Preparations:
Your website sends every prospective student abroad, along with other documents, a checklist that is highly recommended . If you stick to this, next to nothing can go wrong. Everything important is listed there, with the period to be observed for application , visa , flight booking, etc.
Regarding the flight, definitely book as early as possible , this can save a lot of money. I also recommend the DAAD certificate , as it is much easier and cheaper to obtain than the TOEFL or the IELTS certificate .
Living:
First of all, the Bay Area is incredibly expensive, which is most noticeable in rents. You can easily count on double or triple the German rent here. I lived in the City View Apartments and can only recommend them . You have to be aware that due to the high rents most of them share a 1-2 room apartment with three or four people -> Bye bye privacy. I didn’t have any major problems with that, but I was only here for a quarter. The area is beautiful and offers a pool, fitness, barbecue and much more.
Campus:
The university is located above Hayward, so if you live in Hayward you either need a car or take the bus offered by the university . A car is highly recommended, as even shopping without a car is only possible to a limited extent. The campus is really nice, offers large green areas to relax. You will also find a food court, sports facilities and lots of squirrels 😉 You can also visit the gym for a fee of $ 90 / quarter, which is really well equipped and offers a great opportunity to meet new people.
Life:
Life here is really very calm. Most local students have a part-time job, so they are hardly available for business. The lecture time is very limited, so there is plenty of time for free time. The university offers a few things, such as a weekly football meeting , which is definitely highly recommended in terms of contacts. With a beard you are super fast in San Francisco. There is so much to do and experience in San Francisco , such as driving a cable car, looking at Alcatraz or simply strolling across the pier.
Nightlife:
Hmm the nightlife in Hayward … there’s not much that can be said about that. Hayward is not really small by German standards, but unfortunately you won’t find any clubs or good bars here. BUT no need to worry, if you want a party, you will get it. It is 30 minutes by the beard from San Francisco and 20 minutes from Berkeley. The way back is with the UBER or the Lyft, which is a lot cheaper than a normal taxi. On Thursdays, Papys in Berkeley is highly recommended, the prices there are very student-friendly compared to SanFran. In any case, keep your ears open after house parties.A little tip on the side. The soccer team is very much valued at the university, so anyone who can make friends with people from the soccer team has almost won. Because they are highly respected and know everything about house parties etc. and are otherwise very cool. There were two of us and all I can say was it was great, even with the police ending most of the parties at 1am. You don’t have to be afraid of it. The police are harmless, if you are over 21 and don’t mess with the police, you won’t have any problems.
To study:
Studying here is definitely a lot easier than in Germany. The grades are accordingly good. The library on campus offers a good opportunity to prepare for the respective exams in a group or on your own. You can also find a lot of course-relevant books in the library , which is why an expensive book purchase at the beginning of a quarter is not absolutely necessary.
The class crashing at the beginning of the quarter is not particularly hospitable, but most of it turns out to be positive, so that you will almost certainly get your desired courses. There is also an information sheet for this, which you should have read through before the class crashing.
My courses were:
Risk Management and Financial Institutions , Brian Du
Unfortunately, very over-motivated, which is almost a little stressful at the beginning. But also really nice and helpful.
Marketing Principles , Cesar Maloles
A very nice elderly gentleman. Less time consuming than the other courses, but multiple choice should be yours.
Organizational Behavior , Asha Rao
Ms. Rao is also very nice, but demands a lot, less qualitatively but quantitatively. So the course was very time consuming as we had to give reports every week. The grading was very fair in all courses .
Road trips
Do road trips as much as possible! This is the only way to get to know beautiful California . We were lucky enough to be invited by a local to visit his parents in LA. That was of course great. But even without connections you can do a lot of great things. On another weekend we were at Lake Tahoe, which is also highly recommended. The landscape is beautiful and invites you to go biking or hiking . In the evening you can have fun in the casino or club.
After the last exams we made a road trip to Vegas via Yosemite and Death Valley. The national parks are beautiful and definitely worth the trip. However, you should remember that you should have a full tank before entering a national park, as there are hardly any petrol stations in the park.
I don’t have to say much about Vegas, you just have to see it at least once. AWESOME!
Overall, it was a wonderful time in California. I got to know a lot of new people, saw and experienced incredibly exciting and interesting things. The university was ok, but not great. Because I had to rely on the quarter system for some time, it was the first choice for me. For students who want to spend more time in the USA , I would recommend looking for another university.
