Which California University Should I Choose for My Exchange Program?

[Zweig]

Hi there,

I'm currently a French student in Physics (I'm interested in fields as particle physics, quantum, cosmology) and would like to do my last undergraduate's year in the USA. It exists an exchange program between the USA and some French universities located in Paris and its region. Have a look here : http://www.micefa.org/.
Among all the US univeristies partners (http://www.micefa.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=72&Itemid=27), I'm rather interested in those which are located in California. But I don't know anything about them (http://www.micefa.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=44&Itemid=29) ... As I guess their undergraduate programs are nearly the same, I will turn my attention to the quality of the teaching, of the place, of the atmosphere, of the life there etc ...

Here my choices : Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Jose. Why ? Because I never went to the USA and I admit these towns (especially the first two, I chose the last one because I've some friends there) make me dream ... Yes, I watched too much Sitcom =) ... What will you advice me ? If your advice is on another university, don't hesitate to tell me with som arguments.

Thank you in advance,

Best regards.

 

[Ryker]

I don't think any of the universities listed are "big names", so just go for whichever town sounds coolest to you. The biggest part of an exchange is experiencing a different country, a different culture, stuff like that, and while I would consider the academic standing of the university and the courses offered there, as well, they shouldn't be the only factor you base your decision on. It's a one-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so make the best of it. Don't go in thinking you're going to get an advantage from a purely academic standpoint, because you're not going to learn more Physics there than you would back home. However, the personal benefits are going to be invaluable, and you should just focus on where you think you can maximize those.

Either way, if I were you, I'd go to either San Francisco SU, San Diego SU or San Jose SU, but that's just because I have a sweet spot for towns that have "San" in their names. So have fun chaising California girls and keep us updated on how that goes