From Advanced Registration at Penn to Last Minute Registration in Lyon
SA: Penn Semester in Lyon
Gabrielle, one of the Semester Abroad Correspondents, shares her experience abroad during the Spring 2025 semester. Follow along with the group of correspondents on our blog and look out for their images on the @pennabroad Instagram feed.
In preparing to study abroad, I, of course, knew that there would be many differences between
my semester abroad versus my others at Penn. I thought of the obvious differences, including the
language, the proximity to home, and the idea of living with a host family. Having studied
French for many years, I was also aware of more nuanced differences specific to France, such as
the French grading scale that spans from 0 – 20 and the importance that the French place on food,
leading them to take much more time for meals, especially lunch. One major difference for
which I was not prepared, however, was the process of choosing classes. This process was
slightly complicated mostly because it is not something that French students must go through.
On the contrary, French students do not choose classes, but rather are given a schedule chosen by
their university that corresponds to their major. So, this process is not necessarily a major priority
for the universities. To this end, I found that this process was rather decentralized, with different
places for finding the syllabi, the schedules, and the sign up for the classes. This also means that
the universities are in no rush to organize what classes will be offered, nor the timing of them, as
it does not make much of a difference to the French students. This resulted in me choosing my
classes here much later than we do at Penn. While my friends may have chosen their classes for
this semester in October, I did not even begin to choose mine until I arrived in Lyon in January!
This was certainly a bit stressful for someone like me who loves to plan in advance. But, even
though this was a challenge, I was able to lean on others to help me through it. First, I turned to
my fellow international students, not just from Penn, but from all over the world. The fact that I
was not alone and could talk with and relate to my peers on this subject was extremely
comforting. I also had a great deal of formal help from Penn. My program is unique in that we
have an advisor, Barbara, who lives and works at our university here in Lyon. Whenever I ever
needed help, Barbara was always available to message me, send me any resources that I could
not find myself, and email any professors on my behalf. She even organized individual meetings
with each Penn student during which I discussed my classes and anything else that I may need.
And despite all, this process definitely helped me in giving me a great appreciation for the
incredible process and resources that we have at Penn!
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