Local Roommates

CET: The Roommate Program

We launched our first roommate program in Harbin, China in 1988, and introduced roommates at our Beijing site a few years later. With this experience in hand, we expanded around the globe, pioneering roommate-style programs in countries where others had said it was impossible. Today we have an established reputation as “the roommate program,” and weave local peers into the fabric of our college and gap programs around the world.

Why connect locally?

Insider Access

Local knowledge beats any tour book. Your peers can tell you how to get around town, where to eat, and what to do on weekends. Better yet, they can introduce you to their own peers so that you can start to make your own circle of local friends.
 

Language Practice

Local peers share with you the slang, jargon, and buzzwords that aren’t in the textbooks. In some programs, language activities and assignments that include your roommate are incorporated into the curriculum.
 

Shared Experiences

These local peer connections aren’t just part of the living arrangement—they are active members of your overall experience too. They take you out into the city, attend many of the activities and excursions alongside you, and join in community service projects.
 

Cultural Exchange

Relationships with local students don’t just benefit US counterparts—it’s transformative for both sides. Local roommates and neighbors gain so much from the experience that many go on to actively promote cultural exchange in their communities.

What does this look like across programs?

Brazil

Students in Brazil live in apartments with CET peers and local roommates. The local roommates are scholarship students from our host universities Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo and Fundação Getúlio Vargas.

Colombia

CET Colombia students share apartments with CET peers and local Colombian students from Universidad del Valle.

Florence

Students can participate in extra-curricular activities like family dinners, sports games and tournaments, and aperitivi (a happy hour with appetizers) to connect with Italian college students and other locals.

CET Florence students can also opt to live in a homestay with a Florentine family.

Japan

CET Japan and AICAD students share their housing with CET peers and undergraduate students from Osaka Gakuin University.

Jordan

Students in Jordan live with CET peers and share a building with jiran (neighbors). The jiran are Jordanian peers that are current students or recent graduates from local universities around Amman. Jiran organize activities in their apartments or around the city to facilitate language practice, cultural learning, and overall support.

Mainland China

Students in Beijing, Shanghai, and Harbin share a dormitory with a local student from the program's host university.

Prague

Students in Prague live with CET peers and have a Czech roommate either in their apartment or in the same building. Czech roommates are local university students that organize regular "Czechtivities" to introduce Czech language, culture, or the city to CET students.

Siena

Siena students can choose to live in an apartment with CET peers and a local roommate, or a homestay with a Sienese family. Homestay students also have the opportunity to bond with their host families over shared meals.

Taiwan

Students in Taiwan share an apartment with CET peers and local students attending National Taiwan University.

Brazil

Students in Brazil live in apartments with CET peers and local roommates. The local roommates are scholarship students from our host universities Pontificia Universidade Catolica de Sao Paulo and Fundação Getúlio Vargas.

Florence

Students can participate in extra-curricular activities like family dinners, sports games and tournaments, and aperitivi (a happy hour with appetizers) to connect with Italian college students and other locals. CET Florence students can also opt to live in a homestay with a Florentine family.

Jordan

Jordan students live with CET peers and share a building with jiran (neighbors). The jiran are Jordanian peers who are current students or recent graduates from local universities around Amman. Jiran organize activities in their apartments or around the city to facilitate language practice, cultural learning, and overall support.

Prague

Prague students live with CET peers and have a Czech roommate either in their apartment or in the same building. Czech roommates are local university students that organize regular “Czechtivities” to introduce Czech language, culture, or the city to CET students.

Colombia

CET Colombia students share apartments with CET peers and local Colombian students from Universidad del Valle.

Japan

CET Japan and AICAD students share their housing with CET peers and undergraduate students from Osaka Gakuin University.

Mainland China

Students in Beijing, Shanghai, and Harbin share a dormitory with a local student from the program’s host university.

Siena

Siena students can choose to live in an apartment with CET peers and a local roommate, or a homestay with a Sienese family. Homestay students also have the opportunity to bond with their host families over shared meals.

Taiwan

Students in Taiwan share an apartment with CET peers and local students attending National Taiwan University.

Burst the Bubble

At its best, study abroad is about exploring and embracing the local culture—immersing yourself to the point that you’re living like a local. But as anyone who has studied abroad will tell you, breaking out of the foreigner “bubble” is harder than it looks. It’s easy to find yourself spending all of your time with other study abroad students, enjoying the comfort of a shared language and culture.
 
Our advice for bursting the bubble? Make local friends. All you need is a foot in the door to the local community. At CET, this step is built directly into the program. In almost every college and gap program we operate, we set you up with local connections from the start of your term abroad. The local roommates and neighbors are your key to the city, the language, and the culture. And often times, they’re also a good friend.
 

CET Jordan: Academic Consultation Board

Over the years, we’ve built a strong network of locally-based faculty that we’re proud to call our peers. These faculty make up our Academic Consultation Board—a select group of local voices and thought leaders that help advise and shape components of the CET Jordan program. 

Board members support the program in many ways, including but not limited to:

Academic Consultation Board Members

Learn More about our Programs