University: San Diego State University
City: San Diego
Country: United States
Continent: North America
Field of study: media informatics
Study type: semester abroad
First of all, I would like to say that everyone should do a semester abroad who only has the rudimentary opportunity. It’s such a great experience that you can use for the future and that nobody can take away from you. Visit mcat-test-centers.com to get information about Rmit University Vietnam.
Decision
Personally, I decided in December 2011 to do a semester abroad and immediately applied. Unfortunately, my university did not have a suitable partner university in America that was suitable for me, which is why I decided on San Diego State University. Not only the great city, the sun and the sea were criteria, but also the good ratings and offers of the subjects. MicroEdu was very helpful, answered any question via email very quickly and never made me feel like a burden.
The application itself was very easy. You had to invest a lot of time to collect all the documents together, which you are not so aware of at the beginning. However, the documents from MicroEdu were very helpful: 1. You received a long description of how to fill out the application correctly and 2. CoCo then checked the application again for correctness and informed you if necessary.
SDSU’s acceptance came fairly quickly as I was early. Everything was then planned and the flight booked at the end of February. The longer you waited, the more expensive the flights became. The advantage here was that I already knew when I was going to fly back and was therefore able to book a return flight together. I accidentally found a place in a privately rented shared flat near the university via the CoCo Facebook page, so I didn’t have to search on site anymore.
San Diego
At the beginning of the semester, I started crashing courses, which wasn’t exactly easy. I only got one of my 4 desired courses, because first the locals, then the foreign students of the SDSU and THEN we foreign students of the ALI (American Language Institute) come in turn. Since I’m more of the creative side, I only took “ART” subjects. All the professors were very nice and accommodating, so that in the end I was able to take 4 courses that didn’t overlap and were interesting. I’ve become a huge fan of the American system. Many don’t get along with the “school” approach, but for me the system makes a lot more sense than that at German universities. You are generally required to attend, which prompts you to always attend lectures. Of course, it’s not always easy when there’s sunshine every day, but it affects your very good grades. In addition, you also received grades during the semester, which has a motivating effect either to continue or to improve for the respective subject.
In addition, I recommend doing the surf course (possibly without credits), which is a great experience and a lot of fun. Of course, you also get to know new people.
The SDSU is also known for two things: 1. that there are many German students there and you meet a German on every corner and 2. that the SDSU is a party university! There is a party bus organized every week from SDSU to Downtown or Pacific Beach alone through a Facebook group, but there are also other parties such as the pool party on campus.
Apartment
As already mentioned, I lived in a flat with a total of 11 people near the campus. It could get chaotic and very dirty, but I had to speak a lot of English because apart from another German, only Americans lived in the house. In addition, I was always able to go shopping with one of the roommates, which was very practical, as it is almost impossible to go shopping without a car due to the many large bottles and packages. Once I went shopping by bike – it was terrible. In addition, I couldn’t and didn’t want to afford to buy a car for such a short time. However, if you don’t live in the College Area or have other means of getting a ride with someone, a car isn’t a must, but it makes life in San Diego a lot easier.
Another perk of living on campus is SDSU’s outdoor pool and gym, which is free for ALI students.
San Diego
I don’t have to say much about the city itself. It’s just great, always sunshine, a great sunset every evening, palm trees everywhere and the people are all totally open and in a great mood. Until November it was still around 30 degrees, only in December it rained for a few days.
Mobile phone + account
For the time in San Diego I got a SIM card from AT&T, which you could top up every month for $25 and thus had a flat rate for SMS and telephone. I didn’t get internet because 1. it was simply too expensive, 2. you could get WiFi almost everywhere anyway and 3. everyone only texted there anyway instead of WhatsApp. You didn’t have to deregister this card at the end, as it only worked as soon as money was loaded onto it.
I only called home to Germany via Skype.
I used my money to open an account at Wells Fargo Bank for free, which was specifically for students. Thus, the constant payment with the credit card did not cost anything and we never had any problems. Just one tip for anyone who finds themselves in a situation where they have money transferred from home: Don’t have it transferred to your American account, but take your German giro card with you, withdraw the money from there for only $5 and then pay it possibly to your American account. The transfer from home to my Wells Fargo account cost us about $50, which is a lot!
Costs
A huge drawback were of course the costs, which fortunately my father took over temporarily because I didn’t get Bafög. The tuition fees alone are a lot, plus there are other costs for some of my subjects, food and, of course, free time. To be honest, I was very shocked at how much money I had spent in a month. On the other hand, you have to say that you only have one chance to enjoy such a great time. Just take the advice to heart to save a lot of money, so that you can use everything and, above all, enjoy everything without ALWAYS thinking about the money.
Conclusion
Although such a semester abroad – especially in America – is very expensive, in retrospect I would do it again and again and recommend it to everyone! It will be and is the best time of your life!!! And don’t forget your sunglasses : )
