University: University of California Irvine
City: Irvine
Country: United States
Continent: North America
Field of study: life sciences
Study type: Summer Sessions
I came across this website through a MicroEdu information event and immediately found a few interesting offers.
The MicroEdu team is very competent and will help in any emergency situation. For example, I only had a short amount of time before my visa deadline in Frankfurt and needed confirmation from the chosen university as soon as possible. But a few phone calls from MicroEdu and the UCI and I had everything in the mailbox, although the courses I wanted to take were not yet certain. In any case, get in touch with the team and a satisfactory solution will be found for you! Visit existingcountries.com to get information about California State University Los Angeles student review 2.
When I arrived in Los Angeles, I was taken directly and comfortably to my accommodation by a previously booked shuttle service. I decided to stay in the dormitories on the UCI campus. I lived in a big house with up to 30 people. There was always something going on, it never got boring and I quickly made contacts.
The university offers special “activities” for which you can register, such as a bus tour to Universal Studios or the so-called potlock, where everyone cooks and brings a dish according to their nation. That day I got to know many new people with whom I also spent the rest of my stay.
Unfortunately, the orientation day of the Summer Session students was on a Tuesday, but I had my first courses on the Monday before. As you can imagine it was extremely stressful on Monday before 9am as the first course was then due to start informing where my courses were to take place on the vast campus. At this point I have to criticize that the summer session students do not find it nearly as easy as the students who attend an English program. We were a total of 9 summer session students out of a total of 12,000 full-time students at the university. That’s why we all had difficulties accessing our account on the website or finding various contact persons, because many did not know about our program.
However, if you try hard enough, you can get a handle on any problem, and if you’re really stuck, you can contact the MicroEdu team.
If you don’t have a bike, you have to put up with long, long walks on the UCI site, which is really breathtakingly beautiful and well-maintained. So every morning I had to walk about 30 minutes to my lecture building. The first few days were still quite exhausting, but in the end I enjoyed being able to exercise in addition to all the fast food, and you can also work out in the on-campus gym.
The area resembles a small town with everything your heart desires, such as supermarkets, cinemas, fast food restaurants (not necessarily few ;-)), gas stations, etc.
The courses I took were really interesting. I chose Virology and Mind, Memory & Brain. While Virology was very dry and you had a lot of work at home, in Mind, Memory & Brain we had the opportunity to see many interesting films for illustration and even touch and look at a human brain.
The sequence and structure of the courses is therefore very different and depends – as at German universities – on the lecturers. If you notice that you don’t like the courses, you have the opportunity to apply for a free change on site.
If you have problems, talk to your lecturers! They are usually very cooperative and try to help. For example, after consultation with my lecturer, I had the opportunity to take a small translator to the exam because I was afraid that I would not understand one or the other word in the exam. I was shown a lot of understanding and that ultimately saved me a point or two.
I met a lot of people from the ESL program in the dormitories, so we were out and about almost every day, doing something and meeting new people. So it shouldn’t be a problem to make contacts and find something to do in the evening.
However, it is relatively difficult to start great events on the UCI site without a car. The distances are far too big to be covered on foot. I had met some local students who owned a car, so I was able to see San Diego and Los Angeles. An alternative is to rent a car with 5 people, that also works with your German driver’s license.
Of course there are also buses, but the route network for distant destinations is extremely confusing and poorly developed, so you have to be prepared for long waits and long journeys.
The weather in California is stunning, so leave your jackets and long pants at home;-) The sky is cloudless and the sun shines every day. Therefore, daily visits to the beach are a must! The advantage of living on the UCI site is that you can reach many different beaches relatively easily by bus. Laguna Beach is particularly recommended and particularly beautiful due to its secluded bays. But Newport Beach is also worth seeing. If you’re in the mood for surfing and breathtaking sunsets, you absolutely have to go to Huntington Beach.
All in all, after initial difficulties, the summer session in Irvine was an absolutely recommendable experience and a great life experience.
