University: San Diego State University
City: San Diego
Country: United States
Continent: North America
Field of study: business administration
Study type: semester abroad
Hello folks,
My name is Caner and I did a semester abroad in the USA at San Diego State University as part of my business studies at the University of Siegen. I did the spring program here for a full six months. See anycountyprivateschools for 7 best cities to do an internship in Germany.
During my planning, MicroEdu relieved me of a large part of the work and thus helped me very quickly to fulfill my desire to study abroad.
At first, of course, I was very skeptical as to whether everything would really work out the way I had imagined. But after a very good and personal conversation on site at MicroEdu, these doubts were also eliminated. Because here there was always a suitable answer for every question.
A very big advantage was that you didn’t have to contact the university in San Diego directly, but rather had the friendly staff at MicroEdu as intermediaries. During the application process, I was always kept up to date and could call at any time. The information you get here is worth its weight in gold and makes the application for the semester abroad a lot easier.
The choice of subjects was also very easy, because most of the time the current course descriptions were available, which you could get from MicroEdu. But there was also the opportunity to read these on the SDSU website and to compare them with one’s own courses. The crediting of the desired subjects was largely accepted at my home university and the crediting process was also very uncomplicated. Furthermore, at the beginning of the semester I had read in many forums that it was very difficult to get into certain courses at SDSU or to be able to choose them. I personally felt the opposite. Because at SDSU willA very wide range of subjects was offered and the professors of the respective subjects were very “chilled” when it came to the number of enrollments. In principle, you can talk to any professor and a common solution is usually sought. Furthermore, you are very well looked after by the university with introductory events and activities.
The university itself was very humane. You could arrange your timetable in such a way that there was of course a lot of freedom for leisure activities. The subject matter is simply structured and the form of the exam (mostly multiple choice) is very student-friendly. During my time at SDSU I took three special courses ( Multinational Business, Global Marketing and Investments) and one general course(Intermediate Macroeconomics Theory) that I shared with the Americans. After consultation with the professor of the General Course, we international students were given more time for the exam. Therefore, I can only give you a tip that if you have problems or questions, you should go directly to the professor to clear up any ambiguities. In my opinion, the teaching content is much more theoretical and less mathematical. You don’t go into depth in the respective subjects, but rather discuss them superficially. In terms of difficulty, the exams are rather low. I felt like there was more to “memorize” than understand things, which made things easier.
When it comes to finding accommodation, all I can say is that you can find very cheap deals in the college area. As far as the Beaches are concerned, the distance to the university would have been very far away and expensive for me. However, it depends on each guy, because I can well imagine that the proximity to the beach in summer brings with it a huge attraction. It was very easy for me to look for an apartment because my buddy, who was doing the semester abroad with me, had found a very good offer on Facebook. In my opinion, you should definitely find out about the respective accommodation on the Internet in advance inform. The search on site is also of great advantage, since you can visit the apartments and thus get to know the area where you then settle down for your studies. Many friends have done so and there is a wide range of housing in and around San Diego. That ‘s why you definitely don’t have to worry about not finding anything on site as a late starter.
Many apartments are very simple, but that is what makes a semester abroad in the USA so special. To live properly in the typical American style. It is also advisable to try a shared room, as it can be very helpful for your own English, but also contributes a lot to character building. Here you learn to deal with many unfamiliar situations that you don’t have in Germany or anywhere else. It helped me a lot and from now on I approach a lot of things completely differently. Something that is less recommended is that you (if you are planning a semester abroad with several people) look for an apartment or a room together. Experience has shown that there is less development here and the whole thing is associated with greater problems in the long run than if you only meet your new “roomies” on site. And if the whole thing is not so nice for you, you should always keep in mind that living in a shared flat is only a temporary coexistence and problems can be worked on.
When it comes to things to do, San Diego is pretty much the best city to study and live in. From here there are many opportunities to do sports. Thanks to the in-house swimming pools, football, baseball, basketball and badminton courts and the SDSU gym, no one misses out. Furthermore, the beaches (Pacific and Mission Beach) offer a lot of space for beach enthusiasts and wave sports enthusiasts. The sports courses offered at the SDSU are also highly recommended. I myself supported the SDSU at a football tournament, which took place weekly with several qualifying games.
Traveling is also very well guaranteed from San Diego, since the very southern location means that small trips to the neighboring Mexican city of Tijuana, LA, Orange County or a number of sights in San Diego can be made in one-day trips. Celebrating in general is never neglected and is a highlight every week with the given Taco Tuesday in Pacific Beach.
My personal highlights were trips to Joshua Tree Park, Yosemite National Park, San Francisco, Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, Potato Chip Rock in Poway and Hawaii. I can only recommend everyone (provided they still have enough change) to take a trip to the Hawaiian Islands. Because if you are ever so “close” to it, then you should take advantage of it. Hawaii is also not much more expensive than San Diego in terms of LHK.
All in all, it only remains to say that San Diego lives up to its reputation as the “finest city in America” and that studying here is worthwhile. The climate and the environment alone confirm the idea of completing a really cool semester abroad. Without the help of MicroEdu, it would have been very difficult for me personally to realize my semester abroad as it has been for the past six months. So once again a big thank you to the MicroEdu team and their very courteous staff.