Program Reviews

I loved my experience in Siena with CET. I think that Siena is the perfect city/program for people who are looking to really connect with the local community and experience Italian culture. My classes were all really enjoyable, not as difficult as my classes at my school, but I also am not a CS major. My favorite class was Sienese art history where we did tours around the city or went to museums almost every class. The staff are all lovely and were very supportive. Siena is a small but gorgeous city and there always seem to be new things to explore despite its size- you really start to feel like you are more than just a tourist here.

My homestay was one of the highlights of my time here, I was able to really feel immersed in the local culture, improve my Italian a ton (I did already speak some Italian though), and have the support of a family. I will say that it seems like not every homestay family made people feel like a real member of their family as much as mine did, but overall my friends' homestay experiences seem to have been positive. Would definitely recommend for those who want to practice their Italian. I also got to go to events at my host family's contrada which was a super cool experience most visitors don't have access to.

I genuinely do not have anything bad to say about my own experience in Siena- I met lots of wonderful people, learned a lot, and overall had a really incredible time abroad.

CET Florence has hands down been one of the best experiences of my life. When envisioning my study abroad experience, I expected that the best moments would be traveling during the weekends. However, I found that the weekdays with the CET staff and professors has made my overall study abroad experience all the better. The staff members were so accessible and friendly; I felt like I can go to them with any problem or concern comfortably and I knew that I would get help immediately. Moreover, every single professor I had were all so wonderful. Not only did they try their best to make the classes engaging and exciting, but they also were so personable. I felt like I knew my professors very well by the end of the program, and that they now know me very well as well. All my classes were also very thought provoking, challenging, yet interesting. Two classes, Food and Culture and Wine Studies, were both so amazing that I felt excited to go to class every day! The enoteca visits and the food tastings for the classes are so unique to CET and Italy as a whole, and this was an experience I know I will not be able to get back at my university in America. Although the housing was not as amazing as the rest of the program, I know that this is because Florence is an older city. Living in city center was perfect as well, and CET did a great job with the location because everything is walkable from our classrooms and our apartments. This entire semester I felt so supported and cared for, making this study abroad experience so personal and unique. I will miss all my friends that I made here who come from different universities, and I will cherish my new friends that I would not have known if it weren't for CET Florence. Moreover, I will wholeheartedly miss the wonderful CET staff and professors who made learning so enjoyable and exciting. I would without a doubt recommend CET Italy / Florence to anyone who is considering studying abroad. I would not have wanted my study abroad experience to go or be with any other program!

My study abroad experience on CET in Florence was something I will never forget. I went into this experience leaving a lot of my close friends behind, whether they were studying in other European countries, cities, or back at Cornell. I worried about being able to make friends and have people to travel with, but I quickly made so many new friends and was traveling the world with them. Choosing Florence as a home city was an amazing decision. Over the course of my time abroad, I really immersed myself in the culture and can call this place my home. I knew how to get around without Google Maps by the end and have tried many incredible restaurants. The food is seriously to die for in Florence. I also loved how walkable the city was making it so easy to get around. I would highly suggest anyone considering studying abroad in the future to go to Florence. I am going to miss it so much!

Being in Florence was great and the apartments were in wonderful locations in the city. Sometimes a bit noisy because of how close they were to the city center, but certainly well worth it. The teachers were all great, though some were difficult to understand.

I will also say that the attendance policy was very harsh. There were only three absences allowed per class, otherwise, your grade would drop a whole letter grade (at 5 absences) and and failure after 8 absences. There were no exceptions for illness, death in the family, personal circumstances, etc. even if you could document these incidences.

I have to say that I overall I had a great experience. I have never before felt more like a University Student in my life. My courses has been challenging, but has been helpful in improving my Mandarin Chinese. Living and Getting Around the city of Taipei has been extremely convenient with the recommendations to purchase the T-Pass etc. What I like especially is how easy it is really to find things to do that are free or relatively low price as well. I am never bored here, but able to appreciate moments of relaxations as well.

This program takes place at Osaka Gakuin University (OGU) in Osaka, a 50 minute train ride to Kyoto, Kobe, and most of the busier streets of Osaka. Though class was every weekday for 3 hours, it was in the morning, giving time to explore after class was released. I was also able to visit many areas around Japan on the weekends, especially during holidays and when Mondays started becoming free.

Housing: I lived a 7 minute walk to campus, making getting to and from school easy. Some of my classmates lived further away, requiring a 30 minute commute. My apartment was well furnished, including a stove, shared/free laundry machine, and small balcony. As typical in Japan, I did have to get used to drying my clothes on drying racks.

Academics: Being in the 100 level Japanese class, we finished Genki 1 textbook. However, most valuable was the constant practice we got speaking to the Japanese students at OGU. I am extremely fond of the Japanese friends I made in this program, who also helped me improve my Japanese. However, the CET class moved a bit too slow for the amount of immersion we got studying abroad in Japan. Some topics we covered should have been brought up earlier in the semester, as they were necesarry to communicate. Genki 1 curriculum seems not optimal for people studying abroad in Japan. I would recommend additional self study in your free time for more growth in Japanese, which you will be motivated to do when seeing your classmates work hard on learning Japanese as well.

One downside in my academics was, besides Japanese, being required to take 3 extra afternoon classes by my US university, and OGU offered only 5 elective options for those 3 spots. Also, attendance in the OGU electives was very strict. With limited choices, the classes were a time suck, and I would have preferred more options in the classes I had that didn't require me being in class for 4 additional hours in the afternoon when I would rather be exploring Japan and studying Japanese.

