University: San Diego State University
City: San Diego
Country: United States
Continent: North America
Field of study: Civil Engineering
Study type: semester abroad
Hi! Now I would like to share my experience of my semester abroad in the United States in San Diego with you. I’ll start from scratch, with the application process. See iamaccepted for GRE at home vs GMAT online.
The application
Being a person who is very attached to my comfort zone and always racking my brains to do things made this decision very difficult for me to make. I’ve been thinking for months about taking this big step. Away from family, from your best friends, from your everyday routine. At some point I came up with the idea “You won’t die from it.” And that motivated me, so I dared to take the first stepand that’s how I came across MicroEdu online. With an e-mail request from me to one of the employees, I unexpectedly received a return e-mail with all the application documents. At first it all seemed so much, but after reading through all the documents it became clear to me how to apply step-by-step. Of course, some things remained unclear to me, but the MicroEdu staff answered every email I sent and were always available by phone. I applied for the fall semester 2018 (mid-August – end of December) in January / February 2018. I can recommend that you do this as early as possible so that all the stress is behind you. There are so many things that are added all the time, so it pays to start early. Applications were submitted, tuition and airfare paid, and final preparations made. So off we went.
Arrive
I flew to the States with mixed feelings. I arrived in San Diego a week before the semester started. Of course my anticipation was great. A new country I’ve never been to before, a university entirely in English, a new city. Everything becomes new for me. Of course I was excited. The first few days, however, were very strong with mixed feelings, but I managed to settle down after a few days. I spent the week before college started at the Ocean Beach Hostel in San Diego. With the hostel I quickly made new friends from all over the world, with whom I quickly came into contact. By staying in the hostel I was able to make friends with the city of San Diego, as we did a lot of things such as a city tour downtown, or together with the community to the beach, pubcrawl etc. This helped me a lot, to settle in and get to know the city better.
Housing
Just before university started, I moved into the BLVD63 student complex. With other friends I had an apartment for 4 people. I highly recommend this student complex to anyone planning to study in San Diego. The BLVD63 has a lot to offer : two swimming pools, a jacuzzi, fire pits for campfires, BBQ areas, a gym etc. But the best thing about it is that it offers a large community. You get to know so many international students there, it happens so quickly. It’s hard to believe. You feel right at home and form so many friendships. I have one of the best times of my life therespent as I met so many friends that I really hold in my heart. People, no matter where they come from, with whom I have experienced so many things. Nobody can take such beautiful memories away from me. So for me, living there was the best choice for my entire San Diego stay.
The University
Now the university has started, followed by the get-to-know-you week. The first day started with a big gathering of all international students. A lot was told about the university and how to register for all the courses. The course registration is a bit different compared to Germany, but you can do it with a little help from the supervisors. Since I’m a master’s student, I only had to take nine units. A course had an average of three units, so I had to take three courses. In short, the courses are not that complicated compared to Germany, but stressful. There are usually intermediate exams in all courses, about a total of two to three exams per course. Most courses also have assignments that need to be completed each week. They are really not difficult, but you always have something to do. But on the whole the courses were easy, but you still have to do something for it. The BLVD63 is very close to San Diego State University (SDSU). However, every 20/30 minutes there was a shuttle from the student complex that went to the university.
The free time
The university itself looks very nice, there is always something going on and you see so many students. It’s like you see it in the movies. People skateboard to uni, it’s full of people and you see a lot of student unions doing adverts. Something you should have seen, really funny ! There was always something to do after university. You could decide what to do, either go to the beach, drive downtown or hang out at BLVD63, which is also very busy. The word boredom becomes alien to you. The beaches I loved going to were Mission Beach, Pacific Beach, Ocean Beach & Coronado Beach. I highly recommend them, especially Mission Beach. We mostly partyed downtown, in clubs like Omnia, Fluxx and Parq. There was always something going on. Also in Pacific Beach there was a lot to do in the evening. Especially on Taco Tuesdays there was a lot to do in Pacific Beach. Eat tacos at Duckdive beforehand and then head towards Mavericks. Almost every Tuesday! We also traveled a lot outside of San Diego. Especially with the friends you met at BLVD63. Tours have been organized to the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, San Francisco and Tijuana. Unforgettable moments that I recommend everyone to do!
My conclusion
The semester abroad is over and I’m back in Germany. I look back happily and am glad that I took this step. I experienced so many things, made a lot of friends and just had a nice, happy time. To be honest, I don’t remember ever feeling sad in San Diego. Maybe at the very beginning, but that may also have something to do with the orientation phase. What I have to say is that I’ve also personally matured a lot from it. You lived alone for 5-6 months. That’s how you grow, you become much more precise with the decisions you make. You appreciate the little things in life and you become more self-confident. Everything has its positive effects with the semester abroad. Therefore, I would like to thank the MicroEdu team again for the fast and trustworthy support during the application process.