"If I had to choose..." 5 international universities

If I had to choose between 5 great places to study

When listening to all those various young students presenting their universities on Tuesday (7 July), I started dreaming…
Imagine I was 20 years younger ;-), imagine I had the choice (and the money) to pick a place among five highly-praised places in the United States, China and South Korea and study there for one term – what would I go for?
Sure, they all offer all kinds of courses, electives, majors, and campus activities. But what struck me as special about each one?

The students of San Diego State University have an average GPA of 3.81 (for our German readers: this is out of 4.0)! But apart from the brain, they also seem to be very active in all kinds of sports – and most of all basketball.

Colorado State University is in Fort Collins, apparently a really cosy place where you have always blue sky, heaps of snow in winter and never sweat in summer. It’s ranked among the most pleasant places to live in all of the United States! And it is proud to be Green University.

Zhejiang University in Hangzhou (near Shanghai) seems to be a stunning place to me as a European. The Chinese culture surrounds every step you take with all the architecture, tea houses, exotic food, plants, … It was founded in 1897, underwent considerable change in the 50s and emerged as a modern university in 1998, open to international students.

Kookmin University in Seoul, South Korea is a very young university (and also Green!), but has grown enormously over the past few decades. What I remember is the photo of the young student musicians rehearsing outside on the campus, so these little private concerts must be a common thing. And they are great performers – there a several musicals acted out every term.

And last but not least, California State University in Fullerton. It is located between Los Angeles and San Diego. What else do you need? There are 26,000 students among a total population of 126,000 (which really reminded me of Heidelberg, with its about 30,000 students compared to its 100,000 inhabitants!) And Kevin Costner as well as Gwen Stefani have graduated from there.

So here am I. I keep on dreaming, but YOU out there – you have the choice! Go for it!!

Ursula W., Certified Translator for English and French
Instructor and Coordinator of the Business English Department at the SRH Hochschule Heidelberg