Program Reviews

CET Academic Programs has a partnership with Tulane University to provide a summer intensive Portuguese experience over the course of six weeks. I took two classes (for three credits each); one intensive Portuguese class and one class about current Brazilian social issues. Both classes were conducted entirely in Portuguese, which really helped to improve my language skills just on an immersion basis. Both classes also had planned excursions to different museums and sights around the city (São Paulo) that were both relevant to the coursework and interesting . Both the program staff and the instructors were incredibly helpful and clearly cared a lot about the students. The program housing, with either a homestay option or the option to live with a Brazilian roommate, also helped to improve Portuguese. São Paulo, meanwhile, is a very interesting city, with a lot to do and see.

When I began researching study abroad options, I knew I wanted a program in a unique location, opportunities to actually connect with the culture and not just be in an American bubble, and hands-on learning among other things. This program absolutely fulfilled that. Living in Saigon is never dull and there are so many things to do. There is something going on at all times which sometimes made it hard to remember that it was necessary to sleep. It is hot. Like really, really hot. But you do get used to it and I wouldn't let that deter you. The pollution is also pretty bad but you will learn from it.

My favorite part of the program was hands down having a Vietnamese roommate. During my semester, there were 7 American students who were each paired up with a Vietnamese student. The students are all fluent in English, very excited to be friends with you, and eager to bring you to all the best places in the city. My roommate and I loved hanging out at one of the many many cafes in the city, hitting up rooftop bars, riding around on her motorbike, going to art museums, doing homework together…We all became such a close knit group of friends through our crazy adventures and I still talk to my Vietnamese friends all the time through Facebook. We traveled together and even visited the homes of some of the roommates. Showing up at one of our roommate's homes in the middle of the night after taking a long bus ride up to central Vietnam and discovering that her house was a Czech Republic brewery was one of my best memories. I also wound up at Vietnam's first ever Burning Man music festival with some of our roommates and their guitar club... The roommate component of the program really sets you up to have some incredible opportunities.

Food. Oh yummm. So tasty. And so cheap. Like $1 for an entire meal. As a vegetarian, the food scene was sometimes challenging but you can definitely make it work. Street food is a huge part of Vietnamese culture and you will never run out of new things to try. Since there is no kitchen, you will eat out for almost all of your meals-breakfast, lunch and dinner. There are so many options but it can get tiring after a while. There’s a mini fridge in the room you can use for snacks though and there is a 24 hour convenience store right around the corner.

Classes were challenging but not overwhelming. The curriculum is very relevant and you will find yourself making solid connections between what you're talking about in the classroom and what you're seeing on the streets. There is a reasonable amount of reading and assignments and the professor allows you a lot of freedom to focus on what you're most interested in. For example, you could do a photo essay instead of a written essay if you wanted. You also get to go on a lot of fieldtrips and even week long travelling seminars. Instead of sitting in a classroom talking about foreign investment, we would take a bus to a megamall and walk around learning about Japan's role in Vietnam's emerging economy.

The internship component had a lot of promise but unfortunately didn't turn out to be the best for me. My organization had some management issues but other students had great internships. The program staff were very receptive to feedback about our internships and they are always working to improve these.

You will also definitely be able to travel during the semester during breaks and weekends. Some students' parents came to travel with them and others just traveled in small groups. It's easy to travel for cheap here. Think $5/night for a hostel. So nice.

I would absolutely recommend this program to someone looking for an immersive, challenging, exciting abroad experience but you should definitely understand that you will be living, learning, and travelling with a small group which may not be a good fit for someone would prefer a large university environment. I loved this program and had a great time.

This was an amazing program and I absolutely recommend it to anyone considering going to India. The staff, as are the host families associated with the program, are a great support system and are so friendly, welcoming and ready to help you. You have a lot of freedom in choosing your tutorial and research project which I appreciated and was a deciding factor for me in choosing this program. If you are looking for a place that will question your beliefs and how you approach life, come to Varanasi. Unlike other cities you could travel to, there is nonexistent nightlife (e.g. drinking and bars), unreliable wifi, and quite a bit of pollution, but I believe the benefits of Varanasi and its culture out weigh all these factors. I will never forget my time here with my host family, eating street food, going to weddings and concerts, traveling by train in India, interacting with locals, taking part in religious festivals and overcoming my fears of the unknown.

The prospects and opportunities that the CET Prague program offer never failed to disappoint. There's something magical about meandering the streets of Vienna and perusing the Easter markets or sailing down the Danube at night, gazing at the beautiful skyline of Budapest. I think that the Travelling Seminar provided me with the ability to explore places that I never would have made it to. And if I had, I likely would have missed some incredible things. Any time you go some place new, you always want to make sure you see all the big sites. For the most part, any travel I did outside of CET sponsored travel was structured that way. But CET was able to bring something different. We saw all the major sites in the cities we went to, but we also explored the life and culture of the city as well. Many students who visited Krakow probably never got the chance to attend Friday Shabbat services, or those who visited Budapest likely never ventured to the picturesque town of Szentendre. And then there was Prague itself, a city with such a myriad of hidden gems and secrets. The CET staff was so helpful in helping us find those places so we could try something new and explore such a fantastic city. I appreciated all the time and effort CET put into planning our seminars and excursions because they never failed to disappoint!

