Santa Clara University
Responses from the Student Interview
From a student who identifies as Major: Communications
Minor: Retail Studies
Student Self Identifies as: Half Greek and Half Indian Straight Female
Summary
I’m in Greek life and I’m helping with a start-up non-profit fashion company based at Stanford University. I’m also in the Environmental Club, and plan on playing Club Tennis.
Background
Gender Identity: Female
Race/Ethnicity: Half Greek and Half Indian
Sexual Orientation: Straight
High School Experience: Private all-girl Catholic school outside of Belmont, CA with a graduating class of about 110 students. There was a culture of going to college.
First-Generation College Student: No
Major: Communications
Minor: Retail Studies
Extracurricular Activities: I’m in Greek life and I’m helping with a start-up non-profit fashion company based at Stanford University. I’m also in the Environmental Club, and plan on playing Club Tennis.
Have any of your extracurricular activities had a particularly big impact on your experience?
Greek life and the start-up definitely have. I’m sewing for the company which takes a lot of time. Greek life doesn’t take that much time, but it has a stigma here that impacted my experience. Greek life is pretty prevalent here. I wouldn’t say if you’re not in Greek life you’re not going to have a social life, but there’s not a lot to do immediately off-campus. A lot of people are committed to Greek life and partying. There are some sororities and fraternities more associated with partying, then there are some more associated with making friends and helping others. I wouldn’t have met my three best friends without being in a sorority. If you’re a girl it’s not a big deal if you’re not in one, but a lot of the guys who aren’t in the fraternities here can’t go to parties, so they have a limited social life.
Academic Experience
Can you describe your weekly coursework for your major?
We have a bunch of core requirements for the core curriculum, so I’m fulfilling most of my requirements this quarter. For communications, there is a lot of group work in class. Homework wise there are weekly assignments, reading from textbooks every other day, and there is a midterm, final, and occasional quiz.
Is there anything you feel your major’s department does especially well or poorly?
The department does a good job of getting amazing professors who really understand the skills. Also, since we’re in Silicon Valley, there are lots of opportunities for internships and networking. There are a lot of different routes you can take with communications, it’s not like everyone has to take the same classes within the major.
How would you describe the learning environment? Do you think it’s particularly competitive or collaborative?
I think it’s not as competitive as I thought when I was coming here. I [got in off of the waitlist], so I was kind of nervous about the coursework and being able to keep up with everyone, but I fit in perfectly. It’s very collaborative here since it’s a really small school. My classes have about 20-people in them so you know everyone in the class and there’s a lot of group work.
How accessible are your professors?
I haven’t been to any yet, but they always encourage students to go to office hours. They respond to all the emails and you can talk to them after class. They’re very open to helping the students here and they want you to succeed and will do anything to get the best grade possible. They’ll work with you and go over testing strategies.
Why did you choose your major? Are you happy with your choice?
I chose Communications because I’ve done a couple of internships in public relations and really liked doing that. I talked to my dad and he thought I should study communications because you can take that any way you want, versus if you were a marketing major in the business school it’s hard to go different ways. I also love writing and there’s lots of it in my major.
How was transitioning academically freshmen? Are there systems in place that help you transition?
The first quarter is easier [academically] which was helpful in transitioning. I felt like it was less stressful than high school because the college doesn’t require you to go to class for seven hours a day. There’s a lot of time for yourself and to study throughout the day. Now the course load has picked up significantly it’s stressful, but I don’t think the transition was super hard in my opinion. My school was also a college preparatory school and I took a lot of AP classes that prepared me to come here too.
How do you like the quarter system? How has it impacted your ?
It’s definitely different. I like it and I also don’t. I like that it’s short and you have ten weeks of a course and then if you don’t like it you can switch to another once it’s over. The only thing I don’t like is it’s rushed. There are four weeks then we have a mid-term, which goes by quickly, then there are another four weeks and we have a final. It’s very fast-paced but it’s doable.
Reasons to Attend
1) If you like a smaller school with a more personalized education where you know your teachers and the people in your class.
2) The people here are super welcoming and open, and not cliquey.
3) Santa Clara is an up and coming school and has amazing programs, professors, and opportunities here.
4) The weather is amazing here.
Reasons Not to Attend
1) If you don’t like a small school. You definitely feel like it’s small when you’re here.
2) It’s a small campus, and we only have one dining hall. We don’t have lots of on-campus restaurants.
Around Campus
Where have you lived on and around campus?
Freshman: Graham Hall with one roommate and two suitemates
How was transitioning from your hometown to Santa Clara, California in terms of location?
