My advice is of course worth what you pay for it, but I do advise you to include Ste. Chapelle. The stained glass walls, some 6,000 square feet of them, are absolute masterpieces of design, fabrication, architecture, engineering, and construction.

The Lourve is the biggest problem as I see it. If you are serious about your visit, it can be all consuming. If you just want to make the tourist highlights, e.g. Mona, Venus, and Victory, then you can scoot through it and bypass the other treasures.

I avoided the Louvre my last visit to Paris because I knew that if I went in, I would not leave any time soon and there were other places I wanted to visit. At the time, I intended to come back again. Now, seeing more of the Louvre is an unkept promise.

You will need to make your own decision on that museum, but believe me, it is a formidable place for a casual visit.
My personal advice is to see the highlights and then get out so you can see other parts of Paris.

The Musee d'Orsay is much smaller than the Louvre. As a result, it requires less time and the collection focuses on art from the western world during the period 1848 to 1914.

I have been there twice for 4 hours each visit, which is my saturation point with art. If I return to Paris, I will end up there again!

There is so much to Paris to see, and you have relatively little time in which to see it, that your list has several major omissions. But, I think Ste. Chapelle is the only one I would rate a "must see."

The others will wait for you to return.
So don't run yourselves into the sidewalks. You cannot see it all. But enjoy what you do see, and see it so that you remember it.

Students do not have free access to museums, with some exceptions. The most general free access is for children by age, not for students; the disabled usually are free, also, and some types of teachers, museum staff or journalists, or working artists.

In many museums, children are free up to some stated age (at the Louvre, chldren less than 18 are free). This is not because they are or are not students. A student age 22 will not get into the Louvre free. Many museums have reduced tariffs for some categories of persons, including students, that may be about half price. The Louvre, though, does not. Art students up to age 26 from French schools/universities can get in free at the Louvre, but a business student age 24 will not (except Friday evenings it is free for everyone up to age 26). The Orsay has similar criteria. Students do not get into the Orsay free unless they are art students, and all children less than 18 are free there, also. The Rodin museum is also free for those less than 18.

Gretchen, I find your reference to Michael Osman interesting. We first contacted him in February when we heard of him from this site. I have tried several times to engage him without a response. Are you sure that is his e-mail? It is the one I have used as well and never heard back from him. Lucky you - we would like very much to engage a guide (a reasonable one), anyone have any other suggestions? Based on the overwhelming response, we will find a way to incorporate St. Chapelle, it sounds like a must see. Thanks for all the great comments, appreciate all your help.