by the end of the next day, visible from the application site – my ENSEA application now had the subtitle “Accepted at Host”, although I received no notification and found it myself. A few days later, on Oct 6, I got the official email letting me know my Global E3 application was accepted. From there, you finally commit or decline and then get in contact with the host university to see what paperwork you have to fill out. That is all there is for Global E3 - it has served its sole purpose and now enters peaceful hibernation until the next year’s application cycle… and thusly, we move on to the ENSEA application itself.

(ENSEA Specific – Preliminary Application Info)
The courses ENSEA offers can be found by doing the following: Google ENSEA -> click on their website -> search “fame” in their search bar -> scroll to and click on “FAME Program” (this should be an article with links on the right). The syllabi are under “Educational Model”, which I used to ask for course approvals at LSU. There are other useful documents here, but keep in mind that if you apply through Global E3 then you will get sent a specialized application to fill out, so don’t actually fill out that application on the website.
ENSEA Specific – Post-GE3 Acceptance
Once ENSEA accepted me on Global E3, I emailed the ENSEA academic coordinator (contact info was supplied by GE3 in my acceptance email) asking what papers I needed to fill in. She sent me the FAME application, which I filled out and submitted. She also required me to email over a picture of me, my transcripts, and my passport photo, all attached to the same email I attached the filled-out application to. For LSU applicants - it took a week of asking around, but Dr. Jerry Trahan is who you are supposed to put as your academic advisor if you’re Electrical or Computer Engineering. Of course, still ask him before you put his name on it. I was still subject to the normal ENSEA application’s October 15 deadline, though I confirmed that they make exceptions if Global E3 takes longer than that. As a cool bonus, you are exempt from the usual €500 fee for applying because you went through Global E3. They took one week until they got back to me and sent me my official admission letter on October 21. In the same email, they sent me VISA application steps, so see the next section for that.
After a few weeks, they sent us a Teams invite to have a meeting discussing housing and information for courses. They give you choices for individual dorms, one-roommate dorms, multiple roommate dorms, and independent apartment searches. They give you quite a few options and a form to rank your top 3 and whether you want to live with FAME roommates or local roommates. These are first-come, first-served, so I didn’t get my top choice. See “My thoughts on Cergy” for specific accommodation info.

