I was allowed to attend Summer Session D at UC Berkeley from July to August 2014. Since I planned to choose two courses, I made a conscious decision to do a six-week session.

Preparations

Thanks to the support of the MicroEDU staff, registration for the session went off without a hitch. E-mails were generally replied to very quickly, more detailed descriptions of the courses were sent to me on request, and during my stay I was asked whether everything would work out as I wanted. Thanks to the checklist provided, you get a very good overview of when to do what and how time-consuming the individual preparation steps will be. Read more student reviews on Mcat-test-centers.

Most of the time I had to choose the courses. If I were you, I would read the course catalog really well so that I could then choose the right session. In some courses, the names of the professors are sometimes included. You can often find reviews of professors and their lectures on the Internet. With the syllabus and the comments on the internet you get a pretty good picture of whether the course might be of interest to you.

Choosing the right student dormitory also required a more intensive discussion. Obviously, getting the visa also takes more time. But everything went very well with the help and support of MicroEDU.

International House

During my studies I lived in a single room in the International House. Although this form of housing is not the cheapest option, I would advise you to a single room. Some students who have lived in double rooms have clashed again and again, which becomes an additional burden with such an intensive summer course. In addition, it was never particularly quiet in the library of the I-House. A single room is the perfect opportunity to learn in a quiet environment.

The price of accommodation included meal points for the cafeteria and $ 54 that could be redeemed in the cafe. For those who could not have lunch in the dormitory, there was the possibility to get a lunch bag for a meal point at breakfast. Except for the lunch that was served on the weekend, the meal was a complete disappointment. After the second week I started eating out because I often felt really sick with the food.

In addition to lounges, the International House offers a computer room with printer, a small “shop” selling small items such as toothbrushes, shampoo, etc., a room with washing machines, dryers, as well as snack machines and microwaves, and a library. The latter agreed – as already mentioned – not to learn because of the noise level. Here I would recommend the libraries on campus.

My single room was spartan, but clean and nice and bright. You can always borrow vacuum cleaners and the like to clean the rooms. You can also rent a small refrigerator. The bathrooms are shared, but were always very clean. The showers all have a small vestibule, so you can put your things there and have your privacy. There were never any waiting times when you wanted to take a shower.

The living areas could generally only be entered with the Cal Card, which acted as the key in the house. In the evening you needed the card to get into the house. In addition, students sit at the entrance doors in the evening to check who is coming and going. Every student has a post office box for the duration of their stay, so you can have mail delivered to you. In addition to their room locks, the girls also have a key for the washroom.

Courses

I chose the Developmental & Social Psychology courses. In general, I would advise you not to take more than two courses. I had a total of 7 exams, 3 theses and one group work and was really stressed during the six weeks. There was also an insane amount of reading material. In addition, you have to make yourself available as a participant for scientific studies in every psychology lecture. So getting to bed before noon might have been two times in the six weeks. Despite the high workload, it was totally worth it. The courses were really interesting, the teachers very competent and, above all, always accessible. For those who, like me, have the greatest respect for academic work in another language: You can make an appointment with a tutor at the Student Learning Center. They look at your work there and discuss them with you. I took advantage of this offer and was able to complete all of my seminar papers with a very good grade.

Leisure

Since I’ve been to San Francisco and California several times, I didn’t have the stress of having to see something like most other students. Berkeley itself also offers a lot for sightseeing: the botanical garden, the rose garden, the Greek Theater with open air concerts, the Berkeley Marina (there was the Berkeley Kite Festival here in July), the Berkeley Aquatic Park, the Tilden Park and the Berkeley Farmers Market with various food stalls etc.

In San Francisco, the “off the grid” at Fort Mason was a must for me (street food market). For the very sporty among you, I can recommend the SF marathon or half marathon. Is a very special way to get to know the city better.

You can get active in Berkeley for $ 10 at the RSF Center. You can take various courses or simply use treadmills and the like. Every Sunday there was also “Sundays on telegraph” with various musicians, artists, etc. You can get enough information about weekend trips on campus and in the I-House. Here it pays to compare carefully, as some excursions can be quite expensive.