Senior Profile: Kara Auvray will return to her childhood roots in Paris for college

The months of rigorous essay writing, presentations and never-ending application work all boiled down to one life-changing decision for Kara Auvray on March 20: she could continue her life in the United States at Georgetown University or return to her roots at her dream school — Sciences Po in Paris, France.  

For Auvray, the answer was simple.

Auvray was born in France and moved to Kansas when she was 7. Her elementary years were spent in the Blue Valley district, but after learning about the International Baccalaureate program at East, she decided to transfer into the Shawnee Mission School District. 

“I knew for a long time that I wanted to go back to France, especially for college,” Auvray said. “With East’s IB opportunities, I’d have a better chance of getting in.”

The Paris Institute of Political Studies, also known as Sciences Po, is the third best school in the world for politics and international studies, according to TopUniversities.com. With a 10% acceptance rate, the application process was rigorous and lengthy. 

Despite being accepted into Georgetown in December 2019, Auvray plowed forward to reach her goal of attending her dream school. The first round of the application process required the usual transcript, IB predicted scores, extracurriculars, a letter of recommendation and a letter of motivation explaining why Auvray wanted to study there. 

After getting through to the second round in January, Auvray traveled to Sciences Po where she was given 30 minutes to analyze an article on the Lincoln Project, a group of Republicans who seek to prevent Trump from being re-elected. She then gave a 10 minute presentation on the topic to a panel of judges.

“They were looking at my analysis and how I was able to incorporate previous knowledge into my presentation, as well as my speaking skills,” Auvray explained.

Auvray was accepted on March 3, and plans to major in Politics and Government, along with a focus on human rights and law — a topic she’s been passionate about since middle school.  

“Human rights in general has always been an issue I’ve been passionate about,” Auvray said. “With my own experience and privilege that I have to live here, I know it’s a very important issue that a lot of people struggle with.” 

Auvray is most looking forward to the endless opportunities and experiences that await her, along with being able to interact with students from all over the world — with 43 different nationalities on her campus alone. 

However, the excitement of new experiences certainly comes with new challenges of leaving her life in the United States behind. 

“I’ve lived in the US for the past 10 years so I’m sure I’m going to have to adapt to the different way of living and living in an apartment and just being on my own,” Auvray said. “Even though I’m a little bit nervous, it’s something I’m still very excited to be able to explore.”