Before I get started: a semester abroad like this is one of the best things you can do during your studies.
But even better: a YEAR abroad. The advantage is simple:
you learn in the first semester abroad. In the second semester abroad, you apply what you have learned. Clear thing. After half a year (more precisely: 4 months) you are only just getting into the rhythm! You only halfway learned to master the language, got to know the culture and made friends. And then fly home again? It is worth investing in another semester, as ONLY THEN will you consolidate everything you have learned. Really not before!
I particularly recommend, however, if you only want to / can stay for one semester, to move away from German students. People, to put it plainly: what does the USA bring you if you hang out with Germans? Then why not just stay in Germany?
BEFORE you go, make yourself aware of WHY you are leaving and then ask yourself to what extent German fellow students will help you with this. Are you going to San Diego to party, party, chill on the beach and take a Mallorca vacation 9,000km away?
Party and drink is that what you want? University is also important, but not important? Learning English is of secondary importance, and getting to know Americans is at the bottom of your priority list because they’re stupid anyway? Does everything sound familiar to you? Then forget everything I just wrote.
However, if you are going to perfect your English, get to know the wonderful American culture, get to know the super nice and helpful Americans… if those are your priorities, then you should STRICTLY stay away from German fellow students, who are only available at SDSU so swarms. It really doesn’t work. Going abroad may be a once-in-a-lifetime thing. So why should you continue the same life as in Germany, with the same people as in Germany, in San Diego? “What do I want to take with me from my stay abroad”. Really think about it beforehand, it would be a shame about your time!
Now to the SDSU
The campus is probably one of the nicest in the US!
As in a botanical garden, you walk in the green between exotic blossoms and flowers and tall palm trees. The architecture is very Spanish and North African. There is a tram, the trolley, which has a station right on campus. From there you can easily get to the most important points of San Diego.
SHORT TIP: for bus and trolley, buy the semester ticket for about $ 150 at the beginning of the semester, then you save about $ 100 (!) Compared to a monthly purchase for $ 58 a month !!!
There is a wide range of courses in the field of business from management to economics. Marketing, Information Systems (computer science and Winfo), Business Calculus (business math), etc., everything is included. Of course there are lots of other subjects too, just take a look at the course catalog.
As for business, the SDSU has a dazzling reputation in the world. Just recently, my professor here in Germany told me that the SDSU had top-class staff in the field of marketing, for example. Get more information about San Diego State University on educationvv.
I can confirm that all times. For example, one professor, Prof Bernhard Schroeder (Fundamentals of Entrepreneurship), co-founded companies like Amazon.com and yahoo!.Com, and turned his own company and others he oversees into multi-million dollar companies.
Another was a consultant for Boeing for years. Another sales manager for 3M for many years. Another works on the side as a family business consultant across the country! And so the list goes on! Such people make the quality of teaching really good! Because they know your craft like no one else!
Unlike others who post here who think that SDSU courses are typically American based on “more mass instead of class”, WEHEMENT would like to contradict !!!
Are real case studies, extremely good books, clear PowerPoint (some professionals do not use PowerPoints at all), effective group work and projects all the same? Hardly likely. Rather, it is “simple, understandable and instructive” class! A lot of things therefore seem simple at the SDSU.
But simply doesn’t mean worse. But on the contrary! The most ingenious ideas of mankind were not complex, but totally simple! So too, a lot of things are very easy for us at SDSU because we are used to the complex German system.
To get to the point: in Germany there is a lot of emphasis on quantity (cramming all the material from one semester for a final exam), while at the SDSU the emphasis is on class (regular tests, exams and the distribution of the percentages that your final grade is make out several exams, tests, Presi’s, and attendance). That is the small but huge difference!
In Germany, research is very important, while at the SDSU you learn practical things for life and for your job. In Germany you learn what business means in theory, at SDSU you learn what business actually means.
Another important word about Profs: NO SINGLE PROFESSIONAL COMES FRESH FROM UNIVERSITY WITH HIS PROFESSOR TITLE AND ONLY SEES THEORIES IN FRONT OF THEM. ALMOST EVERY PROFESS HAS WORKED IN BUSINESS, WHICH ALLOWS HIM TO GIVE THE COURSE A TOUCH OF PRACTICE AND TO PASS ON HIS EXPERIENCE TO THE STUDENTS, WHATEVER THE LOVE AND OFTEN DOES !!!!
Life in San Diego
The sun never lets you down. If it should rain (maybe once a month, but not in summer, then not at all), then you are happy because it is a change from the great weather. Life there in general is a lot more chilled… the people are super nice, super helpful and very relaxed. There is no stress. Only good-humored people. In San Diego you can find everything you need for life, from relaxation to partying, from the beach to skiing. Everything is there. Here are a few tips that you should definitely see:
- Mission Valley
- Fashion Valley
- Sunset Cliffs
- Desert Hills Outlets (near Palm Springs. The skyline is incomparably beautiful!)
- Las Americas Outlet
- Ross and TJ Maxx (there are branded clothes for no money)
- Downtown
- Gaslamp Quarter
- Seaport Village
- Tijuana (Mexico)
- Rio Vista
- Del Mar Beach
- Solana Beach
- Mission Beach
- Qualcomm Stadium (when the SDSU Aztecs play, admission is free!)
- Balboa Park and much more…
Don’t forget to bring LA and San Francisco with you. In LA, Universal Studios goes (plan a day), is a lot of fun. If you can, by all means go …
- -Sixflags (amusement park with crazy roller coasters)
- -Las Vegas (inquire online and take a tour that will also take you to Hooverdam and the Grand Canyon)
- -Yosemite National Park.
Here is another travel tip:
If you want to see more of the US, check out the Southwest.com website regularly. The plane has an offer twice a year where you can book flights anywhere in the USA for $ 69 one way. Well suited to check out the East Coast, for example!
So, now have fun in San Diego. Beautiful city, beautiful people, delicious food. Perfect for studying. I recommend a year. In a host family (brought my English to native speaker level). Don’t hang out with Germans. Made a lot of friends with Americans. You can too, just be open and yourself. Travel a lot. Take a lot with you from the courses. Get good grades. Talk a lot with the professors, you can really learn a lot for life. Do sports (in the ARC). Brown. San Diego live. America live. Live freedom.
Make good use of your time!
