Erasmus interview for Paris: acing your French selection interview

Paris is a highly sought-after Erasmus destination for Italian students, driven in particular by Sorbonne Université, Université Paris Cité, Sciences Po Paris, Université Paris-Dauphine, and a large number of grandes écoles. That high demand means one simple thing: selection is real, and the French interview plays a decisive role in it.

Many candidates arrive at this interview with a strong academic record, but without ever having truly tested their spoken French under pressure, facing unexpected questions. This guide explains what actually matters to the committee, and how to prepare effectively, whatever time you have left before the interview.

Why Paris is such an in-demand Erasmus destination

Paris is, by far, the most sought-after Erasmus destination among Italian students: it concentrates the largest number of exchange spots, but also the largest number of applications. That fierce competition means one simple thing: on top of an already solid academic record, the French interview often becomes the factor that sets candidates apart.

What the committee evaluates in the interview

Unlike a job interview, the Erasmus interview explicitly evaluates your actual level of French — often against a specific spoken target level (frequently B2) — in addition to your motivation and the coherence of your exchange project.

The real challenge: identifying the gap before closing it

Most candidates prepare only their motivation speech — why Paris, why this university, how it connects to their background — and discover on interview day that a real spoken-level gap (fluency, sentence structure, academic vocabulary) penalizes them more than expected. The priority, before working on the speech, is an honest diagnosis of your current level against what's expected.

How to prepare once the gap is identified

The work then focuses on three points: the clarity of your motivation speech (why Paris and this project specifically), the ability to speak spontaneously about your background and expectations without reciting a text, and managing the stress specific to an interview that plays out in just a few minutes.

The most common mistake: preparing the speech, not the level

A perfectly written and memorized motivation speech feels reassuring — but it doesn't hold up against the committee's first unexpected question. That's exactly where the difference lies between a candidate who recites and a candidate who convinces: the ability to answer spontaneously, with a clear structure, even when the question catches you off guard.

The second trap is underestimating the time needed to close a real level gap. A gap of several months' worth of work can't be caught up with a week of vocabulary review — which is why an early diagnosis matters so much.

How long you need to prepare

• 3 to 4 weeks or more — the most comfortable timeline if real level-building work is needed on top of preparing the motivation speech itself.
• 1 to 2 weeks — enough to solidly structure the speech and run several interview simulations, if your French level is already close to what's expected.
• Less than a week — still possible by focusing on the essentials: the structure of the motivation speech and 2 to 3 timed oral simulations.

Checklist before the interview

• You know your real level gap against what's expected (often B2 spoken).
• You can explain why Paris and this project specifically, without reciting a memorized text.
• You've done at least one full interview simulation, with real unplanned questions.
• You know how to manage stress in the minutes before the interview.

This is exactly what Horiva Études focuses on: a precise diagnosis of your level and situation, then a work plan calibrated to your actual timeline before the interview.

You can discover the full method on the Horiva Études page, or start directly with the Checkpoint below.