UCSD Reviews (10)

I came across your website through an event held by my university abroad and then decided quickly on the University of California San Diego (UCSD), as the university has a very good reputation in the field of economics and a large number of courses on Selection is available. The entire application process went very smoothly and all my questions about the process were always answered very quickly and in detail. Although the application itself was not that much of a hassle, you should plan enough time to do the Toefl test and apply for a visa, for example. But you don’t have to worry about it,

I flew to the USA a month before the start of the first quarter because I wanted to do a road trip with a friend through California and the adjacent national parks, including the Grand Canyon, Yosemite National Park and Monument Valley, of course. It was a great experience and I can only recommend everyone who is considering studying in the area to take a tour.

The only downside was that I didn’t really have time to look after an apartment, and the feedback I posted on Craigslist was sometimes very strange. In the end I was lucky and found a very nice roommate. The apartment wasn’t exactly cheap, as it was located in the rather expensive district of La Jolla, but I also had my own bathroom and in the associated complex there were pools and tennis courts that could be used by all residents. In the end, I paid around $ 800 a month rent, but I also know many who only paid half of it and I think that if I had had more time to search, I could have found something cheaper in the university environment.

Automobile

Although I studied two quarters at UCSD, I was one of the few who didn’t buy a car. It is true that almost everywhere you can only get there by car, but since I had a lot of friends, could pick you up and my roommate also had a car, that was not a problem most of the time. I always came to university by bus, if you live near a bus stop that is part of the “Superloop”, that’s actually the best way to get to university. The buses run about every 10 minutes and the journey time is also quite short. With the car you have more problems because you first have to buy an expensive parking permit at the university and then in all probability you won’t find a parking space, since the majority of students drive by car.

UCSD

Since I’m studying economics here, I knew beforehand that it would be rather difficult to get all the courses I would like to have. However, I was also very flexible, as we had to add a certain number of points in the bachelor’s degree via elective subjects, among other things, and I therefore had a lot of leeway in terms of my courses, as long as they were economics courses. In a quarter you take 3 courses and in both quarters I only took economics courses. The whole process until you were finally enrolled in a course was actually a bit stressful, but in retrospect I was always very satisfied with my courses. The problem is that the regular students of the UCSD always have priority and the remaining places in the courses are then divided among the extension students. To do this, you have to send an email to the Economics Department on a specific day and you will then be assigned a number. The lower the number, the better, ie it is best to sit down at your PC at midnight and quickly send the email. A few days later you have to go to the Economics Department personally with the list of your courses and you can then enroll in the courses there, whereby the one with the number 1 can of course be the first to choose his courses and thus has the best chances of getting a place , in courses with only a few remaining places. I was very satisfied with all of my courses and was able to assess my chances quite well beforehand, so that it was never the case that I went to lectures for the first three weeks (the selection process does not take place until the third week) even though I was not able to take the course afterwards. The teaching content was all very good, even if you quickly noticed that at least in the undergratduate courses, the level was well below that in Germany. The grading is also much less strict than I know it from Germany, with a little preparation an A has always been achieved. For all questions you have about the university and the different processes, you could always turn to the responsible advisor at the Extension Campus, Ms. Dana Jimenez, who was always very friendly and answered everything quickly. In my opinion, one should not be put off by the disadvantages of the course selection system, Check mcat-test-centers to see more reviews from current students.

San Diego

Because there are very few exercises for the lectures and usually only three courses are taken in the quarter (unless you pay for an additional course), you also have enough free time. You can of course use them very well in San Diego. There are many beautiful beaches in La Jolla or Pacific Beach and you won’t get bored easily either. I especially recommend Coronado Island and Balboa Park! At night there are of course several ways to have fun. The clubs mainly play Hip Hop and RnB and depending on where you go, drink prices range from $ 2 to $ 10 or even more per drink. However, all bars and clubs close at 2 a.m., which is why everything starts a little earlier than usual. All in all, the whole semester abroad was totally worth it for me and I would do it again in a heartbeat. I was also very happy that I stayed two quarters and not just one, as time flies by there.