<p>This school was on D’s list, but was taken off due to being in the city…
Different strokes…</p>
<p>My S is a junior at USF majoring in computer science. He seems to like it very much - lots of small classes and good relations with his professors. He was also accepted to UCSD, Cal Poly SLO and Santa Clara, but in the end chose USF because of the generous merit aid they offered. He comes from a cold environment and as such thinks the weather is much nicer than what he is used to.</p>
<p>sarsfield - has your son said anything about the boy/girl ratio at USF? I hear boys are a bit scarse…</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>If boys are a bit scarce, he’s probably not complaining! 
Less competition for the pretty girls. LOL</p>
<p>But…I get what you mean. If they have an all-male dorm, then there are probably plenty of opportunities for male bonding in the man-cave.</p>
<p>mom, my husband in particular sees few downsides to a boy in a girl-dominated school – and I would bet my son would soon see the benefits as well! </p>
<p>I was just wondering how that would affect the overall social atmosphere at a small campus.</p>
<p>We just returned from USF - three points
1 - Heavily social justice oriented
2 - Firm merit based policy. Admissions man basically said "if you have X SAT and X GPA - I think 3.8 - you get 19K off admissions. Someone said "Is that guaranteed? The admissions guy said "Well, I guess you could write a really bad essay, but basically…but that is our ONLY merit based aid.
3 - 55% live on campus. Given that underclassmen are required to live on campus, that means almost no juniors and seniors live on campus. I found this a big turn off, as you lose the cohesiveness and have not onsite role models. </p>
<p>In terms of food, etc - we always go to the Trip Advisor site (I don’t think I can put the dot com on the end and not have it removed) to find out best restaurants, hotels etc - we have never ever been led astray. I highly recommend that if you are going to SF sign up for this site and ask the locals - they know EVERYTHING and are very generous with their advice!</p>
<p>Great site for any city - so far we have used in Boston, New York, Palm Springs, San Francisco… and that is just this year!</p>
<p>S has not said much about the boy/girl ratio as he found a girlfriend during his freshman year and is still with her. You are right about housing - after sophomore year almost all students live off-campus, which I don’t like. I don’t think my S minds it too much, but I prefer on campus housing all four years.
Shoot4moon - that’s what my son received (and daughter, but she went elsewhere). Recipients must maintain a 3.25 GPA.</p>
<p>katliamom ~ we are big fans of Jesuit universities as my husband and both of my kids attend/ed them - and we are not even Catholic. The education is excellent and comprehensive due to the core curriculum. You mention that your son dislikes humanities. Just be aware that there will be humanities requirements in the core that he will need to take. They differ a little among the Jesuit schools, but will include philosophy, theology/religious studies, history, literature, foreign language, writing, public speaking. Some schools offer a choice of classes among those topics, others require specific classes.</p>
<p>My S is also a CS guy and I was a little concerned how he would handle those classes. He ended up loving his philosophy and ethics classes (probably due to the same fantastic professor for both). But he is not looking forward to Theo II, which he has to work into his schedule in the next 3 semesters.</p>
<p>I’m surprised to hear no junior/senior housing is a turnoff. At so many schools, kids move off after freshman year. The Jesuit schools tend to require freshmen and sophomores to live on campus. My daughter grumbled about this, but of course parents like it.
Just because jrs/srs don’t live in university-owned housing does not mean they are not around. At my daughter’s school, they all live in housing very, very close to campus. It still feels very residential. Don’t know if that’s the case at USF, but it’s worth asking about.</p>
<p>At my kids’ school, housing is guaranteed all 4 years. However, if they choose to move off campus for junior year, they are not guaranteed housing if they want to come back on campus for senior year. Freshmen and sophs. are required to live on campus unless commuting from their parents’ house.</p>
<p>There are plenty of off campus rental houses immediately around campus. S is living off campus now and I wish he had chosen to stay on campus, just for my peace of mind. But he has also learned a lot of other life skills doing it this way. D lived on campus all four years because that is what she wanted.</p>
<p>The off campus living does not seem to affect the life of the campus. The houses are so close to campus, many kids are still around. S is there often to use the computer lab, dining hall (he kept his meal plan), library, or the gym. There are plenty of activities for which kids need to be on campus.</p>
<p>shoot4moon ~ did they specifically say that juniors and seniors could not live on campus? Or that housing was available for only 2 years? It may be that they just choose to move off campus, but that if one wanted to remain on campus, they could.</p>
<p>I think in Ca it is not uncommon for jr and seniors to live off campus. At most of the Ca public schools students only live on campus for 1 yr.
My son is at a Ca private. His campus has a 2 yr on campus rule. As a jr he lives in a university owned apartment. Most of his friends have moved off campus into the surrounding area.</p>
<p>So the max award is 19k for scholarships? </p>
<p>I’m looking at USF, it looks like a really cool school, but the Bay Area is really expensive.