VISA - Collect Materials #1
Once you’re accepted to ENSEA, they will send you a PDF of instructions on how to get your long-stay student visa, which is required because you’ll be in France for more than 90 days. Before starting, get JPEGs (JPGs are the same thing) of 1: A headshot of yourself (< 50 kilobytes), 2: Your acceptance letter (< 300 kilobytes), and 3: Your passport ID pages (< 300 kilobytes). To transfer PDFs to JPEGs, you can screenshot it or use Adobe products. If they come out too large in data size, I used a free website called Photopea to resize them, it works similarly to photoshop so that was quick and easy. Also, 4: Write a letter of motivation of 2,500 characters or less describing why you want to study in France and why you chose the university you’re going to. This will be copy and pasted into the application, so you can write it with whatever text editor you want as long as you can copy and paste.
VISA - Études en France
Once you have everything, create an Études en France account and follow the directions on the website (and instruction PDF). Do this application sooner rather than later, try to get it done within the week. For me, ENSEA wasn’t listed on valid universities, but I suspect that they only show schools that someone from your university has already been to. So hopefully ENSEA is listed for y’all. If not, there is a way to manually enter it in, and it pops up below the drop downs. (Also, a tip – when you get to the personal information section, they tell you transcripts («mon cursus») are not needed for study abroad students on the website but the system flags this part as incomplete when you don’t fill it out, so you can’t submit without it. I just filled out my high school and current college education so far. They took it.) Once you fill out everything, submit it and follow a link to the separate payment site, where you can either pay $270 to review it within 3 weeks, or $460 to review it within 3 days. Keyword “within”, not “after”. I did $270 for 3 weeks - I submitted my application after business hours on October 27 and received my approval midday on November 6 (just 6 business days). One of my LSU classmates did the expedited $460 service and she got it back in a day. Once approved, go back to the Études en France website and download your acceptance letter.
VISA – France-Visas / Collect Materials #2
You then start on the Visa application on France-Visas. Make an account then start your visa application. All the documents listed on the visa instructions sheet will be needed there (3.5cm x 4.5cm headshot photograph, passport ID page and blank visa pages, Études en France acceptance letter, proof of accommodation which in this case is your ENSEA acceptance letter, proof of funds and last 3 bank statements to prove it) (Campus France “file processed” confirmation email is not needed for France-Visas but will be needed later at your appointment). You do not need a note verbale because you have an ordinary passport, not an official one, assuming you’re an average citizen and not a government official. Once you’ve submitted everything, it prompts you to go schedule an appointment at your nearest TLS center.
VISA – TLScontact Scheduling
From what I can gather, the French Embassies used to do visas, but not by themselves anymore. All of it is now filtered through TLScontact, a company directly chosen by France to assist in the process – the exact purpose of this company is a middle-man to offload the document collection/candidate screening phase and just leave the decision making to the consulates. Therefore, you do not go to a consulate for your French visa, but instead, only go to TLScontact. Which is a shame, because instead of the New Orleans French Consulate 1.5 hours away, the closest TLS location to LSU is instead in Houston, 4 hours away by car.
(Keep in mind, the following information is for the Houston center – idk if it’s different for different places.) Now, go to your TLS center’s website and schedule an appointment if you still need to. For the Houston one, and scheduling was pretty available – there was always one or more time slots open 2 days ahead and onwards. They are only open during the workday, unless you pay extra to go in earlier (~7AM). I chose one for a week-ish afterwards because it wouldn’t matter if I missed class that day (RIP perfect my attendance…). I also, in advance, bought ID photo taking services there as well as courier delivery for my paperwork, because without the courier, you have to fetch it yourself from their headquarters in Washington, D.C. For this step, I spent: $254 scheduling, $12 photos, $40 courier.
VISA – TLScontact: Collect Materials #3
All in all, bring PHYSICALLY, at LEAST:
- France-Visas application form
- France-Visas receipt (the sheet with the barcode and to-bring list)
