University: San Jose State University
City: San Jose
Country: United States
Continent: North America
Field of study: business administration
Study type: semester abroad
Why San Jose?
I’ve been interested in going to California for a long time and I wanted to combine the benefit of my CV with the fun and sun of California. As the “capital of Silicon Valley”, San Jose is not only interesting for IT people, but also for business people, because the many startups naturally also need us business people. I myself also chose the Introduction to Entrepreneurship and Entrepreneurial Finance courses because of the region. At SJSU, you can feel the startup feeling and the mentality to simply try out good business ideas. Of course, Santa Cruz is interesting for leisure time as the next bathing resort and San Francisco as a cultural metropolis and tourist magnet. Visit mcat-test-centers.com to get information about University of New Brunswick Saint John.
Since I flew to San Jose right after my last exam and started the semester there right away, I decided to go to the student residence for sure. Alternatively, many others have also looked for host families or other landlords. In my opinion, despite the high price of about $1000 per month (unfortunately, the rent prices cannot be compared with Germany), it was a very good choice to go to the student residence, the “Campus Village”. If you take the expensive option there ($1000/month), you will live in a shared flat for four people, each with a 10 square meter room and sharing a kitchen, living room and bathroom. I lived in CV-B and because of my ground floor apartment I could reach my department, the Boccardo Business Center, within two minutes. I was also lucky and had two Americans in my pad – one from Florida and one from California. In my opinion, the proximity to the campus and thus to campus life is also the biggest advantage of the hall of residence. In addition, you often get to know the people in your shared flat very well, and through this connection I was also invited to a roommate’s Thanksgiving party.
Life on campus
For me, a real campus was something completely new in general, since my university is spread over two cities and there are still a number of locations there. The first thing I noticed was that this campus really lives. When you leave the campus village, there are often events on the forecourt or you can find free barbecues in one of the dormitories or at Tower Hall in the university’s event calendar. However, the many festivals all take place during the weekdays – on the other hand, it is relatively quiet on campus at the weekend. Then fraternity parties take place relatively often. However, there is a problem if you are a man. Women, on the other hand, are always allowed in. If you want to go in, you should at least take more girls than boys with you and only then try it.
Travel
One of the best things about San Jose is of course its location in California. Before the semester abroad, I made numerous trips and managed to do everything. However, the implementation of the idea “I only travel with Americans” proves to be relatively difficult, which one can almost forget. My experience is that most Americans are not particularly interested in their country and prefer to spend their money on other things. So it’s good again if you live in the Campus Village or know people from the courses. I myself have only ever traveled with other exchange students (Germans, Swedes and Japanese). If you want to speak English all the time, it’s best to get a few people in the car who don’t speak German and then things will work out.
You can get cars at the airport from all providers or within walking distance from Avis in the Hilton Hotel, which saves you about 45 minutes and is the same price if you book from Germany. Always book your rental cars from a German website. The advantage is German law and proper insurance. We once booked from an American site for little money and then had to pay a lot of money for a really shabby insurance (German standards).
My travel destinations: Napa Valley, Lake Tahoe, Yosemite National Park, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Highway 1, San Diego, Reno and Sierra Nevada (I went rafting there through the university’s recreational programs – great if you don’t know so many and attractively priced). In the region you should have been to Palo Alto, San Francisco and Santa Cruz.
The courses
Although SJSU calls itself “University,” it’s more like a college. The courses are mostly fun, but you’ll be constantly checked with graded homework, weekly tests and group work. Although the tasks are not particularly demanding, they take up a relatively large amount of time. I had to read between 30-40 pages in the book per subject and week. With the exception of one, my professors were good, but not as good as my professors in Germany. I think that can be explained by the fact that there are more teachers who teach courses with 20-40 participants. As a business administration graduate, I had nothing to do with formulas this semester – you rarely calculate and you don’t have to be able to do math. In the end, the grades were consistently positive. In Germany, I am only a slightly above-average student and have the semester in San Jose with 1,
Conclusion
It was a very nice semester. Above all, I had a lot of fun on my travels. However, if you expect high intellectual standards, you should consider whether you would rather go to the higher system of UCs (University of California), as these are more highly regarded than the state universities.
