Housing

Skidmore offers students the opportunity to live with host families. Living in a foreign country is exciting, enriching, interesting, and sometimes, frustrating. It is a fascinating experience in which one learns about different customs and how to speak another language. For this reason, the home-stay experience is one of the program’s most valuable aspects, as it allows students to fully participate in French culture on a daily basis.

As the family experience is so important, we take it very seriously. Our staff in Paris pays special attention to the personal welfare of the students, and as a result, visits each host family regularly to ensure that our families continue to be appropriate for our students.  Each applicant completes an extensive Housing Questionnaire, which our staff in Paris use to match students and families to the best of our ability.

The student's preferences concerning personal comforts, eating habits, health requirements (smoking, allergies, etc.), and family composition are all taken into consideration during family selection. Once the student has been placed in a French home, the Paris staff is in regular contact with both the student and the family to assure that the adaptation continues to go smoothly.

Each student has single room with a Parisian family (single woman, mother with children, a couple, or a couple with children at home). Other housing arrangements are allowed only in special cases with the approval of OCSE and the Paris Resident Director. Petitions for approval to live independently must be made through OCSE in advance. Please be aware that any outside housing arrangements and issues are handled solely by the student.

Meals

The host family will provide breakfast daily and six dinners each week, as well as laundry once a week. Students receive a cash allowance to be used toward the other meals. Some meals will be taken with the group, mainly during the on-site orienation, excursions, and field trips, as well as some special occasions.