TEAN: Study Abroad in Shanghai, China

This semester was the most exciting I spent so far in my college life!
As for day to day experience, you live in an apartment a few minutes from campus, Chinese restaurants, a huge mall, walmart, and lots of street food places. The campus is very international with people from all around the world as well as Chinese students genuinely interested in western cultures. Shanghai is an amazing city with lots of things to do and to discover and very different architectures.

Highlights of the program:

-TEAN basically plans everything for you, so you arrive to China and just need to concentrate on visiting and your academics (sounds hard right?)
-The TEAN trips were definitely THE thing that made me chose the program. They were amazing, very well organized, great housing, and definitely showing you what you had to see in each city
-Health Insurance coverage: I got some medical problems and the staff there was incredibly helpful, going with me to the hospital + the insurance covers everything it's amazing

Difficulties: Refraining from eating huge amounts of street food on a daily basis

I truly think that every student should study abroad sometime during their undergrad. Tackling a new language, experiencing a new culture, seeing famous & historical sites, meeting friends from far away places, and tasting different cuisines while traveling become your favorite memories. TEAN was the perfect choice for me- having their support, especially in a country as distant as China, was essential to making the process smooth and carefree. Also, the excursions they include in the package are awesome and would be incredibly difficult to pull off by yourself. For anyone looking to study abroad in China, TEAN in Shanghai is definitely the way to go.

The program was great and had its share of fun, study, excursions, and yes, down time. Classes left sufficient time to explore the city and I was able to take quite a few weekend trips as well. Shanghai is an amazing city and offers a fast paced life if you want it. But slowing down, relaxing, and taking things more in stride is just as doable.

Our support coming into China as well as in China was great. You always had someone to answer questions on both ends and were never alone in the process. Especially being in a place as new and confusing as China, the support TEAN offered was a life saver.

Going to Shanghai was a great experience, but the program itself was not as good as I expected. Like many people I usually read a lot of reviews before deciding which program to choose and the reviews for TEAN were great. There are two summer programs for you to choose from: 5-week or 10-week. You will find that those who went on the 5-week program were generally satisfied with their experience, while those who went on the 10-week program many have been less happy. I went on the 10-week program. I don't want to waste your time so I will get down to the review. Based on my experience I will assess the pros and cons of the program only (This is not a review of Shanghai):

Pros:
+On-site staff: The staff was so helpful and friendly with all of us. She took people to the doctor if they were sick and she always checked in with us to make sure we had no problems. She was one of the best parts of the program.
+ Service activity: The community service activity was a wonderful experience! Our activity involved teaching migrant children English for one week. Despite having to wake up early in the morning to go see them, I enjoyed every minute of the activity, I only wish it was longer that one week. The school was about an hour away but it really took you away from the bustling city of Shanghai into a more rural part. THIS IS THE SINGLE REASON I DON'T REGRET CHOOSING TEAN.
+ People: As with many study abroad programs, you got to meet so many people from different countries. TEAN organized some activities so you could get to know one another.
+ Living: Being able to live in a dormitory at Fudan University then living in a typical apartment was great! You were given the rare opportunity to live as a student then live as a local.

Cons: (Please be aware that this is just my experience, others may be different)
- Off-site staff: I am most annoyed with the off-site staff based in Chicago. I contacted him fairly early in my decision process and, although they were friendly and fast at replying, I got little information from them. So despite fast replies getting the actual useful answer is a long process, it felt like pulling teeth. And some of the information I did receive was wrong, therefore was useless to me. Towards the end of the program I, as well as my house mates, were very annoyed that they seemed to avoid/prolong replying us until we had to call him. Here are some examples (quite long, sorry):
- When trying to choose my classes for the program I was given an old list of classes. Some of the classes I got approved by my home university adviser were no longer applicable so I had to redo the whole process.
- Giving information very late: We received an email advising us to buy our plane tickets, without giving us actual days when we should arrive. One week after I bought my ticket I received another email saying only some people would be provided free pickup from the airport, despite the website saying free pickup as part of their package. I along with a few others did not receive free pick up. I have never been out of the country so I emailed him expressing my concern, and he just told me to take a taxi or the subway! I had a tough time getting to school. The same thing happened at the end of the program, luckily I expressed my concern to the ON-SITE staff instead and I was given the appropriate accommodations.
- I was given a visa for 60 days although I would be staying longer. I do not travel much so I was not sure if this was correct. He assured me that every student got 60 days and it was standard. When I got to China I found that many people actually got a 90 day pass. I had to get out of the country or else I had to pay around USD$100 to renew my visa (as some others had to do). Although this may have been out of his control I felt I could not trust him, as he seemed to find a quick solution to a problem (even if he did not know the answer) without actually fixing the problem.
- The apartment we were given was significantly worse than others on the program. Appliances were broken and rooms were small. It was clear that it was a last minute solution. The way the situation was handled was horrible. When we complained the only attempt to solve the problem was to add a microwave into the kitchen. After numerous complaints, we got some monetary compensation.
- Even after the program ended I still had to deal with stuff. My home university informed me that Fudan only awards 2 credits for each class, not the 3 credits as advertised on the website. I also emailed him before I enrolled on the program in which he assured me that I would receive 3 credits per. When I and my university emailed him about the problem, he pretty much said "there is nothing I can do about it". We were both displeased by this answer. The website STILL advertised 3 credits!

