Past Review

By Emerson 2 (Studio Television Production, Emerson College) for

Emerson College: Los Angeles - Emerson College in Los Angeles

What did you gain/learn from your experience abroad? Was it worthwhile?

Yes the LA Program is great for film, tv, acting students and I would recommend it to anyone who is interested. The program was one of the reasons I applied to Emerson in my senior year of high school and it did not let me down.

Personal Information

How much international exposure did you have prior to this program?	0-2 weeks

Review Your Program

* Overall educational experience Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.	The LA Program to me was more about living in Los Angeles and seeing all that the city had to offer. It wasn't so much about getting educated but more about putting what I have been taught at Emerson in to action. I only took classes once a week so academics wasn't a major part of my experience. The hands on experience I got during my internship was quite beneficial though.
* Host Country Program Administration On-site administration of your program	The office hours were sometimes difficult to get in contact with people, but we had a few nice events set up for us throughout the semester. As this was many of our final semesters, I didn't feel like I needed a lot of assistance from the administration.
* Housing: How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?	The Oakwoods were great. It was difficult at times having the share a room, but the apartments were well furnished, had balconies, mine even had a fire place. The pools, hot tubs, and gym amenities were great. It was nice also having all the Emerson students living in one place, along with getting to know the other college students who also lived in the apartment complex. It's actually a great place to network as well.
* Food:	NA
* Social & Cultural Integration: How integrated did you feel with the local culture?	LA is awesome. Though I am not living there now, I have nothing bad to say about it (except for the traffic). There is so much to do there and almost everyone you meet is friendly. There are so many opportunities for you to get involved in whatever you are interested in, I would highly recommend coming here to everyone.
* Health Care: How well were health issues addressed during the program?
* Safety:	There wasn't any sort of health facilities for us there, but we lived somewhat near a hospital.
If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program?	Yes

Finances

* Money: How easily were you able to live on a student's budget? (1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

Other Program Information

* Where did you live? Select all that apply	Apartment
* Who did you live with? Select all that apply	Americans

A Look Back

* What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program?	Have fun.

Individual Course Reviews

Course Name/Rating:	Sem Top: Issues in Contemporary Documentary
Course Department:	VM 402
Instructor:	Jim Lane
Instruction Language:	English
Comments:	This was a good course only if you are interested in documentary films. Almost every class is split up, half lecture and half watching a documentary. Though the course is called "Contemporary Documentary," I only considered the last few weeks of class to cover relevant contemporary documentaries. There is not a lot of outside work, mostly just readings are assigned every week. This course does not teach you how to make a documentary, but it is a good discussion class. Jim Lane is also a very smart and nice professor.
Credit Transfer Issues:	No issues.

Course Name/Rating:	Internship in VMA: LA
Course Department:	VM 499
Instructor:	Paul Mandelbaum
Instruction Language:	English
Comments:	We met I believe three times during the semester, once at the beginning, the middle, and the end. These group meetings were good, and from what I hear from students in the other Internship courses this one with Mandelbaum seemed like the best class to be in. He gave good feedback on the weekly journals. Other than the journals, there weren't many other assignments. It was nice to constantly asses how my internship was going and having the weekly journals kept me focused on why I was in LA and what I was trying to accomplish. The professor knows a lot about LA and can give some good advice.
Credit Transfer Issues:	No issues.

Course Name/Rating:	Top VMA Prac: Aesthics in Film Editing
Course Department:	VM 520
Instructor:	Peter Schink
Instruction Language:	English
Comments:	I came in to this course with no knowledge of Avid Editing, though I was very experienced on Final Cut. The class was basically split in to two groups, those who knew Avid and those who didn't. My group was given a text book and taught ourselves how to edit on the program. We were also given a different set of editing assignments than the other group that were more appropriate for our skill level on the program. It was difficult but by the end of the semester I did feel comfortable editing on Avid. We were able to go on a fun field trip to the Disney Animation studios and speak with an Animation editor there. We also had several guests speakers who had won Oscars and worked on very big films and it was incredible hearing their stories and asking them questions and for advice.
Credit Transfer Issues:	No issues.