University of California Los Angeles Student Review

By | May 27, 2021

My summer studies

I studied at UCLA for six weeks and enjoyed an eventful time. When I wasn’t studying at the beautiful university, I would have nightly parties in Hollywood, lay by the swimming pool, go shopping, or work out in the fitness center. I went to television shows, went to baseball and football games, went to movie premieres, and went to Las Vegas for the weekend. I made lifelong friends from all over the world and fell in love with California.

I was on-campus in the “Sproul Hall”, in a newly renovated student residence (campus = university environment). I slept in a triple room. It was there that I made most of the friends I went out with and toured California. In the “Rieber Hall” I had a menu plan and ate very well there. The UCLA campus was a dream. It had three swimming pools, a huge fitness center, and beautiful old buildings between trees and parks. The location was perfect, you could get to Hollywood and the beach in half an hour by bus.

How was the support?

According to TOP-MEDICAL-SCHOOLS, the support was really great, my emails were always answered by post. The staff in the “Sproul Hall” were also very friendly and helpful.

How was the contact with local students? How was the contact with other exchange students?

During my lecture it was almost impossible to socialize because I was in a lecture with over 100 people. But in the dormitory I had contact with locals and exchange students. The local students then showed us the best clubs and brought us to house parties. There were many Asian students from whom I learned a lot about their culture. I shared my room with two students from Shanghai who were very interested and thanks to me they dared to go out. That was new territory for them :-).

How did I get along linguistically?

I hadn’t passed a single English exam during high school and hadn’t taken a toefl either, because I certainly wouldn’t have passed it. That’s why I really wanted to speak and learn a lot of English. So I didn’t want any contact with Swiss people and was mostly traveling with English-speaking friends from the USA, Saudi Arabia, China, England and Turkey. In preparation I had bought all of the “Friends” series and watched them in English. That helped me a lot, at the beginning I only had problems with speaking, but after a week this problem was also gone.

How did I like the lecture?

I studied “Introduction in Microeconomics” with Dr. Bresnock. The subject was very interesting and I learned a lot of English technical terms. Dr. Bresnock had provided good documents and it was easy to prepare for the exams. Learning was not very difficult for me, as you could get a tan at the pool at the same time. 🙂

University of California Los Angeles 4

Tips:

  • If you want to study more than one subject (which I don’t necessarily recommend) you have to take care of the visa very early.
  • Get in touch with the local students. Thanks to them, I learned a lot about American culture. They took me to sporting events and house parties and knew where the best restaurants and shopping centers were.
  • You can only rent a car if you are 25 years old. But you can get along quite well without a car. Everything on campus can be reached on foot.
  • Be active right from the start and enjoy your time – it will pass quickly!
  • Without 21+ IDs, you won’t be able to go to any clubs or bars. The locals who are not yet 21 years old have forged ID. Without my older brother’s ID, I would only have had half the good time.
  • Live “on campus” if you don’t know anyone before you leave. In the dormitory you can easily come into contact with other students.