Interesting campus. About 2 hours drive time from anywhere major in the Greater Bay Area. First impression: Where the private universities we’ve been touring are like golf courses, this school is like a very nice urban park. A couple of weeds here and there, needing a haircut and cleanup, etc. But, hey, it’s 2 weeks before they are back in session so they’ll probably have the power washers out in force soon.
The highlight is the brand new (unfinished until 2018) Wine Business Institute Building where you can learn all things wine related right in the heart of wine country. The breadth of the business applications and potential future jobs is very attractive.
The pro’s: The variety and size of the “dorms” is a definite plus. The school is on the semester system so the pace of learning is likely a little less intense. Very easy to get classes and graduate within 4 years. They have a rock wall (sorry, inside joke of long standing elsewhere.)
The con’s: Very limited on campus dining and it’s old school buffet (equates to unhealthy, usually.) Less likely to provide significant spirit of competitiveness among students (which could also be a pro, I think.) Significant traffic congestion as area growth explodes.
Funny, rockwall observation - every campus tour we’ve done has highlighted either an existing or soon to be completed rock wall - as if it was some key ingredient on every student’s list. Most schools spent more time talking about it than class availability, their honors program, the sports team…too funny you’ve also found this amusing. My sons and I joke about it to this day - whenever one of their friends mentions a college they are interested in all 3 of us immediately ask about their rock wall and laugh. My oldest is about to graduate from Chico and hasn’t used theirs once - I told him they may not let him graduate until he scales it once. (when we first toured 6 years ago, it was billed as the tallest indoor wall from Sacramento to the Oregon border - it probably still is).
Anyhow on Sonoma - that was his second choice and I have spent a lot of time on campus and am in regular contact with some recently former students. A couple of things that don’t come through in the tour. The school is very female heavy, due in no small part to their outstanding Nursing and Teaching programs. Students in those programs are segregated from the rest of campus - in their dorms, GE classes etc. This impacts the clubs and vibe on campus. Great if you are in one of those programs, less so if you are studying something else. Your son literally won’t see 1/4 of the student body during his 4 years. Another anomaly of the school is the much hyped dorms. Since all the freshman dorms have their own living space and doors to the outside, there’s no shared hallway.bathroom - making it hard to bump into fellow students on your way to class, food, or the rock wall. It is plenty social but, you have to work harder at it than a traditional common hall style dorm. As a guy, a frat or similarly engaging club is a must - especially if you don’t click with your assigned room mates. Also, because freshmen can bring cars - and many students don’t come from too far, it can get kinda dead on the weekends. I am not suggesting he not go, especially if he wants to study the wine biz. Just encourage him to act fast to make connections.
I know 2 students that left after a couple of years because they hadn’t connected with met people. I know a few recent grads that had a great time there. Like most places, it is what you make of it.
Chico has a beautiful brick campus - is as residential as Sonoma but, better connected to town and - of course, they have a killer rock wall. (but no wine biz program.) If you are looking for a residential CSU, it is definitely worth a tour.
@NCalRent: Thanks for the information. I left the tour wondering about such things as you described and it may be a poor fit for S18 for those very reasons. I also appreciate the recommendation for Chico State and several friends had their kids go there and they all loved it. I am getting serious at this point to at least go tour it, but I’m waiting til school is back in session so he gets a true feel for the area.
@Emsmom1: Hi. We’re looking at the smaller schools so UC Merced (visited) and UC Santa Cruz (know area well but need to visit campus still) are on the list. We’re still checking into CSU’s and have only seen Sonoma but will likely tour Chico. Just today, CSU East Bay became interesting to us (well, me, actually) due to a program they have for students like my son. You?
I genuinely like Sonoma State. Another pro is that Sonoma is big on a liberal arts education, which can be beneficial for opportunities after graduation. It’s also the only school in California in the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges. My only issue with the school is the reputation it has; it’s mostly regional. I guess top athletics too, but that varies by student.
Also, Sonoma somehow has a super relaxing vibe; I loved that aspect.
I graduated from Sonoma State 20+ years ago after starting at Chico (I moved to be closer to home because of an illness in the family). @NCalRent’s descriptions are pretty much dead on. I loved both schools/communities for very different reasons. I was an older, more mature student when I was at SSU and I appreciated the quieter setting. I probably would have hated it right out of high school, but it was the best environment for me in the long run. That’s not to knock Chico. I have several life-long friends from my younger fraternity days, including both of my childrens’ god fathers. SSU did an awesome job preparing me to be an English teacher, creating a major-track specific to that pursuit. If I was going back to school right now, I would be very tempted to enter into their wine business program.
As a father taking my oldest son on campus tours, both Chico and SSU were must sees. My wife loved the campus and the wine country setting of Sonoma State (we lived in Napa when first married). The campus tour was conducted by a student from our hometown who did a great job of explaining how the transition to college life in Rohnert Park would take place. SSU made it into my son’s top 5 schools along with Cal Poly SLO, CSUMB, Sac State, and Chico State. He passed on the private schools like UOP and Willamette because he thought he get much of the same small school feel at SSU or CSUMB. Ultimately, he chose CP SLO, but it wasn’t a quick decision. Sac State and SSU hung around a long time. Personally, my wife and I were a bit disappointed that he didn’t go to SSU, but we completely understand his decision.
P.S. On the Cal Poly Pomona tour, they said their rock wall was the highest in the whole CSU system