California State University, East Bay 3

California State University, East Bay (3)

North America

Good times! That probably best describes my experience at CSU East Bay. Of course, all was not well and, above all, some things were more complicated than expected. Finding an apartment was particularly difficult. There are enough rooms and apartments in Hayward, but those in the good residential areas are usually very expensive and can often only be rented for at least half a year or a whole year. If you want to live somewhere privately, the best place to be is in the Hayward Hills behind the university. However, I then lived with other Germans in a house on the opposite side of Misson Boulevard, as seen from the university. The location was not exactly ideal, it took about 30 minutes to walk to the university, as you always had to go up the hill, with an incline of 9% and more. But you could also take the bus, which then took about 40-50 minutes. If I had to decide again where to live, the International House would have been my first choice. It is much easier to get to know people there, the way to the university is not far, the rooms are ok, simply furnished, but you can stay there for three months and of course there are regular parties there too. After three months, if you stay longer than a quarter, you can look for something else if you still want to. Then you already know the area and know where to look.
I really liked the university itself. The campus is very nice and you have a great view of the bay and, if it’s not foggy, of the San Francisco skyline. The campus and university are rather small by American standards, but I thought that was good because you had time to go for a coffee between lectures and not have to go straight to the next lecture building. Studying myself was fun, I had the feeling that it is easier in the USA than in Germany, but it is more demanding during the semester than here. The course sizes are rather small, none of my courses were larger than 50 students. Enrolling in the courses through the Open University was not easy. There were difficulties in getting into the desired courses, but through frequent inquiries and a little pressure, I ended up getting into all of my courses. But this is not necessarily guaranteed. The business administration courses in particular fill up very quickly. See more student reviews of universities in North America on toppharmacyschools.

I think it is generally important to be patient with all things that have to do with registration, enrollment, etc.

The leisure activities are great if you have a car. There’s not that much to do in Hayward itself, but there’s more going on in the neighboring towns. In San Francisco anyway, no question about it. During the day you can easily reach the city with the BART, but at night it gets more difficult, especially on weekends the BART only runs until shortly after midnight and then again at 8 a.m. So you have to party for a long time or drive your car. Oh yeah, alcohol is only available in California until 2 a.m. But the best parties were the private parties anyway, and you could drink there after two o’clock.

My conclusion is that I would definitely go to the CSU East Bay again. I had a lot of fun there and met a lot of nice people.

I’ve attached two photos from the university so that you can maybe get a little picture.

California State University, East Bay 3