University: California State University Fullerton
City: Fullerton
Country: United States
Continent: North America
Field of study: industrial engineering
Study type: semester abroad
I completed the 5th semester of my dual studies abroad. I chose the American university California State University Fullerton. The MicroEdu service, which is free for German students, helped me with the decision and with the subsequent planning. MicroEdu is a Germany-based organization that helps German students get in touch with foreign universities. With the help of this organization, I implemented my application and the entire process independently. See existingcountries for California State University San Marcos Review 2.
Organization
If you want to go to the USA, you have to be aware beforehand that the independent organization takes a lot of time. The organization starts with planning the accommodation, goes through a foreign insurance, a credit card account, the visa to be picked up at the embassy, the booking of a flight and ends with a foreign SIM card, to name just the most important points.
Course credit
At the same time, you should also make sure that the courses taken in America are credited to your home university in Germany. Due to my dual studies, I have to follow a strict lecture schedule at my home university. For the 5th semester, this plan only includes the industrial goods marketing module and an elective module. I mainly took business courses in America. In order to maintain the visa, students are required to take four courses. Global Marketing courseI can get credit for Industrial Goods Marketing at my home university. In addition, I have the best two of the remaining three courses counted as compulsory elective courses. I also had the last of the four courses credited as a seminar at my home university so that I didn’t have to take the fourth compulsory course for nothing. There is a wide range of courses at California State University Fullerton and I therefore assume that all four courses can usually be transferred as a separate module. It wasn’t that easy for me just because of my dual system.
Courses
I only had lectures with the Americans on Mondays and Wednesdays from 8: 30 a.m. to 3: 45 p.m. However, it must be mentioned that a different system prevails at American universities. From my German university I was used to having to take a final exam at the end of the semester. In the United States you have to pass several small examsto get the overall grade. For example, I had to do group work including a presentation in each of my courses. In addition, one received regular homework from the individual professors. All in all, I would say that the demands on the courses I took were not that high and that you could get good grades with relatively little effort. Of course, the language barrier is always a hurdle that has to be overcome. I was always able to understand the content of the lectures. Even if you may not know all the vocabulary, you understand the content with the help of the context. In the various exams, of which you write at least two per semester per course, you may not understand one or the other task, but as a rule you can use a dictionary or ask the professor. Doing American courses is very interesting.
Americans are very individualistic and this trait shows in the courses. For example, the Personal Financial Management course was not about general evaluation options for the financial situation, but rather about our own personal financial situation with specific information and figures.
Leisure
Whenever I had time after studying, I would go to different places in California. My time in America was a great experience. I was able to expand both my cultural and linguistic knowledge. After the stay abroad, it is definitely easier for me to speak English and to describe vocabulary that I do not know in other words. The further linguistic development is definitely a great benefit for my professional development. I also find it very helpful to get to know the different contents of the modules and possibly even to be able to compare them with the German focuses.
Conclusion
My expectations were definitely exceeded and I would recommend any other student to gain experience abroad. A stay abroad is incredibly helpful for the further development of your own personality and thus represents a great benefit in personality development. Even if it looks like a lot of effort at first, applying for a semester abroad is definitely worth it. With the support of MicroEdu, you should be able to plan well and have a great experience abroad.