Study in University of California Los Angeles (9)

By | September 28, 2021

In spring I started to think about where I want to spend my summer. My studies were on their last legs and so I wanted to spend the summer months as pleasantly as possible, but also useful, before starting my bachelor thesis, and I came across MicroEDU and the “Summer Sessions” for the first time. California is an absolute dream destination and since Session C at UCLA was perfectly timed to fit my plan, it quickly became clear that “I want to go there!”.

Application

The application went pretty smoothly and quickly and I was very pleased that the admission criteria are quite loose. Since I decided to do this relatively spontaneously, I would not have had time for a TOEFL test or the like, so it was very convenient for me that you only had to show good English grades. Annika and her team always had an open ear for questions and I always received quick and useful answers to exactly these. So a few weeks passed before I finally held the UCLA Welcome Package in my hands and I “only” had to take care of the visa. I found the visa process itself to be quite nerve-wracking, cumbersome and for only 6 weeks quite exaggerated, but MicroEDU cannot do anything about that. However, you should be prepared for the heavy costs for the visa, Set a few forms and a trip to the nearest embassy (in my case a 2½ hour drive to Frankfurt). The “interview” in the embassy itself is a joke, I was in the embassy less than 10 minutes to just confirm that I am not a terrorist, have never been in prison in the USA, etc. Read more student reviews on Anycountyprivateschools.

Once that was all done, the anticipation was huge and I was looking forward to the day of the flight to LA and was very excited about what the trip would bring me.

UCLA is one of the most prestigious universities in the country and the campus is really as you know it from photos and films and still much more beautiful and bigger than I expected. I think there are no comparable universities and campuses in Germany, there is simply everything there that you can imagine. Fitness studio, soccer field, basketball stadium, several pools, dining options, shopping, everything available! I particularly liked the many well-tended green areas, which used to be a sunbathing lawn for me between courses, and the really beautiful and imposing buildings. Everything is very clean and well-kept, you will look in vain for cigarette butts or the like. All in all, the campus is really impressively big and beautiful! It was still a bit annoying that during my stay there were lots of construction sites around the campus and that a lot of renovation work will probably be postponed to the summer months. The work in the bathrooms of the Rieber Hall was particularly annoying, they were closed once every six weeks, so that you either had to queue in your own bathroom or walk halfway through the building to another bathroom. Unfortunately, the elevators in the Rieber Hall did not all work either, so that only one instead of four was in operation for several days. These were all closed once on a rotating basis during the 6 weeks, so that you either had to queue in your own bathroom or walk halfway through the building to another bathroom. Unfortunately, the elevators in the Rieber Hall did not all work either, so that only one instead of four was in operation for several days. These were all closed once on a rotating basis during the 6 weeks, so that you either had to queue in your own bathroom or walk halfway through the building to another bathroom. Unfortunately, the elevators in the Rieber Hall did not all work either, so that only one instead of four was in operation for several days.

The location of UCLA is very good and safe, you can walk to Westwood in about 15 minutes, and after a 15-20 minute drive you are both in Santa Monica on the beach and in Hollywood.

Courses

I had a Communication Studies course (Social Networking) and an English as a second language course (English & Film). It must be said that the workload and level of difficulty of the courses vary greatly. Depending on which courses you take, you have to reckon with quite a lot of work, in the 6 weeks you actually master what is normally enough for a whole semester. I had more to do with midterm exams, final exams, group projects, readings, weekly assignments and presentations than I had originally expected. My courses were also held in the middle of the day from Monday to Thursday, which was unfortunately very inconvenient for planning my free time. Many had 2 more days off a week, which of course can be used more. But since I wasn’t just there for fun, that was completely ok,

