University: University of California Riverside
City: Riverside
Country: United States
Continent: North America
Field of study: business administration
Study type: semester abroad
General
There is nothing going on in Riverside itself. The only thing that makes Riverside special are its students and if you are looking for a party semester you should not necessarily go to Riverside as clubs and bars are rare. Nevertheless, the small-town character of Riverside also has its good side. You get to know each other after a while and since you meet again and again at parties or in courses, you quickly get to know a lot of people. At least that’s how I felt. In addition, I prefer self-organized parties anyway, so that suited me quite well. Visit iamaccepted.com to get information about San Diego State University study abroad program.
Otherwise it is really advisable to have a car in Riverside as there is not much you can do without it. If you don’t want to buy a car, you can rent one from the many car rental companies. If you then do the whole thing in groups, it’s not that expensive anymore.
Riverside’s “downtown” is all antique shops. It’s pretty laid out, but unless you’re into museums and antiques, there’s not much you can do there.
However, what is highly recommended is to walk to the C as there is a beautiful view of Riverside and its surroundings. The “C” is a letter concreted into the surrounding mountains by students years ago, and you can see it from everywhere. The meaning is not quite so sure, most say it simply stands for California.
There are several options for shopping for groceries. Without a car, it is most adept at Food for Less or the Stat. Bros. to shop. Both about 15 minutes walk from the Extension Center. Food for Less is cheaper, but in the Stat. Bros almost everything. However, if you love gummy bears and good chocolate, you should bring your own. You can get Haribos in the USA, but they are like a dye factory and the chocolate cannot be compared to European ones either. Otherwise you can get almost everything food-wise.
There are 2 options for shopping for clothes, which can easily be reached by bus. Quarter bus tickets are available at the main campus building for $25.
Ontario Outlet Mall, however buses only depart directly from campus during the weekdays.
Taylor Mall, about 45 minutes without changing trains. Bus stop across the street from the Extension Center
Subjects
The choice of subjects in general is quite complicated at the UCR. For me, there was also a change in the caregivers, which intensified the chaos despite the great efforts of those involved.
In general, you can choose between 3 types of courses. There are so-called campus courses, extension classes and IEP classes.
Campus Courses:
These are courses shared with American students on campus.
Recommended but very time-consuming are courses by Prof. Jasso. In addition to the lectures, which usually take place 3 times a week, projects have to be done and specialist literature or articles have to be read at regular intervals and so-called “talking points” have to be worked out and submitted, which are then evaluated.
Extension classes:
These courses are offered directly by the Extension Center and are more in the form of advanced training. Many employees who are already in the workforce are sent to such courses by their employers. For this reason, these courses are usually offered in the evenings and often last until 9: 30 p.m.
If you don’t want to think too much and want good grades, you should take these courses. I’ve had 3 extension courses and to be honest none of them did much for me. They were all interesting, but for the most part the course was more about beating around the topic than actually addressing the content of the course.
What courses I absolutely cannot recommend because of the teacher are courses by Israr Hayath. Not only does he speak English with an extremely Indian accent and if you are not used to it it is difficult to understand him, but his course content does not really correspond to what he is telling all the time what he will be doing. Up to the last course he talked about things that we will still do and can be done, etc., but he didn’t do anything really effectively. We had to turn in a project every week for him to review. His “look through” really just meant “look through” thumbed through once and checked if the layout is correct and that’s it. I would have liked a constructive criticism CONTENT and not as a comment that this table should be spread over 2 pages. The project accounted for 40 percent. In the end I got 2 points deducted for not putting dividers between 3 chapters. The funny thing was that the last hour before I showed him the project and asked what needs to be changed and his comment was I should leave it like that that would be ok.
In the final he got 3 questions twice and otherwise his lesson preparation and the learning effect was not really good.
The 3rd type of courses could be chosen from a list of IEP classes. These courses are mainly designed to improve English skills. What you have to keep in mind is that the IEP classes start later than the campus and extension classes and therefore end later. So if you are planning to take English courses, it is best to inquire about times directly at the Extension Center in advance so that you can plan your departure accordingly.
In general, the courses are a bit easier than at German universities, but more time-consuming because you have to hand in a lot of smaller work. In Germany, apart from a few exceptions, there is a long exam at the end of the semester, which then gives the grade. In the USA in Riverside there are a lot of sub-tasks that then add up to the grade. As already mentioned, in addition to projects and midterms and finals, you often have to summarize and submit specialist articles or books, which then also flow into the grade.
Accommodation
I stayed in the International Village in a 3 bedroom apartment. 2 single rooms and I in a double room, kitchen and living room were together.
The International Village is one of the two student residences offered by the Extension Center for international students.
In and of itself, the accommodation was ok. But compared to the private apartments, it was extremely expensive for the fact that NOTHING was actually provided. You had to get bed linen and towels yourself. Just like the kitchen utensils. There are no cutlery, plates or mugs. You really have to bring or buy EVERYTHING yourself. In addition, there is neither a pool nor a spa area, which the private apartment houses all have.
The operators also know these negative points and in order to protect yourself from a mass move out, you have to commit yourself to live or pay there for the entire quarter. That means you can’t just live there for a week and look for cheaper accommodation, you have to pay for the whole period.
Nevertheless, the accommodation was quite ok, just as I said the price and the equipment that you have to get everything yourself was not good.
I really wanted to know where I was going to live in Riverside the Quarter in Germany, so it was practical and ok for me. However, I wouldn’t do it again.
Two apartment houses that I can highly recommend are Sterling Apartments and Grand Marcs. Both are the same distance away from the campus as the International Village, but unlike the International Village, they have both a pool and basic kitchen equipment.
Conclusion
Overall I had a very good time at Riverside. I met many people from many different countries and cultures. In addition to the lectures, I also had enough time to plan my leisure activities and to go on trips at the weekend. The Extension Center also offers a few excursions, but you have to look carefully at which ones are worth it and which ones aren’t. I definitely had fun during my time and would recommend it to anyone.
The only thing I would do differently would be to find somewhere else to live and take more campus courses and fewer extension classes. Otherwise, I was satisfied with my stay and overall with the organization on site.
However, everyone has their own experiences, so I can only advise you to go to the USA and see for yourself.
The advantage of going to a university in the USA with Collage Contact is that you save yourself all the stress of applying because Collage Contact takes care of everything for you. At this point, thanks again to the Collage Contact team.