For me, it wasn’t a really hard transition because I live 40-minutes away. When I first came to school it was a hard transition for some reason, but it only lasted for two days and me just kind of anxious in general. Now, I’m totally fine and go home about once a week. It’s the perfect distance for me.
Can you describe the level of safety you’ve experienced on and around campus?
I feel pretty safe here. It’s a suburb so there’s not a lot of news or violence that happens in this area. We also have campus safety around and they’re always on call. We have something called student amnesty, where you can call the on-campus EMT if someone is too intoxicated or something happens and you won’t get in trouble yourself.
Social Opportunities
What kind of weekend activities or nightlife do you like to participate in?
Last weekend I went to Santa Cruz and spent the day there. I sometimes go to San Francisco, they have 18+ clubs that we sometimes go to. At night people tend to go out to fraternity or athlete parties here. Usually, Wednesdays are a big night for us, people go to bars on Thursdays, and Fridays and Saturdays are more for fraternity parties. I tend to go to more fraternity parties because San Francisco is so far, but we also have a lot of day parties on Saturdays especially during the spring and fall quarters.
What is the impact of Greek life on the weekend options?
If you’re in Greek life you can go to formals, which happen more often than you might think because there are five sororities and hold one formal each quarter. If you’re not in Greek life, you can’t really go unless one of your friends in Greek life takes you. There are also mixers with a fraternity and a sorority. If you’re a girl you can go to anything, but guys not in Greek life are limited in what they can do on the weekend in terms of partying. Hearing from girls, not in sororities, it’s less fun for them and they feel like they need to be in a sorority to make friends and go to parties.
How happy are you with the weekend options at Santa Clara? Is there anything you would change about them if you could?
I’m pretty happy about it. I’ve grown up here and have been to a lot of the places already, which makes it a little less exciting. I’m very happy and there’s a lot to do on the weekends, you just need to find people that are down to go places with you. There are a lot of great hiking places and things to do on campus. I didn’t realize Santa Clara was a party school before coming here.
Campus Culture
How did you meet your closest friends?
I met them through my sorority and through mutual friends.
How would you describe the overall social scene at Santa Clara?
There’s a lot to do Wednesday through Saturday, and a lot of people don’t know it but there are lots of parties to go to all the time. We have a pretty good social scene, and if you don’t want to go to a fraternity party or don’t want to see the same people when you go out, sometimes we go to Stanford University or San Jose State parties.
To what extent do people of different races and sexual orientations mix socially?
A big problem with Santa Clara is the diversity here. There’s not much diversity here, however, they’re trying to get better at it. They’re giving a lot of scholarships to people who can’t afford to come here, so that creates a more diverse environment. I feel like people of mixed races do interact. Everyone is super open and friendly and no one is going to be racist or turn down being friends with you. There are lots of White people here in general, especially in Greek life. I’m the only person of color in my pledge class. No one is opposed to hanging out with someone of different ethnicity, it just usually doesn’t happen. [The undergraduate population is about 18% Hispanic, 3% Black, 48% White, and 16% Asian.]
How would you describe the South Asian community on campus? How strong is it?
While there are lots of Indian people here, I’ve noticed there are a lot of people from India that go here. There are lots of Asians in general, but there are more White people than Asians. There are a bunch of cultural clubs here, I’m part of the Greek Culture Club, but not the Indian one because that seems to be more people from Indian trying to find commonalities who speak their language and have the same culture.
How do you like the size of Santa Clara in terms of undergraduate enrollment? How has it impacted your experience? [There are about 5,500 students at Santa Clara.]
For me, the size is good but not perfect. It’s on the small side, and you see a lot of the same people all the time. A lot of people know about you which can be taken in a negative or positive way. I like the small size in terms of education because you get a really personalized educational experience here and the professors make sure to know your name. You feel loved here. Socially it’s harder to make friends, especially because I don’t live in a super social dorm so I don’t know a ton of freshmen, and the ones that know each other tend to stick together.
To what extent do people in Greek life and not in Greek life mix socially?
I have plenty of friends who aren’t in Greek life, so I wouldn’t say they don’t hang out. If you’re in a sorority you tend to go to mixers with sorority members, which wouldn’t include people that aren’t in the sorority. I have a couple of friends not in sororities and I haven’t noticed them having difficulties making friends in or out of sororities.
Careers
What have you used the career office for? How helpful are they?
Even though I’m a freshman I could’ve done a lot of networking. We have a Women in Business (WiB) Club here where you can network with entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley. I did a lot of career stuff and internships before coming to Santa Clara, and my dad is an entrepreneur so it’s been easier to make connections here because of that.