University: California State University Fullerton
City: Fullerton
Country: United States
Continent: North America
Field of study: industrial engineering
Study type: semester abroad
Since I was one of those people who didn’t use the time after graduating for a stay abroad, it quickly became clear to me that I wouldn’t let the opportunity of a semester abroad pass me by. See existingcountries for University of California Los Angeles Review.
I have never regretted my decision to attend California State University Fullerton for 4 months !
I started planning about a year before departure. At the beginning it can be a bit overwhelming when you realize how many forms and applications you have to fill out and submit for the visa, the university, the accommodation…
Thanks to MicroEdu, however, you were given excellent support throughout the entire application process, so that you could not forget any deadlines or documents! I found it particularly helpful that MicroEdu has direct contact with the university in California, so you could simply send your application documents to MicroEdu, who will review them and then forward them to the appropriate local contact. That saves a lot of work. We were always helped with all other problems and questions before and during the semester.
Accommodation
I spent the semester abroad in California with my boyfriend. So we decided against living in a shared apartment and rented a 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom apartment in University House. We were very happy with this decision, because the UH is only a 5-minute walk from the campus and offers fully furnished apartments with modern equipment! The only disadvantage at the UH is that you can only conclude rental contracts for one year. So towards the end of the semester we had to start looking for a new tenant. This turned out to be quite difficult due to the rather high rental prices. We paid about $1700 for our apartment, which is expensive for one person, but divided by two is again average for Fullerton. Of course there are also cheaper apartments around the university, but these are mostly unfurnished and do not offer such an all-round service with caretaker and postal service. In the end, all the students who opted for UH found a new tenant.
Courses at California State University Fullerton
At university I took courses in Global Marketing with Prof. Hernandez, Managing Operations with Prof. Choi, Project Management with Prof. Frierson and Thermodynamics with Prof. Wang. I can only recommend Professor Wang’s course to anyone who is afraid of thermodynamics in Germany. He was always fair in his grading and conveyed the content in a very understandable way! The same applies to Professor Choi’s course.
I cannot recommend project management with Professor Frierson, the content and the book are not as exciting as the subject initially sounded to me. A large part of the grade consists of group work. Here it is a matter of luck how motivated the group you are assigned to is. In addition, their exams cannot be passed with an A, even with learning. Global Marketing was a very interesting course, I learned an incredible amount. Professor Hernandez has many years of international experience and frequently shares his exciting experiences. Unfortunately, his exams are very demanding and you have to write an extensive term paper.
In general, I was quite satisfied with my courses, since I can at least get all of them credited to my German university. However, I can only give everyone the tip not to be too afraid of class crashes at the beginning of the semester. It’s exhausting to go to countless lectures and ask if there’s still a place available, but in the end you’re happier with your courses. I also found sites such as ratemyprofessor.com or similar to be very helpful, as the assessments of the lecturers are very accurate in most cases.
Leisure and excursion possibilities
Since I like to do sports and am not really a fan of the gym, I signed up for the university’s lacrosse team. I think this was the best decision I could have made! The team consisted of about 20 super-nice Americans, who immediately welcomed you warmly. On the one hand I was able to learn a new sport, on the other hand I was able to speak a lot of English and improve myself at the same time. With the large number of German students in Fullerton, they usually speak a relatively large amount of German anyway, so I found it very pleasant to just be among Americans for once. In addition to sports clubs, the university also offers numerous other groups that you can join.
There are endless possibilities for excursions in Fullerton and the surrounding area. My favorites include Universal Studios (the university discounted annual pass is definitely worth it here!), San Diego with its beautiful beaches, and San Francisco.
Los Angeles itself is unfortunately in most parts not as beautiful as one might imagine. Many neighborhoods are run down and impoverished. Only the tourist areas like Hollywood with the Walk of Fame are quite pretty.
My absolute highlight was our vacation on Maui during the fall break! I can really recommend such a trip to paradise to anyone who has the time and money, it’s worth it!
Conclusion
I can highly recommend a semester abroad at California State University Fullerton. The tuition fees are quite cheap at 5000€ by American standards, you have a quasi-sunshine guarantee in California and the university has an endless range of lectures and leisure activities, where everyone is sure to find something.