The SDSU has many courses to offer. The best way to enroll is to register early for the course.
So, when the registration period begins the student should have made already a wishlist from which the registration step is easy and fast.
But beware:
Even if the webportal/administration gives green light it is still not clear if the student will be allowed to join the course. For international students this is a bit like a lottery - because the local students will always be preferred - and last but not least the professor decides if the international student can take part - no matter what the administration says.

A lot of things at the SDSU are quite different from what I am used to at the FernUni. One thing that I really like is that a student has different opportunities to get the certificate or grade for a course. There are assignments, presentations, working hours, two exams and last but not least it even counts if the students attends the courses in time and regularly. So the exams are probably not that stressfull as in Hagen because even if one fails somehow in one of the tasks at the SDSU there is still an acknowledgement for the rest he/she did during the semester. In Hagen its like an all or nothing card ....if one fails the exam we have to repeat the course and do not get any 'reward'. This makes the exams at the FernUni somehow very important and stressfull because nobody wants to waste time and money.

Dear reader,

To leave good old Germany for about five months to take part at the Atlantis project is a thing I never thought it would come true for me until I met Prof. Kraemer.

I hope everyone has a great holiday season. My last exam was on Monday the 22nd with Astronomy 101. For Astronomy and Keel boating I already received my grades, both an A. Now I am desperately waiting for my Computer Sciences Classes' grades. Over Christmas I visited my host mom of my volunteer year in Flint, Michigan. I had a white Christmas, lots of American food, a great family atmosphere with the other volunteers and her only downside being it very cold. While staying in Michigan, I also visited the Campus of Ann Arbor UofM. A very nice campus with new and old buildings, especially the law buildings stood out.
I have settled now for moving to SF on the 9th of January. My work will start on the 11th of January, I still have to settle with my old landlord on the rent as well as with my former landlord on returning my security deposit.
Hope everyone reading this has a great new year and all the best for 2010!

Last week I finallly received an answer regarding my last minute search for an intern job in California. Sycle a San Francisco based company will take me under its wings for four month as an intern with extension of my visa based on academic training. I only found out about this opportunity after comming over to the U.S.. Due to the accident and due to the fact that I was not planing on working full time in Germany until I finish my bachelor degree, this possibility turned out to be a nice thing to do between the end of SDSU fall semester and starting to work on my bachelor thesis. I hope I can take my final exams in March 2010 at the Goethe Institute in San Francisco (received confirmation on that today). Sycle is a company specialized in CRM software. Although I have specialized in the information security field, I feel that working at a small software company with a nationwide customer base is a good experience to foster my entrepreneurial ambitions.

Due to the bicycle accident on October the 5th I had a whole lot of extra curricular experience. I want to share some with you.
The health insurance which I was required to buy as an international SDSU student turned out to be fully sufficient, I only had to pay for over the counter drugs so far. I was fast and thoroughly treated by very friendly and to my current knowledge good doctors. I am still seeing an orthopedic, a plastic surgeon and a psychologist on a regular basis, all that is provided. If you have a minor health problem you can just go to the health care facility on campus which turns out to be a small hospital. After the accident I could not take the bike to school anymore so I had to look into a cheap mode of transportation that would not involve getting a car or the need for a California drivers license. I found http://www.rentfromexpress.com which offers a 350 Dollar 2 month minimum car rent. I got a 19?? old Toyota but after reading Taiichi Ohnos introduction a while back in Germany about the Toyota Production System I feel comfortable riding my first Toyota.

After several months of preparation for my entrance exam, previous research presentation and interview for admission to the Graduate School of Osaka University (Dep. Robotics and System Innovation), I was finally admitted!!

In my experience, the interview was the hardest evaluation. It's really similar to a job interview and all types of questions are allowed.

When I was asked about my international research experience, I was able to talk about the ICACE program and all the skills and experience that I obtained through this program. I was also able to back up my statements with two letters of recommendation that I obtained from Prof. Ozturk (SDSU) and Prof. Kraemer (Fern University). I am very sure that this made a difference in my evaluation and probably I became a more competitive candidate for the Master's program.

A concept I was not familiar with as a German student was the way students sign up for classes (add classes) and drop classes (withdraw). In Germany you pick the classes you want to study before the begin of the semester

The first three weeks at SDSU have passend and a lot has happend. I ended up Taking Quantum Computing, Aritifical Intelligence I, Speech Processing and Astronomy 101. I must stress the point that I did not pick my classes very carefully when I had to send in my application to SDSU.