University: California State University Fullerton

City: Fullerton

Country: United States

Continent: North America

Field of study: business administration

Study type: semester abroad

I made the decision to study at CSUF very late, it started in August and it wasn’t until June that I was sure that CSUF would be my university. The application process was very quick and totally uncomplicated, so a big thank you in advance to the MicroEdu team, who were able to competently help me with any question. Check iamaccepted.com to see Hawaii Pacific University study abroad opportunities.

Housing

I arrived two weeks before the start of the semester to look for an apartment. It wasn’t as easy as I thought, I had made a lot of phone calls, written a lot of e-mails and also been to a number of apartment viewings, but often the good offers were only for “long-term leases” for at least a year and I only had myself applied for one semester. I finally found an apartment close to the university. I stayed at the Homestead Apartments, which is a nice apartment complex with swimming pools, hot tubs, fitness center etc. but it is very expensive as there are hidden costs that you are not initially informed about. Many of the German and international students also lived there, which made it much easier to make contacts.

The university is very nice and the Business/Economics building is brand new. The campus is very large and, in addition to a small “food court” comparable to a canteen, where mainly fast food is offered, there is also a very nice fitness center, which, however, costs 25 dollars per month. The employees of the International Student Service Office are also very helpful with questions of all kinds. At the beginning of the semester there are two orientation days where you are guided around the campus and you get the most important information, for example how to properly “crash” a course. The President of CSUF then invited all students to his villa for lunch afterwards. It was very impressive what was organized for us, it makes you realize why you paid so much money.
Before the university starts you get a form on which you have to enter 10 courses, sorted by priority. The CSUF then tries to reserve the four most important courses. However, that didn’t work out for me, I only got one course from my wish list and had to “crash” three more. Crashing courses was no problem at all. You can use the university’s online system to see which courses are still available, so you’re sure to get in. Since I had to crash the courses myself, I also determined the times myself, because the courses are always offered several times by different lecturers. So I only had uni for two days, Mondays and Wednesdays. But Wednesday was also very packed. I have taken the following courses:

Retail Marketing Strategy
International Marketing
Consumer Behavior
Labor Economics

Of these courses I can definitely recommend Consumer Behavior with the German professor Ms. Harich, International Marketing had interesting content but the workload was enormous in my opinion and there were always quizzes written (sometimes even 2 times a week), group work and other homework required. That was above average compared to my other subjects. In my opinion, the level is a bit lower than in Germany, but as I said, you are constantly challenged to work in every subject.
Most professors require you to buy their books, which can be very expensive fun as they usually cost around $80 or even more. In the courses you then sit together with about 20-50 classmates and it feels as if you are back in school, because oral participation is required as well as written work. Although group work is also labor intensive, it is a very good opportunity to get to know the American students better. Soon they will also meet for parties.

Fullerton

The town of Fullerton is quite nice but doesn’t have much to offer in terms of nightlife. There are a few bars and small clubs downtown that aren’t bad but get boring quickly. So it’s better to go to Los Angeles to enjoy the nightlife there, because it’s only about a 40-minute drive, especially on Hollywood Blvd. are very many discos.

Vicinity

Fullerton is located in the middle of Orange County, which is also known for its beautiful beaches such as Huntington Beach, Newport and Laguna Beach. It takes almost three hours to get there by public transport and I can’t recommend it to anyone, it’s just not worth it. You can drive to Newport or Huntington Beach in under half an hour. So without a car you can’t get anywhere, my advice to anyone who chooses Fullerton is to either buy a car or rent a car with a few people every weekend if you want to experience something. San Diego is about an hour and a half away and is the most fun city in California in my opinion. You can do anything there and the nightlife is simply the best in “America’s finest city”.

Conclusion

The time in Fullerton was really great and life changing, it was a very important experience for me. I can recommend this university.