<p>I'm currently in my second semester studying business engineering or engineering management in Germany. It's basically a 50/50 mix between business and engineering. For the upcoming fall semester, I plan to study at an american university for one semester. (So I do not plan on obtaining a degree!)
Since I am applying via an organization that is specialized for study abroad programs, my choices of universities are quite limited. </p>
<p>Here are the ones that interest me the most out of the ones that are offered:
- Columbia University (obviously very tempting due to ivy league)
- UC San Diego
- UC Santa Barbara
- UCLA Extension
- UC Berkeley Extension
- San Jose State University
- CSU Northridge
- CSU Long Beach
- CSU East Bay
- CSU Fullerton
- CSU Channel Islands</p>
<p>what I look for:
- which offers me best american college feeling (e.g. school spirit)
- good education (strong business AND engineering school)
- (reputation)
- nice campus (although no dealbreaker)
- location (e.g. distance to the next bigger city)
- transport connection
- options outside university/things you can do in your free time </p>
<p>So let me know which universities you would recommend out of the ones mentioned and why. </p>
<p>Many thanks in advance!</p>
<p>P.S: If there are other criterias i should take into consideration please let me know!</p>
<p>Thanks for your answer!
Could you please elaborate on why you think these are teriffic choices? </p>
<p>i’ve heard a lot of good things regarding UCSD. It’s supposed to be very good in education but is often considered “boring” and lacking schoolspirit.</p>
<p>Regarding UCLA Extension and UCB Extension, in which way are they connected to the “main university”? Am i also a student of UCLA oder just the extension school? Also as far as i know international students are only allowed to take courses from the extension school and the college of letters and sciences.</p>
<p>Yes, exactly what MYOS said, though, if I understand correctly, the UCB Extension would be on-line classes and not residential. I would put Columbia 4th.</p>
<p>The CSUs listed are mostly commuter campuses without a real sense of community.</p>
<p>Shoot, yes, I would put Columbia 3rd actually… had missed that somehow.</p>
<p>UCSD is one of the top 3 public universities in the state, the campus is beautiful, whoever is bored in San Diego has a serious problem, and what they lack in football they make up for in soccer. :)</p>
<p>If you’re allowed to take classes through College of Letters and sciences + extension, that’s fine, but online only NO I wouldn’t, you need to be around American students, that’s the whole point of studying abroad. I tend to think Berkeley- Oakland- SF may be more friendly to someone without access to a car, than LA is.</p>
<p>As far as i understood i would actually attend the extension school on campus. Otherwise it wouldn’t make any sense for the organization to offer it as a study abroad program. </p>
<p>so you are saying you would prefer “normal” universities over state universities in terms of community? how about educationwise?</p>
<p>Columbia is obviously very tempting and afaik they have a very good business school. what about (mechanical) engineering? since will only attend the school for one semester and then continue my studies back in germany it’s not that relevant to find the best school there is . it’s supposed to be more of a cultural experience anyway but still it would be nice if i could combine both.</p>
<p>UC’s = schools for the equivalent of “gymnasium students” so academically strong programs, where the most funds are spent, and students come from all over the state so they live on/near campus creating a sense of campus community.
CSU’s = schools for students who had trouble academically getting to the standard of the UCs, and/or want to live at home with their family (or must, due to jobs, finances, having children…) They’re local schools. They have an area of preferred recruitment and for students outside the area it’s harder to get in. Some majors are impacted, too.
San Jose State is an exception in that it is in Silicon Valley and is a go-to school for start ups, Google, etc, etc, so that their tech majors are very popular, in-demand, and hard to get into. However, like all CSU’s, it is impacted.
Columbia is excellent for engineering, however its business school doesn’t offer degree programs at the undergraduate level - you could still take some business classes though. In addition, do yourself a favor and take at least one "American … " class, such as American Studies 101, Intercultural Communication, etc… to learn more about the country where you’re studying.</p>
<p>Thanks for the answers so far!
