San Fransisco State University (SFSU)

There are many courses to chose from. It's also worthwile to attend courses that are not applicable to your study but can be seen as interesting to follow on the side. Some courses were to easy for me. Overall the teachers are very helpful and kind. Also the American students like to talk to Europeans, at least from my experience. Then again, I am also a social person that walked up to Americans myself, as most of the time they walk out of classes in a rush.

Don't be late, teachers are strict on arriving on time. Also be active in class, as the teachers appreciate input from their students. Coming from the EU and having economic classes is nice as you can have other views on matters and the Americans were really interested in my opinions and experiences with the Eu/Euro. Also get involved in clubs so you can have more contact with the locals.

Check teacherreviews.com in order to avoid some weird professors they still have in SFSU.

SFSU is not a top university, so there are students with all kinds of skills and experience - everything from poor to excellent. Make sure you study and do group projects with the right people, otherwise you need to do everything yourself. The quality of education is very good and professors are generally good as well, I had actually a couple of excellent teachers. But, check teacherreviews.com or ask your friends about the professors because there are some exceptions there. One thing that SFSU does not excel is the administration: there's a lot of paper work and byrocracy involved in registering classes, getting and submitting important documents, and doing other simple things. It really is a state university...

Consumer goods are not more expensive than if you'd buy them in the Netherlands. What was expensive was the rent and also mobile telephone costs, as one also pays for incoming phonecalls.

SFSU is not seen as a top notch university. It is not ranked that high at all supposably. The quality of the subject-matters could have been deeper explained. Sometimes I felt as if I wasn't learning THAT much but perhaps I chose some wrong classes.

I had the best time of my life there! Not only cause of the beautiful city that San Francisco is, but also due to all the great friends4life that I have met during my stay. If you want to get to know the Americans well, you'd have to take the initiative! Another option which I'd highly recommend is to join the IEEC (International Education Exchange Council) to meet more international/local students and to be more involved, for instance in the social activities.

I chose to live off-campus instead of on- campus as I wanted to experience the city life more and the travel to the uni. The housing market in San Francisco is one of the most expensive ones in the USA. Living Downtown or at Northbeach will be more of a financial burden compared to living in the Richmond or Sunset district (where I was situated). Housing can be found through www.craigslist.org

depends on your purpose. Are you there for gaining international experience or study as hell? You learn a lot even though it is not the best classes.

It is very hard to write an essay since the content reqs and the layout is very different. The European style is much more academic and the American is much more practical. I like both, but you must be aware of this since you will have problems otherwise. I know from own experience :)