Reside

I lived in a double room during my stay in the Rieber Hall. I made the decision for cost reasons and because I definitely wanted to live on campus. The rooms are quite small, they consist of a wardrobe, bed and desk. The 3-bed rooms are just as “big” as the double rooms, which would have been much too tight for me personally. My roommate was American and very nice. But since I wasn’t in the room much and our bedtime and interests were quite different, the contact was more limited to small talk. But since she was a regular student at UCLA I was able to ask her a few questions and she gave me some tips. At the beginning it was very unusual for me to live in a confined space with someone stranger and you actually have to blindly trust your roommate, because you don’t lug all your valuables and laptop around with you all day. You have no privacy at all, for a limited period of time such as the 6 weeks of a session this is quite feasible, but if you decide, for example, to do both sessions, I would consider other living options such as the Saxon Suites or off-campus Recommend apartments. There are several shared bathrooms in the Rieber Hall, which also took some getting used to for me, but it was okay. But you shouldn’t be a hygiene and cleanliness freak, the bathrooms are (supposedly) cleaned daily, but depending on what time of day you enter, you don’t see that much of it. For the reasons mentioned above, I can say that I was most looking forward to having my own bed and bathroom at home!

Eat

I had decided in advance for the meal plan with 15 meals per week, which in retrospect was far too many. If you don’t have to eat 3 times a day, 11 meals are definitely enough, at the end of the week I usually had 4-5 meals left. Above all, you should plan that you will often not be on campus and eat, especially at the weekend, be it that you are going on a weekend trip or just a day trip and are away. The food itself is really to be recommended, it is not for nothing that UCLA’s eater is one of the best Uniessen. Once you have shown your Bruincard at the beginning, you can feast as much as you want. In addition to the fast food options such as burgers, hot dogs and pizza, there is also a large salad buffet and freshly prepared dishes. There is also plenty of choice for breakfast and you can strengthen yourself for the day. You only have to get used to the meal times, the greetings breakfast is only available until half past ten, after which there is a limited selection of bread and cornflakes. Dinner is unfortunately only available until 9, which was something that took some getting used to, especially for the southerners. But you definitely don’t starve and all in all I can really recommend the food!

Leisure

LA and the surrounding area has so much to offer that the 6 weeks were not enough for me to really see all that I had planned. If you only do one session and do not plan a few additional days before and / or afterwards, you have to be aware that you effectively only have 5 weekends to explore the area. I always had Fridays free and therefore 3 days at the weekend, which I then used and needed. A weekend trip to Las Vegas is a must, San Diego and San Francisco can also be taken with you. Since I had already been to California a few times before, I saved myself the long (but very nice) drive to San Francisco, because I wanted to have one or the other weekend in LA myself. Definitely recommended are a trip to the Getty Center (beautiful view), Six Flags and Universal Studios, the drive over Mullholland Drive (best by day and night) and of course one or the other beautiful beach (Laguna Beach, Malibu etc.). Everything is easier if you rent a car, because you can get desperate with public transport and definitely need longer for everything. The buses seem to run as they please and you won’t find any plans at most of the stops. A good alternative is renting by Zipcar (http://www.zipcar.com/), so you can rent cars by the hour around the campus. However, this has to be regulated from Germany beforehand. Everything is easier if you rent a car, because you can get desperate with public transport and definitely need longer for everything. The buses seem to run as they please and you won’t find any plans at most of the stops. A good alternative is renting by Zipcar (http://www.zipcar.com/), so you can rent cars by the hour around the campus. However, this has to be regulated from Germany beforehand. Everything is easier if you rent a car, because you can get desperate with public transport and definitely need longer for everything. The buses seem to run as they please and you won’t find any plans at most of the stops. A good alternative is renting by Zipcar (http://www.zipcar.com/), so you can rent cars by the hour around the campus. However, this has to be regulated from Germany beforehand. you can rent cars by the hour around the campus. However, this has to be regulated from Germany beforehand. you can rent cars by the hour around the campus. However, this has to be regulated from Germany beforehand.
Anyone interested in clubbing will definitely not miss out in LA, you just have to get used to the fact that most clubs close around 2am and that it is best to get to the club early (and as a boy with enough female company)! From my point of view, the pool parties in Standard, Downtown and Sundays in XIV (Fourteen) are highly recommended.

Conclusion

All in all, I have to say that the time in LA was absolutely amazing and I definitely had the summer of my life! I can therefore only recommend everyone to do the Summer Session at UCLA and organize this through MicroEDU, you will not regret it!

Study in University of California Los Angeles 9