Application process

The MicroEDU team supported me during my application phase at Cal State Northridge. I would particularly like to thank Annika Geisler, who was always available to answer my questions. I can say from my experience that it is important to start collecting the necessary documents as early as possible.

After I had put all the documents together, the MicroEDU Team looked through it again and checked that everything was complete.

The University

I was very enthusiastic about the university. Northridge University is one of the largest in California. The campus is big and clean. In the Bookstore Complex you can find everything you need for university (books, etc.). The campus also offers many cafeterias and fast food restaurants. According to Abbreviationfinder, CSUN is the abbreviation of California State University Northridge.

Accommodation

As a first option, you can book accommodation on campus. Since this is relatively expensive, you can look off-campus. Furthermore, many apartments are offered on craiglist.com; Even if you join Facebook groups, roommates will be sought there. The university itself also offers apartments, mostly close to the campus.

Orientation week

One week before the start of the semester, an orientation week was organized especially for international students. We were told who is responsible for which area, how and where books can be bought or borrowed. On another day in the orientation week, a Los Angeles bus tour with an LA guide was organized, again especially for us international students. There were a few stops where we could shop, eat or take photos. For example, we were in Hollywood, Santa Monica and Observatory Park, from there you could see the Hollywood sign.

My courses:

During the application process you have to make a list of the ten courses you want. The university tries to enroll you in as many courses as possible from your desired course list. However, it may be that you have to add a course on site if you have too few a course before your arrival. Before my arrival, I had only received three out of four courses.

So that you can add a course, you have to go to the course and ask the professor for a ‘Permission Number’, with this number you can then enroll in this course. But don’t stress yourself if you are still missing one or two courses, in the orientation week everything is well explained how to “crash” a course or add it. Jess and Boris (who are responsible for the Semester at CSUN program) are also happy to help and are your contacts during the semester.

URBS 150: Urban Studies

In this course you learn about the city of Los Angeles. We had to choose any location in Los Angeles and make a presentation about it. For example, I was able to get to know new places that others had introduced in their presentations. We wrote a little test about every two to three weeks.

BLAW 280: Business Law

In this course we had to solve legal cases. Every week we had to summarize a case as a homework assignment (Case Brief). This course was a little difficult for me because we had to take a lot of notes ourselves and the professor asked a lot of the students.

CJS 360: Career in Criminal Justice

In this course we learned about professions such as LAPD (Los Angelos Police Department), Los Angeles Sheriff Department, CHP (California Highway Patrol) and Public Defender. Every week a guest speaker came to our class and presented his / her job.

Fin 102: Literacy in Finance

This course is a hybrid course. This means that the lessons take place alternately one week in class and the other week online. This course is intended to get you started in finance. The professor gave a little homework once a week that we had to upload online. What I found good is that before the exam she restricted the learning material to what was asked in the exam. For example, once she gave us an assignment during class and the group that answered correctly first received a Starbucks $ 10 or so coupon. The lessons were very well organized.

The professors attach great importance to being present and working in class. Most professors set about 10% of the overall grade on the basis of these two factors (attendance and participation). Unlike in Germany, small tests or tasks are usually given weekly in the USA.

Conclusion

Spend your free time on excursions, the Outdoor Adventures Office offers many excursion options (for example: Hollywood hiking, Hawaii trip ). I would recommend it to everyone. Enjoy your time and good luck in preparing your dream university. The MicroEDU team will definitely make the application phase easier for you!