Supportive program; amazing city! Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

CET is known to be more academically rigorous than other study abroad programs, and to be sure, they're strict about attending class and students definitely do study, but it's nothing compared to my school at home. It's simply not as comprehensive, thorough, or intense as your American university will probably be, because mostly, your professors are instructors/tutors/not the kind of academic superstars that you'll find at a U.S. liberal arts college or wherever you are. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but while the work you do at CET is necessary and "busy" work, it's not necessarily academically challenging.

On-site administration of your program

Great. The directors of the program were super involved, open to suggestions and evaluations, and very thorough.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

My apartment itself was beautiful, comfortable, large, well-furnished, and in a central and safe section of Prague (~10 minutes away from Old Town/Wenceslas via walking). That was great, of course, but ultimately not worth the fact that I and my five roommates were completely isolated from the rest of the program: everyone else in our small program (so, the other 15 students) were housed together in a different building in a different district, while we were alone 30 minutes away. It made making friends with the people on our program a lot harder and more stressful and we missed out on the experience everyone else shared of living together and exploring Prague together from a shared home. It was a huge disappointment, honestly, and if there's anything to be done about it, I hope CET does that.

Czech food is not the best, but Prague is a multicultural city, so there are options! CET introduced us to a lot of the best and often cheapest restaurants (not that Prague is so expensive anyway).

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

CET took us on a lot of activities, showed us the city, etc., but ultimately, we were visiting and not speaking Czech, it's hard to become "friends" wit hthe locals. I felt comfortable and knowledgeable with the local culture, but not a part of it myself, which is fine and to be expected.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

I never had any health issues, but I know friends who did and had no problem with CET immediately finding them a good, English-speaking doctor who gave them thorough and fast attention. There are no prevalent issues in Prague, as far as I know.

Prague is super safe. The only thing you hear about is pickpocketing, and our directors said that happens to about one student a semester, but actually, it didn't happen to anyone in our program. I always felt completely safe walking around Prague alone at night as a young female. Just be smart, be aware of your belongings and surroundings, and don't leave your things anywhere.

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

Prague is very cheap. You could probably get away with spending $50 a week. A beer is around a dollar; groceries for the week around the equivalent of $30 or less, and a meal at a pretty nice restaurant out less than $10 US dollars.

0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language

They encouraged us a lot, but ultimately, Czech is a difficult language and our class taught us survival Czech, not necessarily conversational.

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• Apartment

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• Americans

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• Americans

• Level of support
• Traveling seminar
• Activities/resources

• Housing
• Don't both trying to merge Film and CET/JS
• Even more traveling opportunities?

The Outright Urbanite