Santa Clara vs Pomona and Fordham

Colleges and Universities A-Z Santa Clara University
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<p>Santa Clara vs Pomona and Fordham</p>

<p>This is going to be a kind of long thread so please bear with me. These three schools are my top college choices and I'd appreciate some outside perspectives on the academics, quality of life, and social life at these schools, with a focus on Santa Clara.
Okay so I'll start with what I feel is the biggest difference between the three schools, quality of life. I come form Tucson, AZ so I'm really used to warm weather year round and I'd like to know what the climate is like in the Bay Area. How tolerable is the winter and how nice is the fall and spring? How comfortable are the dorms? Are there many options for the outdoorsy type? Is the weather in the Bay Area and LA really that much better than NY?
On to the social life. I've heard some supposed Santa Clara alumni talk about how the social life is so-so, they say that most people at the school are preppy, which I'd describe myself as, that the administration cracks down on parties, and that there is not much tolerance of alchohol. Is all of this true? How many clubs are there, I'm interested in the College Republicans, Debate, religious, or Outdoorswomen organizations, and is there a variety of guest speakers or bands? How relaxed is the student body because I visited Pomona and saw people outside barbecuing and relaxing underneath the trees and warm CA sun so is Santa Clara anything like this? Also, I come from AZ so I'd have to make a fresh start knowing absolutely nobody at Santa Clara or even in any of the colleges in the Bay Area so am I going to be going to a school where everyone knows everyone and is not interested in making any friends?
Finally, academics. I'm under the impression that there really isn't that much of a difference between the academics at Santa Clara, Fordham, and Pomona, aside from the fact that you'll probably have more contact with the faculty at Pomona but I can deal without having dinner with my teachers, is this true or is Santa Clara really inferior? I'm Catholic and went to public schools all of my life so I'd really love to be able to take some courses in theology to better understand my faith and see it more clearly, that's why Santa Clara and Fordham are two of my top choices, so is Santa Clara's theology department of good quality? Also how is the classics, philosophy, and economics departments at the school, are they pretty good?
Oh and I forgot to ask one of the most important questions, how's life in Santa Clara? How close is SCU to SF and the beach for a person with a car?
That's about it and thanks in advance to anyone willing to answer my lengthy post!</p>

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<p>Pomona is the west coast "little ivy". I know kids accepted at both SC and F and it's usually the geographics that made them choose where they ended up. P is a whole different story. If you are interested in catholic theology, there are many very fine catholic schools in addition to the two that you might want to consider as well. Holy Cross in Mass, BC, GT, Catholic U, Villanova, Notre Dame all come to mind on the east coast and midwest. Many others too. THere are a number of Jesuit schools out there that you may want to examine. Pomona is more liberal than most catholic schools being a typical elite LAC.</p>

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<p>Well...first the weather. The weather in Santa Clara is very different from the weather in NYC. NYC gets cold, damp and bitter in the winter and it snows. SCU weather is nice year round with a rainy season in the winter. It is seldom even freezing, and days are typically milder. It never snows. Temps are moderate. SCU is inland enough that it is warmer than the weather in San Francisco, for example. Re: things to do...DD says there plenty to do, with a diverse offering of clubs and other activities. SCU has three courses of required religion courses as part of the Core requirement. There are about 100 different religion courses from which to choose. There is a good Jesuit presence at the school, with a Jesuit in residence in each of the residential learning communities (that is what their "dorms" are called). There is a huge emphasis on community service. The housing is very nice. In fact, the facilities in general are terrific. There is a brand new library/learning commons that is state of the art. The business school also has a new building and the new aquatic center is opening at the beginning of October. The campus is gorgeous...one of the prettiest and best maintained we visited. The size of the school is very good, about 4500 undergrads. There is also a grad school and a law school. DD says that the teachers are very accessible, and there is also a very good study skills center which offers tutoring as well. I believe it's about a 45 minute drive to the beach in Santa Cruz. The tranportation center is right across the street from the main campus entrance and the Cal Train runs from there to SF. There is a free shuttle bus to the San Jose airport which is all of ten minutes away. DD went to SCU from across the country and didn't know a soul. She made friends easily and has found her niche.</p>