University: California State University Fullerton
City: Fullerton
Country: United States
Continent: North America
Field of study: industrial engineering
Study type: semester abroad
Preparation:
After the destination (USA) was determined, it was a matter of deciding where exactly to go. Based on my selection criteria, the MicroEdu Team recommended me California. Since I’m studying industrial engineering, most universities were excluded for me (because there are no technical subjects). After the selection was limited to two or three universities, I decided a short time later for the CSUF. Why the CSUF? Pure intuition, since I was very busy at the time, it had to be done quickly and through the testimonials I knew that no matter what I choose – I will not regret it. The rest of the things (application, visa, etc.) were then taken care of smoothly with the help of MicroEdu. See ehuacom for HPU Study Abroad.
Getting there:
The flight was booked and we were able to find accommodation very quickly. We, Matthias, also a student from Cologne, and I were able to rent a house in Placentia through a Facebook group recommended by MicroEdu. Car and bicycles were also included and a SIM card for the cell phone was also to be organized thanks to the help of the homeowner. We were both picked up from LAX airport.
Visit:
I think Fullerton is a great place because you don’t really get all the LA stress. I felt very comfortable and always had the feeling of being at home again after the long journeys at the weekend. You have shopping, gas and dining options everywhere. In addition, a lot of young people live there and there is always something going on. We liked going downtown, but house parties are always a possibility, so make as many friends as possible as that can add a lot to the fun factor.
University:
I am very satisfied with the university. It’s big, clean and well maintained. It’s fun to stay there in your free time, too, because you’ll be spoiled with entertainment options. From ping-pong tables to video games and a gym with an on-campus pool, there really is never a dull moment. The campus is big and sprawling and beautiful. You have a food court with several small stalls (I didn’t like it that much). However, you are by no means forced to eat there, as food trucks are regularly on campus and there are also many restaurants around the university. You can also learn in the Unibib without any problems.
The choice of subjects was very complicated at first. It was difficult to pick out one from so many subjects. Of course, once you’ve picked them out, you hardly ever get one of them and have to take care of it again on site. The system is actually explained, but is still very chaotic and difficult. But we were always helped. All in all, I was really satisfied with the content of the subjects and the professors. I didn’t take any technical subjects after all, because I noticed after the first physics lecture that German is more familiar and therefore easier for me.
Courses:
- Professional Selling: Very practical, great content for life as a whole, dear professor, and fair grading
- Financial Analysis for Investors and Lenders: Challenging course, very nice grades, exceptionally nice professor (likes international students and is helpful), a bit more difficult because all the terms have to be learned and it actually does very little for Germany
- Distribution of Consumer Products: Very marketing-oriented, interesting, very nice professor (constant guest speaker, used to be free, brought pizza to the lecture), fair grading
- Organizational Behavior: My personal favorite because I found the content very interesting, nice professor, fair grading
We were very lucky with the subjects and were very satisfied. Of course, we can also have the subjects credited in Germany. You don’t get anything for free in America either, ie we constantly had to hand in homework, projects, give presentations and sit exams. The exams were actually very easy, since multiple choice! The scope of learning was always very limited, so that you knew exactly what was going to happen, and yes, you still had to learn, which is sometimes very difficult on site, as there is always something to do that you don’t really want to learn about.
Vicinity:
Fullerton is very centrally located and it is easy to get to many places. Most beaches are half an hour away and easily accessible by car. You can also surf on the beaches (which I can only recommend to everyone). Otherwise we were in San Diego (2 hours), Las Vegas (5 hours), Grand Canyon (8 hours), Arizona (6 hours) etc.