Student review [#89151] for Sound and Image
at Universidade Católica Portuguesa – Porto

Sound an Image is one of the 3 programmes from the School of the Arts. It is also, in my experience, the most neglected. This came in the form of less equipment available (priority given to the Cinema course), abysmal workshop conditions (very little space, missing or broken equipment) and not even a designated space where the Year 3 students could storage their Final Project material (I had to constantly fix or rebuild some of my materials).
The curriculum itself is very good. Sound an Image is not a full on technical course, and the theoretical classes do help in developing an artistic sensibility and vision – the professors are also, for the most part, engaged and helpful.
Lastly, we may have the poorest Student Association in Porto – low budget and little freedom.
It’s important to note that the programme has changed a lot along the years, recently going through changes on a yearly basis. Allegedly, upcoming students will have better conditions and equipment, as well as more practical projects.

Closing remarks: in all honesty, I wouldn’t go here without at least a half scholarship. I do not feel the full tuition matches the value of the course. However, Católica is more than a single programme. There’s a lot of talks with speakers from different areas, from artists to cientists and other professional backgrounds. There’s a psychology service with different workshops. There’s a weekly cinema session organized by the Cinema students. There’s all these extracurricular things that do bring their value to the school.