University: San Diego State University
City: San Diego
Country: United States
Continent: North America
Field of study: sports management
Study type: semester abroad
ALI :
The ALI is your headquarters, so to speak, they will put you in touch, they will help you with everything that has to do with your life at the university and so on. See liuxers for 8 best neighborhoods in Buenos Aires to live. I have to say that ALI was very helpful, always got prompt answers to my questions and they tried everything to make our life as easy as possible.
That leads me to university. First to the administration: As good as the ALI was, unfortunately you are in a bad position as an international student at the university.
Not so much that you have to crash the courses, some Americans have to do that too. It’s an annoying process at the beginning, but in the end almost everyone gets the courses they want if you can assert yourself accordingly.
Unfortunately, as an international student you have to pay extra for everything at the university, you don’t have many of the rights that Americans have, even though we pay about 3 times as much in tuition fees as the students from California. E.g.: You have to pay extra if you want to accept the job search help, you pay more than the others in the water sports courses or you cannot take many jobs.
But the university itself is a dream, everything in one place, that’s how student life comes about. Everything is well maintained, extensive library with numerous computers, etc.
Unfortunately, the range of food is very poor, a lot of fast food, unfortunately there is no canteen in the sense (there is an all-inclusive meal, but you pay $8 for that).
San Diego :
My absolute dream city. I like it here so much that I plan to live here permanently.
Why ? The weather is fantastic, even if it gets cold in the evenings in winter, the sun is almost always shining and that always makes it pleasantly warm.
living situation :
Right from the start, only PB or Mission Beach came into question for me and I haven’t regretted it for a second. You only live once in Southern California… The nightlife here is great, there are sports bars everywhere, lots of students and lots of leisure activities (surfing, beach volleyball, etc.). Basically it can be said: nightlife at the university means lots of house parties, nightlife on the beach lots of bars.
In addition there is downtown, first-class clubs!
I can only recommend everyone to go the (at first uncomfortable) way and move in with Americans. You get to know new people straight away, you speak English at home every day, you just get to know everything better here.
Otherwise :
Car is essential, look for one on craigslist and buy it, insurance was AAA cheap for me and fuel doesn’t cost much here anyway.
Conclusion :
Even if there are small negative points, the whole thing here is by far the best time of my life and I haven’t met a German who was disappointed.
Unreserved recommendation !!!