Type of housing: Apartment/House

Arranged by: Independently - My choice

If returning, I would choose: Apartment/House

Why? Is the best way to live in the US for me, you have your own rules instead of living on campus.

Personal comments:
There´s a lot of accommodation at the university, you can live on campus or off campus and is even greater, ´cuz there´s a lot of student apartaments next campus and the transportation is free, there´s a little shuttle every hour around apartments.

Describe host city: Students equally interact with the local and student community

Activities, Nightlife, Travel: Takes place both within and outside of the university/student environment

Personal comments:
I went to Los Angeles a lot which has to offer soooo much.... hard to tell one favorite spot. Best cafe in Long Beach was definitely The Portfolio which is a great coffee house. While being here you have to check out the big variety of food places. One of my favorites in Long Beach is Taco Surf, great mexican food. Big time events are happening all the time, so your choice is nearly unlimited. I went to a lot of Lakers games, also hockey and now football is back.... they have great concerts. Blue cafe in Long Beach is a good place to go. As well as the whole Pine Street area with Alegria and all these other nice hang outs. Check out all the beautiful beaches, Venice and Santa Monica are a must as well as Huntington and Laguna Beach in Orange County south of Long Beach. Bottomline... there is so much to do and see that you have to come back every year !

Course recommendations:
I took a lot of fun classes which I could never take at home because they are not offered there. I started learning spanish and I can highly recommend the Spanish classes.My class was early in the morning for four times a week but this made the learning experience very intense and just great ! All the activity classes are fun. my best class experience was taking the model united nations class in the political science department. Although it was a lot of studying, I had a great time in this class, met a lot of great people and got the chance to go to some big conferences.

Personal comments:
It was the best academic experience I've ever had. All German universities should look to the system here and try to improve in that way.

Language of instruction: English

Main source of funding:
Personal savings

Other sources of funding:
Family
university in Germany

Work opportunities:
It was not legal for me to work

Personal spending habits:
currency.... The Dollar is so strong compared to the Mark. When you stop converting the currencies you actually spend not more than at home. The difference is just that you don't earn anything while studying abroad !

Food, Travel, Nightlife, Overall, Housing: was more expensive than at home.

Telephone: was the same price as at home.

I wish I had known...
I wish I would have had the chance to stay longer !

In my opinion:
I loved it but I'm not sure everybody would.