[msvalkon]

This is a very generalizing argument. Universities are free (paid by taxes obviously) in Finland, but there is no such thing like what you describe. In here the only prerequisite is that you have finished high school, then you can take the entry exams.. It's also not uncommon for someone to go into a university later in their life. My cs courses had a good bunch of people in their fifties re-educating themselves.

[hk__2]

In France you don’t even have any entry exams for universities.

[jkot]

And what is drop out rate in first semester?

[agumonkey]

It's incredibly bad. ~40% after first semester. 60%+ will fail the first year. That first year is basically a post high-school buffer. Netherlands have a one year gap for kids to cool off and find what motivates them. France should really adopt that.

[roel_v]

"Netherlands have a one year gap for kids to cool off and find what motivates them."

What? No we don't.

[vram22]

He's probably confusing what he said with students taking a gap year between high school and college.

[roel_v]

But that too is a small minority. To be exact, in 2013, 9% of all first year students in tertiary education took a gap year. About 1/3rd of them traveled during that time, most of the rest had a job. And although the data doesn't explicitly say, it does seem like that includes those work for a few months between the end of the school year of high school (in May/June) and the start of the year at university, in September/October or in January, depending on the specifics. I'm not claiming they included everyone with a summer job, just that what is claimed to be a 'gap year' isn't really in many cases, but more a 'I have a few months time and I need to pay for my studies, let's make some money'. A far cry from the GP's suggestion that there is some formal structure to go soul searching or whatever.

[S4M]

Don't know about the drop out rate in first semester, but the percentage of students passing the first year can be pretty low. In medicine, I think it's aroung 10%, in maths maybe 30%.

[dorfsmay]

Space is not infinite, they check your 'file' and admission is based on your grades.

Also, priority is (or at least was years ago) given to people who come out of high school, making it impossible to get into university if you didn't go directly from high school.

[anigbrowl]

Yes, but everyone takes the baccalaureate exam and that limits the schools to which you can get admission.