<p>We are close to deciding on our application list - Son barely has any safety on his list and its scaring me!</p>
<p>Since we cannot visit (we live overseas) I am trying to get to the cons of the above 2 schools. I know their pros already :) </p>
<p>Son likes pleasant weather, smaller community feel and is looking to do Computer Engineering or Physics/Math. Not sure about the Major completely. Sports/Frats scene not imp. He has attended school outside of the U.S. so would like to be around people from OOS, just so that he does not feel odd. Smart, well-read and down to earth kid.</p>
<p>^^ And, as it is in the heart of Silicon Valley, should be a great location for a CE major. thumper’s d attends/attended? (can’t remember if she graduated) and is very high on it. You could PM her.</p>
<p>My S was accepted (also ECE kid) and although he chose another school, we think it would have been a great choice.</p>
<p>Cons? All subjective, of course. But I would say that
-some might not particularly like the core curriculum requirements, which may be a bit more extensive than at some other U’s.
-Gender ratio might be a plus or minus and I have not checked recently, but it has been one of the high female/male campuses (a “problem” at a lot of places)</p>
<p>I really have trouble coming up with cons :).</p>
<p>He should not have any trouble in looking for good OOS representation. This is not a “mostly local” or “commuter” type school.</p>
<p>Not sure what you mean by “smaller” community, but I think this would fit… with the benefit of easy train access to San Francisco, and proximity to San Jose, for all of the bigger city perks.
Good luck.</p>
<p>Thumper’s D attends Santa Clara. My DD looked at it two years ago. It wasn’t for her. Hard to put a finger on it but it just didn’t have the feel she was looking for. I think we were negatively influenced by visiting on a student “travel” day. There were not a lot of kids on campus. It felt a little too small and too quiet. We found ourselves whispering to each other…llike touring a beautiful private park. As I said, I’m sure if there had been students on campus it would have been different.</p>
<p>Pixel and I have already had some lively correspondences regarding SCU. DD is a senior there this year with a double major…bioengineering and biology. We (and she) are not sure how she was able to complete this but it looks like she will (even IF she has to take one term of Spanish the first summer term, she will still graduate in June…on the four year plan). The only negative…the cost. The school is mighty expensive. They do offer need based aid but do not meet full need. Their merit money is really held for the top applicants or student they really want to have enroll (that is our impression). DD did get a merit award…small, but every penny helps.</p>
<p>Ebeeeee…It IS very quiet there when there are no students around. But when there ARE students around, it’s a pretty lively place. Funny, our DD had the same feeling about Stanford (not that she could EVER have been accepted…). She felt like it was a very nice park.</p>
<p>Of course remember, we love the place and so does our kid…so our comments need to be taken within that context. The facilities are terrific, the school is well maintained and staffed, climate is just about perfect…sorry, can’t think of too many negatives.</p>
<p>Here’s one con for Santa Clara (subjective of course) – to many people, it’s in a really boring area. The Silicone Valley is a giant suburb. Pretty and expensive, but still just a giant suburb that’s neither close to SF or to the beach/mountains. We lived in San Jose for a while and felt like we were a bit stranded. </p>
<p>However – that’s just one family’s impression.</p>
<p>I think we would pay top dollar to go to a place near perfect (you certainly get your moneys worth!) Just looked up the latest statistics - wow has it changed. Pretty sure last year over half student population was white – this year it’s only 38%.</p>
<p>Thumper has been very kind and patient with my questions - thank you Thumper! :)</p>
<p>Yet, without visiting, it is really hard to get the vibe, isn’t it? Everyone’s expectations are different. I would think boys/girls outlook would differ in that respect too. </p>
<p>It is a good school no doubt, even though even i get the drift that kids might not find much to do in free time since the surrounding area is residential. But the fact that it is safe and drinking is lesser than at other schools, is a plus.</p>
<p>From one of the other posts I gather that the Computer Science classes are held in the basement - need to check up on that. The poster however said that the Computer Engineering Classes are held in the engineering building.</p>
<p>Katliamom says that Santa Clara is “far from the mountains.” Um… Silicon Valley is a valley because it’s between the Coast Range and the Mount Hamilton Range. True, Santa Clara is in the middle of the valley-- but the valley is only twenty miles wide. From Santa Clara, you can be in the mountains in 20 minutes. There’s plenty of wide open spaces in easy driving/biking distance. When I go out for a bike ride in our mountains, I sometimes see the Santa Clara bike team out on training rides.</p>
<p>To get to the Sierra to ski takes three and a half hours, but for students who like to go to the mountains to hike, ride bikes, backpack, run or do science/nature studies, the open spaces are right out the door.</p>
<p>cardinal, I now live in Colorado, so for me the hills around San Jose hardly qualify as mountains (smile.) You’re right, there are mountain like areas not far from SJ. but getting to them – whether the Santa Cruz mountains or the Sierras – is rarely easy due to perpetual traffic around the Bay Area. And 3.5 hours from Santa Clara to, say, Tahoe or Sierras, is highly optymistic. Maybe if you leave at 3 am and encounter no ski traffic, but be honest: how often does that happen? Not to mention the fact that undergraduates who don’t have a car will find it fairly difficult to get to these places. Despite buses, BART and the train, California is still very car-dependent.</p>
<p>Santa Clara is one of those schools that just keeps evolving. They are in that subset that aggressively markets to keep the numbers going up and stay full.</p>
