A Let-Down Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

Very disappointing. Carrying your own sewing machine to school 3 times a week (since they would have 3 sewing machines per class to be shared among 32 students, and when I used the sewing machine room shared by all classes, 7 of its machines didn't work, out of around 10) when you're paying a minimum amount of €10,550 a year is absurd. On top of that, we were completely misled about school hours and would have classes being added or hours changing last minute, making it impossible to have a job - as opposed to what I had been told prior to joining. Teachers speak poor English even when you are paying for English classes, and talks are still given in French. When you complain? They simply answer with "We are in France, we speak French!" Thankfully I myself speak French, but most students did not. School board would not address the many complaints even when a couple of people in my class had already dropped out in the first term. The advantages to this program are that the teachers are in fact very skilled and experienced in the industry, and studying at ESMOD automatically opens many doors in the French fashion world due to its reputation. However, they should work to upkeep that reputation.

On-site administration of your program

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

Had I known that Pattern Making was prioritised so much over Fashion Design classes, I would have picked another school. I also would not have attended if I had known that we would often have 10-hour long days at school, as I could not afford to live in Paris without working after school. However, ESMOD had told me that classes would either be in the morning or afternoon, which was a lie. The school was very disorganised and went against a lot of what they advertised to us, and this became pretty apparent once students (like myself) began to drop out. I personally found the school board was also unwilling to listen when being politely confronted about the problems. So many faults it is hard to list them all! Would not want somebody to be misinformed and have the same unfortunate experience as myself or my classmates.

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

As one can imagine, Paris is not the cheapest city to live in. However for me, the weekly costs for supplies and printing at ESMOD made it difficult to keep up with finances.

0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language

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• Apartment

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• N/A

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• International Students

• Making friends
• Opportunities in the industry

• False Advertisement
• Manners and Respect for students
• Ability to teach in English