I have invested a lot of time in considering a stay abroad; should I, shouldn’t I? In retrospect, I’m totally happy with my decision, I had a lot of doubts but would do it again and again. I haven’t heard from anyone that they would regret it and it wasn’t worth it. So, to all of you who are still thinking: If you have the financial means… let’s go!
Since I wanted to go to the USA, only California was available through MicroEDU. Many universities are now listed there. When I made my decision, the choice of universities wasn’t that great. However, I also had problems with the choice of university and location. One can only get a rough impression of the city, etc. I find these testimonials all the more important. You can get an impression of the cities on google MAPS. There is the Street View, in which you can see exactly what the streets look like. In San Jose, for example, every street is photographed.
San Jose is the tenth safest city in the United States. The one million inhabitants are due to the annexing of the surrounding small towns. Therefore, San Jose itself is not like a typical big city, but rather a small big city. The excellent public transport system in San Jose makes it very easy to get from A to B. A car is not absolutely necessary, but it can be helpful. I got a motorcycle for the time, but that was more for the fun factor. In addition, San Jose is the core of Silicon Valley, many high-tech companies are based there. Google and Apple are also nearby. Read more student reviews on Anycountyprivateschools.
San Francisco can be reached within 45 minutes, the nearest beach is in Santa Cruz and less than 30 minutes away (details by car). Surfing is also available in Santa Cruz, although further south it is more pleasant because of the warmth. All other interesting places are further away and therefore require a whole weekend. During my time I have made many such road trips, including Los Angeles, San Diego, Tijuana, Yosemite National Park, Santa Barbara and Las Vegas. We always rented a car for this, if you are over 25 it costs maybe 20 dollars a day including insurance.
The San Jose Sharks (ice hockey team) are a very good team that play in the top league and are highly recommended. The Spartans, the university’s sports teams, also offer entertainment in football or ice hockey.
The search for an apartment has turned out to be difficult for the time being. I wanted to look for an off-campus apartment on site. That’s why I initially booked a cheap hotel and found an apartment after 12 days. There are many apartments on offer, but I recommend paying the extra price for the student dormitory, because that’s where the best parties are and it’s very easy to get to know people.
MicroEDU is very experienced in placing students and is available to answer any questions. You are enrolled in the SAL program via MicroEDU. This has advantages if you are not particularly sure about the English language, because courses are even offered here for beginners. If the knowledge of English is sufficient, the SAL program is more of a hindrance, as you cannot enroll in the courses online weeks in advance, but have to obtain a signature from the professor on the first day of the lecture. This assumes that at least one place is still free in the lecture.
I can’t really compare the level of the San Jose State, because here in Germany I am studying economics as a major and have taken undergraduate courses there. So I got very good grades in the economics subjects. Exams do not take place at the end of the semester, but continuously. Most are multiple choice and not difficult to master. In addition, you can improve your grade with various extra credits. For example, by attending a discussion between a San Jose State professor and a Stanford professor.
For everything you are looking for there is a very good site. Do not be put off by the structure, once you have understood the page it is extremely helpful.
www.craigslist.org
There you will find apartments, cars, motorcycles, bicycles, furniture, etc. It’s such a thing with the bicycles in San Jose. Even the best lock doesn’t prevent the bike from being stolen. Of course, it depends on the location, in the city center, bicycles are quickly gone. There are bicycle cages on campus from which theft is unlikely.
As already mentioned, I would choose to go abroad again and again, the memories stay for a lifetime and my horizons expand. You see a lot of things differently than before and get to know a lot of nice people.
