My exchange semester at San Francisco State University

My exchange semester at San Francisco State University

Academic Affairs

I spent my Fall 17 semester as a global exchange student in San Francisco State University, US. The SFSU’s academic calendar is similar to Koç University in many ways. There are mainly one or two midterms for each of the courses with an additional paper or a project. SFSU’s information system uses the same software as Koç, which was an advantage for me to easily enroll to my classes. What I observed from other exchange students was they were also able to easily enroll to classes that they wanted. I believe that is a big plus since the correspondence of class you took abroad to Koç credits is a big issue for many outgoing students, however thanks to SFSU system me and my friends haven’t had a hard time transferring credits and grades.

Accommodation & Transportation

The school is not close to the city center however it is in a decent neighborhood with a lot of other SFSU students so the life around university is pretty vivid. There is also a big mall near the school with restaurants and store where you can easily access what you request. Many people have their own cars to get the school but also there are several busses from all over the city to the SFSU and many people relies on those busses. Furthermore, public transportation in San Francisco is free for SFSU students. Compared to other US cities San Francisco have a better public transportation system where you can get anywhere. The public transportation card being free helped me a lot on my savings. Many students live in shared houses but dorms are also an option. Even though rental prices are expensive in San Francisco it is possible to find cheap shared houses.

Social & Daily Life

Since I am not a native speaker I was anxious to go to an American University regarding my language skills. However, I quickly find out that it was easy to adapt to the lectures and rather easy to understand the subjects. A problem with American Schooling system is the book prices. The books required for my classes were relatively expensive, however you always had the chance to buy clean second hand books for a cheaper price. There are many school clubs setting up events also there is an exchange students club which throws parties trips and gatherings. One of the most important things before going to US is to remember that the legal age to do many things is 21. So this might create problems while renting a car, going out and such.