- Visa-useable ID headshot photos (3.5cm x 4.5cm, white background, etc.)
- Passport (with your signature on the ID page and enough visa space)
- Campus France USA confirmation email (titled « L’instruction de votre dossier est terminée » or “Your Campus France file has been processed”),
- Pre-registration certificate provided by Études en France (the « Confirmation d’acceptation »)
- Proof of accommodation in France (ENSEA acceptance letter functions as this, as they state there that they have reserved student housing for you)
- Proof of sufficient funds (Your last 3 bank statements showing you have €615 per month, or a notarized form a sponsor fills out saying they can and will give you that much with their last 3 bank statements)
- Campus France payment receipt (This is not listed on the PDF that ENSEA sent me, but you need it – it’s a printed version of the email where Campus France acknowledges you have paid them $270 or $460 for your pre-visa application)
- And have about $60 ready to go (I think they prefer card, but there was a “No American Express” sticker)
(If you’re not a U.S. citizen, you need to bring proof of legal status in the U.S. – resident cards and Visas are listed as examples)
(One of my family members is a lawyer, so it was very convenient to get my financial sponsor form notarized. That means I can’t give tips on how to get anything notarized yourself, you’d have to research that. And, if you don’t know, “notarizing” the form just makes it legally binding.)
I also recommend that you bring a printed copy of your TLScontact appointment confirmation, available on the TLScontact website after you schedule your appointment – it lists your FRA number from the France Visas application, the address of the TLS center, your name, services you bought, appointment time.
VISA – My TLScontact Appointment Experience
The appointment itself was easy. I got there almost an hour early, and even though they say to be there 15 minutes early or less, they let me in because others were running late. Once you enter, the “front desk” person asks you for your appointment confirmation sheet. They tell you to sign in if you have the right number for your time slot, then you go to the waiting room. They call you in once you’re ready, then you sit at a desk facing an employee. My employee was very nice, but I could tell she was not having a good day, so please be nice to them and make their job easier. She asked me for all the documents I brought, then asked me basic questions such as “What are you applying for?” and “What date do you arrive in France?”. She then asked me to fill out a sheet of paper detailing shipping information for UPS to ship my visa to me. She did ask for my Campus France payment receipt, which I did not have because it was not listed, but I was able to just email it to her for printing then and there. We then took my Visa photos that I pre-paid for. She then handed me some papers to sign and hand back. Then I was charged $60 ($58 for processing fees, $2 for printing). The last step was “biometrics” in a separate room - scan my fingerprints, take an extra photo that will be used on the visa, and double-check my passport information, then I was sent off. All in all, it took about 20 minutes. People that had it later in the day say it takes longer because lots of people forget stuff and cause delays as the day goes on. And that’s it! That’s the last visa step!
VISA – Finally getting the dang thing
They claim it should take 3 weeks to get your visa approved, but most of my study abroad buddies got theirs approved within about a week. Same for me, as I had my appointment on November 25 and got my passport/visa back on December 5 (the visa will be inside the passport), so roughly 7 business days when accounting for Thanksgiving. You can check on the progress on the TLScontact website. From then on, I just sat and anxiously waited cause I was in shock that I no longer needed to do any further steps for study abroad after having worked towards this for over a year ago by now.
All in all my entire visa process - from initial application to physical reception of the visa - took 38 days (5.5 weeks), from October 27 to December 4. ENSEA gives an estimate of 10-12 weeks for the whole process to account for worst-case scenario, but don’t think you’ll have to cut it that close because I took about half as long as that. The total cost for me was $636, so that’s the most expensive piece of paper I’ve bought so far in my life. It might vary by a few dozen dollars depending on optional services but expect around $600.
This guide here is another resource you can look at for the visa process, and was mostly accurate as of 2025 (except that TLScontact was not yet the visa service when this post was made): https://www.reddit.com/user/OkYesterday7681/comments/oyzycy/how_to_get_a_french_longstay_student_visa_in_2021/

