University of California Los Angeles Review (4)

University of California Los Angeles Review (4)

North America

University: University of California Los Angeles

City: Los Angeles

Country: United States

Continent: North America

Field of study: economics

Study type: Summer Sessions

I can recommend a summer session at the University of California in Los Angeles to anyone who wants to combine a stay abroad and the acquisition of credits with a pleasant time in one of the most laid-back cities in the world. MicroEdu helped me a lot with the organization. You get an all inclusive package. Despite the last-minute decision to go to the USA, I was able to concentrate fully on the university in Germany during the exam phase. Annika was also always available for questions about problems with the visa and was able to help spontaneously. After consulting other students who didn’t book through MicroEdu, I was glad I made the choice. Visit anycountyprivateschools.com to get information about University of California Davis study abroad program.

Los Angeles:

Los Angeles and UCLA offer a variety of recreational opportunities. Whether culture-oriented, enthusiastic about sports or simply addicted to lying on the beach. In Los Angeles everyone gets their money’s worth. The many outlets around LA are particularly dangerous for the wallet. Both the “Premium Outlet” in Camarillo and the “Ontario Mills Outlet” are highly recommended. An overview of the brand stores can be found on the outlet websites. I can also recommend 3rd Street in Santa Monica. There are some cool surf shops and some nice restaurants. From there it is also not far to the Santa Monica Pear (recommended especially in the evening).

As far as the cultural program is concerned, there are various museums available. Ghetty Center is near UCLA. Here you can combine a visit to the museum with a fantastic view over the whole of LA. Hollywood, Beverly Hills and Belair are also almost in the immediate vicinity of the campus. So you should at least have seen the classics like Hollywood Blv, Kodak Theatre, Hollywood Sign, Downtown.

When it comes to evening entertainment, Hollywood Blv will definitely get its money’s worth. Various clubs and bars create the agony of choice. The only restriction is the budget. Because there’s one thing going out in LA isn’t – cheap. Especially as a man you have to dig deep into your wallet from time to time to even get into a club. But don’t panic, I didn’t have a limitless budget and still saw the inside of one or the other club.

In general, however, it is true for Los Angeles that using public transport costs a lot of time. The transport network cannot be compared to that of major European cities. Therefore, it is definitely advisable to rent a car. The offer from STA Travel has proven to be the cheapest for me. The company cooperates with the car rental company Alamo (directly at the airport). Service and handling were good and very easy.

UCLA campus really leaves nothing to be desired. The entire complex cannot be compared with a German university. The design of the buildings and the green areas give the feeling of living in a “Center Park”. There are various sports arenas and sports facilities for normal students spread across the entire campus. There is a fitness center with squash courts, an athletics stadium, various tennis courts (with floodlights), basketball courts and a swimming pool (also excellent for relaxing). The location of the university campus also invites you to go jogging in Belair.

Living on campus:

Staying at the Residence Halls turned out to be a good decision. In my opinion, living with 1-2 roommates is not a limitation. I have not heard any serious complaints from anyone about their roommates.
The rooms are appropriately equipped and clean. In all rooms there is a desk and the associated Internet connection for each resident. There is also a WLAN network, but it makes sense to take a LAN cable with you, since the reception was rather weak in some rooms. The sanitary facilities, like the Sproulhall as a whole, were newly renovated and, on the whole, very clean despite the many students. The food in the dining hall (15 meals a week is enough) was absolutely ok. The burgers are really good. But there is also a large salad buffet and normal dishes. The following applies to the drinks: all you can drink!

About the courses:

I took two courses at UCLA. On the one hand Finance Econ106F and Microeconomic Theory Econ102. Both courses were absolutely appropriate in terms of level and train you in dealing with English terminology. Technically, some things seemed very familiar to me. But as long as you can get credit for the courses, that’s negligible in my opinion. Contrary to the reports of other students in San Diego, for example, the exams were challenging but manageable. But I cannot recommend more than 2-3 courses to anyone. Otherwise there is no time to get to know the country and its people and to enjoy the California sun.

Conclusion:

I can only recommend a summer session at UCLA to everyone. In my opinion, you can’t spend the 2 months in summer much better and collect credits at the same time.

University of California Los Angeles Review (4)