Course books teach the café and the railway station. The French that decides your first month is administrative, and it is a small enough set to learn deliberately.
The préfecture and the paperwork. *Le titre de séjour* (residence permit), *le récépissé* (the receipt that proves your application is in), *un justificatif de domicile* (proof of address), *un relevé d'identité bancaire / RIB* (your bank details slip), *une attestation* (a certificate or statement of something), *un dossier* (a file, and the word for an application). *Veuillez fournir* — please provide. You will read that last one a great deal.
Accommodation. *Un logement*, *une caution* (deposit), *un garant* (a guarantor — which as an international student you will be asked for), *les charges comprises* (bills included), *un état des lieux* (the inventory done when you move in and out), *le préavis* (notice period), *la CAF* (the body that pays housing assistance, and *l'APL* is the assistance).
The university. *La licence* (bachelor's), *le master*, *les unités d'enseignement / UE* (modules), *les ECTS*, *un CM* (lecture) and *un TD* (tutorial/seminar), *le rattrapage* (the resit), *le relevé de notes* (transcript), *la scolarité* (the registry office), *une convention de stage* (the internship agreement you cannot do an internship without).
The bank and the phone. *Un compte courant*, *une carte bancaire*, *un virement* (transfer), *un prélèvement automatique* (direct debit), *un forfait* (a phone plan), *résilier* (to cancel a contract — the most useful verb on this list).
Health. *La sécurité sociale*, *une mutuelle* (top-up insurance), *le médecin traitant* (your registered doctor), *une ordonnance* (prescription), *la carte Vitale*.
Learn them as phrases, not as words. *Je voudrais résilier mon forfait.* *Pourriez-vous me donner une attestation ?* *J'ai besoin d'un justificatif de domicile.* A word in a sentence you can say is a word you own.
Why this is exam vocabulary too. The reading paper uses real administrative documents at B1 and above, and the role-play tasks are drawn from exactly these situations. Learning it serves both.