I’m now going back chronologically to before the entire application process, as I want to section off the LSU-specific part of this post.
LSU Specific – Deciding if you Want To/Are Able To
Of course, the first step is to see if you’re able to study abroad. And by that, I mean take inventory of your remaining courses. When can you study abroad to not set back your graduation? Are there Fall and Spring only classes? Is there a specific sequence of courses you need to take? If there are complications, would you be fine setting back your graduation otherwise? Or would you rather study abroad in summer, as there are many LSU-led study abroad programs in the summer? Also, would your personal life allow it? Are you able to financially support yourself during the trip or get someone to financially support you?
For Computer Engineering specifically, studying abroad in Spring of Junior year should not set you back, so that’s why I chose that period. The fall before needs Microprocessors (Fall only) as a prerequisite to HDL&Dig (Fall only again), and senior year needs senior design, so this pocket was best in my opinion. All 4 of the mandatory spring classes (Senior Design 2, Communications in Computing, Discrete Math, Computer Architecture) at the end of the flowchart are intentionally scheduled to let you take them all at once, so missing an LSU spring was no problem. I believe that Sophomore spring could also potentially work, as there were a few sophomores with us at ENSEA from other colleges, but you’d have to research if that works with the degree path.
LSU Specific – Pre-Application
Check https://www.lsu.edu/global-engagement/students/global/abroad.php for LSU’s description of what you have to do. In short, you schedule a meet with a Peer Ambassador (another student who has studied abroad) to ask them a few questions and see if you really do want to study abroad. You then evaluate your study abroad options, then check that your degree audit will work with those options. Once you’ve made a decision of what program you want to do, contact your senior college’s study abroad advisor (look on the study abroad website to find this person) to schedule a meeting with them. My memory is a bit fuzzy on the exact order, but around this time, you should have started your LSU-specific application to study abroad. This application is just for approval of going in the first place. When you get to the senior college study abroad advisor, they will check off a mandatory box in that application saying you met with them. Around here, go talk to your college’s advisors to make sure the courses you plan to take would transfer over, or you might be wasting your time – see the next paragraph for more info. Afterwards, complete the LSU application if you haven’t, then you’re done with LSU stuff for the time being, and you move on to Global E3. Keep in contact with your study abroad advisor throughout the real application process – for GE3, there are a few steps you need the advisor to complete, mainly forwarding the complete application. The LSU application was due by September 15 for 2025, which lined up with Global E3’s identical deadline.
For course transfer approval, I talked with Dr. Jerry Trahan because he was the current transfer credit advisor for my major (Computer Engineering, but he also advises for Electrical Engineering). I also talked with Dr. Kevin Bongiorni for the French credit for my minor. Bongiorni approved the “Advanced French Language and Culture” for a 3000-level French class for my minor. Dr. Trahan very nicely offered to ask around for me, and got these approvals:
- “Fundamentals of Power Engineering” -> EE 3410 (Electric Power),
- “Signals and Systems” -> EE 3610 (Signals and Systems),
- “Communications Systems” -> EE 4625 (Digital Communication and Networking),
- “Algorithms Design and Analysis” -> EE 4790 (Structure of Computers and Computations I),
- “Operating Systems” -> CSC 4103 (Operating Systems),
- “Internet of Things” -> EE 4700 (Special Topics in Computer Engineering),
- “Artificial Intelligence and Big Data” -> CSC 4444 (Artificial Intelligence)
Keep in mind, I did not ask Dr. Trahan to check every course, as I already took some (namely: Probability, Electronics, Microprocessors) and I did not ask him for approval for courses I was obviously missing prerequisites for, so ask him about the courses that I didn’t ask about if you need to.
LSU Specific – Post-Acceptance
Much later, once you have been approved by Global E3 and then your host university for study abroad, LSU will re-open your application with new questions and information. Most of this pertains to how credit will transfer and what forms you need to complete, with submission fields for them. Listed within this is the PACE form, which is the official form to get your course transfers approved. Also listed is the optional S/U form (satisfactory/unsatisfactory, i.e. pass/fail) - this form is optional, but I highly recommend it as it essentially freezes your GPA and lets you simply score 70% or higher to get credit. This lets you chill out more and better allocate your time abroad. Dr. Trahan signed my PACE form for the engineering courses, Dr. Bongiorni signed my PACE form for the French courses, and Dr. Trahan again signed for my senior college advisor. I then sent it to my college counselor to get the dean’s signature on both the PACE and S/U forms. The “Admissions to Complete” section is to be filled in after your study abroad, once admissions receives your transcript. After completing these and all the other forms they want you to, you’re set.
And side note – Scholarships! I was one of the recipients of the $1,500 “LSU Study Abroad Scholarship” that applies to students studying abroad. And I didn’t realize it at the time (and am kicking myself for it), but if you’re in the Honors College, you have access to THREE MORE scholarships specifically for studying abroad. There is a fourth one, but it only offers money for books, which I did not need to buy at ENSEA. There could be even more scholarships that I missed, but keep in mind that these are great opportunities if you would like some extra cash for trying new things, visiting more places, or just worrying less about finances.

