University: University of California San Diego
City: San Diego
Country: United States
Continent: North America
Field of study: economics
Study type: semester abroad
Uni (application and courses)
The application is relatively easy:
- toe fl
- Motivation letter
- fill out contact forms
- Transcript of Records (+ send reference if necessary)
- go to the US Embassy with the acceptance letter and apply for a visa
To what extent UCSD is selective I cannot say. In principle, however, you should take your application seriously if you seriously intend to study there. UCSD is a very well respected university in San Diego. The people there think very highly of UCSD and immediately look up to you in awe when you mention the name. See liuxers for DBS Study Abroad.
I’m studying business administration in Germany. At UCSD, however, I only took courses in the Economics Department. The Economics Department has an excellent international reputation. I had no problems getting credit for the courses. Some of the courses that fall under “economics” in the USA, such as Financial Risk Mgmt., traditionally belong to the business administration subjects in Germany. Therefore, you should not be discouraged from studying “economics” there as a business graduate. There’s also the Rady School of Management, which offers business courses, but not as many per quarter as the ECON Department.
What you should know beforehand is that you will be admitted to the UCSD Extension via CoCo. The extension offers courses on a wide variety of topics, both pure language courses and “business certificates”. However, crediting these certificates/programs is not as easy and the level does not match that of UCSD courses. With the extension, it is possible to take regular courses at the UCSD via the so-called USP program. If you do not come to UCSD through an agreement as a partner university or at the invitation of a professor, the extension is the only way that gives you (through the back door) access to regular UCSD courses. Be aware that you only get into the courses (as far as Economics, the Rady School of Mgmt and a few others go) in which there are still places left by the “normal” students. Then the big run on the Economics Department begins, where on a certain day after the first 2 weeks the admission for all non-full courses takes place. Normal students have 2 weeks to choose a course.
If you know this and are still a bit flexible during your studies in terms of course selection, it is usually no problem at all to find a useful course. If you then get the “okay” from the department (simply hand in the standardized card), you can take part in the course as a fully fledged student. It is therefore important to be at the department door on time on the day you are admitted, as the procedure is based on the first-come-first-serve principle. It can happen that some people wait at the door 10 hours beforehand.
The courses are very manageable in terms of level and leave enough time for leisure activities. I was not required to be present in any of my six courses, but oral participation is sometimes included in the final grade. Ultimately, how you learn is entirely up to you. But be careful: Graduate level (= Master) is a completely different level and can sometimes only be achieved with difficulty. About 70% of the campus is made up of Asian students.
The weather is fantastically beautiful. With a few weeks exception in winter (Dec/Jan). Otherwise it was about 25-28 degrees during my time there, so not too hot and always fantastic sunshine. Just the right temperature to hit Mission Beach and Pacific Beach.
I lived off-campus and can only recommend it to everyone. My room was rented from an old lady and I lived right on the beach (<3m). Rent was $900. Even cheap “rooms” in shared flats are not available for less than $700.
You have to be prepared for these rental prices. With a car (insurance around $60 a month) and food and partying, you can quickly end up with $2,000 a month without having a great life.
With little to do at college, free time can be used to explore one of the many attractions in San Diego, such as Balboa Park, SD Zoo, Coronado Island, Little Italy, Seaworld, and La Jolla Cove. The surrounding area is also easily accessible by car: Los Angeles (2 hours), San Francisco (8 hours) and Las Vegas (5 hours).
I had an amazing time in San Diego, which was certainly largely due to the good weather. The city is certainly one (for me THE) of the most attractive cities on the west coast. Studying where others go on vacation is a great thing that you look back on fondly for the rest of your life. In addition, the Americans are very sociable, so that you can also return with one or the other friendship. Since you don’t just want to stay in SD, but also want to see something of the surroundings, that’s going to cost you money in the long run. Parks/zoos usually start around $30 and go up to $70-80 (Universal Studios, Disneyland). All in all, I can only recommend this stay at UCSD to EVERYONE, not to underestimate the costs with the small insert.