I mean, one’s in SoCal, the other one’s in Bay Area. I would consider job opportunities first. If she wants to go Hollywood, LMU is better. If she wants to work for tech, SCU. Anywhere can have academically driven students with a passion of partying hard. You just have to run in the right circles. Also, you have to consider the personalities of each school. Unfortunately because of COVID, it’s extraordinarily hard, but if you have any other specific questions that would lead you to the insight of SCU’s culture, feel free to ask.
What do kids do on weekends? I know you were a commuter; was that true of a lot of kids? She hears that LMU clears out a bit on weekends with kids going home. We’re out of state, so she’s looking for an active campus on weekends. Also, she is planning to major in English with a possible double major or minor in Communications. I know SCU has a strong STEM program, but are people also happy with the humanities program?
Well, some people do party on the weekends, others study, yet others go travelling or go home. My best guess is that more than 10% of the student body commute, and more than 50% of students do live in the Bay Area. My friend, who double majors in English and Communication, says that the faculty are very supportive and nurturing, and they help you with your career prospects. So not only do they help you in academics, they are there to be mentors.
Hi, I’m most likely gonna attend SCU in the fall and I want to major in engineering but I was accepted to the College of Arts and Sciences Undeclared(will change from undeclared to Comp Sci). What would it take(Grades, Professor References, etc.) for me to Internal Transfer into Engineering by my Sophomore Year? No need to sugar coat it, I’ve already heard it’s difficult. Thanks in advance for your response
To be honest, I have no idea. I don’t know the process of internal transfer to the Engineering School. Sorry!
@athletiger could you comment on the financial aspect of SCU? I got admitted for CSE in the College of Engineering, but I was offered barely anything in grants to support my education and SCU is quite expensive to attend. I’m trying to negotiate with the office of financial aid, so if you could provide insight or any prior experience that would be great!
Could you comment on how religious or Catholic SCU is? We were going to visit over spring break a couple of weeks ago until COVID shut things down. She is a liberal-minded LGBT atheist type of kid. But we have Latin American Catholic family roots so she is comfortable with the social trappings of Catholicism. But will be extremely unhappy if the church imposes things like anti-LGBT policies for students or faculty, no birth control or abortions on the health plans, that kind of thing. Or if a majority of students are from conservative Catholic backgrounds and that is the dominant cultural thread, like for example how Baptists run Baylor or Mormons run BYU.
I attended the open house last year & many virtual sessions. As far as I know, SCU requires three religious courses which are more close to humanity courses, ethics and philosophy combined. Student ambassador emphasized how much they enjoyed those requirement classes. It seems that many kids are culturally catholic but not quite religious.
You know that half of student body is from the Bay Area? I wouldn’t worry about too much of conservative practice in school. It’s still in the Bay Area.
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@Camasite we also toured and I would second what @Ifthen said. There are three religion required courses (not three years, but three shorter courses) and some are definitely lightweight. I think the vibe was generally it’s there if you want it, but they encourage diverse applications and nurturing the whole student. I suggest though that you see if you can get more information from current students on Reddit or Niche. We really liked this school and the students seem very content. It didn’t strike me as a place a serious activist type would be drawn to but not a place where ultra-religious views are pushed upon students.
Thanks guys. That was more or less my impression from afar. It is on our list of places to visit this summer if we can do so. Santa Clara is basically the first realistic private school you hit when you head south from Portland. I guess there are a couple of tiny ones in the Bay Area and Stanford which I don’t consider realistic. But between Portland and the Bay Area there isn’t much except maybe University of Redlands which isn’t of interest to us.
A couple of comparative religion or philosophy classes would be good for her anyway. One should know more about the culture in which one lives. I do think she would rebel against some kind of Catholic article of faith of the sort that many evangelical colleges impose. Or if some of the more discriminatory aspects of the faith spilled over onto campus. But that doesn’t seem to be the case. She isn’t a rebel in the sense of needing to stir up trouble. But she has a very acute sense of social justice and low tolerance for hypocrisy.
To add on to the three religion courses, not all of them are Catholicism. Coming from a Christian high school, I used my religion courses as a gateway to learn more about other religions. I ended up taking East Asian Religions, Islam, and the Theology of Marriage.
In addition, SCU prides itself as a Jesuit University, which means that they look at education holistically. This means, not all professors are from the Christian/Catholic faith.