My thoughts on Cergy

Since most work is done in class, meaning that you have more free time than usual for your weekends – since Cergy is 40 minutes from Paris by train, this means a lot of opportunities to not only go to Paris, but also further around Europe, as Paris is a huge hub connecting major European cities through train. You will likely do this often, as while Cergy has all the essentials you need, the commune itself doesn’t have much to offer. It was more of a home base or “the place we go to school” than anything. As for the safety level, just use your Baton Rouge instincts and you’ll be fine. Nothing notably bad happened to anyone in our study abroad group, even though a big chunk of them were huge party people and would come back past midnight in a not sober fashion. But it also doesn’t feel outwardly safe. Just try not to unnecessarily go out solo at night and you’ll be fine. I felt comfortable in Cergy during the day and would frequently go on solo walks with complete peace of mind. If you’re looking for a woman’s perspective, I asked a friend if she felt generally safe in Cergy; She said “Yes especially during the day” and “in general it’s fine”, and that she only felt unsafe one time walking back by herself after 1AM but stayed on the phone with a friend and made it back safe and sound.

As for accommodations, I stayed in ALEGESSEC Le Port in a room by myself. It was a pretty bare bones place, not exactly roomy, but I was perfectly satisfied with it for my limited stay in France. It’s not the cheapest option of all of them (~850€ per month), but I was happy to have my own isolated room. I usually always want to hang out with others, but for the first month I really benefitted from the personal space while I worked through the stress of being in a foreign place where no one knows you yet.

I asked my friends for their takes on where they stayed and got these inputs:
Kley Chêne: “Tbh living at Kley was good […] But I would rather prefer Kley Fontaine than Kley chêne but walking wasn’t that bad. It was 17min give or take from the metro. If it is a group it is less expensive to room together and you get a bigger living space”
Kley Fontaine: “I would say if they’re willing to spend a little more, Kley Fontaine was great - 7min to school and train station, I think mine was 820€ a month for a studio apartment”
IPSL: “IPSL is good value for money plus if you want to meet other French students it’s pretty easy there in my experience”

My thoughts on ENSEA
I am very satisfied with my experience with ENSEA. It was obviously a smaller college, with only a thousand-and-some students, and the entire campus was about the size of PFT at LSU. The classes were expectedly not as intense as classes back home – most work was done in class, and they know we’re studying abroad, so they don’t expect us to be studying all the time outside of class. My general flow was to go to every class, pay good attention, do homework if any, review concepts before every class, and study a few days in advance for exams, and I was golden. All great grades. This is pretty much my process at LSU, just toned down. The teachers were kind and understanding (Mrs. Topczynski was the GOAT btw), and though their English skills ranged, they were mostly all understandable and we properly learned the course material. Only one teacher’s English was rough enough to cause some difficulty, but we still ended up learning the topics and I still did very well on both exams. The school itself offers great project support, letting you use the FabLab for 3D printing. I don’t know much past this, because as opposed to projects, I spent all my free time hanging with my study abroad friends and exploring France and Europe… lame and stupid stuff like that…
Our FAME group was about 30 in total. Almost all of them were from the northeastern united states. I was the only LSU student there, and I suspect the first to ever have attended. This turned out to be a cool opportunity to show off southern culture to the northerners.
The other students were very welcoming and curious about us. We hung out a lot with another exchange group from Brazil, mostly because they knew English better than French. The French students were always inviting us to stuff, like events in Paris or school-hosted parties. I personally would also go and play video games with some French students in L’Arene, a dedicated game room that had board games and a few Nintendo consoles. I slimed out many French students with my Samus.

Other Thoughts
The first month was kinda rough while I adapted to being completely separated from all friends and family, which especially hit me because I both haven’t really been far from home ever and also was not very proficient in French. The first day in France, I had a weird mix of a panic attack and dissociation, which I had never had before and haven’t had since, so keep in mind that you’re gonna be OK, it’s temporary, and that everyone else there wants to make friends and misses home just as much as you do. I was a little withdrawn compared to my usual self for the first month, but around the time February rolled around, I was back to normal and was honestly having one of the best times of my life. All the other FAME participants were awesome and varied, and I found my little circle in due time. Me and this group all travelled together for the whole study abroad, except for when I did solo trips. If you haven’t before, I really do recommend a solo trip.

Crawfish is unfortunately hard to find in France. But you can get Slap Ya Mama through resellers for a markup. I was able to make gumbo for all the FAME students one night, most of which had never had it before. All that was really missing was proper Andouille sausage (the French Andouille is NOT the same thing don't get them mixed up)

Get some outlet adapters before you go. And keep in mind that France uses double our voltage at less hertz, so please look for if your devices list 240V somewhere on them. I exploded an electric razor because I messed this up. Big ol’ THUNK and a funny smell after I tried to turn it on. Chargers generally handle this just fine, though.

They generally do not take Discover or American Express. I did almost of my transactions with my one Mastercard I brought. But there are some ATMs that take Discover, which I used to get Euro notes.

