The mother of one of our current Bachelor students accepted to answer some questions for us and give her opinion about the Bachelor of Science as a parent.
Could you please introduce yourself?
My name is Laura, I am the mother of Aurèle, Bachelor student at Ecole Polytechnique in year 2 i.e. BX 22. We are a French family with 4 children and had been expats for 8 years in Singapore at the time when Aurèle applied for the Bachelor program.
How did your help your son in his academic orientation?
With respect to his orientation, Aurèle considered several options: which subject (Maths/Physics versus Economics), in which country, huge or small university, and even the possibility to do sports, especially to play football! I helped him think over his motivation and do a short-list of the possibilities.
He also paid a lot of attention to his maths and physics teachers’ advices and recommendations and contacted some older students to get more information about the universities he was willing to apply to.
When your son applied for the Bachelor program, you were in Singapore. Were you worried of letting him go to another country, far from home at that time?
When Aurèle joined the Bachelor program, he had just turned 18. We knew the workload would be heavy and it was his first time living far away from home. The Bachelor program was particularly adapted, because of its small size, the fact that students could live on campus, among their classmates, 5mn away walking from the classrooms and same for the sports facilities. There is a cafeteria and, even if the campus is nestled in nature, there are some essential shops quite close. Moreover, Ecole Polytechnique is surrounded by other renowned schools' campuses. Still Paris is not far away (around 30-40mn by public transport) and a new building for the Bachelor students dwelling was inaugurated a few months ago. The administration appeared to be supportive and easily reachable and we appreciated the presence of a dedicated coach day and night.
Why did you think the Bachelor program was the best fit for your son in comparison with other programs of prestigious institutions?
First of all, I would say the possibility to study Mathematics at a very high level and to choose a double major only after one year. Aurèle wished to study Mathematics but he was not sure about the application field and was hesitating between Economics and Physics. One thing was certain according to him: he would never go for Computer Science
(CS) and eventually ended in the double major Maths-CS! No matter the double major one picks out, Mathematics are at the center of the program. In each double major, the array of subjects is rich. There are also optional minors like Chemistry or Biology in the double major Maths-CS or Computational maths in the Maths-Economics one.
Most of the prestigious universities in the world offer specialised programs from the very beginning and don’t give the same opportunity to approach various subject areas and mix them.
We also valued the small class sizes, the challenging curriculum, the intense weekly schedule of the students in a research environment.
Last but not least, the program is a highly selective one in one of the best small universities in the world but its spirit is unpretentious, positive and earnest. Aurèle thoroughly appreciated his exchange with his interviewer and that was certainly a key element in his decision.
What would you tell to parents of children who think about applying for the Bachelor program?
I would recommend to visit the campus if possible and to talk with Bachelor students and their families.
Don’t forget you can chat with Bachelor current students through this page!