Application process

I started planning about a year before I started my semester abroad . After your website was at my side with words and deeds and sent me a selection of possible universities that matched my subject area and my wishes, I decided on California State University pretty quickly . The main reasons for this were that there are quite a few business courses on offer and the location in Orange County is ideal . I wanted to go to a university that was as close as possible to Los Angeles , the beach and also San Diego . Of course , Fullerton is the ideal choice for this.

When I applied , the acceptance came after one or two weeks . In addition, with the acceptance, your website also sends information about the future procedure, flight tips, SIM cards, tips, etc.

Accommodation

Once I got my promise, I immediately with the apartment search started, there was clear to me that I do not want to look only on site for an apartment, but want to be on the safe side before.

The university offers three suggestions for this: Dorms ( life on campus ), living with a host family and the University Village (UV). But since none of the three really appealed to me, I looked for further possibilities on Facebook and then came across University House (UH) relatively quickly. This dormitory won me over immediately because it is fully furnished, even with its own dryer and washing machine. It is also very central, it’s only a 3-5 minute walk to the Mihaylo farm building at the CSUF That is one of the reasons why the UV was out of the question for me – it is on the other side of the campus and the way to the farm building is therefore relatively long. In addition, the UH is super modern and has two fitness studios, two pools, lounges, etc. There were also different events every month where there was food for free. In addition, it was important for me to live with Americans, so the probability in the UH was a lot higher than in the UV, for example, where there are quite a few Germans.

Courses

Even before arriving at the CSUF, you could enter your desired courses online. This is no guarantee that you will get into the courses, but consideration is given and an attempt is made to ensure that all students get their desired courses . On the orientation day you were told where you can see which course you have got. Fortunately, I got all of the four courses I wanted straight away and therefore didn’t have to take part in the class crashing. However, this is not the normal case and most of them only got into 1-2 or no desired course at all. Most of them had to crash courses in the first two weeks, but that wasn’t as bad as I heard.

ACCT 201B Managerial Accounting

Mixture between controlling and accounting . Not too difficult, but a lot of work with homework! So you had homework every day Mon-Fri, which you then had to submit online. In addition, there were also case studies, which meant that I only sat for this course 4 hours a day. Definitely my most complex course that I wouldn’t take again.

MGMT 350 International Business and Management

A very exciting course in itself , little effort. However, relatively strict evaluation and if you want an easily earned A, you are wrong here.

MGMT 340 Organizational Behavior

My favorite course , which was due to the lecturer. It was pretty easy to get a good grade here , but it was also based on group work.

ECON 335

Exciting course , but also a lot of effort. At the end of the semester, you had to hand in a 20-page thesis plus case studies totaling 16 pages.

In summary, I have to say that I imagined the courses to be easier. I also didn’t think that the courses would take up so much time. If you want an A, you have to make an effort. You should also not be afraid of presentations , as these are standard in almost every course at the end of the semester.

Leisure

I tried to do homework and assignments during the week so that I had enough time to travel on the weekend. I have been to San Diego and San Francisco several times . I’ve also seen Seattle, Vancouver, the Grand Canyon, various national parks and beaches.

Conclusion

I can recommend the CSUF to everyone and would go back anytime. It was a wonderful six months, which unfortunately went by far too quickly.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me!