Santa Clara University

This university is not worth the expensive price tag. Yes, I did experience a few good professors here and there but otherwise most professors come from second tier universities with lackluster degrees. You’re better off a SJSU

Santa Clara University is one of those campuses that is very open to the public. However, I noticed that there are no hobos/​homeless people that hang out there. Obviously, you see a lot of students eating out everywhere, from Taco Bell to Pizza My Heart just around the campus. What I love about this place is the fact that it is clean and safe to go and run any time of the day… not to mention, the place is built on a Catholic foundation. Proud to be Catholic here of course, but even if SCU was a Christian school or some other denomination, the fact that the school promotes good healthy faith-​based environment has two thumbs up in my book.
Will definitely do my running here all day every day!

Wonderful faculty and beautiful campus! Highly recommend it if small class size and individual attention is a criteria. And of course, the campus is super clean, and peaceful.

LOVE THIS SCHOOL!
great professors
easy ge’s
good people
cons:
don’t really like the silicon valley

I am a graduate student in Computer Engineering. Do not join this college! For one, the first 2 quarters your enrollment date will be on the last few days, courses get filled and you do not have a chance to choose your course of interest as new students are given lower priority. Very disappointing to pay premium fees and not get the courses you want! The graduate engineering admission office has not done anything about it even after raising our concern.

The campus is really beautiful. Love the fact the class sizes are small and the faculty are really friendly.

Might be fine for undergrad’s but don’t go here for graduate work.
Too many teachers have tenure, too many teachers simply go through the motions, this school has potential but it is entirely smothered by failings in the faculty.
I don’t have an alternative school to recommend, but I know I learnt an order of magnitude more working in the real world. If you take classes here, ignore the teacher and teach yourself from books and the internet, you’ll probably still fail but you will have gained valuable knowledge and will be able to correct the teachers mistakes.
If you trust the teacher and listen to them, at SCU, they will only lead you to failure.

Need your help! A man lost a lot of money at the hut one night by in the early 90s. I found it. My email is
Please contact me if you know him or are him! thanks

Completely in love with this university!

The university is very beautiful. You can not compare it to other universities around the Bay Area especially since it is a Private institution. It would be great if SCU would broaden up and add more focused programs for Pre Medicine and other programs. They focus a lot on business and engineering. Overall, education here is good. The classes are tough and can not be compared to other schools and students who go to a public, state or community school.

Amazing Parent orientation. Answered all my questions. As well as the ones I didn’t think to ask. A little long on the lectures. However there was a lot of ground to cover.

This university does not compare with some in the Bay Area. It is simply the BEST! The university landscapers do such an amazing job keeping the campus BEAUTIFUL! They have some of the country’s greatest professors and great student clubs and organizations! It is one of the safest campus’ filled with kind and intelligent people! The quality of the education I am receiving here is great! I, like many other students, would not want to be anywhere else. I only wish it was a little more focused on areas other than Business and Engineering. It needs to be more Pre-​Law, Pre-​Med and Pre-​teaching based! Overall, the college of Arts & Sciences is the best! It’s always a great day to be a Bronco!

I’m so inspired by this AMAZING university. The tour we attended was student-​led, and they did a great job representing their school. The campus felt safe, and it was refreshing to be surrounded by such kind and intelligent individuals. I’m rooting for my niece to apply here in a few years!!!

What a BEAUTIFUL University. I was blown away at how well maintained this campus looks.

I graduated from Santa Clara University in June 2011 as an Accounting Major. I must say that this was the best 4 years of my life based on two aspects: people and education.
Prior to SCU, I attended a high school full of judgmental, immature children. SCU welcomed me with open arms and introduced me to open-​minded, unique and priceless individuals.
The quality of education I received here is unsurpassed. All of my class sizes ranged from 15 – 40 students, which allowed each professor to provide their undivided attention to the entire class. This is representative of all courses I took and not just accounting classes. I was very appreciative of the encouragement to speak your mind, but also to think critically. I graduated from SCU with the ability to pass all of my CPA exams on the first try and multiple full-​time job offers. This school’s relationship with corporations all around Silicon Valley offers extraordinary career opportunities for students of all majors.
I agree with the general consensus that an education at SCU, regardless of which program you are in, is not cheap. Even today, I am thoroughly grateful that I received a partial scholarship from the school and also from the accounting department throughout the years. You can’t put a price on education, but you also can’t put a price on graduating without any student loans.
The food in the dining commons was definitely above average, considering it was essentially a school cafeteria. Highlights of my meals include prime rib, filet mignon, sushi, late-​night snacks, gourmet sandwiches and desserts. I lived in the dorms all 4 years — 2 years in San Filippo and 2 years in St. Clare. Dorm life was definitely enjoyable as I had 2 years to experience community life and having a roommate. The last 2 years, I had my own room and was able to focus on my studies independently.
I cannot thank this institution enough for giving me this strong foundation in life. The person I have become today is partially attributable to my education and experience at SCU. The doors that have opened for me and potential opportunities in the future because of this degree have proven to be priceless.

