USAC France: Pau - French Language & European Studies

My experience was good but mainly because I went out of my way to make it good. I was in a dorm, but we did not have wifi for at least two weeks of arriving. Throughout the semester, power and water was shut off without us knowing and it was shut off for hours in the morning or at night leaving us like that before going to class. Staff for arrival was helpful at times, but many other times they'd force some students who didn't speak French to go and figure out things like insurance or buying phone plans by themselves. I was lucky to have guidance and a good head on my shoulders but if you're not very independent and extroverted, this program isn't very supportive of that. I will say Pau was fun and the people are amazing, the university was pretty nice in itself, and the insurance that comes with the program was really nice, I took lots of advantage of the mental health care.

The usac program in Pau is great! It’s a really nice city, and the advisors did a great job planning trips for the group and helping us when we needed it. The only critique I have is that I wish we’d had more events/opportunities to meet the people living in Pau, but nonetheless it was still a great program.

I was in Pau for 4 months and it was filled with outing and cultural experiences. I stayed with the host family and had the opportunity to see what the day-to-day life was like for a French family. Going out, and my life was a big part of my study abroad experience. I enjoyed speaking to the shopkeepers who were always welcoming and speaking to the servers and bartenders who were always interested to talk to the foreign students. This made immersing myself and adapting myself to the culture very easy.