My name is Uli and I did my semester abroad at California State University, Los Angeles on Fall 15. It was important to me personally to take business subjects and have them recognized at my home university. The university is pretty centrally located in California . The beaches of Santa Monica and Venice can be reached in a maximum of one hour by car. About 2 hours by bus. Las Vegas is 3-4 hours away, San Francisco is a little further away at 5-6 hours and San Diego is only 2 hours away.
California State University LA
The area is relatively large compared to my university in Germany, but comparatively small to other American universities. The buildings are relatively old, but the rooms are more modern. There are many opportunities to do sports. There is a gym on campus as well as many college football, basketball, and volleyball teams. Football, on the other hand, is not offered. Get more student review on California State University Los Angeles on maternityetchic.
It is possible to apply for the apartments in the dorms. These are located directly on the campus. The chances of getting a place there, however, are lower; Since you are only there for one semester, all students who attend the university for a longer period are given preference and thus it is almost impossible to get a place. If you don’t want to or can’t live in the dorms, you should either get a car or bus tickets. I had a 15-minute bus ride to the university. The lecture system is very different from the usual German lecture system. It is comparable to the school in Germany.
Courses
In addition to two marketing courses, I took a management course. It is assessed in writing as well as orally, homework has to be done and various smaller individual or team projects are the order of the day. Most of the tests consist of multiple choice. In addition, you will have a few papers and papers coming up to you. You should therefore always stay on the ball in order to get good grades in the end. The courses are quite small. In the first 2 weeks you have time to look at courses and then have yourself enrolled directly through the professor. Usually you get all the courses you want. My tip: Get in touch with the professors in the USA while you are in Germany and approach them again before or after the lecture. Then nothing stands in the way of the desired courses. In general, the level of difficulty is slightly lower than in Germany, but the effort should not be underestimated. Homework and projects take up a lot of time. The professors are all nice, helpful and welcome foreign students in their courses.
Accommodation
The earlier you look around, the better your chances of getting the perfect apartment or house. I shared the rental price (1300 €) with another person so that we could get an apartment in the Alhambra district next to the university. You can find very good housing opportunities nearby via the Airbnb site. Downtown, Alhambra or Pasadena are particularly recommended. With the bus it took about 15 minutes to the university and 35 minutes to downtown. However, my recommendation is to rent a car with several people, as public transport and the traffic system in LA are not the most reliable. So it can happen quite often that the bus arrives too late, too early or not at all. My tip: Download the Uber app. You can use this app to order private drivers who will take you from A to B, much cheaper than a taxi.
Miscellaneous
The organization of my semester abroad started about 9 months beforehand. It is advisable to take care of organizational matters at an early stage. Make your own checklist and then work through all of the points one by one. A mobile phone prepaid card can you get you there. For about $ 40 you get an internet flat rate and you can make calls anywhere in the US network. Through the almost daily contact with other international students, I was able to improve and deepen my English. You will get to know many different cultures and nationalities. Get involved with it!
Conclusion
I had a really nice and unforgettable time. Traveling during the semester and especially afterwards was relatively uncomplicated and particularly easy due to the central location of LA. In addition to football games, basketball games, concerts and film premieres, I got to experience so many different things. In addition to LA, I was able to explore San Francisco, San Diego, Las Vegas and parts of the Grand Canyon. I would recommend it to everyone. It was a very nice adventure! I definitely advise you to do a semester abroad. You will certainly not regret it.