As a recent Santa Clara University alum I am going to have a few biases, but I absolutely loved my time this school.
With a small campus I was able to feel comfortable in the small class environment (ranging from 15 – 30 students per class) where I was able to interact on a personal level with almost all of my professors.
Being part of the Leavey School of Business I graduated Santa Clara with an Accounting degree and a full time job offer in the upcoming year.
If Santa Clara prepares you for anything, it would be for the work force. Starting my Freshman year I was encouraged to attend job fairs and to start networking immediately. Santa Clara’s private education encourages students to go out of their comfort zone and nurtures them to be prepared for the challenges of life.
Aside from prepping you from work the small campus allows you to be comfortable with the student body. I have forged countless friendships that I am sure will last my lifetime… and I was able to go out and have a good time on my spare time as well!
Choose SCU if you are looking to get a job out of Undergrad, want a comfortable environment and are want to have a good time!

Pros:
— I received a great education. Isn’t that the most important thing? Class sizes are small, the professors are excellent and you get lots of attention. Teachers are available outside of class, and are eager to be helpful.
— The campus is beautiful. Lots of places to socialize, also many outdoor areas to enjoy some peace and quiet.
— The small student body makes it easy to meet people and make friends, though it’s not as diverse as the advertisements suggest.
Cons:
— It’s super expensive. You should check out your major first to see if it’s going to be worth it.
— SCU’s got clout, but it’s restricted to the Bay Area. Outside Northern California, most people have not heard the name.
— Campus life is important, and SCU is weak in that department. After the initial rush of starting school and meeting new people fades, most students settle into a routine of hanging out in dorm rooms getting drunk. That gets old fast. Joining a frat or sorority might be your only ticket to expand your social circle. If you want to volunteer in the community, it can be hard to find opportunities that don’t clash with your schedule. It’s just not a very well-​rounded social experience compared to other Bay Area schools.
— The surrounding residential neighborhood doesn’t embrace SCU, it holds the students at bay. (A huge mistake in my opinion.) Living in the dorms is like living in a zoo — students are meant to stay on campus and not wander around the ‘hood. By my junior year, I lived off-​campus in San Jose and regularly spent weekends in SF, Santa Cruz, or downtown SJ. SCU became just a commuter school.
That’s a lot of cons, but I still give it four stars. I got a great education, made good friends, and was well-​prepared for the workplace. But by the end, I was really itching to leave.

I absolutely loved coming to school here just because the school operated on a quarter system, was close to home, and the professors and advisors seemed to care about your education.
I was reading the San Jose Mercury News today and the Newsweek survey listed the school as the second most beautiful school in the country. «The survey combined scores for the attractiveness of the campus, the weather, and the hunkiness/​hottness of the student body.» Go broncos!

