University: California State University Los Angeles
City: Los Angeles
Country: United States
Continent: North America
Field of study: media
Study type: semester abroad
Hello everyone,
I’m Helena, 21 and in 2013 I studied a trimester (quarter) “TV, Film and Media Studies” at Cal State LA. In Germany, I am now in my 6th semester studying media sciences as a major and art as a minor. Check educationvv.com to see San Jose State University Exchange Program.
University selection
Away, far away, English speaking, preferably American, to the warm, California. This is roughly what my chain of thought looked like when I was thinking about my stay abroad. So it quickly became clear: I’m going to Southern California, where I could study “something to do with media”. First on the list was San Diego, a big city it should be. After much deliberation, universities that offered trimesters had priority for me because that simply fitted better into my plans. Now a few dropped out, including San Diego, so I chose Los Angeles. Everything was just right here, not least that my uncle had friends there. Of course, cost also played a role, which is why I chose California State University over the University of California LA. I have no regrets about the choice.
As a student abroad you have to take at least 12 units at the CSULA, these are also included in the tuition fees (more units cost extra). That usually corresponds to 3 courses of 4 units each, of course there are also courses of 3 units or sports courses of 1 unit, so you can happily put together your 12. In any case, I had 3 TVF (TV, Film & Media) courses, which I all enjoyed. You should be very flexible when it comes to choosing a course, because you can think about which courses you would like to take, but there is no guarantee that you will get them. You spend the first few weeks with “class crashing”, ie you put together a timetable with courses you would like to do, go there and ask the professor if you can be accepted. If it works, depends on how many places are available in the course, how many “normal” students have registered and actually show up, whether there are students in higher semesters who have priority or, in the case of practical courses, whether the equipment is sufficient. For me, the class crashing continued into the 3rd week, because in the 2nd week even more courses became visible in the study catalog that I didn’t know anything about before. It is normal that this takes the first 2 weeks. The professors were also super relaxed, you’re not the only one who wants to “add” the course. Remain friendly and patient, but feel free to ask again whether a place has become free. have priority or, in the case of practical courses, whether the equipment is sufficient. For me, the class crashing continued into the 3rd week, because in the 2nd week even more courses became visible in the study catalog that I didn’t know anything about before. It is normal that this takes the first 2 weeks. The professors were also super relaxed, you’re not the only one who wants to “add” the course. Remain friendly and patient, but feel free to ask again whether a place has become free. have priority or, in the case of practical courses, whether the equipment is sufficient. For me, the class crashing continued into the 3rd week, because in the 2nd week even more courses became visible in the study catalog that I didn’t know anything about before. It is normal that this takes the first 2 weeks. The professors were also super relaxed, you’re not the only one who wants to “add” the course. Remain friendly and patient, but feel free to ask again whether a place has become free. The professors were also super relaxed, you’re not the only one who wants to “add” the course. Remain friendly and patient, but feel free to ask again whether a place has become free. The professors were also super relaxed, you’re not the only one who wants to “add” the course. Remain friendly and patient, but feel free to ask again whether a place has become free.
My three courses were each 4 hours on one date per week (Tue 6-10 p.m., Thu 10-2 p.m. & 6-10 p.m.), so very clear. I also took two dance courses for which I didn’t get any units, so they didn’t cost anything and I was allowed to participate voluntarily just for fun. In terms of content, the courses were simply fun because everything is in a different language. Even if the content overlapped with my German studies, it was still interesting to hear the other terms and a little refresher never hurts anyway. It wasn’t really demanding, the level is different there. There is still a lot to do, but it varies from course to course. In one course, for example, I only had a ‘midterm’ (intermediate test, in my case a multiple-choice test + short essay), a ‘final’ (multiple choice test) and a ‘term paper’ (5-page term paper), in the other, however, six ‘in-class-writings’ (short essays at the end of the course), a midterm (‘take- Home-Exam’, 4 questions, each answered on 1 page) a group presentation and a paper (2-4 p.) on the group presentation. Of course I can only talk about my courses and professors here, I have no idea what examinations are required, for example in marketing or biology courses.
The campus is quite nice, big, but not that you get lost, quite green with lots of trees, palm trees and lawns, there is a Starbucks and many snack/eat options, in the bookstore you can find everything from books to instant soup and a There is also a small but fine fitness center. It’s really easy to find your way around and if you have any questions, you can always contact the International Office (Jennifer, she’s really great!) or the Welcome Center, who will be more or less competent to help you. I felt in good hands.
Automobile
I bought a car in LA and I would recommend it to anyone. The public transport is terrible, not comparable to those here in Germany. You can use them, but it’s quite annoying and very very time-consuming (my way to the university by car: 15 minutes, by bus: 1 hour). The stops only have numbers, no names, you never really know when a bus is coming, they usually run every 30 minutes and the announcements on the bus are often broken, so you don’t know what the next stop is.
