FAQ

The accommodation and support programme gives priority to students beginning their first year of preparatory classes, who it then continues to support through their second year. However, applications from students due to begin their second year will also be considered.

As well as providing free housing close to the schools providing preparatory classes, Maisons des Jeunes Talents offers personal support from supervisors living on site (House Mothers and tutors) or visiting regularly (House Sponsors). Professional support is provided by mentors from the programme’s partner companies. Support courses are offered in maths, physics, languages and so on.

The role of House Mothers is to provide the best conditions for the personal and collective lives of students, creating a calm working environment that can help drive success. They live on site. House Sponsors eat an evening meal with students each week. They offer a listening ear and a real source of moral support for students. They also provide practical support to House Mothers.

Within the Maisons des Jeunes Talents programme, accommodation and meals (excluding lunch) are provided at no cost to the student. The CROUS scholarship is therefore entirely devoted to the academic success of the student and finances the language trip (required between 1st and 2nd years of preparatory classes) and support classes in maths, physics, chemistry and languages.

The documentation required to be submitted with the initial application is:

• The document provided to you by CROUS certifying that you have applied for a scholarship for higher education;
• The result of your on-line simulation which shows that you will be in receipt of financial support for higher education.

Subsequently, if you are accepted onto the Maisons des Jeunes Talents programme, the final scholarship certificate (provided between September and December) will be required.

51 students were accepted for the academic year beginning in September 2020: 16 at Maison Echiquier (Paris 8th), 7 at Maison Malesherbes (Paris 8th), 20 at Foyer Montparnasse (Paris 15th) and 8 at Institut Bossuet (Paris 6th)

During the day, each student is free to manage their time as they see fit. Dinner (at 7:30pm) is the only time at which all students must be together: this is an important and enjoyable shared moment. Attendance at dinner is compulsory.

Mentors come from Maisons des Jeunes Talents partner companies. Their role is to support one student from Maisons des Jeunes Talents (in a mentor-mentee pairing) throughout their preparatory class course:

• personal and psychological support;
• an introduction to the world of work (discovery of their company, preparations for the personal interview for commercial courses).

Once the preparatory classes have been completed, the mentor also assists with the search for internships and employment, sharing their network of contacts and knowledge of the professional world with the student.

Maisons des Jeunes Talents is a social charity, which has elected to provide its programme free of charge to eliminate the financial obstacle that living in Paris can represent for a student from a less well-off background. Maisons des Jeunes Talents is financed by a community of donors: companies, foundations and individuals.