University: San Diego State University
City: San Diego
Country: United States
Continent: North America
Field of study: business administration
Study type: semester abroad
Application process
The application process at San Diego State University turned out to be very simple. MicroEdu offers precise instructions on which documents and deadlines etc. are required. You can look for courses on the university’s website and often the course descriptions can also be viewed.
The studies
The SDSU business program includes 12 units. For me, that was four courses that I could get credit for at my home university. Of the four courses, two special courses are chosen in advance. Special courses are taken exclusively by internationals. All other courses are chosen on site, so you have the choice of taking other special courses or taking part in courses from the program with the American students. However, there are often waiting lists because American students have priority when choosing courses. It is therefore advantageous to select several options. Visit mcat-test-centers.com to get information about California State University Northridge.
My courses were Operation and Supply Chain Management and Fundamentals of Entrepreneurship as Special Courses. In addition, I chose Fundamentals of Finance and Social Problems as regular courses. A course always has 3 units. That’s 2 hours and 40 minutes of class time per week. I chose my courses so that I had the courses on two consecutive days and had the rest of the week off. But you should also consider that you usually write the exams at the same time, so it happened that I wrote three exams in one day. I am happy with this decision and would do it again.
College life
Uni life is awesome ! The SDSU has so much to offer. Don’t miss the football games and the previous Tailgate.Tickets are free for us ALI students. Before every home football game, there is a celebration with numerous students in the parking lot of the stadium. All wear their SDSU merchandise clothing. You can experience this American spirit with cheerleading teams, a band and even flag runners up close. Also the basketball games and other sports are interesting to watch and free for ALI students. The program also includes use of the fitness studio, which is open 24 hours a day and is located directly on campus. So if you have a longer break between courses, it’s worth taking a unit. If you prefer to enjoy the perfect San Diego weather, you can also chill out in the on-campus pool area. Classes are also available in the gym. Football, Volleyball and Basketball. There you can register as a whole team or as an individual player. It is a tournament over the entire semester. Another leisure option is the bowling alley, also located on campus, which is also included in the program.
Accommodation
I have chosen to live in popular Pacific Beach. The beach was right on the doorstep and the party area was within walking distance. San Diego is expensive but worth it! Since I only had to go to university for two days, I made a conscious decision to take this option and I am very happy about it. While other students who lived close to campus often had to drive to the beach, I had the sea view with the fantastic sunsets right from my living room. The prices on campus are also no cheaper than on the beach.
Leisure and excursion possibilities
San Diego has so much to offer! Not only the university offers numerous activities. Every Tuesday there is Taco Tuesday, which is a regular date for all students to eat tacos and celebrate. There are numerous restaurants and bars in Pacific Beach that offer special Taco Tuesday prices. If you want to eat the real tacos, you can also drive to Tijuana (Mexico) within an hour and eat tacos and party there. Every Sunday is the so-called Sunday Funday, when the clubs and bars are already full during the day. You also get to know a lot of Americans on Sundays because they have Sundays off.
The weather in San Diego invites you to surf, bike, chill on the beach and snorkel. In La Jolla you can see seals all year round and in Coronado you will find a beautiful white beach. There is also a popular outlet center very close by, where you can find really great bargains.
San Diego is also a great place for excursions. I was able to take numerous road trips during my semester abroad. Examples are San Francisco, Las Vegas and Grand Canyon, Zion National Park, Yosemite National Park, Bryce Canyon, Joshua Tree National Park, Mexico (Tijuana and Cabo). Los Angeles is also only a 1.5 hour drive away.
Conclusion
The semester at SDSU was a wonderful time. If you want to go to California, you should definitely spend your semester in San Diego. There is always something going on here! The university has so much to offer and San Diego just has a flair to fall in love with. It was the best time of my life and I would highly recommend it to anyone. I too had my doubts at first as to whether all the money would be worth it, because California is expensive, but it was worth every penny and I would want to have this experience again and again!
