University: UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SANTA BARBARA
City: Santa Barbara
Country: United States
Continent: North America
Field of study: business administration
Study type: semester abroad
Preparation
Just go to MicroEdu and the rest is self-explanatory. College Contact support is excellent and questions are answered quickly. See mcat-test-centers for Kwantlen Polytechnic University.
Tip: plan trips before and after the semester.
University
UCSB has a very impressive campus with excellent infrastructure. The whole environment of the university is really neat and clean. However, the sheer size of the university campus makes the purchase of a bicycle practically unavoidable. Pleasant features of the university are the new library and the beach directly at the university.
Maintenance
As an exchange student at UCSB, you will be well-informed administratively and then given appropriate support. What I missed, however, was, for example, a buddy system like at the HSG, to be able to establish contact with local students right from the start. The students at UCSB are in no way involved in looking after the exchange students, which I see as a significant deficit.
Courses
The courses at UCSB must all be crashed. This means that you have to ask the professor for permission in the first lesson in order to be able to attend a course. It makes you feel a bit like a second-class student, since you can only take what’s left. You will likely be asked to take 2-3 additional courses as a substitute in the first week. I therefore recommend obtaining the necessary signatures as quickly as possible and if you do not receive them directly, ask regularly. At the same time, there is no need to worry, since you usually get the courses you want in the end. I chose the following courses:
GLOBAL 1 (Prof. Eve Darian-Smith)
The course was very busy but very interesting. The highest grade is quite possible, since the grading is not too strict. From what I’ve heard, other professors (e.g. McCarty) also require less effort than Prof. Eve Darian-Smith.
Conclusion: Recommended, if not with Eve Darian-Smith.
GLOBAL 2 (Prof. M. Juergensmeyer) Creditable in the elective area & Hako
The course was also very interesting and the top grade was achievable with little to reasonable workload.
Conclusion: Highly recommended by Juergenmeyer.
ECON 134A (Prof. J. Hartman)
This was clearly my most difficult course, but with a little more effort a good grade would also be possible here. Course was not really interesting and difficult to crash.
Conclusion: I can’t recommend it 100%, but if you haven’t done finance yet, it’s definitely an option.
PSY 5 (Prof. Garry Giesbrecht)
Giesbrecht is an excellent lecturer. He conveys the sometimes quite complicated and dry material to his students in an incredibly understandable way. Homework and attending the lecture are sufficient to achieve the best grade.
Conclusion: If you haven’t gotten through FOME yet, you should definitely take this course.
Housing
As already described in all previous reviews, you should live in IV. In addition, I can recommend living with UCSB students. But it’s also not a problem if this doesn’t work out, because there is also the possibility to stay in the student dormitories in IV. It is best to go to the UCSB Housing Facebook group first and try to get in touch with the local students early (at least 2-3 months before the start). Almost exclusively double rooms are available. For a double room you have to pay between 600-800 dollars and for a single room you have to calculate around 1000 dollars a month. IV is a student village right next to UCSB, which is located directly on the beach and offers a diverse range of restaurants.
Social life
Here’s why you should definitely live in IV. The entire social life takes place in IV. Especially in DP (Street by the Sea) there is always a lot of activity. However, the parties end around 12 noon. In downtown (20 minutes by party bus) the parties last until around 2 a.m. Downtown is especially recommended on Thursdays. Santa Barbara is always full of students.
Restaurant Tips
- Naan Stop: Cheap Indian food with excellent naan
- Ike’s: Awesome sandwiches
- Bagel Cafe: For the medium-large hunger in between or as breakfast
- Freebirds: Slightly expensive but super tasty burritos
Conclusion
I recommend anyone who has the opportunity to do an exchange. My exchange was a unique experience. You definitely can’t go wrong with the UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SANTA BARBARA as an exchange destination. In particular, you will appreciate the phenomenal weather every day.
Finally, I wish you a lot of fun in your semester abroad, whether at UCSB or somewhere else.