First of all, in 2010 I attended Summer Session A and C at UCLA.
Why Summer session A and C?
I had the opportunity to spend a semester abroad from my university of applied sciences. The prerequisite for this was that I had to spend at least ten weeks at a university abroad. For this reason I decided to do two summer sessions in a row.
To do this, you have to request an appointment online and at the same time fill out a lot of forms online (passport is required!) For the visa you have to go to Berlin, Frankfurt or Munich for a short interview. The emphasis here is on “short”, my conversation lasted a maximum of 1 minute. So you shouldn’t drive yourself crazy beforehand.
In addition, you choose your courses in advance. However, if you notice after the first lectures that you have made the wrong choice, you can change them again. This wasn’t a problem for me either.
The accommodation:
I have little to say about the accommodations directly on UCLA campus as I did not live there. I spent the time in the USA with my girlfriend. So if one of you is also considering going to the USA with your boyfriend / girlfriend.
1) You are not allowed to live on campus if only one of you is enrolled at UCLA.
2) You are not allowed to live together in one room, as male and female are separated there. An exception should be if you are married.
So I rented a furnished apartment right on Hilgard Ave (the street runs right next to the campus). Looking for an apartment, contract, etc., I let it run through a brokerage company from Germany. This worked well by and large too. However, I also paid a proud price for my German feeling.
After some time at UCLA, however, I learned from various students that the prices at the university are really that high. The apartment itself was kept simple, but was clean and had a kitchen, bedroom, living room, bathroom and balcony.
The UCLA:
For me personally, the first impressions (and the second too) were very impressive. My university in Germany has a beautiful but also very small campus. UCLA, on the other hand, is huge and also very beautiful. There are lots of green areas, places to eat and, for me personally, very important, lots of sports facilities.
The “John Wooden Center” can be used freely by students and offers a fitness studio, basketball courts, squash, climbing wall etc. There are also tennis courts, football / soccer fields, various pools etc. on campus.
According to other “local” students, UCLA is said to have the smallest campus of the “UC” universities, but it has the largest number of students. I cannot say whether this is true. Otherwise you can of course buy plenty of food and drink there.
One point that definitely speaks for the fact that it is a good campus is that the Real Madrid soccer team had their training camp on campus for about a week. Check educationvv to see more reviews from current students.
Westwood Village:
UCLA is right in Westwood. With the Westwood Village you have a small town that offers shopping for food and clothes as well as restaurants and cinemas. If you don’t have a car, everything is within walking distance. However, a car is recommended.
My courses at UCLA:
I took two courses per session so that I also had enough time to travel. In the first six weeks I took an economics course (ECON 1) and an English course (ELS 32).
ECON 1 was in one of the larger lecture halls with Ms. Bresnock. You could tell that she likes to teach and is always fully involved, but she also has certain demands on her students and there are two homework as well as a mid and a final exam that are graded.
The ELS course was with Mr Smith, there we worked a lot in groups and were supposed to do some presentations. In addition, everyone was given the task of recording a conversation with a native speaker to see where their strengths and weaknesses lie. As I noticed, these courses differ depending on the lecturer. A student from another ELS 32 course told me that they had read several books.
In the second six weeks I took two management courses, MGT 88 and MGT 180. Both courses are taught by John Ullmen. John is also a very passionate lecturer. He was always motivated and values group work and communication. We read a book in each of the two courses (approx. 120 pages), but both are written in an easy-to-understand manner. Otherwise we rarely got homework.
We talked a lot about internal and external communication, personal goals, motivation and the formation of relationships and “networks” and their benefits. He also had some experience with companies and managers in the repertoire that he passed on to us. All in all, he was pretty easy going and it was fun.
California:
For me personally it was clear from the start that I came to California not only to study, but also to get to know the country and the people. In my experience, California is a driving force and that it is definitely worth renting a car. My girlfriend and I have explored a lot by car such as Las Vegas, San Francisco, Grand Canyon, Yosemite Ntp., San Diego and of course Los Angeles.
Los Angeles:
Yes, we saw a few stars too. Not “by chance” on the street, but at the premiere of “The Expendables” this was one of the many premieres on Hollywood Blvd (Walk of Fame). took place. Apart from that, LA naturally has very beautiful beaches to offer with Santa Monica, Venice, Malibu etc. So you won’t get bored!
Conclusion:
I settled in quickly in the twelve weeks and it was difficult for us to leave LA. The courses in the Summer Session do not differ that much from the courses in the “normal” semester, that was definitely the experience I had and what full-time students told me.
However, in summer the campus cannot be compared to other semesters as there is probably little going on in relation to this. Personally, it only bothered me that the season of the college basketball and football team was in the summer break and so I missed this spectacle.
Furthermore, one should be aware that there are many Europeans and Asians in the university, but it is also summer and many Americans are taking their summer vacation accordingly.
It’s clear:
For me it was a great experience and at no point have I regretted that I decided to spend twelve weeks at UCLA.
