Visit to US Colleges: Part 5 - Santa Clara University

Visit to Santa Clara University, El Camino, Santa Clara

SCU is very similar in size, Jesuit ideology etc to LMU. It is located over an hour from SFO City and is in the suburbs of SF but very much in the heart of Silicon Valley. The look and feel of the campus was a little dull compared to LMU – probably mainly because of the orange county type architecture, identical buildings. It is also likely that it was a Friday afternoon and fewer students were around. It’s a pretty campus but a bit boring and did not seem as much fun for some reason. The areas surrounding the campus also did not seem to have much other than California style mall areas.

The main advantage over LMU is the proximity to Silicon Valley, many reputed tech companies like Google, Facebook, Intel, HP etc and several start ups. This would be a huge advantage if you plan to seek internships either in tech field or linking tech/ IT with law or cyber law. Also, overall SFO as a city is extremely classy, with a lot happening and very multicultural and diverse. The distance from campus is a factor and you won´t end up going there too often.

In terms of class size and relationship with professors it is almost identical to LMU and has the same advantages.

Soccer seemed to be an important sport.

Between LMU and SCU both would be similar – choice between the two is difficult and would have to be based on location and proximity to different types of cities and cultures.

Pros: proximity to silicon valley and if interest in tech sector jobs, then many options for internships; Jesuit ideology focuses on all round development of individual; mid size campus/ perfect numbers; SFO is really a beautiful city and anyone would love it.

Cons: may not be a name that is known in Indian job market as it is a regional university; campus not as fancy as LMU, bit dull and older; over an hour from city.