University: San Diego State University
City: San Diego
Country: United States
Continent: North America
Field of study: economics
Study type: semester abroad
I had the best time of my life in San Diego. I planned the semester abroad together with my girlfriend. We had rented a room in a youth hostel downtown for the first week in order to start looking for an apartment from there. You can find tons of offers on Craigslist.com. 1st tip: Rent a car, no matter how much it costs. You can forget the bus and all other public transport..2nd tip: if you are over 21, look for an apartment in Pacific Beach, there are all the clubs and bars where you will mainly hang out But get ready for the fact that the prices will knock your socks off. We paid $450 + utilities (per person) for a room but with a private bathroom. If you make the same mistake and move in with another German, then at least try to move in with other Americans so that you don’t just speak German. Otherwise the language doesn’t do much for you. See existingcountries for New Zealand higher education.
All I can say about the university is that it didn’t really bring me anything. You benefit the most from getting to know other Americans who show you “the American way of life”. Although as an international student you pay more than $5000 in tuition, you have to fight for every single course. First, all Americans can choose their courses and then you have to run from one teacher to another and beg to be accepted into the course. Definitely not appropriate for the price and the level of the courses left a lot to be desired in my opinion. In terms of appearance, the Uni is fantastic and you can do as or Bs without any major problems.
The weather is an absolute dream all year round. pure sunshine. But still bring a warm jacket for the winter, because at night the temperatures sometimes drop to 0°C. We didn’t just come for the semester, we stayed for a full half year, which I would recommend to everyone. Use the time and drive to Vegas, Santa Barbara, San Francisco etc. It’s worth it.