5 Reasons I Love Santa Clara

With the May 1 deadline approaching, I know a lot of high school seniors are struggling to make their college decision. For anyone still deciding if Santa Clara is the right school for them, here are my 5 reasons I love Santa Clara to convince you that it’s always a good day to be a Bronco.

1. Everyone is so friendly!

I don’t know if it’s part of the California culture or if it’s a Santa Clara thing, or both, but almost everyone I’ve met at Santa Clara is pretty friendly. It’s like the norm to be friendly and if you don’t meet this standard, you’re considered a rude, standoffish person. I’d say at least 8/10 people you meet will be willing to talk to you and have a conversation when you first meet them, at least in my experience. Walking around campus, expect heys and waves from every person you know, even if they’re someone you talked to twice in the hallway on your way to the laundry room. Because that’s just the kind of school, or rather community, we are.

2. It’s super easy to meet new people wherever you go and establish relationships

Santa Clara is a small school with about 5,400 undergrads. Because we also have a small campus, you end up running into the same people all the time. What I love about this is that it’s super easy to meet new people and thus establish relationships given that you have the chance to see them so often.

3. Prime Location

I’ll be honest, when I first visited SCU’s campus, I was turned off by the lack of restaurants and things to do around campus. But, do not be distraught like I was. SCU has a prime location, if you know where the food and activities are (which I didn’t).

We’re right across the street from the Caltrain. In less than 30 minutes, you’re in Mountain View or Palo Alto, both great downtowns with a plethora of delicious eateries. We are also an hour and a half train ride away from San Francisco, which is always hopping when it comes to museums, sports games, restaurants, shopping, or your favorite tourist attractions. Remember, half of college is about going out and having adventures, so the location of your college is key if you want to have fun when not studying!

4. The quarter system

SCU operates on a quarter system, which means we have a new schedule 3 times a year (fall, winter, and spring quarter), instead of the standard 2 semester university schedule. Each quarter is 10 weeks long with an additional week of finals. Love it or hate it, the quarter system has its advantages.

What I love about the quarter system is that it gives us the opportunity to take more classes per year – most students take at least 12 classes a year, in comparison to only 8 or 10 classes per year at most colleges – which also makes it easier to double major or add a minor, if that’s something you’re hoping to do in college. What’s also great is that the quarter schedule moves along quickly, so if you really hate a class, you only have to survive it for 10 weeks. But, if you love your professor, you can take more classes with him or her! Win-win.

5. The peer support system!

The peer support system at Santa Clara is unbelievable and I’ve found that people genuinely care about helping you succeed in the classroom. This past fall quarter, I struggled with math and it was my peers that saved me. When I couldn’t figure out the correct answer from the math homework, my friend from math would do whatever she could to make sure I understood the problem, and we would always work through it carefully. And when we both couldn’t understand how to do the problem, other friends who weren’t even in our class would help us out. This is just one example of countless times where students at SCU help one another out.

These are the reasons I love Santa Clara, what are yours?! Share in the comments below!

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