Darcy – San Francisco State University – USA
Semester 2, 2024
Bachelor of Behavioural Science (Psychology) and Bachelor of Justice
My name is Darcy, and I am a fourth year Psychology and Justice student. I have just returned from an incredible semester exchange in San Francisco! Below is a discussion of my experience and at the bottom I have listed my tips and tricks for helping everything go smoothly.
Being in the US has always been a dream of mine and so I focused my efforts on universities in the US. While I struggled at first to choose a university, I eventually chose San Francisco State University (SFSU), which was a great choice in the end.
I arrived approximately a week before the SFSU semester started. I spent that first week in San Francisco exploring around and understanding the city. I got to see union square, North Beach (an Italian precinct), Chinatown and San Francisco’s famous Fisherman’s Wharf!
I then moved into my on-campus accommodation at SFSU. I shared a room with another person which I had not done since I was very young so that was a new experience for me. I initially struggled with having roommates due to this but once we organised what our expectations were, I got on well with them.
SFSU’s campus is modern and has good facilities. The weather in San Francisco is like Australia during springtime so it’s not too hot. However, it does get foggy in the evening which makes it very cold. I found the classes at SFSU were more discussion based and a lot smaller than QUT which meant I got to know my classmates really well, which was lovely!
In terms of exploring San Francisco itself, I was very fortunate that San Francisco’s city centre is only a 45-minute train ride from the university, with the train stop being right outside the university itself!
Some of my favourite experiences here were the following. The aforementioned Fisherman’s Wharf which I visited multiple times. I had their world-famous clam chowder from Fog Harbour Fish House which was absolutely amazing. I also went to the Musée Mecanique which had many entertaining (and some frightening!) old mechanical animatronics and games (tip: the games require coins so make sure to get some out beforehand in case the ATMs there are empty).
I also organised an event at Fisherman’s Wharf as part of my involvement in the International Education Exchange Council (IEEC) (an organisation you are required to join and participate in as part of your exchange to SFSU). The event was to do a ‘fast food crawl’ where we would eat at multiple American fast-food restaurants along the wharf. We started at In n Out, then did Applebees and then finished it off with pancakes from Ihop.
Seeing the iconic Golden Gate Bridge was also great fun as was seeing the Palace of Fine Arts. I also went to see SF MOMA, which is a museum with a lot of really amazing art pieces. I had the chance to go to Alcatraz as well which was a sobering and enlightening experience.
In terms of trips outside San Francisco, I booked a tour bus to see Monterey (sort of like an American version of Surfers Paradise) and Carmel-by-the-Sea (a really pretty medieval-esque town). I would absolutely recommend doing this as this was an incredible experience.
My favourite part of the trip was without a doubt being able to dress up (bonus points if you can figure out what Star Wars character I’m dressed up as!) and attend the San Francisco Fan Expo. I had never been to a convention before, and this one was incredible. I attended many entertaining panels, and I bought so many unique things here. Best of all was when I got to meet famous actor Giancarlo Esposito aka Gus Fring from Breaking Bad!
Above all else, the best advice I can give is to really try to push yourself and take any (safe) opportunity you are offered or able to do. This trip will really change you as a person for the better, but it is up to you to make of the time what you will. I have made so many friends here, both locals and exchange students from other countries and I will never forget this wonderful, enriching experience.
And now onto the tips and tricks!:
General Advice
1. Make sure you have as many equivalent units as possible with the universities you are thinking of going to. Also make sure you check with your subject’s departments and the exchange department ASAP (ie min 1 year and a half before your exchange semester) about whether the units you have selected are equivalent.
2. On campus housing is in my opinion absolutely essential, you should obtain this as soon as possible. Always make sure to check if a university has any accommodation and especially any for exchange students. There were a lot of universities that seemed perfect but then had no on campus housing for exchange students. This is especially important if your university is close to or within a large city.
3. Make sure wherever your university is, that it is near some form of mall or shopping centre. I had a Target (they sell food there as well in the US which was a bit of a shock) very close to SFSU which made getting bedding for my on campus accommodation the first night very simple. It was also very useful for getting groceries.
4. If there’s somewhere semi-famous you’d really like to go to on your trip organise going to it as soon as possible. These kind of activities will fill up very quickly so you don’t want to miss out on them. I myself almost missed out on seeing Alcatraz by organising it too late, thankfully they still had a couple of spots free for me and my friend.
US/SFSU Specific Advice
5. If you are going to the US make sure you get your visa organised ASAP as the process is very long and confusing. You will be required to go to Sydney for an in-person assessment for the visa so ensure you have that all organised as much and as soon as possible.
6. The US uses a month/day/year date system, this is very important to keep in mind when seeing when something is due.
7. Your Australian uber app becomes the US Uber app as soon as you arrive so you don’t need to download a separate app. I’m not sure if this is the same for other countries.
8. When getting dropped off at the university, please make aware whoever is driving you that there will be a little bit of a process where you are being dropped off at on move in day. I had to first be driven to one area to be checked in and then driven to another area to wait in a queue to be dropped off. Thankfully my uber driver was an ex-student at SFSU so he understood but it was an important lesson to learn
9. Daytime weather in San Francisco is similar to Australia’s winter weather but keep in mind the fog makes things very cold in the evening so make sure to bring some winter weather clothes (this is especially important if you’re going our Semester 2 which is their wintertime)
10. SFSU (and possibly other US universities) do not have large block assessments of 25-50% but rather small exams and assessments each worth 5-10%. While this seems simpler at first make sure you don’t miss these as it could hurt your grades overall
I know this all sounds like a lot of work, but I promise you in the end it is 110% worth it for the experience you will have there.
Find out more on how you can apply: Student Exchange
