University: San Diego State University
City: San Diego
Country: United States
Continent: North America
Field of study: International Business Administration, Psychology
Study type: semester abroad
Application process and visa
The application process works flawlessly with MicroEdu. No matter what questions, requests or suggestions you have, simply send an email or make a call and you are sure to receive an extensive response IMMEDIATELY. Although I contacted MicroEdu very late (2 months before departure), all steps were taken immediately to submit all documents in good time. And it wasn’t just a small form, no, for a stay of several months in the USA you need an unbelievable number of documents to prove that you have sufficient financial means (financial statement), permissible health insurance (health documents/membership Certificate) or sufficient language skills (TOEFL, DAAD, etc.). See liuxers for how to open a bank account in Ireland.
You can get an appointment at the responsible embassy quite quickly. I was in Munich and got an appointment within a week that was over after 20 minutes. The passport with the visa attached was in my mailbox a week later. And then we could start : -)
Since I wanted to look for accommodation on site, which by the way is highly recommended, since you never know whether pictures can really keep their promises and many landlords would like to meet their tenants in person, I was there with my fellow students from Germany just under four weeks before the semester started arrived. So we booked ourselves into a hostel downtown for the first time (Lucky D’s). Since we thought we could take the bus or trolley in San Diego without a car, we used public transport for the first week. That was probably the biggest mistake of all time. A car is ABSOLUTELY necessary in San Diego unless you live on campus and never intend to do road trips or trips to the beach. Finding an apartment is not exactly easy, It is therefore important to bring a lot of time and patience with you and to think about where you want to live before you take off. My girlfriend and I lived right on campus in an apartment complex (Albert’s College). In retrospect, it was really the best decision to live on campus, the walk to the university was just 3 minutes. It also has the craziest parties and the most interesting people. The Americans who also lived in the apartment complex with about 35 apartments were all very open-minded and immediately took a liking to us : -). It can get a little louder at night, but in my opinion that doesn’t bother you, but you really get the 100% campus life!
The University
If you are looking for very demanding courses in the field of psychology/business administration, I think you are in the wrong place at the SDSU. The level of the courses was not comparable to courses at universities in Germany. In addition, you have to crash almost all courses (except for the boring ALI courses) and sometimes you can only attend the lectures after 2-3 weeks. In the undergraduate psychology courses I took, this meant missing several credits during the first 2 weeks. Even after consultation with the lecturers, you no longer get the opportunity to earn the lost credits again.
At the SDSU there is the possibility to choose sports courses such as surfing, wakeboarding, stand-up paddle, golf… You should definitely take advantage of the offer. You can even get credit for these courses if you want, but you don’t have to if you don’t want the courses to appear on the transcript. In this case you pay a one-time fee of between 150 – 350 dollars per 14-week course.
Conclusion
The semester was better than I could have ever imagined. The fantastic weather alone (it rained 4 times in 5 months – : -)), but also the unbelievable friendliness of the Americans made my stay the best time of my life. In general, the semester can really be seen as an extended holiday. The only downside is of course the costs, because rent and living costs are sometimes simply not comparable to Germany.
In any case, living with Americans or spending a lot of time with them is an absolute must. Because that’s the only way to get to know real American college life!