University: California State University Fullerton
City: Fullerton
Country: United States
Continent: North America
Field of study: mechanical engineering
Study type: semester abroad
I did my semester abroad (Spring 2018) at California State University Fullerton (CSUF) as I had heard good things about the university and the tuition was lower than other universities in California. The location is ideal if you want to explore different beaches. Easy access to Los Angeles, San Diego and Las Vegas. Check jibin123.com to see Semester Abroad In California State University Northridge.
Preparation
From the outset, I found out from former students abroad what their budget was and they always gave a number between 15-20,000 euros. I used this number as a guide and saved accordingly. There are various ways to get financial support, including BAföG (foreign BAföG is independent of domestic BAföG, so you have to try!)
I got in touch with MicroEdu six months in advance and sent the documents in good time without having any stress. The CSUF’s commitment came a week later, I was thrilled that it went so quickly and so it was time to move on to the next step. I had to make an appointment at the embassy to get an F-1 visa, which I got without any problems.
I then booked a one-way flight to Los Angeles and searched Facebook for a room in Fullerton. I got an answer relatively quickly and then skyped with my roommate. After a few days, I accepted and made everything clear for Fullerton.
Campus
The CSUF campus is huge and diverse! I spent most of my time on campus using various university facilities. For example my favorite place, the Recreation Center (Gym), which you can use completely for $100 per semester. The Recreation Center is located on campus, has an outdoor pool, a hall where you can play basketball or badminton. The gym is on two floors, where various courses are offered (almost all are included in the fee, for example yoga, Zumba, etc.)
There’s always something happening on campus, from free food to dance routines from the salsa club. For example, I just spent my lunch break on a bench on campus and just let things sink in. You get to know people all the time or just see something completely new.
Students life
If you really want to meet people, I can recommend you to join a club. There are many clubs, you will find one that you will like. I’ve joined several clubs and as a result have met a lot of people in a short space of time. The Sales Leadership Cluboffers a lot of workshops, where you learn which steps are important from customer service to business transactions. The workshops always started with a so-called “ice-breaker” to lighten the mood and allow people to get to know each other better. The first time we played bingo with different words. Everyone should walk around the room and find out by talking to another person if they can relate to a word that is on the piece of paper. If yes, the corresponding field was signed by the person and the aim was to fill in all the fields through conversations.
Furthermore, representatives from various companies kept coming to discuss with us students, where we had the opportunity to make contacts and find out what is important in the industry in order to get good employment opportunities after graduation. There was usually always something to eat and drink at every meeting, because the meeting always started in the afternoon after university.
Enactus at the CSUF was started in spring 2018 by a German student abroad with an American and I was immediately enthusiastic about the goal and the values of the club. I have to say that I had never heard of Enactus before, even though they are all over the world. Enactus tries to improve the economic situation in third world countries through projects run by student groups. So you work out a project for a certain third world country and teach the local people all the work steps so that they can earn money there economically and independently.
Places
The places that I liked the most and are easy to get to from Fullerton were Huntington Beach (lots of young people and lots of bars), Laguna Beach (not so many tourists and nice beach). In LA, Venice Beach and Santa Monica are obviously worth visiting, but what many don’t do is the Venice Canals. These are located near Venice Beach and are really similar to Venice, just “a bit” smaller. Also of interest are the Griffith Observatory, Grand Central Market, Chinatown and Little Tokyo.
Short trips
In my opinion, San Francisco is the most beautiful city in California, so with San Diego it can only be recommended for a short trip. That’s why you should have experienced it, because it’s just another world. The night becomes day!
Just approach the people and enjoy the time in Cali!