Coming home after studying abroad in Varanasi, the question that everyone seemed to always ask me was "what was the craziest thing that happened?!" I still never really have a straight answer for this question. Sure, there was some pretty 'crazy' things that happened over my four months in India. However, the reason why I always have such a hard time answering this question is because all of these things, everything that might seem 'crazy' to someone that hasn't experienced it, eventually just became so normal to me. Things like traffic jams of cows, families of monkeys living along side me in my neighborhood, goats wearing sweaters as family pets, a family of four and their pet dog riding on a motorbike, people defying the laws of how many is too many to squeeze into a rickshaw, and so many other things. There could be so many different ways to answer this question, but any answer that I give just never really seems right. I think that this is what studying abroad in a place like India is suppose to do to you. Things that you never thought you would encounter in your lifetime, soon just become part of everyday life. Just having one semester in Varanasi was not nearly enough for me to become fully assimilated to the culture. However, it was enough time to find the normality in everyday life; and that in itself is the greatest thing that study abroad could have given me.

One of my all time favorite experiences from the past semester was going to Mikulov, a small resort-type town near the border of the Czech Republic and Austria on CET's traveling seminar. Mikulov was something out of a fairytale-- it had a small adorable town square and was complete with a beautiful castle that had some of the biggest wine barrels I have ever seen! The most amazing part of the whole experience were the views-- I stayed in a loft suite with a few of my friends, and the views from our suite were absolutely breathtaking. Our program director also led us on a hike to a really nice viewing spot where we watched the sunset. It was a really excellent experience.

Coming from a programme that is theory-oriented, with only limited production experience in the past, this programme in Prague was a breath of fresh air for me. Spending time free from the academic pressures of Wellesley as well as learning first-hand how to make a film were all very valuable aspects of this programme for me.

Part of the charm of this programme has to be the fact that I was learning in Prague, at FAMU, one of the oldest film schools in Europe. Aside from FAMU's illustrious filmmaking history there was also the rich history of Prague that enhanced this trip, as well as its relative cheapness -- very good for filming on a short budget! Prague is not only affordable for American students, but also a ridiculously photogenic city, and it is also close to many other major European cities. The only times I had to fly were to London and Paris. Despite the wonky scheduling, I had plenty of free time to meet with European friends from the internet as well as travel.

Overall I found this semester to be excellent, especially since the programme itself was such a different atmosphere from what I'm used to, and it took some flexibility and spontaneity just to go with the flow and make the best of some situations. I enjoyed having the time to go out and explore as much of Europe as I can, as well as gaining practical experience in filmmaking whenever I was in Prague.

Studying abroad in Prague was a fantastic experience. Prague is a beautiful city that is surprisingly easy to feel comfortable in despite the fact that it seems somewhat unreal. Although many of my peers found time to travel, I stayed in Prague on most weekends and there was always so much to do. The city is constantly having incredible events and festivals.

The best part of the CET film production program at FAMU was gaining hands-on experience. I learned so much in the final weeks of the program while working on creating my own film and assisting on my friends' film sets. Learning film production requires practical experience on set. I wish it was possible to spend more time actually working with a camera throughout the semester, but the little time I had was so valuable. Taking the information I learned out of the classroom and applying it to an actual film was an important process.

It is definitely up to the students to make the most of their semester. I wanted more experience on set, so it was up to me to find groups who needed production assistants and volunteer to help. During the lighting seminar, I had to volunteer if I wanted to have an active role. Similarly, I found that my classes were only as challenging as I wanted to make them. For example, the cinematography class was a lecture style course with one final test. The students were at all different levels of experience, so it was difficult for the professor to gauge with information was new to which students and how much time to spend on each topic. Many students didn't find the course especially challenging because they were already familiar with the information. It was essential to ask questions in order to get the most out of this course. When a student would ask a question, even it was about their specific film, I found that I learned the most.

While my group was editing our film, we reached out to our editing professor and asked to meet and get her advice on our progress. She was incredibly helpful and provided us with a constructive critique. It was important to me to have professors who were eager to meet and help us throughout the process of creating a film because I felt like I had support. This support was essential because it motivated my group to commit to our mission and take artistic risks.

Outside of my production classes, I took two elective courses. Although the classes weren't especially well organized, I highly enjoyed them because they introduced me to a lot of films I was unfamiliar with and gave me new ways to analyze film. I especially enjoyed the Film Style & Form course because it was the first class I have taken that was specifically focused on sound in film.

Prague is a beautiful city with so much to offer, and I came into this program and the semester incredibly excited to study at one of the world's most revered film schools. Overall, I would say I enjoyed my time in Prague and did learn quite a bit; however, there were a great many aspects of the program - particularly the CET staff - that left me disappointed.

Scheduling and communication were unacceptably disorganized, and students frequently received misinformation or no information at all. Even when we would reach out to CET staff members with questions or problems, we would not always receive an answer or even the courtesy of a response. I did not feel supported by the CET staff at all during my stay.

Additionally, the way the film classes are set up don't necessarily cater to the best learning experience, in my opinion. I could tell that the professors we had were well-versed in their fields and had quite a bit of knowledge and experience to offer. Based on the format of the classes, I don't think I, or the other students, were able to learn as much from them as we would have liked. Hands-on learning environments would serve these film professors much better than the lecture format we experienced, and I would highly recommend CET look into re-evaluating the structure of classes in the Prague film program.

While I would ultimately recommend this study abroad program to interested students simply because I believe in the value of studying in another country, I would feel compelled to also warn students of the disorganization, lack of communication, and frustration they will likely experience through the CET FAMU study abroad program. Please revisit the program and staff to ensure the best possible study abroad experience for future students.

One of my favorite experiences when I was studying abroad in China happened over Fall Break. When my friends and I were in Shangri-la in Yunan, we were tired and hungry from a long and windy bus ride. We decided to have a recommended Tibet-style meal for late lunch. We ate ground yak meat (amazing), spicy Tibetan tofu (amazing), bread with caramelized cheese honey (amazing), and yak milk tea (amazing). This was one of the most unique, memorable, and tasty meals of my life.