<p>30 years ago it was practically all white, upper middle class local Catholics. They became more diverse over the years and as the area around them became heavily Asian, the number of Asian students started to climb.</p>
<p>It is indeed in a boring suburb that is tough to get out of often without a car. this is a school I’d really want my kid to visit. Many love it, many don’t.</p>
<p>Katlia, I think you’re being a bit harsh about the hills/mountains. The OP never asked how close Santa Clara was to the Sierras. There’s plenty of outdoor activities closeby, even if the hills aren’t in the 14000 ft range…</p>
<p>OK…if you want to ski or go mountain climbing every weekend, Santa Clara is probably not the school for you. </p>
<p>I just talked to my kid. She says there is PLENTY to do all the time and if folks can’t find something to do, they aren’t trying very hard. She and her friends DO take the train to San Fran every so often (the train station is right across the street from the main campus entrance). They say it’s fun to go first thing in the morning and stay all day…coming home in the evening. DD spent two summers there too…and there was never a shortage of great entertainment. She went to the San Jose Jazz Fest and to several concerts on the beach in Santa Cruz (OK…she had to go with a friend who had a car for those). She has been to professional hockey and lacrosse games, and to concerts in San Jose. She says…it’s not boring. </p>
<p>SCU is not for everyone. There is NO college on the planet that is for EVERYONE. Different kids (and families) have very different viewpoints on different schools.</p>
<p>BTW…I live in a rural area of CT and Santa Clara is VERY urban to me. I lived in the White Mountains of NH for seven years and you couldn’t pay me to live in or near mountains again ever. I hated the hills. I’m not a skier or a hiker. I love to ride my bike, but it’s not something I ever did in NH…too hilly.</p>
<p>I DO like SCU because SCU has been a great spot for my kid. She has had many opportunities there that she might not have found in a larger school. She knows her professors well, and says that is a plus. She has made friends she tells me will be lifelong friends. She has been able to pursue a double major and loves both fields of study. She has been able to continue to play an instrument and study privately at the school…a plus for her. AND she has very much enjoyed being in Santa Clara for college. My kid “flew under the radar screen” in high school. At SCU, she found her stride and she has thrived there. </p>
<p>I agree with Hmom5…it’s not the place for everyone, but it’s also not my perception that it’s a “sleepy suburban, isolated” location.</p>
<p>Different people like different things. Santa Clara is about as sleepy and suburban as its neighbor twenty miles west, Palo Alto, yet few people call Stanford sleepy and suburban. It all depends on what a student is looking for. I love living in Silicon Valley; I like it that I can ride my bike 365 days a year, and I can ride to redwood forests in less than an hour. I like the ethnic diversity. I like the liberal political climate. Others have different opinions.</p>
<p>One thing about Santa Clara-- by reputation, its students are not as liberal as you’d expect from a school in Silicon Valley. They’re more conventional and a bit on the preppy side.</p>
<p>I live near TU and I know several students who go or have graduated and loved it. The campus is beautiful there is a great community feel strong academics, personal attention and great dorms. San Antionio is also a great city. My S however applied (free AP) was offered a significant merit scholarship and decined attending. His reasons included that it was too close to home, the school was less competitive than what he was hoping for, there was less diversity than he wanted, and even with the scholarship the cost of the total package came to more than other schools that he preferred. I would have loved it if he did. As far as your mention of OOS is concerned you might check on this, I think that a good portion of the student body is from TX but I don’t really know the breakdown. From what I have heard the campus does not clear out on weekends even though many students are Texans.</p>
<p>If you are interested in the smaller schools, TU and Santa C are both excellent ones to investigate. They were on our initial lists. </p>
<p>Some kids are not comfortable going to a school where no one from their area is attending and there is no info about the school in the student talk. My college soph was not at all that way, but my high schooler does have a comfort level with the familiar. This is misguided in that he feels that the schools with name recognition, many of them flag ship Us and colleges with strong sports teams are really schools that have a high concentration of local kids, though everyone seems to be familiar with those schools. But this can be an issue for some kids. </p>
<p>A close friend of mine in this area has a D who graduated from Santa Clara. She loved her experience there, but she did have a rough time freshman year as no one she knew from her area was there. It was the first time in her life that she was surrounded with strangers. Her brother opted not to go that route and chose a school where many kids from his high school attended, even though it was not the most selective one that accepted him. Familiarity was important to him.</p>
<p>There are 5 kids from our school going to SCU and 2 to TU. Couple more will go this year to each, we are based in Asia, so it helps that there might be kids from our int’l school there.</p>
<p>Son has grown up in a small community so I think that he should be fine in a location like that even though he wants to be in a city (so he can walk to restaurants and catch a movie with friends).</p>
<p>He has attended EPGY at Stanford and is familiar with Palo Alto also. </p>
<p>He has many reaches on this list - he looking to add one or two safety/matches, I thought besides TU and SCU, U of Miami, Tulane and UCF also offer well rounded education?</p>
<p>pixeljig-- another expat in Asia here. I haven’t seen Trinity, but I know 3 expat kids (juniors) there who love it (they are in the sciences). Don’t know anyone at Santa Clara, but several kids in my D’s class checked it out in the summer and are applying there this year. </p>
<p>Thumper- please think of something negative about SCU, we don’t want their application numbers to go through the roof…</p>