University: California State University Fullerton
City: Fullerton
Country: United States
Continent: North America
Field of study: media management
Study type: semester abroad
Preparation
My preparations started really late. I only had about 3 months to plan after deciding that I wanted to study on the west coast next semester. MicroEdu helped me choose the university which in hindsight I couldn’t be happier with. California State University Fullerton ( CSUF) has the largest business department on the West Coast and many other interesting courses. Many questions were already answered with the information sheet that MicroEdu sent me in advance. For everything else, I was always in quick contact with the counselors. However, I would like to say that just because of the visa application, it is advisable to plan further ahead. See ehuacom for SDSU Study Abroad.
Accommodation
For the accommodation in California, I followed the previous reports and just flew to the States. I then rented a room near Fullerton via Airbnb. From there I went in search of my permanent room. The search went relatively well on Craigslist. I have to say that out of 20 people I wrote to, five responded and three were acceptable. Eventually I ended up in Brea (neighboring town of Fullerton).
A dorm room would have been more expensive than the room I found. I had also read that the university likes to put foreign students together. I definitely didn’t want that because I wanted to get in touch with as many Americans as possible. I didn’t want to fall into the group mentality where you just hang out with the same people abroad to speak your native language instead of learning English.
Automobile?
I didn’t buy a car. Luckily I was able to do most of it by bike. Otherwise I was traveling by Uber or with friends. However, after the semester ended, I rented a car to drive from Los Angeles to San Francisco. I rented from Enterprise Car Rentals. They had the best price. However, you should make sure that you book the insurance with you. It paid me more than I should have, but I needed it – I was hit by a car while I was parked in LA and it just drove away. I have traveled further by plane and by train on the east coast.
Courses
Unfortunately, I only got one of my pre-selection of courses. This one only had 2 credits and you have to have 12. For me, that meant that I had to take five courses instead of the usual four. In my opinion, the theoretical courses were easier than their equivalents in Germany. The practical courses such as TV production and jazz improvisation were very demanding and practice-oriented. My courses: Entertainment Management, Film Music, Jazz Improvisation, Music Technology and TV Production. The professors all have practical experience and were/are all great when it comes to their teaching. I loved going to universityand therefore I didn’t care that I had lessons from Monday to Friday. Homework was really hard and time-consuming, especially in jazz improvisation. As a result, I hardly had any free time.
Travel and travel expenses
I didn’t travel very much during the semester. I’ve been to LA, Yosemite, Mexico and San Diego. Those were mostly short trips with the family I was staying with. So I’ve kept the costs quite low so far. When the semester was over, however, it went across the USA. In any case, you should calculate enough money for this.
Unfortunately, I cannot say exactly what the semester and the entire stay cost me. However, I have to say that the estimated cost on the visa is really just the basic security (in my case it was around $12,000). I was lucky enough to be able to do all this with my savings, the support of my parents, a scholarship and foreign BAföG.
Conclusion
I would definitely make the same decision to study at CSUF again. The opportunities and experiences I was able to gain and of course the people I met were worth every penny. Just being there during a presidential election, and Trump’s at that, turned out to be an interesting setting for some conversation. Although the majority of foreign students at CSUF seem to be German, you can stay away from them simply by not taking business courses.