I’d like to get my college costs down to <20k, but I know for some schools like USF thats really not feasible, so I could settle for about 30k, which is about what the 19k scholarship will bring COA down to.</p>
<p>Bump. </p>
<p>I may just PM people who posted earlier in this thread.</p>
<p>I believe they said that was IT for scholarships, but you can always call the college directly and see if they have scholarships for majors,etc.</p>
<p>My sense is that SF is not a great city for students. Apart from USF the other major colleges are San Francisco State (which is mostly residents), UCSF and UC Hastings (both post graduate), and City College (mostly older students). It’s not Boston. The weather, which received considerable attention from many posters is exceptional in the non-summer months. The location is somewhat residential and exclusive, not necessarily ideal for students.</p>
<p>I’ve worked with faculty and some students at USF. They are enthusiastic, but not as strong as those at UC Berkeley.</p>
<p>So in the end it depends on what your S wants to do after graduation, and his long term reasons for wanting to be in SF.</p>
<p>D1 and I toured USF during her college search. She loved the city, thought the campus was great, and was impressed by the amount of merit aid available from USF at her level of academic achievement. </p>
<p>However, she was leery of attending any school with a religious affiliation (just a personal preference), and she was put off by the fact that on-campus housing was only guaranteed for the first two years. She <em>wanted</em> the on-campus residential life, and was uneasy about the idea of apartment-hunting in a big city.</p>
<p>She ended up at Occidental, instead.</p>
<p>As I mentioned before, the religious affiliation of this school appeared “lightweight” to me. As a former Catholic, I was actually offended at what appeared to us as embarassment regarding the theological roots of this college. The person presenting the info session, and a college rep in the back, indicated that there were no theological requirements (Catholic or otherwise). I would love to hear from attendees if his attitude represented the school fairly. I understand why at this time in our culture, especially with the allegations of coverups on abuse by priests, one would rather not be affiliated with the Catholic church, but his attitude and answer indicated that the theological backing of the school was not to be taken seriously. If you are looking for a religious school, I would recommend one that has a requirement for some type of study of faith traditions, and not one where (frankly) it appeared that their only connection is currently financial. I am actually hoping I get some argument on this point, as I must admit that after almost 2 months, his attitude still bothers me.</p>
<p>shoot4moon - I was actually offended at what appeared to us as embarassment regarding the theological roots of this college.</p>
<p>Have you read a history of the Jesuits - LOL - ? </p>
<p>Anyway IMHO Jesuit and Catholic (usually Roman Catholic) schools in the US are 2 different animals.</p>
<p>Educate me! Please!</p>
<p>Your question intrigued me, so I did goggle Jesuit history. I was unaware that they were the largest order in the church - interesting! And yes, I did know that their centerpoint is social justice - it was intriguing to read more about that. </p>
<p>As a cradle Catholic who moved to a conservative nondenominational church and then on to a conservative presbytarian church as an adult, I no longer support some of the main ideas that separate Catholicism from other non-Catholic christian bodies. Our family’s personal emphasis, just so you know my bias, is to mindfully choose a body to worship with that brings us closer to Jesus and his teachings, and a body that expects and practices activities during the week that model Him. For example, our church agreed to, advertised, and implemented a multimedia show on the impact of AIDs in African nations faster and more effectively than the national organizers had ever witnessed. Our high school program hosted 150 high schoolers for a blow out New Year’s Eve party this year where they went to Knott’s Berry Farm to hear Christian bands and then returned to the fellowship hall for an all night movie and carnival games night. Just two examples of how we put our money/time where our beliefs are. Frankly, I think the unofficial motto of our church should be “making following Jesus look real and fun.”</p>
<p>My incrementally small impression from the admissions leaders was that the college has left the “Jesus” portion of social justice behind completely. Their attitude seemed completely non-supportive of spiritual growth and knowledge to me, which is COUNTER to what I read about the Jesuits. Yes, I am fully aware that Jesuits are heavily heavily into social justice, and have made intense personal sacrifices (as in being murdered) to support those goals. There is nothing wrong with social justice without a theological bent - plenty of incredibly selfless and wonderful people put their lives on the line for social justice without tying it to a specific spiritual root. I am not in any way discounting this practice. </p>
<p>However, if you are receiving a huge amount of financial support from the Catholic Church, your buildings are owned by them, your university is supposedly following the tenets of the Jesuit church regarding following Christ, I think that when you talk about theology and learning more about the religious roots, it should not be with embarrassment and what I saw as almost disdain. </p>
<p>Again, two admissions counselors do not necessarily represent the university fairly, and it is highly possible that they regretted their responses - I know in their shoes I would have. If the prospectives in the room match the admission statistic of 30% Catholic, I am certain that I was not the the only one offended. </p>
<p>I would love to hear from a student on their perspective, which would be much more balanced than a visitor who only heard what was presented. STUDENTS??? PARENTS OF STUDENTS???</p>