University: University of California San Diego
City: San Diego
Country: United States
Continent: North America
Field of study: business administration
Study type: semester abroad
Administrative
It is important that you allow enough time to plan the trip. The student visa needs up to 2 months lead time. No entry without a visa and therefore no semester abroad. For all important information about the student visa, you should contact the American embassy, an American consulate or their websites directly. The effort for the visa should not be underestimated. Even if you have to formally follow a simple schedule (all information is on the Internet), it simply takes some time until you have all the documents together! All in all, it is certainly advisable to follow the information materials published by the home university on the one hand and the information from the UCSD on the other hand – then nothing can actually go wrong. False shying away from possible questions to the UCSD exchange service is also completely inappropriate. We have had great experiences with the helpfulness of the Americans. They will answer any question you have quickly – be it of a university or private nature. See liuxers for GCD Study Abroad.
The University of California San Diego is located in La Jolla and therefore not directly in downtown San Diego. The UCSD is rated quite well in current rankings, although it should always be noted that the American study model with participation grades, home works and midterms has a positive effect on the final grades of us students. By no means everything depends on the performance in the final. A negative aspect of this study model, however, is the relatively high proportion of “personal” presence that you have to show on site. Especially with a stay of only 3 months, this can limit private travel planning a little. However, most professors are open to discussion and one or the other missed lesson is definitely possible (especially since there are only 3 regular courses). UCSD is a campus university
Overall, the university is quite appealing and offers enough courses for credit. However, if you’re looking for a pure “surf school,” your better off going to your local SDSU or another state university. With regard to course selection, it is advisable to identify courses that can be credited in advance. The current course schedule of the UCSD can easily be found on the HP. It has been shown that the course allocation on site is anything but transparent and plausible. You should therefore clarify possible credits with your home university in advance so that this burden does not arise on site and the courses can be selected quickly. If you have any questions, contact the exchange office immediately.
Overall, it is planned that you will take 3 courses per quarter. Further additional courses are offered at the extension. The costs for a 3-unit course are between around $300 and $400.
Before you can enjoy the second largest city in California, you should think about finding an apartment. From experience, the early efforts from Europe have had little success. It is highly recommended to arrive early about 1-1.5 weeks before the start of the semester. During this time you can find cheap accommodation in motels (e.g. motel “Sands of la Jolla” or the Youth Hostel Downtown). The budget should allow for a rental car at least during this time, without a car finding an apartment will be difficult, since public transport is very poorly organized and is far from European level. You can look up room/condo listings on the internet at craigslist.com. It makes sense to visit this page before your planned arrival, so that you can get a good picture of the costs, the location and the equipment. In San Diego itself there are numerous “Real Estate Agencies” that offer a larger range of accommodation. The most recommended residential area is Pacific Beach (PB for short). This is the regional epicenter of fun. PB offers a unique seafront location. It’s also one of the most famous surfing spots in San Diego. Accordingly, the flair of the area is very similar to a youthful, relaxing residential area packed with many bars. PB itself is between Downtown and La Jolla. Both destinations can be reached by car in 20 minutes. As already mentioned, it is highly recommended to have a car available for the entire stay. We decided to rent a car.
The purpose of the exchange is to make new friends in addition to a thorough course of study. As mentioned in section one, the university campus offers few opportunities to make good friends. Besides the numerous exchange students, you will also find many nice people on nightly escapades. IMPORTANT: WITHOUT A PASSPORT THERE IS NO ENTRY TO BARS OR CLUBS!!! So if you have dual citizenship or can find an old passport, it would be very useful in the evenings. Losing your passport and visa means a lot of administrative work. We recommend weekend trips to Los Angeles (2-3 hours by car), Las Vegas (5 hours by car) and to San Francisco, by far the most beautiful city in California ($119 with virgin airlines from San Diego Airport there and back).