Details

• United States of America
• BaWiSo-23
• Undergraduate
• SoSe 2026
• Time spent at the partner university: 5 months
• Contact: Login to see contact information

1. Preparation

Before flying out to San Diego for my exchange semester at SDSU, I spent quite a bit of time thinking through the practical side of things — and looking back, I'm glad I did. One of the first things I looked into was transportation. Since I knew California isn't exactly built around public transport the way German cities are, I started researching early on how I'd actually get around once I was there. I ended up looking into student car rental services, which turned out to be a great option — they offer more affordable rates and more flexible terms than standard rental companies, which made a real difference for someone on a student budget. Sorting this out before I even landed meant I could start exploring my surroundings pretty much from day one, instead of losing my first few weeks figuring out logistics on the ground. I also made sure to have at least a rough idea of what I wanted to do during my semester abroad before I left — not a fixed itinerary, but enough of a sense of direction to actually prepare for it properly. This came in handy especially when I was packing. I knew I wanted to take a few trips to places with a colder climate than San Diego, so I made sure to pack a winter jacket, even though it felt a bit strange stuffing it into my suitcase next to all my summer clothes. At the same time, I didn't try to pack for every possible scenario — I knew I could buy things locally once I got there, so I focused on the essentials and figured the rest out along the way. Also: leave some room in your luggage, you're going to need it...

2. Accommodation

For accommodation, I got really lucky in that I didn't have to start my search from scratch. Students who had gone on exchange to San Diego before us passed on the contact of a landlord they had rented from, and we ended up doing the same — renting a house together with a group of fellow exchange students. It genuinely turned out to be a great decision. The house was only about a fifteen-minute walk from campus, right in the college area, so almost everyone around us was a student too, which made the whole neighborhood feel really safe and easy to settle into. Before committing, I did also look into dorm rooms as an alternative. Price-wise, the two options were actually pretty similar, but the house gave us a lot more — I had my own single room, and we even had a garden, which isn't something you'd get in a dorm. Looking back, I'd recommend this kind of shared house setup over a dorm room in most cases. That said, it's worth being honest about the trade-off: living with a group of fellow exchange students meant we spent less time immersed with American students than we might have in a dorm. If your priority is really integrating with locals and living the full campus experience, a dorm room might get you there faster, even if it means less privacy overall. It really comes down to what you're looking to get out of the experience. One tip I'd pass on: we found our place through a Facebook group specifically for incoming exchange students, which is where a lot of these landlord contacts and house-sharing opportunities get shared. If I could tell myself one thing beforehand, it would be to join that group early and reach out to previous exchange students directly — they're usually more than happy to help, and honestly, that's exactly how we found our place.

3. Academic life at host university

The campus itself was honestly one of the biggest surprises for me. It's stunning — and completely different from what I was used to at WU Wien, which feels a lot more low-key by comparison. I remember being genuinely surprised the first time I saw people out in their swimwear doing yoga on campus in the middle of the day. You could really tell that for a lot of students, campus isn't just where classes happen — it's basically where life happens. There's a gym right there, cafés scattered everywhere, and just generally a lot more going on. The whole place feels a lot more alive. On top of that, there are so many spots to sit outside, and just as many good spaces indoors if you actually want to sit down and study. When it comes to courses, it really comes down to what you personally choose to take. You can absolutely go the easy route — a lot of students do, and they often check professor ratings beforehand to find courses that are both manageable and taught well. But you can just as easily pick harder, more demanding courses if the topic genuinely interests you. It's really up to you how you want to shape your semester. In terms of teaching style, it reminded me a lot more of school back home than university — lots of active participation, getting called on in class, and a steady stream of smaller assignments throughout the semester. On the flip side, everything is explained on a pretty accessible level, so even if a course sounds intense on paper, it's usually not as overwhelming as you'd expect. Overall, I'd say the difficulty really depends less on the university itself and more on which courses you pick and how deep you want to go into them.

5. Every day life in the host country

What really stood out to me about campus life in the US was how much there is going on outside of class. There are so many clubs and so many events happening constantly that you genuinely never run out of things to do — it's a completely different level of campus culture compared to what I was used to at home. I was also positively surprised by public transport, which honestly wasn't something I expected going in. There's a trolley that runs directly from campus into downtown, and while it's definitely slower than what you'd get with good public transport in Europe, it gets the job done and turned out to be really practical — especially since parking downtown or at the harbor can get pretty expensive. And if you don't have a car, Uber is always a solid backup option for getting around. Beyond campus, San Diego itself is just an amazing place to be based for a semester. There's so much to do — you can spend a day at the beach, go hiking, or just generally stay active, since the city really has something for every kind of interest when it comes to sports and outdoor activities. And it's not just the university organizing events either — the city itself regularly has things going on too, whether that's concerts, beach events, or something else entirely. Between campus and the city, there was honestly always something to do.

6. Testimonial

Looking back, my exchange semester was an incredible experience that pushed me to grow in ways I didn't expect — simply being somewhere completely different, immersing myself in a new environment, and meeting amazing people made it truly unforgettable. San Diego turned out to be a beautiful city to call home for a semester, and the friendships I made there have genuinely lasted: just two weeks ago, a friend I met in San Diego came to visit me back home, which says a lot about how meaningful those connections were.