University: San Diego State University
City: San Diego
Country: United States
Continent: North America
Field of study: business administration
Study type: semester abroad
Application
The application process for SDSU was, on the whole, very quick. The confirmation came to me within two weeks. Whenever I had questions, I was always able to get help from MicroEdu. In any case, make a small checklist in good time so that you don’t miss any deadlines and take care of your visa a few weeks before departure. In any case, you should be clear before you leave which courses you want to take abroad and whether these will also be credited at your home university. My university in Germany had a database for this where you could see which courses have already been credited by the SDSU. See mcat-test-centers for 6 best universities in the middle east.
Living in San Diego
Before you start looking for an apartment, you should definitely be clear about how much budget you will have available and in which location you want to live.
Can you afford to hire a car (e.g. Dirtcheap Car Rentals, Rosecrans Street) for the time being? Where do you want to spend the most time? At the beach? At the University? It was very important to me to have a single room with a private bathroom because I didn’t want to share a room for half a year. My choice fell on BLVD63 Apartments. For my room I had to pay $950 a month and a deposit of about $900. Electricity was $15-25 per month. The single room was a bit more expensive than the shared room, but I didn’t have any problems finding a new tenantbecause the single rooms are very popular and can be rented out very quickly. The BLVD63 is located in the college area and with a gym, free shuttle, two pools, a jacuzzi, ping-pong tables, coffee and tea for free, and study rooms, you were well taken care of.
If you want to go to the beach, you can share an Uber with several people or rent a car for the time. I’ve done it this way and that.
Campus and college life
The SDSU campus is a dream. Palm trees and sunshine almost 365 days a year! The SDSU offers a varied sports and leisure program and you are guaranteed never to get bored.
I chose the Real Estate Principles, Managerial Economics, Investments and Leadership in Organizations courses. I can all recommend Professors M. Goldman (Real Estate), J. Probst (Managerial Economics), M. Nicholson (Leadership). They were very nice and helpful and answered my emails the same day if I had any questions. I also received the ranking, which I needed for my performance recognition at my home university, on the same day by e-mail during the Christmas holidays.
Unfortunately, I cannot recommend Investments. The course is very easy and you can get an A with little effort. However, if you are going to an almost three-hour lecture with compulsory attendance and want to take something with you, then you are in the wrong place here.
In addition to my finance and management courses, I decided to take the ENS Surfing Class. Here I was able to take part in surfing lessons at Mission Beach from Monday to Saturday and meet new people. Don’t miss the sports program of the SDSU! The offer is so big that there really is something for everyone. The gym is also very extensive and clean. You get a fresh towel right at check-in and at shakesmart you can treat yourself to a delicious shake or an acai bowl after your workout.
Course crashing and learning curve
Definitely go to the introductory events and have the course crashing process explained to you. It is important that you observe the timelines here and write down the courses with the corresponding numbers on a piece of paper in advance so that you are quick when crashing. The leadership and investments courses were special sessions for me and took place together with other Germans and Scandinavians. Real Estate and Economics were normal courses and I was mostly with Americans in the course. The effort during the semester was higher than at home because you had to work on assignments almost every week. However, this meant that you got into it very quickly and the effort for midterms and finals was much less than in Germany.
I was more than satisfied with my grades at SDSU. I had arranged my courses so that I only had lectures on Mondays and Thursdays, so there was still a lot of time left for sport and leisure. Everyday life on campus in San Diego is very relaxed. Most students stroll around the campus in sports outfits and use their breaks to do sports or meet up for a coffee at Starbucks. The Americans are super friendly and you can quickly make friends in San Diego. Even if it is unusual at first to be approached out of nowhere, after a few weeks you get used to the friendliness and openness of the San Diegansquickly get used to it and you improve your English day by day, even with small everyday conversations.
San Diego and around
San Diego was the best decision I could have made for my semester abroad. The weather was insane. With daily sunshine and temperatures of almost 38 degrees at the beginning of November, you could really experience a lot besides the university. San Diego is also known for the most beautiful beaches in Cali, whether Mission Beach, Pacific Beach, La Jolla, Ocean Beach, Coronado Beach or Imperial Beach. The beaches are all miles long and you can look forward to a beautiful sunset every day.
My highlights in SD were: LaJolla, Windansea Beach, the rooftop bars downtown, TacoTuesdays, the tailgating before the SDSU football games, the Jay-Z concert on campus, the surfing classes, the sailboat rental from the university, the delicious ones Bowls from The Mad Beet (Pacific Beach), our hiking trips, Coronado Island and college life itself.
Road trips
For road trips and excursions I recommend: LA, Malibu, Santa Barbara, Oceanside, Encinitas, Carlsbad, San Francisco, Hawaii, Grand Canyon, Horseshoe Bend, Zion National Park (hike to Angels Landing Platform), Palm Springs, Antelope Canyon, Tijuana, Coronado, Cardiff by the Sea, La Jolla, Potato Chip Rock.
Unfortunately, my semester abroad flew by and even if SD is not very cheap, it is worth saving the time. I would choose SDSU again for a semester and would highly recommend San Diego State to anyone looking for a healthy mix of college, free time, fun, sports and sun.