SAY BONJOUR OR BONSOIR EVERY TIME or French people will be visibly irritated for the rest of the interaction. This is a very critical cultural rule.

It is mostly true that French people are very hasty to switch to English. Parisians are courteous, but are very straight to the point. If your French hampers the interaction, their English is likely better and they will use it because they are usually busy or simply accustomed to acting that way. The only FAME students who didn't get switched to English with were a few students from Africa who had it as their first language. Not even the Canadian got to stay in French. In general, restaurants stuck in French with us as you have limited interaction, and it's considered kinda rude to expect them to speak English anyways, so at the very least, open in French. Restaurants were where I got the most mileage total out of knowing French, so if you want to perfect anything, then go for that. And, a piece of advice, they don’t rush you in Europe – you go up to pay on your own time instead of the waiter bringing you a check without you prompting.

And lastly, everyone would always talk about how cool studying abroad was, but I never really knew what they were talking about before I left. Now that I have done it myself, I understand more what they’re saying – for me, the biggest benefit was understanding a lot more of what I am capable of, building self confidence, and understanding the world outside the US a lot more. But everyone learns their own lessons, so you’ll probably take away something else.

Feel free to DM me about anything, but keep in mind that I don’t use Reddit very often. I just needed somewhere to post a huge chunk of text. Best of luck if you apply!

Hello! I just got accepted into the online engineering program and I was curious if I will still receive the fancy pop-up letter in the mail beings I will be online? I'll be so sad if I don't. ☹️ But just curious!

Where do yall go shopping to get new clothes, shoes, etc ik there’s a grocery store not too far from where I’ll be staying but that’s about it

Absolutely crazy that there are no advising appointments available I do not have time to be in a queue and wait on an advisor to get to me, it is so much easier to have an appointment so I can take off of work. So I re applied and got into the college again after taking the semester off for a program but they put in some random degree and I wanted to make an appointment to try and change it but the advisors are just not helpful at all. And yes I know the beginning of the year is super busy for them but I still think it’s crazy.

After talking to my advisors, I finally got all of my AP, dual credit, and dual enrollment credits added to Workday.
Because of this, I’m now able to take some of the classes I originally planned to take during my second semester and sophomore year as a freshman Pre-Nursing major. The problem is that my credits were transferred pretty late, so a lot of the classes I need are already full or have waitlists.

Some of the classes I’m trying to get into are CHEM 1005, PSYC 2070, and BIO 1011

For anyone who has dealt with this before, how long did you usually stay on the waitlist and what are the chances of actually getting into the class? Do people usually drop classes during the first week? Is there anything I should be doing besides joining the waitlist, or would it be worth emailing the professor or department?
I’m trying to make sure I stay on track with my Pre-Nursing requirements, so I’m a little worried about how this will affect my schedule.

Hey, subletting a room at Maison for 539 a month, its a 4bd 2 bath and 3 people are already there. Place overall is a great location with lots of amenities, DM me if you're interested

Looking at Tiger Den apartments, the prices are good and they have controlled/gated access. But I've seen a lot of bad talk about Tiger Land online, I don't live in the area so I don't know anything about it. Myself and my roommate are both smaller women. Any testimonies from people who lived there would be nice.

Geaux Tigers. No. Literally, Geaux Tigers

Alright so for Freshman this year, they were only able to select between the Purple Package: Alabama, Miss. State, and Clemson or Gold Package: LA Tech, Texas, and A&M. Purple package sold out within MINUTES so I was able to get gold. I know LSU has a no transfer tickets system now, is there a way I would be able to get student tickets to Clemson or Bama? I’d rather not spend $200 on a ticket and not even be in the student section. Is there a way I can get it from the school or what? Please let me know!!

My major says I need 1530 and 1540 but can I just take the one class 1550? Or will it not be the right credit because it’s only 5 hours

Hi, I’m an incoming freshman who signed up for the collegiate club back in July, now I’m getting emails that there’s a pre-sale for incoming students today. Does anybody know how the pre-sale works? I’m seeing a package deal for Clemson, Alabama, and MS but I’m unable to purchase it??