University: San Diego State University
City: San Diego
Country: United States
Continent: North America
Field of study: marketing
Study type: semester abroad
The semester abroad in San Diego was the best decision of my life and I would do it again anytime!
Preparation
With the extensive organization in advance, MicroEdu made a lot easier for me, especially when answering questions, Aline and the team are always available! The course content etc. also helped me a lot when pre-selecting the courses. My home university issued me a DAAD test for the required language test without any problems. Since I didn’t have a credit card yet, I opened a free checking account with the comdirect bank, then you can use your credit card to withdraw money free of charge from all Visa machines in the USA. Of course you also have to apply for a visa, book the flight and take care of international health insurance. See jibin123 for vocational training in India.
The organization with the Bafög office is a bit stressful. However, if you already receive funding in Germany, you don’t really need to worry about the tuition fees, since these are taken over as a full subsidy. However, the monthly expatriation surcharge of €30 for the US is not a lot considering how much you spend there.
In the US you can find almost anything on Craigslist! Discounted tickets for all sorts of parks, etc., furniture, mobile phones, etc. That’s how I found my flat share. However, it is advisable to be there at least 2-3 weeks before the start of the university in order to organize everything. After all, I lived with three other Germans near the campus and shared a room with one of them. It would have been unthinkable for me before, but I would do it again and again! We bought what was missing from Ikea and then sold it again on Craigslist before we left for Germany. I had a mobile phone from the T-Mobile shop and paid $60 a month for internet, telephone and SMS flat rates and even an international landline flat rate.
If you want a car from Dirt Cheap Car Rentals, it is best to book it in advance. Luckily one of our roommates did that, otherwise furnishing our house would have been very difficult. If you only take care of it on site, it can sometimes be the case that all the cheap models are currently on loan. We had this variant initially, then we switched to a Chevrolet Cobalt, which is priced at $575 per month if you take it for 3 months. However, I can only recommend this car because it is absolutely roadworthy, although we were more afraid of the smaller one that it would stop or something would fall off. You can get everywhere by trolley or bus,
The university/study
The huge SDSU campus offers many opportunities such as an outdoor pool, gym, large sports facilities, library, doctor/hospital, pharmacy, etc. The library is ideal for learning, but there are usually no books for the courses there. So you have to either buy all the books (can get extremely expensive) or rent them, which is a good alternative, but the price is still usually upwards of $30 per book.
To get into the courses you have to take part in the so-called “crashing”, which is a bit annoying. Fortunately, my university was very cooperative, so I could choose many possible courses in advance to have them credited later. In my opinion, it is important to choose enough alternative courses before the crash and to attend as many of them as possible at the beginning, especially in business administration/marketing. The first week was very stressful, but I ended up with three marketing courses. You can find out exactly how crashing works in the introductory event. Many professors pay a lot of attention to whether you meet the prerequesites. To prove this, you need a signed transcript from your home university. The level of the courses is indeed lower, as one often hears, but the amount of material should not be underestimated (I myself had three exams and a complex group work per course). In addition to the normal courses, many have also chosen surfing or golf courses, which is definitely an option in San Diego.
The living
Getting up every day and the sun is shining: that has always been my dream. Despite the existing rainy days, we were always in a good mood. The people are all very nice and helpful too. However, due to the large number of international students, it is difficult to spend time only with Americans. I myself have done a lot with Germans because they also wanted to see and experience the same things. It was great for me and I got to know a lot of great people as a result. There’s always something going on in San Diego, whether downtown, in PB or in the college area.
Food prices are sometimes extremely high. After a while I also missed the German food because you can’t even buy something like baked goods for a short time, but mostly greasy food on campus.
I tried to do the trips during the semester, that means long weekends. It was great but also exhausting. Depending on the courses you choose, it’s easier or harder. With the marketing courses, which each have 4 units, it was a certain challenge, but I definitely had a great time that went by far too quickly!