University: California State University Fullerton
City: Fullerton
Country: United States
Continent: North America
Field of study: business administration
Study type: semester abroad
he planning
Contrary to other opinions, I “only” started planning my semester abroad in March and can say that the time was completely sufficient. I chose CSUF because it had relatively good ratings at CoCo, is relatively inexpensive, has a very large business faculty, and is also well recognized in the US in the business field. CoCo was always at my side with advice and action throughout the entire application and helped me a lot! Thanks a lot for this. Even if it is actually said that it is very stressful to organize a semester abroad as a freemover, I did not find the workload for the application to be great at all, which is why you should not be put off by it! See jibin123 for Semester Abroad In Thompson Rivers University.
The accommodation
Based on various reports and the university homepage, I decided on a room in the University Village (UV). This is an apartment complex above the campus, which consists of several buildings, each with 3-person flat shares. The UV also has a pool, a small fitness room and a large common room with TV, pool table etc. However, the decisive criteria for me were that there are single rooms and that 2 meals a day are included in the rent. At first the rent sounds quite high by German standards, but when you factor in the meals and the luxury of having a furnished single room/apartment, it was relatively humane. Live in the UVboth Americans and Internationals, and there are always evening “events” to help residents connect. It is only a 3 minute walk from the UV to the campus, however the business faculty is at the other end of the campus so it was about a 15 minute walk to the lectures.
A little tip, if you apply early, you will also get a 5-month contract, which saves you the annoying search for a new tenant;).
The studies
The semester starts directly with the most annoying part of the entire semester, the course crashing, since experience has shown that internationals do not get all four required courses right away. Therefore, they then have to attend various lectures as part of the course crashing and then ask the professor whether it is still possible to come to his course. At the beginning I was assigned 2 of my desired courses and therefore only had to take care of 2 more courses. I can only give you advice on this: Try to go to as many courses as possible at the beginning!!! Even if that means that you are at the university for 12 hours the first few days. But the later you go to courses, the higher the probability that they are already full, so it usually pays to be present at the first lecture and ask for a place.
My courses were:
MGMT 350 International Business – Prof. Tomkoria
This course teaches the fundamentals of international business. However, for me it consisted almost entirely of repetitions from my previous studies. 3 MC exams are written and a group presentation is held, which was more than feasible. Attendance and oral cooperation also count.
MGMT 365 Entertainment Business—Prof. Fraser
This subject is more than just recommendable, as it is super interesting and was a completely new subject area for me. Prof. Fraser deals with the areas of movies, music, sports or theme parks, among other things, and makes his lectures very interesting and funny. Here, too, 3 exams are written, consisting of 60% MC questions and 40% short-answer questions. The first and third stage are easy to do, the second was relatively difficult. In addition, a 6-page paper must be written that he has graded very well.
MGMT 444 Project Management – Prof. Quigley
Unfortunately, I cannot recommend this subject, as the lectures mostly consist of stories from the professor’s previous experiences in project management and I have therefore not learned too much for my part. However, he is also super nice and it is not difficult to get a good grade, since the final grade is made up of many small individual parts: Almost every week a quiz is written at the beginning of the lecture, then there are several group works, extra works and 2 exams.
MGMT 471 Tourism Management – Prof. Kim
Tourism Management was my absolute favorite course. Various topics from the tourism sector are dealt with here and the professor is super nice and helpful. Here 2 exams are written and a large group work including homework is carried out. But everything is also doable. Attendance and oral cooperation also count.
Tips
- Consider getting additional insurance as university health insurance doesn’t cover everything and always has deductibles.
- Get a SIM card right at the start. Here I can recommend the Walmart special from T-Mobile 5GB of Internet and 100 free minutes for $30 a month.
- In most subjects you don’t need to buy expensive books (even if the professors recommend it), since you can usually get through the exams just with the help of the script.
- Download the Uber and Lyft apps to get you from A to B relatively cheaply.
- Brians is recommended on Wednesday evenings. Most internationals and also many Americans meet here weekly, as there is a special on Wednesdays: 7 beers for 10 dollars! Then just move on to the Rems and you’ll have a cool evening.
- If you want to go partying at a slightly more upscale club with cool acts near Fullerton, head to Time Nightclub in Costa Mesa.
- If you go to Vegas, be sure to contact one of the club’s promoters (you can usually find the numbers on the club’s website or on Instagram/Facebook), because then women can always get into the clubs for free;). Incidentally, this also applies to all other major cities when partying.
- Don’t take the exams too seriously. The system in the USA is completely different than in Germany and it is possible to get relatively good grades with relatively little effort. Therefore, it is better to use your time to explore as much of the USA as possible !!!
Conclusion
The 5 months in Fullerton were an unforgettable time and worth all the effort and every penny! If you have the opportunity to go abroad, then definitely use this opportunity, you will definitely not regret it.