University: California State University Fullerton
City: Fullerton
Country: United States
Continent: North America
Field of study: business administration
Study type: semester abroad
My name is Macarena, I’m studying business administration at the University of Applied Sciences in Münster and I’m from Argentina. I’ve always dreamed of spending a semester abroad in the USA, but the Münster University of Applied Sciences only cooperates with the university in Pennsylvania and that wasn’t what I wanted. See educationvv for University of California San Diego Exchange Program. In the end I did everything through Contact College and from the beginning I have to say unequivocally that this experience was one of the best in my life and I would like to repeat it 1000 times!!!
Application process
MicroEdu’s help in the application process was of significant help. The employees can explain you exactly and very well how everything works. It is important to apply early. The hardest part about this for me was having the proof of the money being raised. If you receive a foreign student loan (like me), then it is better that the name of a relative or friend runs below as the “sponsor” of the semester abroad. So you can be sure that in the end the entire amount will be paid by the responsible office (Hamburg in this case).
The application process for the desired courses at the university in California is very different than in Germany. After 2 weeks of the beginning of the semester you can know approximately exactly whether you got a place in the selected course (professors have to accept and sign your request for the courses themselves). The problem is that after the recession many lessons and classes have been canceled and the available places are being given to Americans first. The range of courses has been reduced and the university’s website lists many courses that are no longer offered. Flexibility in your selection MUST be included. In addition, one must meet the requirements for the various courses.
The courses I have attended are: Integrated Supply Chain Management, Professional Selling, Tourism and Travel and International Public Relations. (None of these courses were my first choices)
All the lectures were highly interesting and in all we had to prepare homework, group work and presentations. In addition, in many courses it is tested in such a way that every week you have to solve a quiz about the last lecture. These quizzes are also part of the final grade and they allow you to always prepare something at home for the next week.
On-site support
The International Students Office is always there for you. The staff are students and many of them are foreign students themselves. They also organize various excursions.
The professors are very friendly and they always try to understand you.
accommodation search
When looking for accommodation, I recommend staying with a family. You want to speak your English 24 hours a day, don’t you?
The university offers a program where you can find many options from family housing to studios. However, you may find something cheap yourself. You need to take your time and this site is very good: www.craiglist.com.
Leisure and excursion possibilities
USA is a cracked country and therefore buying a car is highly recommended. You can buy it with your roommates or by yourself. There are a lot of cheap and good cars that you can sell again later.
The bus system in USA is very bad and although it can take about 20 minutes to get to the beach from Fullerton by car, it takes at least 2 there and 2 back by bus. As a student you can take a bus all over OC for free.
Flights within the US can be found at www.cheapflights.com. Also, don’t forget that you’re very close to Mexico and the Caribbean. Expect to pay as little as $250 for a plane ticket to Cancun!!
Busen Greyhound’s private company (www.greyhound.com ) has great deals if you want to travel to San Francisco (6 hours), San Diego (2 hours), Tijuana (4 hours) or anywhere else in the US on a budget.
Of course you can also take trains (to LA in just 30 minutes) but compared to buses, they are more expensive.
Disneyland is also not far from the university and free trips to Disneyland are usually organized by the International Student Office.
Fullerton is not necessarily a big city, but you can find a lot of nice places where you can have a coffee, shop or party.
You will find many mall centers where all stores are together under the same roof.
The photos you see are from the trip to Disneyland with uni, a good friend from uni, and the trip to Cancun and Yucatan with my roommates.
Finally, I can only tell you that the best part of my experience was my roommates (from Sweden and from Korea) and the pretty good friends I made there. I had imagined that I would only meet snooty people there and that the “Yankees” only think about themselves but, thank God!, they were all false accusations and the kindness of the people left me incredulous!!…..I want to go back!!!