University: San Diego State University
City: San Diego
Country: United States
Continent: North America
Field of study: Business Administration, Economics
Study type: semester abroad
The time at San Diego State University is really awesome. Not only is the weather always great (about an hour of rain in four months), the university also offers a lot of comfort, which you only really appreciate when you’re back in the bureaucratic system in Germany. See jibin123 for best cities to study in Finland.
But from the beginning:
Finding an apartment in San Diego is relatively easy, www.craigslist.com really helps. In terms of study, the first few weeks are a little annoying, due to a process called “crashing”. As a foreign student, you cannot “register” for courses in the regular way, but have to attend courses in which you might be interested and in which you think there are still places available. If they are still there and all SDSU students, some of whom crash courses, are accommodated, there is not much to be said against the professor letting you participate. The uncertainty factor isn’t pleasant, but if you’re reasonably flexible and don’t get too stuck on specific courses beforehand, it should work. The temporary hatred one develops for the institution during this time
You can find out about courses and free places on the SDSU homepage (www.sdsu.edu), about student opinions on the professors or courses on www.ratemyprofessors.com. The comments here often at least tend to apply, although sometimes they are exaggerated in one direction or another.
Permanent work is the order of the day at the university, as you constantly have to submit cases or give presentations. The learning effort for exams is significantly lower. All in all, I had the feeling that everything is much more relaxed because the work is not so concentrated.
Even those who initially think they can do without a car will sooner or later (depending on the location of the room!) realize that it is not possible without a car. This can also be a tip when looking for an apartment: try to get a room near a trolley station (information on www.sdcommute.com, also with Trip Planner)! (Another tip: It makes a lot of sense not to set up a “German flat share” because you often already speak German before you get there…) A car is also highly recommended for weekend trips.
Los Angeles, Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, many places along the coast between San Francisco and San Diego and everything in the greater San Diego area of course. Hours of driving are usually compensated by a great panorama.
To say about the car: www.craigslist.com and have the car checked by a mechanic before you buy it. Then you can often negotiate the price properly, www.kbb.com can serve as a guide (a kind of DAT value).
Of course, the parties shouldn’t be neglected either, Pacific Beach and downtown San Diego are at the forefront here. Most of the students live in PB anyway.
Surely we could fill several pages with any tips for surviving in San Diego or how great it was, but I don’t want to overdo it.
Bottom line:
Highly recommended! MicroEdu will help you before you start, American Language Institute after, and if you still have questions, it’s a good idea to take the email address of a German to San Diego who has been there before…