University: California State University Chico
City: Chico
Country: United States
Continent: North America
Field of study: business administration
Study type: semester abroad
Courses at the host university
Before I did my one-semester study abroad at the CSU Chico, some preparations had to be made. Above all, it was important to be able to provide proof of security in relation to the transfer of notes. Everyone is advised to arrange an early appointment with the responsible international representative or a person from the examination board for a learning agreement. I clarified the courses for crediting on site in Germany with the responsible persons; a total of 35 different courses were available, some of which were more and less interesting. My studies in business informatics offered me a lot more choices than other students, but actually everyone had a few courses as their goal. The security of the transfer of grades was important to me, because beforehand I was worried that I would not be able to take the courses I wanted. See toppharmacyschools for Spain higher education.
At the CSU Chico I had to hunt for courses in the first two weeks. I can put it this way, because many popular courses were so well attended by locals and foreigners in the first two weeks that there could have been problems choosing a course. In retrospect, some lecturers asked the administrations of the departments for larger premises, provided that there was a prospect that there would not be enough space.
Lecturers were very open to Germans and visibly interested. Many even expected advantages for their own students and were happy to accept foreign students. The only faculty, and this was the most visited by Germans, that used a different procedure for enrolling in courses was the faculty of economics. Usually, after the first lesson, you go to the instructor, present yourself, and ask nicely to sign a form provided by ALCI (Language Institute for MicroEdu Students) or department. However, the business faculty stipulates that the forms for course participation must be handed in at the secretariat and signed there. This has the disadvantage that attention is paid to full courses. If a course is full, so you usually don’t have the chance to participate in the desired course. However, within the first two weeks of the study, “class hopping ” carried out by many students, so that places should actually become free.
Even if courses in the winter and summer semester are advertised on the CSU Chico homepage, it is always possible that some courses are not available. I would have really liked to visit IT Security, but was not offered. I never got an answer to emails to the computer science department and the associated lecturers. Probably too much work. It is best to look at the homepage for the timetable and choose courses according to the Learning Agreement. You often hear about prerequisites for courses, especially for higher courses semesters – usually you do not need certificates to be accepted into courses. However, I cannot answer whether the certificates or specialist knowledge are necessary for understanding.
Important: Before you buy clickers (quizzes) or books, wait and see which courses you are actually taking. Ask the teachers if the books are really necessary. Nobody needs to buy books. Simply search for “Chegg” on Google or borrow books from Amazon. That saves you an average of 80%. Because books easily cost $200 in the States – without taxes;-). Dictionaries can usually be used upon consultation.
Survey of Finance – Lecturer Mrs. Hsu
I can only say one thing about the lecturer: top woman. She is there, has specialist knowledge, supports and conveys the material very well. She was always available to answer questions, encouraged me and gave me helpful feedback. Questions were always answered during the lessons.
Content: Introduction and clarification of the basic terms of accounting, cash flow, taxes, financial statements, discounting, time value of money, risk, cost of capital, short and long-term financing instruments.
Deliverables: three midterm exams and one final exam, applying metrics to a real company, participation during classes, physical participation during classes, answering questions on videos, online exams. Everything is graded, you only have to take part in the intermediate exams and the final exam. The rest of the performance was added to the grade in the form of points for improvement.
Cost: Calculator (specific financial calculator) – 20€, Book rental fee – 30€, Online code for a platform – 30€
A tutorial was available with a very nice and competent tutor.
Conclusion: Worthwhile if you study business administration or something similar, very helpful, not only for your studies. Difficulty level: medium
International Management – Lecturer Mr Cambridge
The lecturer has a lot of specialist knowledge and can talk even better. The grading scheme is partly peculiar, even opaque. Depending on how the class performs in the intermediate exams, he likes to adjust the distribution of grades. Memorizes students participating in the lessons. Quite alright
Content: Relevance for the international economy, political, legal and technological conditions, ethics, culture, management of culture, communication, entry strategies
Achievements to be rendered: Two intermediate exams that don’t make much sense: Here detailed questions are asked about chapters that have no relation to the hours at 50%. The self-study was hard as a foreign speaker, because 350 pages of tedious reading is not for everyone. A final exam at the end. Within groups, a report of at least 50 pages had to be prepared on the BRICS countries. Actually interesting, but as usual, the morale of some students leaves a lot to be desired. Intermediate presentations had to be held.
Costs: Book rental fee: €30
Conclusion: Group work with unmotivated fellow students and the not very useful exams advise against choosing. If you don’t diligently read the details here, you usually get a bad grade. You can’t change anything there either.
Operations Management – Mr Gardiner
The lecturer Mr. Gardiner is a very open-minded person. He always helps, can usually always be reached by e-mail and his door is always open during office hours. He shines with his German phrases and usually conveys the material in an understandable way.
Contents: product planning, exercises with Excel, various logistics topics, project management, planning of capacities, different stock removal and receipt methods.
Deliverables: Three intermediate and one final exam. Cloze texts and calculations. The gaps must be filled by taking answers from a matrix. In general, I thought multiple choice would tempt you to type / guess, but it doesn’t work here. In addition, SAP exercises can be processed for bonus points. Simple, self-explanatory and instructions available.
Best of all: The points of the three best exams are multiplied by 1.2, the worst by 0.4. A slip is awarded here. You don’t always have to be present during the lessons, the slides can theoretically be worked on at home. It was offered to us
Cost: A simple calculator is required, the book does not have to be procured. A snapper.
A tutorial was offered by a student.