personally, If i had the choice between UCLA UCB and UCSD i would prefer UCLA and UCB over UCSD anytime just because they have a better reputation here in germany and people are more likely to have heard of them.</p>
<p>But between extension and UCSD you would pick UCSD over the extensions correct? </p>
<p>thank you so much! that makes things a lot clearer for me now. </p>
<p>I will still need to do some more research and check what courses will suit my studies best but after what you just told me, my choices would be as follows: </p>
<ol>
<li>UCSD</li>
<li>UCSB</li>
<li>columbia</li>
<li>san jose </li>
</ol>
<p>the only problem with ucsd is that they have quarters. </p>
<p>If i study abroad for at least one semester, i will get a scholarship over ~6.3k. this means i would have to study 2 quarters at ucsd which will be a lot more expensive since one quarter is ~7800usd.</p>
<p>i’d definitely love to take an “american course” but it depends on whether it is within the regulations of my home school since i want to be able to transfer all my credits.</p>
<p>I actually just found another organization that offers some more UC’s in addition to the ones already mentioned:</p>
<ul>
<li>UC Davis</li>
<li>UC Irvine</li>
<li>UC Riverside</li>
<li>UC Chicago - Graham school of general studies</li>
<li>Boston University</li>
</ul>
<p>Would that change anything in terms of which UC’s you would recommenf?</p>
<p>I would not opt for the Extensions. These are not in the regular college. They are usually attended by working adults. That’s too bad because Berkeley is in the Bay Area and has good transportation to get around and go to San Francisco easily.</p>
<p>Columbia would be excellent for academics and location. Same with Chicago (it is not a UC which means University of California, it is University of Chicago so you can explore that city). Boston U would be in excellent city location and have great academics, but not a traditional campus.</p>
<p>For UC’s - I’d pick UCSB or UCSD first, both great American public colleges with the real college experience and at the beach. Probably UCSB first for location, just my pref. Irvine and Davis are good colleges and have engineering but less interesting locations and Riverside isn’t a good location and just okay college, but better than most CSU’s. From Davis, more remote location, you can take weekend trip to SF but it is a long distance. Irvine is busy suburbia without good public transportation. By car beaches and Los Angeles are accessible.</p>
<p>I did courses related to an engineering sub-field at UCLA Extension, back in the old days- great, but that is not (ok, was not) the typical college experience. Most students are older, working, taking one or two classes at a time, at night. Courses were generally taught by adjuncts- folks working in the field, willing to do that- not professors. And the courses were whatever could draw enough interest, not necessarily parallel to what was taught in the U depts. </p>
<p>The advantage was the “real world” experience of the teachers (my program related to a new technology) and the real applicability of other students’ work situations. The courses could get credit if one was enrolled in a certificate program, through Extension- but credits were not U level. There were no university-associated privileges (eg, use of athletic facilities, chance to join clubs, etc. I could use the libraries, but not borrow books.) I become friends with one fellow student, because we shared several classes- but this was nothing like the usual college experience. We never so much as had coffee together. This does not sound like the best use of your time or funds, if you need transferable credit. You’ll want to double check, for yourself.</p>
<p>After that, to be frank, any UC campus near enough to the beach can be life-altering. Most people love Chicago and Boston has charms. Agree the CSU experience, while fine for many students’ goals, isn’t optimum for a visitor. </p>
<p>How deeply have you actually looked at the UC’s and others on your list? Are you guaranteed student status at these schools or just the opp to take a few classes?</p>
<p>I wouldn’t do the Extensions, either. I’ve taken lots of classes at Berkeley Extension, and wouldn’t consider them to be the equivalent of actual classes at UC Berkeley.</p>
<p>I agree Extension isn’t optimal but in the case of UCB it takes OP to a desirable place in the US, easy to travel around and from (relatively, in US terms).
But it seems that OP isn’t considering Extension anymore, with so many other good choices.</p>
<p>I can understand the attraction of going to college in California, with all the sunshine and warm temperatures and the beaches but I’ll put in a plug for BU anyway.
BU is in the heart of Boston, one of the best colleges cities anywhere! BU is right in the heart of the city, walking distance to museums, shops, restaurants, sports, nightlife etc. One of the subway lines (actually that line is a trolley) runs right through the campus making it a breeze to get to other parts of the city or to the train station where you can catch a train to NYC, Washington DC etc. There are about 250,000 college students in the Boston area since there so many colleges in the city and adjacent suburbs.
So the critics will say it has “no campus” since it is so integrated into the city and some students might prefer a leafy campus in the suburbs. But BU is a great city school that is working hard to create more green spaces and more car-free spaces (by buying some side streets and converting them into car-free pedestrian zones) for example.
So it depends on what you are looking for in your “American” experience. There is no one quintessential American place. America is too big and diverse for that.
[Why</a> We Love Boston » Undergraduate Admissions | Boston University](<a href=“http://www.bu.edu/admissions/bu-basics/why-we-love-boston/]Why”>Living in Boston | Admissions)
[Where</a> We Live: Our Campus » Undergraduate Admissions | Boston University](<a href=“http://www.bu.edu/admissions/bu-basics/where-we-live/]Where”>BU Housing | Admissions)
[Boston</a> University Admissions - YouTube](<a href=“http://www.youtube.com/user/BUadmissions]Boston”>Boston University Admissions - YouTube)
<a href=“http://www.studyboston.com/[/url]”>http://www.studyboston.com/</a></p>
<p>@lookingforward i’m still in the beginning, trying to weigh up the pros and cons of each university. Unfortunately, due to the exam period right now, i haven’t been able to look deeply into any of them yet. I do think that i will have student status but i know that some universities only allow visiting students to choose from a certain pool of courses. (I know that columbia officially only lets you choose certain courses but a friend of mine who has spent a semester there told me that if you ask nicely they usually let you take other courses as well)</p>
<p>after all the things that i have been told now, extensions don’t seem to be such a good option and therefore i wouldn’t take them into consideration anymore.</p>
<p>UCSD and UCSB seem to be the top choices, followed by columbia and san jose (due to attractive location + it seems to be a very good school as well).</p>
<p>I will have to ask my organization if i’m allowed to apply to multiple universities. If so, i would just apply to all of them to have a higher chance of getting accepted by at least one of them.</p>
<p>@beantowngirl thanks for suggesting BU.
i agree, california is definitely a very attractive place to study and was actually a must for me in the beginning. </p>
<p>but after seeing that columbia was also a university i can choose from out of the pool, i just think i might miss a good opportunity if i don’t take it into consideration.</p>
<p>Boston university on the other hand i didn’t even look at to be honest, but after your comments it seems to be a good place to study as well. the fact that there a high student density in boston is definitely a plus. i will definitely look into BU once i get home.</p>
<p>yes, we actually have 3 organizations here in germany that specialize in study abroad programs. they all have pretty much the same choice of colleges though.
one of them allows for application for BU.</p>