Overall:
Regardless of the cons, it was an overall once-in-a-lifetime experience. TEAN's accommodations were good to some not others. I thoroughly enjoyed living in Shanghai and the on-site staff made everything easy. But it was getting to Shanghai that caused me the most headaches due to the staff based in the US, as I had problems before and after I was in Shanghai.

My thoughts:
Definitely go to Shanghai! But make sure you look at all your options before make a decision. I have no regrets but I really wish some situations were handled better. Thankfully, the pros outweigh the cons. If TEAN can better prepare their staff in the US then this program is worth it. If not, then please give it some thought before you commit to a program. Whatever you choose, I hope you enjoys your time in Shanghai!

I believe it is an opportunity to mix traveling and studying and turn them into a much more rewarding experience. My study abroad experience was a once in a lifetime opportunity. I got to study in one of the top 3 Universities in China, learned about the SouthEast Asian cultures, politics and economic structures, traveled, and lived in the best street to live in near the university.

If anyone is considering study abroad choosing the program is one of the most important decisions to take. The program you apply for can make the difference between a good experience and a great one. Having studied abroad with another program before and from what I learned from other students in other programs in China, I can say that not all the programs focus as much as TEAN does in very important details like housing, orientation, and just making sure that everything you need is easy to obtain. For example, some other international students would fight about who would get a shower first because the roommate who showered first would be the only one getting hot water, this never happened in my room. However, the most important aspect that differentiates TEAN with other programs is the very open communication with of the residents assistant and the program manager since you start applying until the end of the program. They show that they really care and do everything they can to solve any issues.

Studying in China is an amazing opportunity, just do it!

It all started with my desire to go abroad and learn a new culture to become more globally aware.. I began comparing the different programs and I soon found the education abroad network. The program was spectacular I loved it in every single way. Tean did a fantastic job at providing us with an amazing experience that started in Beijing. We toured the city and spent some time with the locals before going to a remote part of the Great Wall. After the orientation we went to Shanghai were we were shocked to find how spectacular the city is and the accommodations Tean provided us. We were in the nicest apartments just near campus. Fudans classes were relatively easy yet challenging in a good way. I was great flu that Tean provided us with a Chinese roommate because he was able to help show us the ropes of the city and help us with simple tasks, I did not know any Chinese prior to the trip and I found it rather easy to get around the city. Tean also provided us with a trip into Inner Mongolia which was very cool. From riding a camel to sledding down sand dunes it was a wonderful experience. I would highly recommend this program to anyone interested in studying abroad as the staff is very helpful and super friendly . There was a representative in Shanghai that would be able to assist us in any sort of emergency or even simple questions we had. I miss this program already :(

I participated in the 5 week summer program in Shanghai ,China. Before I left, I had a lot of questions and the staff at TEAN was very helpful in answering the questions. Once on campus,TEAN had someone that lived in Shanghai,close to campus and she was always there to help and translate if needed. I also liked the fact that TEAN offered activities so that students in the TEAN program could get to know each other.

The program began very shaky due to a severe problem with the communication between the program and myself. There was also an apparent lack of communication between the TEAN Representative for Shanghai and the TEAN Coordinator. Yet despite this lack of communication (or delayed communication), I will admit that the TEAN Representative was always timely and very helpful, so the shortcomings were not her own. The program itself was very falsely advertised. I spent my summer in an attempt to improve my Chinese. The first five weeks were a complete scam in my money. The classes were very relax and verging on a joke (they took little to no effort to obtain a good grade). I learned next to nothing and wasted a lot of my time and money in these five weeks that could have been spent elsewhere. The next four weeks of language learning were a lot more intense and more time demanding, but many people opt'ed to not attend the classes or do the work (so it is more of what you make of it). The only let down with the last four weeks was that we entered the program a week late and had to play catch up (which many people complained about since we could have attended these classes, instead of the useless first part of the program). Fudan University is quite far from the Western parts of Shanghai and also is far from the nightlife districts. Luckily cabs are extremely cheap. The University was very unhelpful towards foreigners and sometimes borderline rude. Overall, I feel like I should have some of my money refunded. But I know the real world does not work this way, and I will probably have to eat my losses. The program is falsely advertised. The academics are a joke and you should only attend this program to have waste time in a foreign country, not learn (especially if you are attending to learn Chinese!).