University: UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SANTA BARBARA
City: Santa Barbara
Country: United States
Continent: North America
Field of study: Linguistics and cultural studies
UCSB is about 10 miles north of Santa Barbara. The place closest to the campus is called Goleta. The small student town right on the campus and beach is Isla Vista (IV). A lot of party-loving students live there with a view of the Pacific. The campus itself is on a peninsula in the Pacific. The range of subjects is very large. The natural sciences are best represented. But you can also study dance, languages, sociology, history, etc. at UCSB, and many of the linguistics professors I’ve worked with are known and respected around the world. The UCSB Linguistics Department is one of the few in the US to purge Functional Linguistics. Because the institute is relatively small with 60 graduates. See mcat-test-centers for Florida International University.
Santa Barbara is located about 90 miles north of LA just off the Pacific Coast. The city has about 90 000 inhabitants. The houses are built in the Spanish style and the main street, State Street, is kept very clean, giving the feeling of being in a small idyllic town. To the northeast are the Santa Barbara Mountains, where you can hike and climb. The sea also offers opportunities for surfing, sailing, diving, canoeing, etc. The city has an art museum, many restaurants and clubs, cinemas, a theater and an opera. Most of the clubs and restaurants can be found on State Street, which leads down to the water. There you can swim on the beach and play beach volleyball. Concerts by well-known bands usually take place in the Santa Barbara Bowl. The weather is almost always sunny. Even in winter, the temperature rarely drops below 15°. In the evenings, however, you should always have a jacket or sweatshirt with you, even in summer. And it can rain for three days at a time.
I already found an apartment in Santa Barbara from Germany. I applied (also via the UCSB homepage) for a room in one of the university-owned apartments. These apartments are very close to the campus and are usually a bit cheaper than privately rented rooms or apartments. Unfortunately, the Housing Office only assigned me a studio for more than $800 a month. University apartments are in high demand and there are waiting lists. To be on the safe side, I initially accepted the contract, but continued to look for offers in the first few weeks in Santa Barbara. On the website of the gsa (graduate students association) I found out about a free room in another university-owned apartment. Luckily I got the room and then had to pay “only” $650 a month for my own furnished room in a 2-room apartment. Even if you are only on the waiting list, you should inquire about free rooms in the university-owned apartments. Rooms are often empty all of a sudden. There is also another housing office on campus in the University Center, which also helps to arrange private rooms and apartments via the Internet. Many American students share a room because rents are very high. As an undergraduate you can also stay in a dorm directly on campus. However, you often live there with lots of noisy freshmen.
I am very happy that the DAAD gave me the opportunity to study linguistics at the UCSB for a year. I’ve learned a lot this year. Above all, I liked and appreciated the functional approach, which is not taught at my home university in Leipzig. I had a very good relationship with most of the professors and received a lot of support from them. I would not have been able to gain this experience in Germany.