The semester was unforgettable to me. However, if you are paying full tuition for this program, be aware that CET is one of the most expensive options at ~26k tuition and there are cheaper alternatives. Being on a scholarship, I chose this program for fulfilling my objectives of studying Japanese intensely and having many perks, like weekend field trips and very attentive staff. For my first time studying abroad I felt extremely safe, with the CET staff always answering my questions. The health insurance on the program is also extremely generous, and it is built in to the cost of the program. I loved my experience in Japan and would highly recommend studying abroad here.

Studying in Florence was an excellent experience that allowed me to expand my perspectives and learn more about the city and its people. Florence is a beautiful city that offers plenty of things to do and to see. The CET program did a great job organizing events that allowed students to meet, interact, and explore the city. They organized programs and activities that allowed us to see different landmarks, and the classes often included trips around the city that allowed students to understand more about and experience the culture of Florence. While the quantity of students studying abroad in Florence makes it easy to make friends, it can also be a downside when it comes to cultural emersion which is something to consider depending on what you are looking to get out of a study abroad experience.

TLDR: CET is difficult but overall a great experience

Taipei is an amazing city with so much to do from food to sightseeing to nightlife. It felt a little overwhelming at times, but it was mostly fun. Take advantage of the weekends to take trips to other parts of Taiwan with friends, like Jiufen, Hualien, Penghu, Beitou, and Tainan--those weekend trips were the highlights of my CET experience, but Taipei itself is great too. I came to CET with almost no Chinese language skills, and I improved rapidly with the language course through NTU. The electives I took were not my favorite--the 3-hour classes, even though they were only once a week felt really long.

The biggest piece of advice I have for anyone considering traveling to Taiwan in the future is consider what kind of study abroad experience you want to have. If you are really invested in improving your Chinese language skills or experiencing a different culture, I'd highly recommend CET Taiwan. But if you want a more laid-back, fun experience, CET might not be the right program for you (CET was fun but not in the traditional sense you imagine for a program in say, Italy). Again, I'd highly recommend CET Taiwan and just Taiwan as a place to visit in your life. It just depends what you are trying to get out of your experience.

CET Taiwan overall was a great experience for me. I was able to improve my Chinese, experience Taipei and other cities, and make meaningful connections with locals. I thoroughly enjoyed and felt challenged in my Chinese course that was taught by the Chinese Language Division at NTU. However, I didn't like the CET elective that I took. The format of the class and the professor were disengaging, and it felt like I just wanted to get it over with every time I went to class. One thing I enjoyed about the CET program was living with a local Taiwanese roommate and having language partners. This allowed me to make friends easily and practice conversational Chinese often. Taipei is such a great location. There is always something fun to do in the city and the transportation makes it easy to explore. The people are also very friendly! I definitely want to visit Taiwan again in the future.

There are a lot of reasons that my semester with CET in Taipei was an awesome experience. CET does a really good job of encouraging you to immerse as much as possible in the local community (like the language partner program, local roommates cultural reimbursements, travel reimbursements, organized programs, etc) while also providing a lot of support and planning for you (housing, orientation, metro pass, programs, etc). While being in a language study program does mean you spend a lot of your time in class with other study abroad students and not locals, having local roommates and built in language partner program was a really unique chance to make connections and friendships with local students, and definitely helps to balance out the bubble of only hanging out with other Americans that can be an easy routine to fall into. In terms of location, Taipei is such a great city to live in and there are endless things to do for whatever you love; amazing hiking and nature, BIKING!!, history and museums, night life and night markets, sports culture, etc, all easily reachable by the safe and accessible public transit systems. The food I ate during my semester abroad is by far the best food I've ever eaten, and also the cheapest.
The academic culture of this program and Taiwan in general should definitely be considered before coming. There is a heavy focus on academics and you will be spending a lot of time in class and studying outside of class. While it is an adjustment to make, I think it is overall a good opportunity to learn how to prioritize time management, because you will have to put in effort to make time for all of the things you want to do/explore.
Looking back, my favorite things about Taipei became the routines I created for myself. The riverside bike path that runs all around the city is extremely lively all afternoon and night, and realizing that going on nighttime runs was something that was safe to do in Taiwan was a game changer for me: this little routine became one of my favorite things to do after my busy days of class and interning, and is one of the places I'll miss the most. Finding a nearby food alley in the neighborhood my apartment was in also became a part of the daily routine, and becoming friendly with the owners of my go-to breakfast street cart or braised pork restaurant really contributed to the sense of home in the corner of Taipei that I lived in.
Traveling all over Taiwan was undoubtably a huge highlight of this semester as well. The HSR and train systems make going virtually anywhere in Taiwan really easy as well as affordable. My favorite part of traveling in Taiwan is that Taiwan is not a major international tourist hub, and so traveling within the country was a really cool way to get a sense of the different local indigenous and regional culture. One of my favorite trips was over Mid-Autumn Festival, when my roommates and myself visited family of one of my roommates in Chang-hua (a small rural city). We were able to stay with her Taiwanese cousins and celebrate moon festival and barbecue with them.
These are just a few of my biggest takeaways from my semester abroad. I am so grateful for the three months I got to spend in Taipei, and know that it is a place I want to be a part of my life in the future.