Santa Clara University
- Local Atmosphere

Lots to Do Off Campus

There is some fun places and things to do immediately off campus, granted most include parties on the weekends; however, once you get a Zipcar, a bus, or a friend with a car, then you can go to Santana Row, Valley Fair, Great America, movies, and San Francisco. It is totally wirth it to go out and explore San Jose, as there are a great deal of museums and attractions and restaurants.

Underrated Atmosphere

Given, there are some dilapidated parts of San Jose. Heading towards the El Camino Real, you will find one of the uglier parts of California, clustered with run-down-strip-mall after run-down-strip-mall. Nevertheless, San Jose and the surrounding Bay Area has so much more to offer. Santana Row and Valley Fair shopping centers are just around the corner from the school and offer students access to upscale shopping and excellent dining experiences. Down town San Jose also has delicious eateries, fun bars and the HP Pavilion - home to the San Jose Sharks. Not to mention, the San Jose Earthquakes (MLS) play on campus, and that San Francisco 49ers are soon to be the Santa Clara 49ers. During the weekends, students lacking transportation can rent the zip cars on campus, or take a short ride on the Caltrain to San Francisco, where they will find a plethora of activities to do. In the warmer part of the year those adventurous enough can take 17-S to Santa Cruz and try to catch some waves. In short, Santa Clara University is located in the Bay Area, one of the most diverse and interesting places on the planet - if there is anything that you are looking to do, I am sure you can find it here.

The Diverse City of Santa Clara

Santa Clara is a small town close to San Jose. It is very diverse, with many different ethnicities, which makes it very unique. Santa Clara is at a great location, the beach is only a 30 minute drive. Also to see the snow in Tahoe, is only about a 5 hour drive. The weather here in Santa Clara is amazing, this year we havent had much rain, so the average days are in the 70's. There is a few colleges near by such as Santa Cruz University, but we dont interact with them, because Santa Clara University is there own little community, we are like a big family.