It was clear to me from the beginning of my studies that I wanted to do a semester abroad, so at some point I went looking and stumbled upon MicroEDU. Now I had to choose a university. I knew from the start that it should be California. Since there were also a few universities here, I first read through the reviews and the descriptions of the universities and based on them I decided on California State University Fullerton. I applied very early and after about a week I had already received the acceptance from the university. At the same time, I had sent the application for a foreign federal loan and two weeks later I had the approval. Above all, I would recommend applying to the Auslandsbafög early enough, as a semester abroad is very expensive. According to Abbreviationfinder, CSUF is the abbreviation of California State University Fullerton.

Reside:

It was clear to me from the start that I would like to live in a student residence because it is easier to get in touch with other students there, so I immediately applied to the University Village. I was lucky and lived with 3 American women, especially after I discovered that a lot of Germans lived there. I had a small room to myself and shared the bathroom with one of my roommates. I had to pay $ 975 to rent 10 meals a week. The food was very good and healthy too. Since the chef is Mexican, the food has a Mexican touch, which I particularly liked. What I didn’t like that much was that because of the many Germans there, they spoke a lot of German.

The university has a huge campus, even if you actually live right next to the university, you need 20 minutes to cross the entire campus. That’s why I got a bike. The university is really very beautiful and, in contrast to my small university in Germany, huge. There is a large fitness studio and many opportunities for recreational activities, such as billiards or bowling. The university is like a small town. The library is also huge and the staff are always very helpful.
Contrary to my expectations, choosing a course was very easy because I received the courses I specified straight away. So I didn’t have to crash a single course, which was probably due to my rare field of study.
I took the following courses:
Sociology of Communication
Intercultural Communication
Gender & Globalization
Spanish Conversation

All of these courses were very interesting, with the exception of the Spanish course from this one I was a bit disappointed because I had expected more because of the proximity to Mexico. The professors are very helpful and very open in the sociology courses and also tell a lot about their private life, which for German students is very strange at first, but still interesting. In every course there were books that you MUST buy. It is advisable to look for the books on amazon and not to buy them directly at the university, because they are very expensive there. I spent about $ 250 on my books.

Life:

Fullerton in and of itself doesn’t have much to offer. Fullerton Downtown has a few bars but no real nightclubs. If you want to go out, Hollywood is recommended, but it is about 40 minutes away by car. In general, a car makes life in Fullerton a lot easier, as it takes at least 2 hours by bus to get to the beach (Newport Beach or Huntington Beach). It takes about 30 minutes by car.A good alternative to buying a car is to rent a car on the weekends, but this is only possible from the age of 21. Fullerton’s location is perfect for weekend getaways. Los Angeles can be reached quickly, San Diego is about an hour and a half by car, and there are beautiful stands such as Newport Beach, Huntington Beach and Laguna Beach nearby.

Conclusion:

I can recommend the CSUF and really enjoyed my time there. I would recommend everyone not to be put off by the organizational effort and to take the chance to do a semester abroad. MicroEDU is a great help and answered all of my questions very quickly. It’s worth the effort.