ESC Rennes

ESC Rennes School of Business (École Supérieure de Commerce de Rennes) Quick Facts:

About: ESC Rennes is located in Rennes, France, which is the capital city of Brittany (Bretagne in French). As of September 2014, Rennes is France's fourth largest city and has a relatively large student population. 80% of ESC's staff are not French and a large percentage of the student body is composed of international students. Most business classes at ESC are taught in English and students have the option to enroll in a French language and/or a French culture course.

www.esc-rennes.fr  |  +33 (0)2 99 54 63 63

Location: 2 Rue Robert d'Arbrissel 35065 Rennes, France

Travel: You will most likely fly into Charles de Gaulle (CDG) Airport in Paris. From CDG you will need to take the train to Rennes. I used www.RailEurope.com to book my ticket. Make sure you account for the possible day change when booking your ticket. For example, I left the United States on 8/29 and arrived in France on 8/30 and almost bought my train ticket a day too early! You will probably receive an email from ESC Rennes offering to pick you up from the airport (Saint-Jacques, not Charles de Gaulle) and in order to opt for that service, you will need specifics on your arrival date, time, and location. 

Accommodation: I put this section near the top because from personal experience, it is EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO FIND A PLACE TO LIVE IN RENNES! Once you are set on studying at ESC, it is vital that you find a place to live immediately. ESC Rennes DOES NOT have campus housing, however they do have an Accommodations Office (current contact as of Fall 2015 is Megane Diot) who will be able to assist you. Rennes has a large student population and some laws and regulations that make finding housing on a student budget very difficult. Here are some helpful tips:

• If the Accommodations Office contact person sends you options for housing, do your research on its location. I was offered a dorm in INSA housing, which is about a 30-40 minute bus ride just to get to campus. In my opinion, it's not worth the money.
• The best locations are near Ville-Jean Beauregard and Centre-Ville (near République bus stop). There are good locations elsewhere in Rennes that aren't too far away, but it is really important to choose a place near the metro or a bus stop.
• Websites: www.appartager.com, www.airbnb.com, www.roomlala.com
• Join a Facebook group (see "Other" section below). Many students will post there either looking for roommates or with housing options.
• Look for host family options
• Stay at a hostel for a few days
• Auberge des Jeunesse ("Youth Hostel") de Rennes located at 10 Canal Saint-Martin, 35700 Rennes is walking distance from ESC and the Well'Come team can take you there from the train station or the Saint-Jacque Airport
• Important vocab: 
• Colocation = room for rent
• À louer = for rent
• Une chambre = a room
• Par mois = per month
• Meublé = furnished
• Parlez-vous anglais = Do you speak English?
• Try to speak in French as much as possible because you are far more likely to get a positive response.

Courses: After receiving your MIX nomination for ESC Rennes, you will receive an email from the International Relations Office (current contact as of Fall 2015 is Amparo Reig Martinez) with the following information:

• Option 1: Undergraduate Transfer Credit Level 3 (UGTC3) = Junior / Third-Year
• Track restriction: students have to follow 3 compulsory management courses plus one specialized track (each track has 3 courses). The tracks are:
• Finance and Banking
• Sales and Marketing
• Purchasing and Supply Chain
• Students can add French Language and/or French Culture (optional)
• Option 2: Undergraduate Transfer Credit Level 4 (UGTC4) = Senior / Fourth-Year
• No track restriction
• Students can take between 3 and 6 courses
• Students can add French Language and/or French Culture (optional)
• Other options (not applicable to MIX): Double Degree (for students pursuing a degree at their home university AND at ESC Rennes) and Masters (for students in Masters programs)

Note: 1 course at ESC Rennes = 5 ECTS and 5 ECTS = 3 UH Credits. You will be able to see how many credits each course is worth once you register online. 

Note: You cannot choose times for your courses so you can't "build" your own schedule. Essentially, you sign up for classes and they automatically assign you to a "block" with a set time schedule.

Registration: After you have been accepted into ESC Rennes, you will receive two more emails from the International Relations Office. One email will have your login and password information for online registration and the other will have more instructions instructions about the registration process. **I suggest creating a new folder in your email or starring all important emails from ESC Rennes. It will be helpful for when you need to find specific information to have them all stored in one place** Pay attention to these emails, they will include the following information:

• Which program you have been accepted to (UGTC3 or UGTC4)
• Dates for online registration in French time so make sure you're familiar with the time difference
• The registration link -- I suggest bookmarking this link so it's easier to find and (if you're comfortable) saving your username and password
• Attached documents:
• FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) sheet
• List of courses
• Step-by-step guide (very helpful)
• Timetable (very confusing)
• Last change date... You can't change your choice of courses after this date. 

Note: The registration portal isn't very user-friendly so you will most likely need to refer to the Step-by-step guide. It is also in French so if you're not comfortable with French, I suggest asking a friend or professor to help you register. 

Scheduling: If you expect to receive an Academic Calendar, don't bother. The courses here aren't scheduled the same way as most schools. Your class schedule will most likely look different every week and you might even have a Saturday class depending on the ones you registered for. Some days you might have one class for only two hours and some days you might have one for five hours; some classes will finish within a couple of weeks and some will take the whole semester. If you're the type of person who likes to have things planned and scheduled ahead of time, expect some culture shock because scheduling things in advance is not "the norm" here at ESC Rennes or in France in general.

Health/Housing Insurance: During Orientation Week, you will be required by the school and the French government to purchase health insurance and probably housing insurance. They will walk you through the steps, but be prepared to spend about $240 USD the first week. Housing insurance you will need for any dorm accommodations and most landlords require it. You can pay by credit card (see my "Travel & Packing Tip" page for suggestions about getting a good travel credit card). 

Other: 

• Facebook: The main team in charge of helping you, aside from registering and finding accommodation, will be the "Well'Come Team" and they have a Facebook group called "Well'Come, Rennes, France." Another group I joined was called "ESC Rennes Arrival Period - Aug/Sep 2015." Facebook, in my opinion, is the best way to communicate prior to and during your arrival in France. 
• Email: I and other international students found that it is very hard to communicate via email with people in France. You may have to send multiple follow-up emails to get a response, just make sure you're persistent.
• French phone: If you are using your own phone and getting a new SIM card, I suggest going to Free Mobile. The nearest shop is directly behind the République bus and metro stop. For 19.99 euro per month, you get 20G of data (that's a lot!) and calling and texting within France and to other countries including the United States. If you need a nano SIM card (for iPhones and most smartphones), it's an extra 10 euro one-time fee. Also, there is no contract; simply cancel your service whenever you are leaving France!