What is Chico State like?

Colleges and Universities A-Z California State University - GENERAL
1

I’m considering applying to Chico State, but I don’t know too much about the school. I live in California but I haven’t visited the campus yet, however I probably will sometime soon.

Questions:

-Is it true that the surrounding area of the school is very rundown?
-What is the weather like year round? Is it very cold in the winter?
-Is greek life a big part of the campus? What about the parties?
-What is the overall feel/look of the campus?
-Is it hard to get into the business major?
-Is the school taken seriously? I know it has a party school reputation, but do a lot of people consider Chico to be a joke?

Also, would I have a shot of getting in with a 3.0 gpa and 1100/1600 on the SAT. Thanks for any info!

2

With a 3.0/1100, you probably won’t gain admission to Chico. All the CSUs except SLO use a simple Index to rank and evaluate candidates. GPA x 800 + SAT - read about it here:
http://www.csumentor.edu/planning/high_school/elig_index_calculator.asp

Assuming your CSU GPA is still close to 3.0, yours is 3500. 3700 is a comfortable score for Chico - though the threshold varies year to year so, you should apply. Sac, Sonoma and SF are less selective and may be worth a look.

My son is a 4th yr Sr Biz major there and on track to graduate on-time. I am there a couple of times a semester so, here are my opinions:

-Is it true that the surrounding area of the school is very rundown?
Old, yes, run down, no. There are RR tracks adjacent and a creek that runs through campus so, there are some homeless/transients around. There is a high concentration of students in the area surrounding the school but, there are also many very nice homes in the area - even a private airport about a mile from campus.

-What is the weather like year round? Is it very cold in the winter?
Summer is pretty hot. Probably 20 days or more with highs in the 100s but pleasant evenings.
Winter is pretty moderate, few hard freezes, not a ton of rain and no snow.

-Is greek life a big part of the campus? What about the parties?
There is an active greek life but, it is probably 15%-20% of the student body. There are several frat/sorority houses just south of campus. The school sits on them pretty hard and they (the houses) are officially dry, So, their parties happen next door or down the street. they aren’t allowed to spill out into the street by Chico PD

-What is the overall feel/look of the campus?
It is a really cool campus with lots of big oaks, a creek flowing through the middle, brick buildings.a rose garden and a manageable student body.

-Is it hard to get into the business major?
Once you are admitted, it is really easy to change majors - my son’s room mate seems to do it every semester.

-Is the school taken seriously? I know it has a party school reputation, but do a lot of people consider Chico to be a joke?
The rep in the business community is solid. Google and other top firms (tech and otherwise) recruit there.

3

My son and I attended the Chico Preview Day in Oct. We live in Bay Area but never visited Chico before. We arrived Friday and stayed in a 2-star hotel downtown 10 min walk from campus. It was vibrant and there were some parties downtown. We felt safe to roam around. The town itself is fairly old, but very cosy. It actually reminded me of nice towns like San Luis Obispo or even St. Helena consisting of chic boutiques selling local products or souvenirs. Town sits across 3-5 streets. No high street stores (like Macy/Target) but saw a Starbucks. Food is mostly bar food with burgers, pizzas, even ‘gourmet’ mac-n-cheese and craft beer. But, there are some nice steak houses. Bottomline is that my son is receptive to living in Chico for 4 years.

The experience with the Computer Science department was amazing. The dept head was doing most of the talking. They offer 4 computer related majors and told us that the admission to CS is getting more competitive and they had to turn away some applications for the first time last year. They admit around 175 freshman and it is quite flexible to move around (a transfer) the 4 majors if there is such need going forward. The most impressive part was meeting with the top students. There were about 7-8 of them sharing their intership experience, long hours on course work. Or inter-departmental projects. Typical size of the class is less than 30 each. But, getting your required class is not a guarantee. CS is a very demanding major and graduation rate is low (whether 4 or 6 years). The Prof said you could not drift along like High School. It is about what you put into the course. The challenge to me is whether my son can motivate himself consistently even when those around him may not be too thrilled with the classes

We went to the Honors Program presentation. It is targeted for students with a critical thinking mind and want to be challenged beyond normal course work. To join from first year onwards, you will be asked to study special (grandeur) topics on Gen Ed (e.g. “Beauty of the World” or “how civilization arises”). Aiming for holistic education experience. If you are too tied up with your study, in upper division, you can also be ‘selected’ to work on Honors projects to obtain a “Honors Degree” ultimately.

University housing varies. Some new and some honestly the more away from campus very run-down. But, these off-campus however allow you to keep your car (for weekend use really).

So, Chico State is a strong contender to my son!