Santa Clara University Reviews

They spend so much money on...

They spend so much money on landscaping and flowers and stuff, but I would rather have AC in the dorms, or toilet paper that’s soft and effective.

Diversity? Yeah right, diversity...

Diversity? Yeah right, diversity at Santa Clara ranges from white to albino. Except the engineering school, where they have some Asians, too.

Most of the guys are cool. From my...

Most of the guys are cool. From my experience, the hot girls are often snobby, stupid, and rich, but there are exceptions.

The social scene here isn’t...

The social scene here isn’t conducive to meeting people and hooking up. You’re options (socially) are pretty limited, so you tend to see the same people all the time.

One thing that surprises me, since...

One thing that surprises me, since we’re such as small school, is how little mingling there is with non-Santa Clara students. Sometimes people from San Jose State come around, but not that much. So if you look at your classmates and don’t like what you see, tough luck. That’s what you have to work with.

Day parties on Saturday afternoons...

Day parties on Saturday afternoons at the frats are some of the best times of the year. For some reason people seem to get a lot drunker during the day. It’s a good chance to go all out and party like a rock star, especially if you live on campus most of the time.

Marijuana is a definite staple...

Marijuana is a definite staple among the students, as is alcohol. Other drug use is not widely publicized. Students probably experiment with hallucinogenic drugs and barbiturates, but there does not seem to be heavy traffic of it.

The Caltrain is a good, cheap way...

The Caltrain is a good, cheap way to get to San Fran for the day. I take it to go to Giants and Niner games sometimes.

Not one of the dorms is terrible....

Not one of the dorms is terrible. There are several newer ones that tend to be in high demand—Sobrato and Casa. But it’s more about the people you’re living with than where you’re living.

I don’t know why more people don’t...

I don’t know why more people don’t go to sporting events. Our teams are really good for our size, and it’s really cheap if you join the Ruff Riders (student booster group). I guess not having a football team discourages some people right off the bat. And there are always some who just think it’s cool to be blasé about everything.

I’m glad I pledged, because it...

I’m glad I pledged, because it made it easy to meet people and stuff freshman year. Plus, we have the best parties.

I like it, but it’s all what you...

I like it, but it’s all what you put into it. Some people get down on the school early on; you know, as soon as they get here they’re saying the social life sucks and we don’t have a football team or whatever. I think those people are really missing out on all the good stuff SC has to offer.

I wish I could go here for four...

I wish I could go here for four more years. Without, you know, having to pay for it, or work, or anything.

The teachers give you a lot of...

The teachers give you a lot of attention and are good about hooking you up with jobs or grad school applications after graduation.

Campus is beautiful, the...

Campus is beautiful, the surrounding area blows, small classes, bunch of loser frat guys, bunch of hot girls, no football, basketball’s getting good, and facilities are good. What else? Oh, there’s high-quality weed all over the place.

If you are looking for a way to...

If you are looking for a way to meet people and have the need to be a part of something, I’d recommend Greek life. If you are able to make a good group of friends without a formal organization, then I wouldn’t do it. It doesn’t dominate the social scene, and becomes less and less important after your freshman year.

The desolation of the surrounding...

The desolation of the surrounding area forces the students into a tight-knit community. I like that community, even if there are some frat guys I’m not crazy about.

Sports are not that big on campus,...

Sports are not that big on campus, since there is no football and the basketball team isn’t very good. It’s a lot of fun when we play Gonzaga, but most of the time you don’t even notice the lack of spirit.

I started going to boxing matches...

I started going to boxing matches when my friend joined the team. It’s fun to get wasted and watch a bunch of dudes pounding each other.

Parties on campus? Ha...

Parties on campus? Ha ha—nonexistent, unless you call illegally drinking in your dorm room a party. There are clubs in San Jose, if that’s your thing, but the majority of 21 -year-olds go to local bars.

The Hut is the main student bar....

The Hut is the main student bar. It isn’t bad, but it isn’t good—better than the other places around here. The owners are cool. There are usually three big parties a year, one thrown by each fraternity. I am in a fraternity, so I think those parties are the best, of course. Plus, we have mixers with sororities, and those are a blast—they're usually better than open parties.

Parties get old quickly and are...

Parties get old quickly and are quite repetitive. They are usually broken up before things have time to really get going, leaving clumps of students wandering the streets drunk and aimless. That’s when it’s nice to have a house of your own, so you and your friends have somewhere to fall back on.

Legal drinkers tend to pack into...

Legal drinkers tend to pack into one campus-affiliated bar, The Hut. When it’s busy, the outside section is the place to be, but ordering and paying can be frustrating. The bar lacks sufficient entertainment, other than a pool table that is too crowded to play on. For live music and other sorts of entertainment, the Bronco is far more promising and open.

The Santa Clara police have too...

The Santa Clara police have too much money and officers for the amount of actual crime that goes on. It’s not unusual to see three brand-new cop cars, one of them an SUV, show up to break up a party and write a forty-eight. It sucks when they break up all the big parties early in the night.

The parties can be fun if they...

The parties can be fun if they don’t get broken up early. Some houses have more problems with the cops, probably due to location. Your average keg party will usually get warned by the cops at about 11 p.m. and die down for 45 minutes or an hour, and then everyone will get drunk and loud again, and it will get busted for real at 1 or 2 in the morning.