<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>
<p>Hey! I go to Santa Clara, it's only my second day hear but so far it's been cool. I've lived in California all my life and the winter is tolerable but we're so used to warm weather that the cold can seem like Antarctica status at times. The fall is my favorite, not too hot or cold. Spring it rains and the summer is REALLY hot. The dorms are surprisingly really comfy, especially if you get a suite which has four rooms and a living room for about six people. It's way bigger then I thought it would be but it's still a dorm. </p>
<p>So onto the social life, I can't really say since I've only been here for 2 days but it's been alright so far. The first few days there are a bunch of parties so make sure you get to know the right people who can let you know what's going on. I can say though that after this one weekend that everyone has been here I feel like people have already found people they like and are glued to. People are nice when you go up and talk them and they'll hold the door for you and all that but since college is so new people are really insecure and just sticking with the same people. This will def change when classes and things like that start though. The thing about the parties is true (campus safety and SCPD puts the hammer down) but THERE ARE parties. So if one gets shut down then you move on to the next...</p>
<p>There are a gajillion clubs here too! I actually just got back from the club fair. They have everything you mentioned and more. It was so overwhelming all the clubs they had! I didn't even get to sign up for everything I wanted to because there were sooo many people clamoring to get to the tables to sign up. Also, the campus is def relaxed and chill. Everytime I hear people talk about SCU they describe it as "it's like a resort with classes". Soo true! It's one of the most beautiful campuses in Cali and there's trees everywhere and grass. In the summer the girls tan on the grass (anywhere!). I found a secret sand volleyball pit yesterday so that was cool. People playing frisbee and flag football in front of the dorms and TONS upon TONS of longboarders. And yes, we have bbq pits around campus, we fired it up yesterday in back of our dorm actually.</p>
<p>SCU is exactly the same. You can have dinner with your teachers if you want. There are resident ministers and stuff that live with their families in the halls and sometimes they bake and you can hang out with them. One of them actually plays guitar and jams sometimes, so cool! And duh, SCU is THE top Jesuit school in California. So theology is definitely something you can heavily get into. Like I mentioned there are minsters that live in the in the dorms, our president is a priest so I really think that this is a great place for you in terms of religion. I'm not sure about the classics, philosophy, and economics departments though, sorry. </p>
<p>And as far as SC life...I just moved here so I haven't been too much around but it's a college friendly place. Valley fair mall which is really high end is like like 6 mins away and SF is a bus ride away. They have shuttles every couple of days or so that take you to SF or Santa Cruz or some other place for free so that's awesome. Freshman aren't allowed to have cars but people find ways around it and almost everybody ends up getting to know people who have cars. </p>
<p>Lol, my roommate was reading your post and she said "two words, come here." hahaha</p>
<p>Valley Fair mall is good stuff haha. I like the Levi's store there.</p>