Seems to me, you appreciate your Alma Mater so much more once you graduate and are gone. So much to be said about this school; it’s hard summing up 4 years here in 1 succinct review.
For starters, the accounting department is great – if you ever get a chance, take an accounting class with Bill O’Brien, he teaches (or has taught at one point) a few of the required actg classes, along with electives (international actg, government & non for profit actg). Wendy Donohoe was also a great mentor. I know accounting majors seem to have such a stigma, and actually most business majors are competitive with each other, that’s the nature of it.
Very clean campus… there’s jokes how the trash gets emptied constantly, even with hardly any new trash in it… and how the lawns constantly get mowed, and how a large portion of our tuition money goes towards planting more palm trees to lace the walkways and obsessively trimming the rose bushes to perfection…
The library (new since a few years ago) is wonderful, if you get used to the burnt orange «modern» theme I suppose… the study rooms on all 4 floors are a lot of fun too. The library is a nice habitat or home for some… and people always brag/​complain about living there during finals week when it’s open 24hrs a day… Now if only the café (which proudly brews Starbucks) were open that late too.
Please, I reccommend, don’t spend real money on campus! If need be, deposit money in a «flex account» which let’s you purchase food and beverages tax free. But obviously better yet, the dining point system. Through this system you can live off of lattes, salads, more lattes and iced coffees… And small snacks, so you don’t have to worry about wasting a $ 10+ pasta dinner. No buffet style, thank god.
If you want to suntan and study outside in the spring/​almost summer months, go ahead, people do it, or they go to the pool to «study». Pretty nice.
The teachers here really are great… You can tell they teach because they WANT to, and have already achieved their career goals (based on their real life working experience/​lessons shared in class) and to be honest, their stories are quite fascinating. Really great network if you’re just friendly.
There are a lot of stereotypes with this school, and quite frankly every school has that, and to an extent the stereotypes are true. However — there is so much more behind the stigma, it can’t be written about, only experienced. And Unilocal isn’t a place to share.

This was my alma mater. I loved Santa Clara University despite the insanely high price tag because I really did feel like they were able to provide me with the best education that I wanted, custom tailored to my needs.
I was an Engineering & Business major and was able to complete over 400 units with the help of the academic committee allowing me to do all kinds of corner cutting with pre-​requisite classes to help me achieve my goals. They didn’t just spat out NO in my face, instead they really worked with me on a plan and tried to accommodate my needs while still in keeping with why these pre-​requisites were there. Yes, I paid for it, but in the end isn’t that what education is about? People who are there to help your to propel you forward.
I liked that my professors mostly had real world experience, that they didn’t do a ton of research and were always available during office hours and even outside of those hours. I enjoyed the small class sizes and their attention to detail. I love that once you have your mind set on something people in your department are there to help you achieve it. That’s hard to find in public schools and even some other private school institutions.
I definitely felt that the education I received from Santa Clara played a crucial part in paving way for my graduation and opportunities I got when I did graduate. I would recommend Santa Clara and would definitely do it again if I had to!

Review for the library.
Great library with new technology. There are also several computers for the general public as they don’t require any log ins. Definitely one of the nicer university libraries I have been to.

It’s my undergrad alma mater, so I feel I owe it to SCU to give it a review. Let me start off by saying that even though I’m a Bay Area native, I had never heard of SCU prior to my senior year of high school when I was gearing up to apply to schools. Cue flashback montage: overtly cocky sixteen-​year-​old me is utterly convinced I didn’t need to apply to more than my dream school, because I was naïve enough to believe I didn’t need a back-​up plan because, like, hello, I am *that* awesome why wouldn’t they take me? Yes, in retrospect I realize that I wasn’t necessarily as intelligent to the ways of the world as I ought to have been, but don’t judge me! Who among us can say that their teenage self is someone they’d like to be more like after growing up? That’s right, I thought so.
Anyways, it’s getting close to application deadline dates, and one of my teachers who I didn’t request any letters of recommendation from asks me where I ended up submitting my applications. They’re shocked when I unveil my master plan of only applying to one school, and proceed to strongly encourage me to apply to somewhere else just in case, and end up selling me on Santa Clara (it was their alma mater as well). Lo and behold, I do not get into my dream school (curses! I was wait-​listed there, though) but do get into SCU, and September finds me wandering its campus.
I wouldn’t ever willingly admit this while a student there (case in point: I graduated early mainly because I was dying to get off the campus because it wasn’t my dream school), but in retrospect, I was relatively happy at SCU. I definitely met some amazing individuals who will be lifelong friends, and all of the professors I had were extremely knowledgeable in their field and took an interest in their students. Small class sizes probably help in this regard.
Bottom line: It gets a solid four stars because if you can get in and get financial aid, it’s an investment well worth it if you plan on staying in the area after you graduate. The name is getting relatively well-​known in the Bay, but it’s still not on the level of the Ivies (yet).