The reception for SCU admitted engineers was held at the Google Campus last year. We talked to 20+ seniors that were graduating, all had jobs, several at Facebook, Google, Apple and other companies to name drop a few. Reputation in Silicon Valley is why we chose it over a school down south, UW, and UNC Chapel Hill, (this student wants to work in valley/Norcal). She was mature enough to go far and we completely expected her to, but in the end we all felt like internships/jobs were more certain in this area coming out of SCU. Frankly, SCU was at bottom of her list when we started cause it was the safety school that was too close to home. It’s reputation in engineering is what moved it up. If you haven’t done the tour, you should try if you can, it really persuaded us as well.
Thank you @CADREAMIN and @scualum
I attended open house few month ago.
Open house is different than Shadow SCU. If you do Shadow SCU, as an accepted student, you are matched with a student. You also get to attend class(es) and it’s a much more personalized experience than the open houses. Look up Shadow SCU…I believe the program still exists! Open houses are for anyone. shadow SCU is for acceoted students only.
Thank you @thumper1
I am hoping to attend Johnson finalist’s weekend if I make it to finalist. And defiantly will attend Shadow SCU program.
@thumper1 and anyone else who can comment, do you know if there would be a benefit to the Shadow day v. the preview day that is open to all accepted students? I feel like you might get a more real view in the shadow program, but maybe I’m wrong.
I’m a little biased because my DD helped develop and ran the Shadow SCU program for a couple of years.
The preview days are very good. But they are not individualized in any way.
The Shadow SCU Program gives the accepted student a chance to experience a day in the life of a SCU student…you get a student to be with, attend class(es)…it’s just more individualized.
Contact the admissions office about information.
My kid went to the acceoted student days in April, and it was fine. But there was no Shadow SCU program than. Her acceoted student thing was an overnight. She did spend the night with a student…and did go to a class. But it was not as Individual as Shdow SCU sounded when she described it to me.
My mistake. I am totally ignorant about anything in Boston. I thought Boston University were a public university (likely misled by its larger size and its affiliated professional schools.) I also thought San Jose State is larger (in terms of the student population) than SCU because somehow I met more graduates from San Jose State University after I had moved to Silicon Valley. I should have known it better because I think I have lived in California long enough (4 years first and then another 5 years.)
@JHS, Not meant to be shallow (for I am going to mention the prestige of a university): Since you compare Boston University with USC, are they comparable in their prestige? Or, are they comparable just because their student population sizes are similar and both are located not far from the downtown ? It seems there is another private university in Boston: Tufts. Do most high school students prefer BU to tufts? And BC to BU? (That is: BC > BU > Tufts if we are only talking about their UG programs? I bet students in California prefer SCU to San Jose State University, in terms of their UG programs.)
MODERATOR’S NOTE:
@mcat2 Please do not derail the thread. The original poster did not ask that question, and going off-topic, even tangentially, is rather rude to the OP. If you want to gather opinions on rankings of various Boston-area colleges, please start your own thread.
I sent you a PM about BU and BC…as it’s not the subject of this thread.
"Since you compare Boston University with USC, are they comparable in their prestige? "
Prestige among whom? A Boston area person might answer that very different from a Californian. It’s all regional.
Total thumbs up to Shadow Day which my daughter did. It is a very personal experience with another student where you go to class(es), with your Shadow guide, hang out, then eat lunch with a group of students (at least that is what she did). It is here that she realized she would fit in at SCU. If I recall, preview day is more for the entire admitted class - lots of people, festival atmosphere, where Shadow day is a 1:1 almost private experience with your shadow guide, mixed in socially with other students. I think she was just there for the morning, through lunch. The most important events she attended that strongly influenced her to choose SCU were the engineering dept tour, the engineering admitted students reception held at Google, and Shadow day, all equally important.
I can add, the Law school at SCU has very good reputation. Someone told me years ago that virtually every lawyer and judge in the valley either went to SCU or has some close tie to SCU. After a few years here, I realized they were right.
I had never heard of Santa Clara U before moving to the Bay Area. But among the professionals I worked with while living there, SCU’s MBA program has a great reputation. I knew a lot of people already in management positions at tech companies who were working on their MBA there at night. I can’t speak to any of the other programs, though.
@Alamalaki Santa Clara is well known to Catholic high schoolers on the east coast. It has a great reputation with guidance counselors here.
Santa Clara is on the list of top ranked undergraduate engineering programs that don’t offer a doctoral degree.
http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/engineering-no-doctorate
Santa Clara is a masters university…meaning that most degrees are bachelors degrees, but there are a couple of masters programs. No doctoral programs. The school is very consents number 2 in its region for masters universities.
One thing that hasn’t been mentioned but is worth noting…there are no teaching assistants teaching classes at SCU. All classes are taught by professors. We thought this was a good thing. Even labs are taught by the faculty…with some assistants there to help out. But the teaching is not done by TAs.
Seems worth mentioning what a beautiful campus it is with meticulous landscaping, gorgeous rose gardens, wisteria, and lush perfect green lawns. Not a big campus, but bigger than I thought, until recently I had only seen the edges, when you get deeper and into the center of campus it is really something. This area around the Mission is gorgeous. One of my kids lost their keys across a wide area of campus and looking for them made me realize how spotless this campus is. They would have been so easy to spot as there wasn’t a fallen leaf sitting on the well manicured lawns. Of course being SCU, someone had found them and walked them to the other side of campus to turn them into the lost and found office.
Those gorgeous gardens have flowers blooming year round. The rose gardens are spectacular…and some of the plants were brought over from Europe. There is a huge fine for picking the roses!
Campus is spectacular. The Library/learning Commons is relatively new…and when it opened, folks from many other colleges came to tour it. Their aquatic center is new. The admissions building is new. The business school is new. Dorms are refurbished in a rotation. My kid’s was redone before her sophomore year…but it was nice before,the redo.
Lots of outdoor areas to sit and relax and study. Weather is good for that almost year round.
Enough things off campus within walking distance. Plenty a bus ride way. Easy train ride to Mountan View or San Francisco.
And if your kid ever goes to summer school…tell them NOT to miss the Snt Cruz Jazz festival. Carlos Santana often plays it…HD it’s his home town. Best concert ever.
And for,those who don’t know…this year’s Super Bowl is in the town at the newish stadium that is the home of the 49ers. About five miles from campus.
Santa Clara University: “Bend It Like Beckham”
Thank you @thumper1 and @CADREAMIN . I am looking forward to visit campus again and learn more about SCU Engineering department.
I would not worry about it at all.
However, I personally, don’t like Santa Clara. Small. Sheltered. Picturesque. Perfectly trimmed. Sheltered. Friendly. Super-friendly. Local.
Local school for children, who are not made for Stanford/Berkeley, too rich to go to San Jose, too sheltered to move away from their parents.