I just got my acceptance to Chico yesterday.
I certainly enjoy the small town, beautiful campus, and the surrounding nature. However, its party school reputation and lack of diversity still concerns me.
Do you guys think an asian guy who typically doesnt party would enjoy a school like Chico?
I’ve seen very disparaging opinions of Chico on this website ( “its the worst school” vs “its one of the top cal states”). What do you guys generally think about it?
Did you get into the Honors College?
I don’t know actually. Do you have any idea how to check that?
Apply, if you haven’t.
http://www.csuchico.edu/honors/
The Honors program at Chico is very good.
I’ll put that on my to-do list. Thank you!
Anything you can tell me about the school?
Chico is the farthest school I’m applying to and I’m likely wont be able to visit it any time soon. How would the campus compare to a school like CSU Fullerton, Long Beach, or San Diego State?
More residential thant Fullerton or Long Beach.
SDSU has a beautiful campus and is pretty residential, but not sure how to compare - Chico looks like a private college in many ways, but the style is different from SDSU.
There was a frequent CC poster @NCalRent whom son attends CSU Chico and is very knowledgeable about the campus. I have not seen him post in a while, but you could try to send him a PM about the school. Beautiful campus, very small town feel if that is what you are looking for in your college experience.
I’m transferring to Chico this spring so I start in a week. So far, when I’ve been on campus everyone is pretty amazing. When I went to the preview day they had good tours and I got to speak to others who were the same major as me and they gave me good advice on what clubs and organizations would be good to join. Chico state has not been on any party school list for years, just saying. I don’t get that vibe at all, but I’m sure if you wanted to be in a frat it would be a different environment. For diversity, while I was there I saw many different races so I would imagine a lot of different backgrounds. Message me in a few weeks and I can tell you how it’s going and maybe answer some of your questions better!
You will find plenty of non-party students at Chico. And as with just about every other school, the hard party types often don’t make it through the first year anyway.
My son is a Jr at Chico, half way through his 3rd year and is on track to graduate in 4years as a finance major. He LOVES it there, is in a frat and has a good group of friends. As you would expect, there have been ups and downs but, it is the perfect fit for him. He lived in Lassen hall freshman year, an apartment on Nord the second year and now lives in a house with 5 guys a few blocks from campus. He was admitted into the honors program but stopped because he didn’t enjoy the curriculum. The program is good but a bit touchy-feely for him and he didn’t really connect with many of the students. He does enjoy a party on occasion but says there is plenty to do for those who don’t. (Clubs, mountain biking, a gym, lots of volunteer opportunities, there is even a small airport less than a mile away where you could learn to fly)
The Chico campus is about half the size of SDSU Fullerton or Long Beach. As someone said above, it feels like a private school -big oaks, lots of brick and a creek flowing through the middle of campus. The town surrounds the school and virtually wouldn’t exist but for the college. As you might guess, most of the students live within a mile or so and walk/bike/board to class (there is almost no on-campus parking - contrast that with the other campuses you list) It is a more forgiving place to be a young adult. For most majors, SDSU is nominally better regarded than Chico. SDSU is also more selective. Long Beach and Fullerton are roughly on par with Chico, some majors favor one campus one or the other. You can get a solid education at each. It really depends what you are looking for in your college and its surrounds.
My other son is a Jr in high school and is taking a hard look at Chico as well.
Not sure what you are looking for on the diversity front. The campus is less than 50% white and more than 25% Latino. Leaving a smattering of the rest.
@peanutbuddha , one of my closest friends, who is Asian, actually transferred from Chico to SJSU (where we met). I’ve personally only been to Chico once, so I can’t say much from my own perspective, but I remember asking him why he transferred from Chico to SJSU. He mentioned some things along the lines that the collegiate/academic atmosphere he experienced there didn’t seem very conducive for academic excellence. His experience was that many, if not nearly all, of the students he came into contact there (he was there for one academic year) didn’t seem to care as much about their academics, and instead focused more on the social scene. He did also mention the lack of diversity, but I don’t recall him expanding on that point. He actually transferred into Chico from a CA community college, so was in junior standing by time he attended. He said he was extremely satisfied with his decision and felt that SJSU was the better place to be for him. He is a Social Sciences major.
Of course, experiences are subjective. I’m sure there are excellent students at Chico as well as outstanding academic programs. I just wanted to share my close friend’s own experience.