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Université de Paris II (Panthéon-Assas) (place)
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by
LeoDV
Fri Dec 10 2004 at 17:37:40
I think what best sums up the character of this unique French university is the fact that on my
student ID
badge my
serial number
is printed in larger type than my name.
Assas
, as it is commonly called, likes to think of itself as
France
's
Harvard
: it is the country's premier
law
and
business
university, and a breeding ground for
politicians
.
About Assas
The
Université de Paris
II: Panthéon-Assas is known as "
Paris deux
" (Paris two) or more frequently "
Assas
" (pronounced "
ass
ass
"—yep) after the
rue d'Assas
where it is headquartered. Even though it is most famous for its degrees in law and business, it also teaches
administration
,
social
and
political science
.
All of France's universities are as mainstream as possible, the only thing necessary to enter being a
high school diploma
and the marginal admission fee.
Assas
however is
elitist
. Even though the university is required by law to admit anyone who meets the aforementioned criteria, strain is put on the students from the start and the first year drop-out rate consistently hovers in the 75-90% region. Thus, a degree from
Assas
holds an equivalent reputation to one from a
grande école
, France's highly selective graduate schools which traditionally train its elite.
For these reasons it has several peculiarities:
while all of France's universities are notoriously understaffed and underbudgeted,
Assas
gets all the money it needs from the Ministry of the Education,
while most of France's universities lean culturally and politically to the left,
Assas
leans to the right (this excludes
med schools
, which don't bother with leaning at all), and
it is a known hunting ground for husbands; literally hundreds of girls sign up every year with only the intention of getting an
MRS degree
. These girls are typically rich, gorgeous, well and skimpily dressed (think
MTV
); they're also extremely
vacuous
and often
promiscuous
.
Campus
As most universities in
Paris
,
Assas
takes its formal name Paris II (Panthéon-Assas) from the places where it is located.
The administration offices and postgraduate studies are located in the Pantheon campus, a prestigious building which is in the plaza that rings the Parisian landmark of the
Pantheon
. The Pantheon is in
the latin quarter
of Paris where its most prestigious schools are located: it is only a few blocks away from e.g. the
Sorbonne
or the
Collège de France
. Paris' latin quarter is also famous for its busy
night life
. Paris II (Panthéon-Assas) shares this spot with
Paris I (Panthéon-Sorbonne)
and they both administer the University Library of the Pantheon which is the largest student library in France and also one of its largest research libraries.
The relatively small but recently refitted Vaugirard campus, in the
rue de Vaugirard
, is the campus which is located in the comparatively least prestigious area of the city: it is where the freshman and most sophomore studies take place.
The school's main campus is a huge, at least for Paris, 70's architecture building in the
rue d'Assas
. Its gigantic entrance hall leads to the main amphitheater, which can seat 1,700, where concerts are sometimes held. The building also has over a dozen other amphitheaters of all sizes, countless classrooms and labs, etc. This is also where the
student associations
are located. Paradoxically the student library at the Assas campus is relatively smaller than the ones at Vaugirard or the Pantheon.
Students and alumni
Like in better institutions of higher education the world over, sociologically most students of
Assas
come from upper and middle-upper class families. However, it seems there is a higher percentage of "
new money
" in
Assas
than in the grandes écoles, which traditionally attract the old
French
families which have often frequented the écoles for generations. Most first year students are female and even though more female students drop out than males, there is still a clear majority of women up to the graduate level.
There is a large minority of foreign exchange students, as in most Parisian universities, which pride themselves on their
cosmopolitanism
. Conversely,
Assas
encourages its students to spend at least a semester in a foreign university, especially other universities in the
European Union
through the Socrates and Erasmus student exchange programmes. It also has a few highly selective graduate programs with
Ivy League
schools and other reputed universities in America; there are similar but less selective programs for universities all over the world, even though there is an understandable marked preference for the
first world
.
Almost every personality in the legal word in France has attended
Assas
at one time or the other. I've also been surprised by how many Frenchmen holding high ranking managerial positions in big foreign corporations. The school's most famous alumnus is easily
Nicolas Sarkozy
, France's rising political star, Chairman of the ruling conservative
UMP
party, and is hyped as the most likely winner of the 2007 presidential election.
The
Assas
experience
As I said before,
Assas
is a unique university. French universities' disinterest in their plethoric student bodies is proverbial, but it is understandable because they are too underbudgeted and understaffed to care about you. However, in
Assas
, it seems like an educational choice. If you ever want to be made to feel not only that you're a faceless cog in a terrible machine but that
you deserve it
, then by all means, try the
Assas
experience. Msg me and I'll hook you up.
The students at
Assas
are a constant strain to the intelligent man, especially during the first few years. Most of the student body is made up of rich spoiled kids wearing the latest in fashion,
iPod Minis
iPod nanos
... They look good and are empty inside. If you're as sensitive to your environment as I am, you can understand that I dread even walking into the building. The air is thick with the inhumanity of the administration and of the students, with their lack of preoccupation with anything aside from a career which hasn't begun or a husband who can pay for
a house in the suburbs
.
An other part of the
Assas
experience
, besides the cold, inhuman atmosphere and the female fauna, is of course the teaching. Since the school is the best in France it has the best professors and many classes are quite interesting. In France worship of the professor is very much in place; the classes are taught in large amphitheaters and if a professor decides he doesn't want to mingle with the students you're never going to get within ten yards of him. Furthermore, as stated above,
Assas
wants to be very elitist even though it is obligated to have many students, therefore the pre-bachelor professors are instructed,
I kid you not
, to be as boring as possible in order to drive the students out. I know a professor of History of Law who is extremely bright, funny and interesting in person but whose lectures are
soporific
.
And this probably sums up the spirit of
Assas
: as
heartless
as it is efficient. It's a good school.
University of Paris
Sorbonne
The Latin Quarter
A brief history of legal process
Oxbridge
L'Ecole Nationale d'Administration
Harvard University
Mrs. degree
Women who are bred to be ornaments
How law students brief a case
Applying to law school
The growing problem of cultural illiteracy
grande école
law school
Don't indent HTML paragraphs
Université de Paris I (Panthéon-Sorbonne)
Master of Business Administration
High school can kill you
French political parties
pantheon
cohabitation
Paris 5th district
Mutual masturbation