University: San Diego State University
City: San Diego
Country: United States
Continent: North America
Field of study: Teaching post for Sek I / Sek II
Study type: semester abroad
Are you considering studying at SDSU? Then you are on the right track! MicroEdu helped me a lot to organize my semester abroad at the last minute. Thanks a lot for this!
Application process:
Start informing yourself as early as possible, then you will have significantly less stress! I submitted my application to MicroEdu in October, but everything still went well. Since I receive student loans in Germany, I applied for foreign student loans and at the same time prepared my application for MicroEdu. After submitting the documents, MicroEdu checked that everything was filled out completely and correctly. I then sent off the application and received the confirmation from SDSU 2-3 weeks later. Then I took care of the visa. For this you have to fill out several forms on the Internet and then bring them to the consulate. I went to the consulate in Frankfurt and have only positive things to say about it. The staff were all very friendly and helpful. During the interview itself, I was only asked what I will study at SDSU and how I will finance my stay. The conversation lasted just 2 minutes. See act-test-centers for UCSB Study Abroad.
I got the maximum rate for the foreign student loan and thus the tuition fees worth 4600 euros and the flight worth 1000 euros were reimbursed. However, what should be noted: You have to advance the money and only get it back relatively late. When I enrolled at the SDSU, I thought that someone would fill out my yellow Bafög form right away. However, that was not the case. I only got the confirmation 3 weeks after the start of the semester, after courses could no longer be changed or dropped. The semester in San Diego was relatively expensive. To save money you should borrow books from the SDSU Bookstore or order them online. In addition, you don’t necessarily need to get all the books, sometimes you can get along quite well without; ) Shopping is cheapest at Ralphs (you can register at the supermarket for free and get a card with which you can take advantage of the offers) and Walmart. If you don’t get a car, you should get the SDSU semester pass. This allows you to use public transportation throughout San Diego.
Reside:
I arrived in San Diego a week before orientation week and pre-booked a bed at the International Hostel in Ocean Beach. The hostel offers a free airport shuttle that picks up guests from the airport and drives them to the hostel. On the second day I got an American mobile phone card from H20 in Fashion Valley and then tried to find an apartment. Luckily I found a room in the college area after 6 days and shared a house with 3 other Americans/SDSU students. The room was $600 a month, so I didn’t have to share it. I could cycle to campus in 10 minutes, which is why I didn’t buy or rent a car. If you live on campus or in the college area, In my opinion, a car is not necessary but of course a lot more comfortable. Nevertheless, you can always find someone who has a car and takes you with them. However, if you want to live on the beach (1.5 hours from campus by public transport), buy a car! In the trolley and in the buses there are many homeless people and very strange people. Since I was taking the surf course, I used to go to the beach once a week anyway, and after that I didn’t think it was that important to live in PB or La Jolla anymore.
Studies:
I’m studying English and Sports to become a teacher in Heidelberg, which is why I chose 3 English courses and 2 sports courses. The English courses were: Literature of the South, Modern Fiction of the US and Short Story Writing. I liked all 3 courses and they were very instructive. However, “Literature of the South” was a lot more demanding than expected. Unfortunately, SDSU is not so suitable if you are studying sports to become a teacher, as the “Exercise & Nutrition Science” course there is designed more for future physiotherapists and less for teaching. Practice sports are scarce, apart from water sports, rock climbing, golf and yoga, which falls more into the category of electives. I took the surf course and Care and Prevention of Sports Injuries. Both courses were much easier than expected and required little preparation. If you don’t have a university in Germany after the semester in the USA, you should definitely plan some time to travel. We can stay in the USA with the F1 visa up to 60 days after the end of the semester!
Life:
I’ve traveled all over California now and I can assure you, you won’t find a better city than San Diego! It’s always warm (even in January!!), sunny and the people here are totally open and very friendly. There’s always something going on: The party bus runs from campus to downtown and back several times a week (you don’t need a car to go partying!) and every Tuesday is Taco Tuesday in Old Town and PB (Pacific Beach), which means for you: $2 tacos, cheap drinks, mostly free entry to clubs! If you are brave, you should definitely check out Tijuana. Take the trolley to the border, walk across the border and order a taxi to the next club 😉 If you have some money left, you should definitely take a water sports course! It’s so much fun and you get to know people a lot quicker than sitting next to someone in class. There are a lot of Germans here, so it’s quite possible that you have a purely German circle of friends and then probably hardly learn any English. Which friends you ultimately have depends entirely on your attitude, of course: I’ve met friends from all over the world: Brazil, France, Australia, India, Canada… and some really good American friends too. If you apply to ALI (American Language Institute), you are not officially an SDSU student, but you still have some advantages. ALI organizes many cheap trips such as San Diego Zoo or Sea World, which gives you the opportunity to meet many international students. You will also get a free membership to the ARC (university gym), which you should definitely take advantage of. The ARC is very modern and offers some sports courses (yoga, zumba, BBP,…)
Conclusion:
What else is there to say? Get started with the application, because all the stress of applying is totally worth it! I had the best 6 months of my life!