University: San Diego State University
City: San Diego
Country: United States
Continent: North America
Field of study: Business Administration, Economics
Study type: semester abroad
Hello to all prospective exchange students,
first of all a big thank you to MicroEdu, who helped me a lot with my planning and were always there for questions. I spent a semester at San Diego State University in the spring semester of 2013 and what can I say – this was fu***** awesome!!!;) It was a great time and in the following I will give you an overview of the university, student life, living and everything that needs to be mentioned about leisure activities. Visit ehuacom.com to get information about UOB study abroad program.
1) The university
San Diego State University is just plain cool. You feel like you are in a holiday resort instead of on a university campus. There is a large food court where you can have lunch, a library, a university shop with all university items, etc. During the introductory week and also throughout the semester, the university will offer you a wide range of excursions and leisure activities, what I can only recommend everyone to perceive.
I can confidently tell you that student life at San Diego State is not as strenuous as at some German universities. While some subjects may be busy like handing in homework or taking weekly quizzes, that definitely won’t stop you from discovering California and so much more. For example, I had taken the subjects MIS 302, MKTG 376, ECON 360 and an English and surfing course. MIS 302 is not particularly difficult at first glance, but the exams were a bit more demanding compared to the other subjects. You write several exams and every now and then you have a submission task that you can solve as a group. MKTG 376 is one of the 4-unit subjects and is therefore somewhat more time-consuming. You write three exams and at the end of the semester you have to develop and present a marketing plan as a group. All in all, however, it was a very interesting subject, despite the effort involved. ECON 360 is one of those subjects where you always have something to do. Be it homework, quizzes or exams. Here, too, I can reassure you, the homework is a joke, because you do it online and have several attempts and thus hardly come under 90% when it comes to homework. Also the quizzes only cover the material of the last week. The English course I took is not a regular course at San Diego State University. It is a language course offered by the American Language Institute (ALI for short). During the introductory week, I spoke to the responsible person, Ms. Miller, whether I can take this course and whether it is considered a 1-unit course since I had two credits left from the 4-unit course. This went without further problems and last but not least I took a surf course, which you can easily take without wasting a credit. If you take this course for one credit, you have to write two exams at the end, but they are very easy. After all, it is a surf course ^^. but they are very light. After all, it is a surf course ^^. but they are very light. After all, it is a surf course ^^.
3) Living in San Diego
I looked for accommodation on site because I wanted to get an impression of the condition of the rooms etc. That was probably the most stressful part of my semester abroad. I arrived about a week before the start of the semester and went looking for an apartment while I was still jetlagged. That means at least 4 visits per day. In the end everything went well, but my expectations were also high;) As far as the rents in San Diego are concerned, it has to be said that they are significantly higher than in Germany. If you want to live in the College Area, you have to expect rents between $500 and $750. On the beach, rents rarely go under $700. I lived with three Americans. They were all nice too, but in the end the Americans prefer to keep to themselves. It’s nothing different in Germany. The public transportation system in San Diego is quite simply lacking. Yes, you have the trolley with which you can go to the next fashion mall or something, but you need a good hour to get to the beach with a change. So I decided to rent a car for the duration of my stay. I rented my car from Dirt Cheap. It’s pretty easy and cheap. Monthly rent was $550 and you had no liability in the event of an accident (or so they said, but in the US you never really know). You also didn’t have to pay any additional fees for being under 25, which is the case with many other car rental companies. Yes, you have the trolley with which you can go to the next fashion mall or something, but you need a good hour to get to the beach with a change. So I decided to rent a car for the duration of my stay. I rented my car from Dirt Cheap. It’s pretty easy and cheap. Monthly rent was $550 and you had no liability in the event of an accident (or so they said, but in the US you never really know). You also didn’t have to pay any additional fees for being under 25, which is the case with many other car rental companies. Yes, you have the trolley with which you can go to the next fashion mall or something, but you need a good hour to get to the beach with a change. So I decided to rent a car for the duration of my stay. I rented my car from Dirt Cheap. It’s pretty easy and cheap. Monthly rent was $550 and you had no liability in the event of an accident (or so they said, but in the US you never really know). You also didn’t have to pay any additional fees for being under 25, which is the case with many other car rental companies. It’s pretty easy and cheap. Monthly rent was $550 and you had no liability in the event of an accident (or so they said, but in the US you never really know). You also didn’t have to pay any additional fees for being under 25, which is the case with many other car rental companies. It’s pretty easy and cheap. Monthly rent was $550 and you had no liability in the event of an accident (or so they said, but in the US you never really know). You also didn’t have to pay any additional fees for being under 25, which is the case with many other car rental companies.
3) Leisure activities and what else is there to say
In your free time you can pretty much do anything that California has to offer. From surfing to golfing to hiking and much more. I can only recommend everyone to take advantage of one of the SDSU sports activities. Surfing was one of the best things I did there and I really miss going surfing at Mission Beach : ( On the SDSU campus there is the so-called Aztec Recreation Center. A huge gym with a climbing wall and sports courses. As for the party life There are usually two options: house parties or downtown.Furthermore, San Diego is ideally located for doing a number of road trips from there.Los Angeles is only a two-hour drive away.There are beautiful beaches along the way such as Laguna Beach, Newport Beach or Huntington Beach. Vegas is about a 5-6 hour drive away. You just have to go there, or several times : D On the way north to San Francisco you can drive along Route 1. A must for anyone coming to California. Malibu, Santa Barbara and many other beautiful places are on the way. For people planning to come to California in the spring semester, I highly recommend Lake Havasu. During spring break, there will be celebrations from morning to night;). What I can also recommend (if the petty cash allows it;) ) is to fly to Hawaii. I was on Maui for a few days and it was amazing. Beautiful beaches, a tour through the rainforest or just surfing there is simply great.
Here are a few tips for planning your stay abroad and life in SD:
Bank
I opened an account with Bank of America in San Diego. Since the Bank of America is a partner bank of the German bank, you can use your German card to withdraw money free of charge from any Bank of America ATM and deposit it into the American account and then shop freely with your debit card;) There is There are other ways to avoid international fees or other costs, but that’s how I did it anyway.
Shopping
As far as groceries are concerned, there are a few supermarkets where you can shop well. Vons or Ralphs are probably the top address in the college area. Nothing more needs to be said about Walmart, you can get pretty much anything there. As far as clothes go, America is pure paradise;) The best places to shop are in Fashion Valley or Las Americas. The second is a huge mall on the border with Mexico. I really advise you to take as few clothes as possible with you. In the end I had to pay extra for excess luggage and the second piece of luggage : /
The student
ID card You can use your student ID card, which you get in the introductory week, to get discounts when visiting the cinema or at Yoghurtland;) House
Parties
I don’t want to blame you for your anticipation, but as far as house parties are concerned, they are usually broken up by the police. And quite often before midnight. They make no exception. If the police stop by the third time, you even have to pay a decent ticket. A friend had to pay $1000 the third time. Just don’t turn the music up too loud and nothing should happen to you;)
I hope you liked my experience report and maybe it helped one or the other. I wish you some unforgettable time in sunny California and enjoy the time over there. I have wanderlust again just thinking about it. You won’t regret choosing SDSU for your semester abroad!