I looked for and found my car on craigslist.com. I had a budget of $2000 and was lucky enough to have met nice people through a friend of my uncle’s, who I also lived with, who drove around with me to look for a car. Otherwise, I would recommend everyone to rent a car for the time of looking for a car/apartment, as it would be really too stressful to drive from sightseeing to sightseeing by public transport. So I looked at some (scrap) carts before my little car was there. I bought from a private person, so the payment was cash and pretty easy. The “pink slip” that he and you both have to sign is important. This means that it has to go to the DMV within 10 days of purchase (similar to our TÜV, adjust to long waiting times! ) go to register the car in your name. You pay a percentage of the purchase price tax and a small fee again. It is super important to take out insurance, of course, preferably before you set off. You can have rates calculated online with “Progressive” or “Geico”, for example, by entering some data about the car. Or simply call the insurance company directly and get advice. You should calculate with 80-100$ insurance per month. Then there is the smog check, which you should do every 3 months, which costs around $50. If you have done the three things (DMV, insurance, smog check) you can go to the freeways. of course, preferably before you set off. You can have rates calculated online with “Progressive” or “Geico”, for example, by entering some data about the car. Or simply call the insurance company directly and get advice. You should calculate with 80-100$ insurance per month. Then there is the smog check, which you should do every 3 months, which costs around $50. If you have done the three things (DMV, insurance, smog check) you can go to the freeways. of course, preferably before you set off. You can have rates calculated online with “Progressive” or “Geico”, for example, by entering some data about the car. Or simply call the insurance company directly and get advice. You should calculate with 80-100$ insurance per month. Then there is the smog check, which you should do every 3 months, which costs around $50. If you have done the three things (DMV, insurance, smog check) you can go to the freeways.
I personally found driving in LA easy. Of course there’s a lot going on and you should be very careful, because you’re allowed to overtake from the right, for example, but otherwise you don’t race, which is very nice. On the freeways you drive at most 55 or 65 mph, so about 90-110 kmh, which you should definitely keep to. The police are very strict. Parking tickets can cost as much as $63, so it’s best to always put enough in the parking meter and never park in loading zones (yellow sidewalk) or no parking spaces (red sidewalk). By the way, the fuel is super cheap! At the time I was there, it was usually about 80ct per liter.
Life/Travel/Party
Life in LA was really great. The city just has so much to offer, there is something different to discover and do every day. There are an incredible number of museums, readings and film screenings, a regular “ArtWalk” downtown, many galleries and design shops, old bookstores, cute cafes and of course unlimited shopping opportunities. Downtown alone offers so many different districts (Chinatown, Little Tokyo, Fashion District, Arts District…) for shopping, eating and strolling around. Silverlake and Echo Park are the “hip” areas. Alhambra (north of the uni) is super cute and so is Pasadena, both for bar hopping at night and for shopping during the day. Of course there is also a lot to party. The Santa Monica Blvd is really good for partying, LA’s gay scene thrives there and offers a great number of bars and clubs next to each other. Of course you can also go to all sorts of concerts and the festivals start in August (unfortunately I didn’t notice). In the summer there are also outdoor cinemas and often there are events outside in parks or on some green space.
BUT Los Angeles is not a particularly beautiful city in terms of cityscape. It’s not as obviously beautiful as Paris or Venice, for example. You have to discover the hidden beauty for yourself. Actually, everything is quite grey, flat (except for downtown), sometimes really dirty, you see quite a few homeless people and cars and traffic everywhere. It’s a loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo big big city, so incredibly flat that you’ve got to cover long distances. You have everything, but you have to know where and explore it yourself. There are great beaches in Malibu and Laguna Beach, Santa Monica, Manhattan or Venice Beach. Actually you can see a different beach every weekend and snowboard on the other side in the mountains in winter.
It is totally worth planning the time to travel! Preferably as much as possible before and after. Las Vegas is only about a 4.5 hour drive away, but it’s also a good $40 Greyhound return trip. The Grand Canyon is totally worth it too. There are also tours from Las Vegas. San Diego can be reached by car in 2 hours. San Francisco is further away, so you should either fly there or plan more than just a weekend. It’s also incredibly worth it! Just like the national parks to the north (Kings Canyon/Sequoia National Park, Yosemite, Lake Tahoe). You should definitely have driven up the Pacific Coast Highway 1 or back along the coast from San Francisco. If you have time and money, you can of course fly to Hawaii (unfortunately I couldn’t do it).
Housing
I lived with a friend of my uncle’s in Echo Park, which is pretty central. It was only a 15 minute drive to the university (in East LA) in good traffic, 10 minutes to downtown, 30-40 minutes to Hollywood and Santa Monica. You should get used to 30-minute-or-more drives, I think had the feeling everything is gone for at least half an hour. Unfortunately, I can’t say that much about looking for an apartment or living in a student residence. Just that I was happy to live independently of the university, but everyone has to decide that for themselves. For the rent you should already budget 500-700$ per month, although that is also difficult to say. A friend lived in a shared flat in Alhambra for $400, the dormitories are a bit more expensive because of the meal plans, of course you pay even more in Downtown or Hollywood. It all depends
Weather
The weather was actually great throughout. When I arrived in March, I was sitting on the porch at 23 degrees while it was snowing here in Germany. In the 4.5 months I think it rained 3 times in March/April, after that it was sunny every day. Of course there are also clouds in LA and the weather on the coast at the beach can sometimes be completely different (thick cloud cover) than downtown (bright sunshine). In June/July it started to get incredibly hot, 30-35 degrees every day. And I’ve been told that August and September are supposed to be the worst. So, overall, it’s true that LA gets mostly sunshine.
Conclusion
I had an amazing time in Los Angeles and I don’t regret any decisions I made. The university was fun and not too stressful, so I had enough time for other things. I’ve experienced a lot and learned to love LA, even if I couldn’t imagine living there in the long term. The dependency on the car, the long distances and the heavy traffic would annoy me for a long time, I think. Nevertheless, it was an irreplaceable experience to have lived in a city that one otherwise only knows from television, to develop an everyday life and to experience so many new things. The 4.5 months brought me something on so many levels, I would never want to miss these experiences and acquaintances.
I hope I was able to give you a small impression. Write to me if you have any questions!