Conclusion: The level of difficulty is not too high, I promised myself something different from this course. Unfortunately, I already had a lot of topics during my studies, so that I was often bored.
On-site support:
ALCI Office
The ALCI office was sometimes not very helpful. Consultation hours were not kept and the staff sometimes had no idea about questions. If there were questions, one had to hope for a specific one, which, as a rule, could deal with everything. Recreational opportunities were advertised that were sometimes worth visiting, such as a water park and a basketball game. Seminars were held that sometimes made no sense or gave the impression that you were dependent, not grown up or that you didn’t know how to behave properly towards professors or at a university, which I felt was clearly out of place. If there are offers for information seminars, I recommend not going there.
language courses
An extra course was set up for about 14 Germans after we had done quite well in a placement test. Two papers with 4-6 pages had to be prepared based on research for scientific sources. The “ Writing 7 ” course was offered for half the semester and was compulsory for us. We were given an insight into the preparation of scientific work, which I received as positive. The workload was quite high, especially in the first 3 weeks of “class crashing”; you hardly had time to deliver the assignments for other, important courses. In itself, the level of the course was suitable for the average German exchange student.
Alternatively, a course such as “ American Slang ” or “ American History ” could have been attended. I made the mistake of choosing such a course in the second half of the semester. Unlike Writing 7, there was no language proficiency assessment, which has impacted the level. Sometimes the simplest words were explained in the first 15-30 minutes.
Tip: If you only want to study one semester at CSU Chico, you can attend the Writing / Reading course for the first half of the semester, after which you can opt out of any language course. However, the continuous courses are compulsory for students who would like to stay for two semesters.
Accommodation search
- It is recommended to move in with native speakers
- Scheduling deposits (1-2 months rent)
- Use Craigslist.org and ALCI listings, and look for and contact broker billboards
- Avoid basement apartments
- Check a city map / online maps for where the Amtrak (train) runs through the city. By law, trains must honk their horns as they pass through towns (yes, it’s unusual and rare for a train to pass through the middle of a town). The Amtrak drives through the city about 4-8 times per night, which is particularly annoying at night with single-glazed windows and open windows. After a good month, however, you no longer hear the train
- The “Zoo” is said to be noisy with lots of parties. I lived a good 50 meters from the zoo, never heard anything
- Photograph all defects upon moving in and record them in writing. Otherwise it might get expensive when you move out
Leisure
Outdoors
There are many opportunities to go outside around Chico. Chico offers the lower and upper Bidwell Park. Very nice with hiking trails, an outdoor pool, trees, Frisbee course.
Restaurants and food
You soon get tired of the food in the canteen. I can really recommend Kona’s Sandwichbar. The “Destroyer” costs about 5€ and is more than full with its mass. Tres Ombres, Burgers and Brew, Madison Bear Garden, Mom’s and many other restaurants leave nothing to be desired.
If you are looking for food, try to come to WinCo for the first purchases. Safeways is quite expensive, especially spices and other paraphernalia. However, I would not always buy meat from WinCo, if only fresh. Should you come across “organic” and “non-organic” in a supermarket: “organic” can be compared to organic quality, with “non-organic” you never know what is inside or what has been modified. There are farmers markets in town on Saturdays and weekdays. Just keep an eye out.
Bars
Plenty of bars, easy to walk towards town during the week, without a Wegbier or alcohol on the street. There are often problems with ID cards. Unfortunately, you have to bring your passport with you here
fellow students
Very nice, helpful, collegial, help you with problems and with the language.
Sports
The Wrec, an extremely pompous gym, is perfect. Running track, cardio equipment, weight training facilities, basketball courts, ping pong tables, a wide variety of workout hours, a pool, hot tub, rock climbing wall…everything you could want is available. Shortcoming: Unfortunately ~150€ per semester for foreign students. You should decide for yourself whether you want to go there or not. If you don’t do sports in Germany, it probably won’t be worth it because of the price.
Adventure Outings
There is an office of the Adventure Outings organization under the main cafeteria. Wonderful opportunities to leave Chico are offered here. Wild water rafting, kayaking, hiking, camping, surfing, etc. Some of the courses are not very cheap. However, within the first two weeks you can get a 50% discount on the second trip. If you are interested in four or more courses, it might be worth booking the trips in pairs one after the other. Equipment can be booked for ~15€ for a weekend. Bring a flashlight and synthetic clothing for water activities.
Groupon
On groupon.com you can often find bargains on activities such as skydiving and other activities, as well as on restaurants
Rental car
Rental cars are sometimes required to drive out of Chico, which I highly recommend. Lake Tahoe and Yosemite National Park really aren’t that far away. And with the gas prices in the States, the last argument against a trip outside can be overturned. “Zipcars” (car sharing per hour rental) can be forgotten, as it is difficult to get here because of German citizenship; moreover, the alternative is too expensive. Prefer to rent cheap rental cars (recommendation link: http: //www.billiger-mietwagen.de/empfehlen-af1a39bf5276f6bf-eml.html). Here it is important to know that people under the age of 25 usually have to pay a surcharge for driving. In addition, it is recommended that comprehensive insurance and personal injury insurance are booked.
If you want to book a car spontaneously, you can take a look at the rental companies Budget and Avis. Tip: Look for a “coupon” or “promotion code” on the Internet. There is usually a 20% discount on car rental (not for insurance). However, the German site I mentioned above is usually cheaper! I didn’t need an international driver’s license, even though I was never checked. However, it is questionable whether you should spend the 20€ at all. I do not think so.