First of all, it is important for me to emphasize how good the support from MicroEDU was from the first application to one or the other problem to be solved on site. Questions were always responded to immediately so that problems could be solved quickly. MicroEDU also got in touch with the people at the university directly if they couldn’t find a contact themselves – which often helped me a lot.
Regarding the course content, I am very satisfied with the CSUEB – the professors on site are highly motivated, extremely friendly and very helpful, which made studying a lot of fun. The courses should be highlighted – Sustainable Management or Supply Chain Management! You really learned something from these professors and you weren’t just a number in the classroom. On the other hand, the process up to enrollment in a master’s course is rather difficult to look at, as a foreign student unfortunately does not have the same right to choose a course as a local. Only when they are all enrolled will online enrollment be activated for the international students. Therefore, you should clarify in advance with your own university, how generous the course recognition is – because there is no guarantee of acceptance of courses chosen in advance! It should be emphasized as positive that the university offers international courses in the spring and summer semesters, which are equivalent to master’s courses and are a good solution to the enrollment problem. However, these courses cannot be viewed online, but are offered directly via the ALP Office (including enrollment). Read more on Existingcountries.
Unfortunately, the organization of the ALP office made a less positive impression on me. A major shortcoming for me and other students was the fact that for the master’s courses to be provided by us, an additional payment of 140 dollars per course was required in addition to the tuition fee and this innovation was not communicated to MicroEDU. Furthermore, you were referred to the website of the CSUEB, for example, when the certificate was issued, where a fee of 35 dollars was charged, although the certificate is delivered directly through the university for 4 dollars. These examples gave me the impression of a rip-off. On the other hand, it was very positive that the coordinator responsible for us in the ALP office was always friendly and helpful and was able to solve most of the initial problems. I also liked
Life on campus is definitely worth an experience. You shouldn’t be put off by the barren room, which is only equipped with a wooden table, a rubber mattress and a steel cupboard. Because in this way you can quickly establish contact with other students, especially American students, who received us kindly and with whom we had a great time at the I-House. Nevertheless, it should be noted that the “watchdogs” in the corridors are very strict and try to break up even the smallest student party. Accommodation for your own visit is also rather difficult, as an extra band has to be requested for this and men visiting women have to leave the I-House by 2 a.m. at the latest. Therefore, I rather recommend accommodation in the city in a hotel.
It should be emphasized that the campus has a fitness studio, which is located directly across from the I-House, which you can visit every quarter for $ 80 every quarter. Furthermore, the cafeteria (Dining Commons) on campus offers a wide range of burgers, pizza, salads and fruits. Still, we were never able to exhaust the $ 1,000 for meals included in the semester price! So I would have liked real kitchens in which you can cook yourself, just like the apartments of American students are equipped. The campus also has a good range of small shops, such as Starbucks, a mini food store, a bagel bistro and a campus shop where everything from souvenirs to stationery is available.
It takes about 45 minutes by bus and Bart to get from campus to the city of San Francisco. During the week a kind of campus shuttle runs to the bar station during the day. However, it is advisable to organize a taxi in the evenings and on weekends, especially if you want to test out the nightlife in San Francisco. With prices agreed in advance, the round trip in a group is quite cheap at 10 euros (each way). There is also a cinema in the nearby village of Hayward, which is definitely worth a visit. At the weekend I would definitely recommend exploring San Francisco and the surrounding area (e.g. nearby outlet stores, Santa Cruz etc.) or all of California, as there is less going on on campus.
