University: University of California Riverside
City: Riverside
Country: United States
Continent: North America
Field of study: Business administration, trade management
Study type: semester abroad
The application process at the UCR was quite easy and more or less problem-free thanks to the support of MicroEdu. Since this was my third stay abroad, I already had experience in this regard; For example, how exactly does the visa work and what should be considered and considered when planning such a project. Visit jibin123.com to get information about Semester Abroad In Riga Stradins University.
I decided to live on campus in the IV (International Village), which also eliminated the need to look for an apartment. Although you should be aware that there are no big parties or that you experience “real student life” there, this housing has other advantages, such as the direct proximity to the Extension Center, where all courses take place (with the exception of the main campus courses). I lived there with a fellow student from my home university and two American women. There were two bedrooms with two bathrooms and a common kitchen and living area. Basically, living together worked well and because two locals lived with us, we didn’t have to buy a lot of crockery and kitchen utensils;As far as care was concerned, you were always in the best of hands. There was an office where all sorts of questions about the IV and about Riverside were answered, and for the courses and the studies in general, two people introduced themselves at the beginning who were our contact persons for questions.
In terms of courses, I chose one main campus course and four extension courses. However, the workload for the main campus course was extremely high and took up by far the most time. In terms of performance level, the courses were not too high on average, the “difficulty” was more the time management, because the professors kept us on our toes with a lot of busy work. One can argue about the skills of the lecturers, but my managerial accounting professor was by far the best and shared his extensive knowledge with us and made clear demands on the course. At the end of each class, a group exercise was worked on and then everyone had to write a quiz; Homework was handed in at the beginning of the lesson. This was clearly the best of my extension courses and I would say the only one I really learned anything from. As already mentioned, Strategic & Competitive Analysis took a lot of time. There were often assignments to be submitted, a midterm, a final, a final group report and a final group presentation; in addition, extra credits could be collected regularly. Since the textbook generally had to be read and a reading response was required for two other books, it was quite clear that something should be done for this course every day; often several hours.
My leisure time was quite simple and consisted of studying and sports. For this I bought a membership in the Recreation Center and attended sports courses there every day or even trained freely on the equipment. The opportunities to be physically active there are enormous and very diverse. There are courses that are included in the membership, such as TRX, Total Body Toning, Zumba, Pilates, and other additional courses, such as any martial arts or tennis. Otherwise there is equipment for strength and endurance in two buildings on two levels, there are outdoor courts for tennis, basketball, football etc and also a pool and a swimming pool. In addition, there is even the option of climbing indoors.In addition to the Recreation Center, there are also the Outdoor Excursions, which are highly recommended. There you can register for various trips, such as surfing or snowboarding; I personally did the Mojave Desert Trip, which I really enjoyed. The organization was optimal and I could borrow any equipment there.
Otherwise, Riverside is of course very centrally located in California and from there you can of course also explore the area on your own. There are enough car rental companies nearby to rent a car and organize trips and trips yourself. I myself have traveled around New York and Miami Beach before and made a trip to Washington DC during my time in California and flew home via South and North Dakota at the end of my quarter. During the study period, I didn’t get much time otherwise and was content with small trips to Santa Monica, San Diego and Joshua Tree Park. Nevertheless: If no main campus courses are taken, you have significantly more time and maybe even boredom – then there are enough places that can be easily reached from Riverside.
Basically, I can only recommend the semester abroad as I did it to everyone and I am very happy to have all this experience in my luggage. Everything worked really well without much difficulty and I can only encourage everyone to dare their own adventure.
