I decided on a summer session at the end of my studies in order to take advantage of the Goethe semester break in Frankfurt and finish one semester earlier.
The summer session lasts exactly 6 weeks, with a midterm being written after the first 3 weeks, and the entire material of the course is examined in 2 exams.
My courses were MGMT 122 (accounting) and MGMT 127 B (taxation).
One should not have any illusions that six weeks are not a vacation. The material covers a complete semester, but is taught in 6 weeks. The lectures last about 2 hours and 20 minutes, which is longer than in the regular semester. They take place twice a week.
Professors.
Prof. Litt (accounting)
If you make an effort and above all do the cases and extra credit assignments, passing it with regular appearance and not too bad grades shouldn’t be a problem. But if you do a little more, an A is also possible.
Prof. Klein
He is really a specialist and active in both theory and practice.
As a female student, one should know how to take one’s sense of humor away or, best of all, try not to attract attention. Otherwise it’s okay, and here, too, you should do something for the grade right from the start, even after a B there is still an A in the final grade if you get help from the regular students.
I lived in the Sproul Hall for my semester. Nothing spectacular but ok for 6 weeks, and anyway the only possibility to live on campus during the summer session. There are two bed and three bed arrangements, but the rooms don’t get any bigger. After 3 days, my room was in chaos. But I’ve always said to myself that it was part of it. In addition, a triple room compared to a double room increases the chance of getting along with at least one room companion and, above all, of getting to know people. The strategy worked for me and I made two new friends.
The floor plans of the rooms and the arrangements of the beds and furniture are given on the UCLA website.
Shared showers and toilets are in the hallway. They are clean and also here it is only for 6 weeks.
The cafeteria
At the beginning, the food offer literally kills you. All three meals are offered as a buffet including drinks, coffee and desserts. You should really consider whether the “twenty-two meals a week meal plan” is necessary and whether 15 meals a week, 2 meals a day plus a third one on one day of the week of your choice are not sufficient. All I can say from my experience is that I didn’t have the time to eat three times a day. In addition, one eats so much during the buffet anyway that the appetite for a third meal is missing.
The sports offer
There is a huge fitness studio on campus that is also
open during the summer session. There is plenty of fitness on offer, from dumbbell training to a climbing wall and table tennis. Entry via Bruincard (UCLA student ID).
Extra-university matters
UCLA is located in the Westwood neighborhood at the north-western end of Los Angeles between Belair and Beverlyhills. It takes approximately 25 minutes to Santa Monica and 35 minutes to Venice Beach by bus. The water is really cold, but surprisingly, once in, you can stand it for a while. Not far from the campus and a maximum of 10 minutes by bus you can also get to the gettycenter, which is a must-see. It is a museum with a fantastic view of large parts of Los Angeles. Read more student reviews on Ehuacom.
I recommend everyone to rent a car for a day or more. There are sufficient rental stations of the companies and at the airport you can return your car late into the night or early in the morning. Local public transport in Los Angeles is “well” developed by US standards, but it is already difficult to explore Los Angeles, not to mention the surrounding area.
Conclusion
All in all, I am very happy to have been at this university. UCLA has a very good reputation and you get something for the money. There are certainly other good universities in the USA, but as Prof. Klein always said: “… nothing beats the sun”!
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES
It is a long story how my decision came about to do a “blitz” semester abroad in Los Angeles. Since hearing about MicroEDU and establishing contact with them, all of the staff have been extremely friendly and helpful. They were also professional in handling and knew exactly what was going on. The application process was included in the semester costs. Of course, I also had a lot of questions, but all of them were answered promptly and the confirmation mail came faster than I expected. But you really don’t have to worry about the application process, because MicroEDU is already doing this for you, so I’ll go into the experience itself now. The only difficulty, which was also annoying at times, was the F1 visa process.
Nonetheless, on Sunday, June 19, I flew from Frankfurt with Lufthansa to LAX. Fortunately, as a 16-year-old I have flown on my own, but never so far. In my favor, I have relatives in LA who picked me up at the airport and drove me to UCLA. If you don’t want to take an expensive taxi from the airport, you can download Uber. It’s usually 50% cheaper than a taxi, all over America. If you can’t do that, you can take a $ 10 bus to campus, but watch out, the drop off station is at the foot of the mountain. That means that you have to drag up the heavy luggage.
The check-in was actually quite quick and pleasant. I didn’t have that many room types to choose from, so I stayed in the Rieber Hall. This is arguably the smallest and “cheapest” choice for accommodation. I quickly got to know my two roommates. A Puerto Rican and an Italian. The room is not a luxury now, but there are two bunk beds and a desk for each person. Sometimes it gets very crowded in the room. There was just enough space left to empty the suitcase.
When you’ve picked up your Bruincard the next day and looked around a bit on campus, it’s usually the first lesson. It’s always at least a 15-minute walk from Rieber Hall to the classes, but with the stunning campus and LA sun, it’s a lot of fun every day !
I had Econmics 1 and Accounting 1, both beginner courses. The content of the courses was extensive and required a lot of work outside of the class. Each course had a certain amount of homework and a mid-term exam and a final exam. That means that after about 3 weeks there is already an exam and then again a few days before departure. I recommend having a good command of English, otherwise it will be very difficult. In addition, there is no need to buy the big books for the courses as they usually cost $ 400 or more. The classes were with me for 2 or 3 hours on Mondays or Wednesdays, or Tuesdays or Thursdays. That was really great because I then had a 3-day weekend.
You shouldn’t just use your free time to study, because there’s always something incredible to see in LA. UCLA is right in the Westwood district. A small town that almost lives from UCLA and has lots of great shopping opportunities and numerous restaurants. Not far from there is Beverley Hills and Santa Monica. I was definitely four times in the 6 weeks at the Santa Monica Pier and the surrounding area. It’s just an icon that you definitely MUST see! I was at the Griffith Observatory on July 4th (US National Day). This is a public park with an observatory that is almost at the height of and near the Hollywood sign and has a unique 180 degree panoramic view of the whole of LA. It was just amazing as you could see all of the fireworks. Of course we weren’t the only ones who came up with this idea, so it was pretty full.
Not to be forgotten are the activities on campus. I was 3 times a week in the fitness studio, which has top equipment and very often on the “intramural field”. These are 4 large artificial turf soccer fields, which in most cases you can always use for any kind of sport. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the time try the pool, but I’ve heard the facility is supposed to be fun too, and there’s no shortage of celebrities, as the Chelsea soccer team had their training camp on site and there were also many football and TV stars to be seen.
It is much nicer when you experience it for yourself than for me to describe my many unforgettable experiences to you here. MicroEDU will support you all the time from start to finish and you will not regret it. It is an experience that can be groundbreaking for life. The costs are of course very high, but for those who can afford it, it is a great experience. Thank you MicroEDU for this opportunity!
