Long Beach is a city in the US state of California . The city has about 470,000 inhabitants. If you want to live in Long Beach, you should get a car right from the start , as the city is very large and it is relatively difficult to get to your destination in a short time by public transport. On some days I was really pressed for time and regretted not having bought a car. You should also have a car in order to be able to do many road trips.
The California State University, Long Beach is a state university with about 35,000 students. The university campus is very large and has many sports clubs that you can join. Many restaurants can be found on campus. The university has a huge sports hall with a fitness studio, wellness area, volleyball courts, tennis courts, etc. Actually, the campus seemed like a small town in its own right, so many students use skateboards to get from A to B.
I recommend everyone who wants to spend a semester abroad there that they definitely go to a basketball game for the university team, because the atmosphere there is simply outstanding.
You should apply for a visa at the American embassy a few weeks or months before departure . You should also take out health insurance for abroad, as hospitalization can otherwise be very expensive.
It is also compulsory to vaccinate against some specific diseases. You should find an apartment before departure (in order to want to live on campus, you have to contact the university). If you deal with these aspects months in advance, you can save yourself a lot of stress.
The maintenance costs in California are very high, so you should plan for high expenses during your stay abroad, so you usually share a room with two people.
Popular places where international students stay are Beverly Plaza and Bixby Hill . The advantage of Beverly Plaza is that you are not far from supermarkets, the advantage of Bixby Hill is that you live very close to the university.
The CSULB offers a lot of interesting courses that can be found at California State University Long Beach, there is definitely something for everyone. However, as the number of participants in some courses is limited, it may happen that you cannot register for your desired course. For this reason you should have some courses as a reserve.
Personally, I spent the fall semester at CSULB, a nice bonus point was that there was a week off, the Thanksgiving holidays. These days off could either be used to catch up on university material or to go on vacation. I recommend taking a road trip through California to see the beauty of this state.
Long Beach is a city by the sea, you can go to many beaches to surf, etc. Furthermore, the students are very open and friendly . You can play beach volleyball with friends and many other beach sports as the weather in Long Beach is mostly sunny.
There are many dance bars that are great fun on weekends, they close their doors at 2am. If you really want to go out to party, you should go to Hollywood in Los Angeles, there are the big clubs, but they charge high admission prices. Often, however, there are special events especially for students, which lead to cheaper admission prices.
The food in Long Beach and California in general is relatively expensive compared to Germany, so you should try to cook a lot at home.
California has many national parks that you can visit over the weekend if you find the time. For example, I’ve been to Yosemite, Grand Canyon and Sequoia National Park.
The CSULB is a demanding university . You have to invest a lot of time to study for the courses, but it’s still a lot of fun because the fellow students are very helpful and happy to help with problems.
The surfing, the beaches, the new people you meet and the weather make this stay unforgettable. Long Beach is a wonderful city that, in connection with the outstanding weather, exudes a certain looseness. If you also love nature, California is the perfect place, as this US state has many beautiful national parks to offer. All in all, you should study there because it is a good combination of high university level and fun.
