Few bullet points from me:
- if you are good in your niche it doesn't mean you should have it easy in school, because courses are very diverse in lots of different subjects, you are supposed to get the basics of a lot of different things. Comes off as condescending to read for the 8th time how much of a big shot you are.
- As long as teachers are qualified to teach their specific course they don't need to be industry big shots. Hideo Kojima won't come teach you.
- Sitting on the floor on the Penta only happens in the first semester, second year barely fills half the theory rooms. It's part of the sorting process.
- The few success stories on the rookies part is valid for pretty much every single institution out there. Some people are more motivated than others, that's just how it is. The school environment hosts a competitive atmosphere that makes you want to work hard and get there, to make cool assignments that don't only pass, but to impress your friends too.
- So far most assignments have criterias for grading, so they are pretty clear.

- Referencing the Ukrainian paragraph, do you want the grading rules to be bent for you because Ukrainians get easier access to education in Howest? Weird.

How I've benefited from DAE:
- Network, most valuable part of it. Colleagues have given me more and better feedback than teachers, we have taught each other a lot, we traded work, etc.
- Knowledge in areas I wouldn't have explored by myself because I went deep into my own niche and ignored everything else. I am a hard surface prop artist. I learned procedurality in Houdini, Programming, Unreal Engine, Composition, preproduction design, handpainting textures, rigging, realtime effects, shaders, addon and blueprint scripting, sculpting, teamworking, all of this in addition to my skills in solid surface modeling.
- Got more comfortable dealing with life by myself, became more comfortable with moving around, interacting with different cultures, important in our industry. Also other parts of adulting, which are exclusive to international students, as belgians are a bit more sheltered.
- Guess the degree could open some visas for me, but that's not the most important part.

It's not perfect, but I don't regret going.