<p>California State University San Marcos
San Francisco State University
California State University East Bay
California State University Fullerton
California State University Long Beach
California State University Sacramento
California State University Northridge
San Jose State University</p>
<p>I really want to get the real "college experience" next year. And also, which ones are safe and which ones are "ghetto"?</p>
<p>If you want the “real college experience”, which I assume means many residential students living in traditional dorms, why not consider some of the more residential Cal States like Sonoma, Chico, Humboldt, SDSU, SLO, etc? </p>
<p>From what a friend who goes to CSUF says, most of the campus empties out after classes let out. It’s a huge commuter school (admittedly I’m biased because I live in the service region), with the overwhelming majority of students coming from the South LA, OC area. I know that Fullerton is in a pretty safe area.</p>
<p>Another friend goes to SFSU. He joined a frat there, not to party, but because he said that was his way of getting connected to the campus. Since such a huge percentage of the students commute, he doesn’t feel as connected with his classmates as some students at more residential schools. He still loves it, and with an undergrad population of over 30,000 there are thousands of students who live in the dorms or surrounding apartments.</p>
<p>Sonoma, Chico, Humboldt, and SLO do not offer AFROTC which is one of my deciding factors.</p>
<p>SDSU is my top choice and I’ve visited quite a few times. I’m just looking at other schools for back ups.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info though! Anyone else have another perspective?</p>
<p>Unfortunately a lot of these schools are commuter schools. Cal Poly SLO would be a good place for that “college experience”. I heard SDSU parties pretty hard haha. </p>
<p>I went to a couple of Cal State Fullerton baseball games (they have great teams) and there seemed to be a good sense of pride. </p>
<p>You might want to look in San Jose State, SJSU is right next to a great city. However, parts of the campus look somewhat grubby but other parts look beautiful. </p>
<p>Long Beach may be dangerous.</p>
<p>Cal State Long Beach is a very good campus with a lot to offer. It is a commuter school while at the same time having a large population on campus too. I taught at Fullerton one summer and it is a true commuter school but nice as well.</p>
<p>For the majority of college students, the “real college experience” is that of a commuter student at a predominantly commuter college (community college or local state university). Most CSUs have a large commuter student population.</p>
<p>Northridge has a nice campus and lots of improvements since the 1994 earthquake. They recently opened a large, state-of-the-art recreational sports facility on campus that is open to all current students (paid out of student fees). Unfortunately, school spirit is absent due to commuter student population and lack of strong sports teams. The campus is nearly all commuters though they have expanded with new dorms. The campus also added a big performing arts theater, that should begin to attract some culture. However, the surrounding area is residential with not a whole lot to do. The North San Fernando Valley seriously lacks good entertainment and restaurant options.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info guys! Really helping out narrowing potential colleges. Any experiences at East Bay, SJSU, or Sac?</p>
<p>I have lived near and have friends at both Cal State East Bay and Sac State. Both are commuter schools. Neither have particularly strong student culture.</p>
<p>That’s what I’ve heard. I’ve been told the northern CSU’s are a bit more reserved than in the south.</p>
<p>Any opinions on SJSU or want to add anything to the above?</p>
<p>SJSU does require most non-local freshmen to live on-campus; its common data set says that 54% of freshmen do live on-campus. This appears to be a reasonable proxy of the non-commuter student population among those who start as freshmen (about 4,000 per year or 12,000* for all class levels, so a reasonable guess of non-commuter students is that about 2,000 per year or 6,000* for all class levels of those who entered as freshmen). But remember that a lot of SJSU students enter as junior transfers (total undergraduate enrollment is about 25,000); these students are probably more likely to be commuter students, although not all are.</p>
<p>Only 14% of all undergraduates live on-campus, although the off-campus number includes non-local students living nearby on their own in apartments, fraternities/sororities, etc. rather than commuting from their parents’ place or where they otherwise lived before starting college.</p>
<p>*accounting for the overall graduation rate of just under 50%.</p>