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Introduction
When considering what you, the student wants from a particular college, remember this: what can the college do for ME, not what can I do so the college likes me and accepts me. Consider the following questions: Are you a socialite or closet-case? Can you handle a huge lecture hall scene or do you need the extra attention of a small class? You can read books or go online to find the answers about schools, but the real way you will find out what a college is about is by spending time there yourself and meeting students.

Campus Life and Social Life
At Santa Clara, the student is not pressured into being a single type of student. For example, if you want to party non-stop, there are always parties and if you like to study non-stop, you can easily get away from the party scene. If you are ultra-religous, Santa Clara might be a place that attracts you and if you aren't, the campus is liberal to the point where you may meet students who never attend mass. As a freshman, you are integrated into the campus community, belonging to what Santa Clara calls an RLC, Residential Learning Community. Sophomore year you can certainly continue to live on campus, but the lack of housing and the amount of upperclassmen living off-campus may persuade to live in a surrounding apartment. Santa Clara is a small campus that has everything a large campus would, from different eating areas, a gym and even an art museum. There are many clubs and student organizations to join and if you gather enough people, you can start your own. Besides all the on-campus activities, being close to San Francisco and San Jose does has its advantages. You can go clubbing in San Francisco or San Jose one night and visit the beach the next. Having a car can be helpful but isn't necessary. Santa Clara is right next to a CalTrain station that takes in and out of San Francisco. Of course, the only drawback of Santa Clara is that if you are into the Greek Life, you won't find it here. There are a few sororities and fraternities found off campus and those are fun, but there isn't anything else beyond that. Advertisement
Academics
All of the professors I have had are very accessible and the largest class I have ever had is 35 people. Some of the most successful and popular departments are in Santa Clara's Leavey School of Business. Also, the College of Arts and Sciences is constantly growing as well as my major, Communication. They have a brand new Arts and Sciences building with a TV studio and radio station which helps if you want to be in the field of communication. Having the extra attention from teachers and being in small classes is really helpful and making my education feel useful. Some may say a drawback of small classes is that you never have a chance to skip class because the teacher will know about it and my response to them is if you plan on skipping class, don't bother showing up in class. Besides, if you plan on missing a class the next day, email the teacher and he or she will just about always understand. Some may say a drawback of Santa Clara is the quarter system itself. There isn't much time to settle down in your classes. One week your being introduced to your teacher and classmates, the next month your studying for midterms and the next, finals appear. The good of all this is that if you are taking a class you don't like, you are done with it in ten weeks. Being a Jesuit school, Santa Clara does have a picky core-curriculum, my advice to you is that you make sure your freshman year you take as many core-classes as possible and focus on your major later. Core classes include a math, a couple sciences, western culture, and religion courses. Though some students will be lucky enough to pass out of these courses based on APs in high school. With that said, the core classes and the Santa Clara education makes you a well-rounded, hard-working student and it may seem tough in the beginning, but the education you receive will serve you well in the future, I guarantee that.

Student Body
At Santa Clara, the student population is very diverse, the majority religion is Catholic, about 50 percent but as mentioned earlier, the students are very liberal. There is a Jewish Student Union on campus, there are courses offered in the Buddhist religion as well as many different other religions represented on Campus. On the brochure, you will read that Santa Clara is the Jesuit university of Silicon Valley, but know that from my experience, the Jesuit tradition seems to focus on educated not one people but the world. It brings people of all different races and all different religions together and shows them what a great world this can be. As far as geography, most students you will find are from California, with the exception of a group from the Washington State area and a handful from the East Coast. There is an International population felt on campus which makes my college experience seem that much better. In high school you will find many cliques of many different people but college is not high school. At about 4200 undergraduates, Santa Clara is big enough where you are meeting new people every day and small enough where you will develop friendships for a long time.

In Closing...
This sounds awfully like a brochure saying \"Come to Santa Clara, we want your money\" when in fact that's all college seems like these days, a business where admission officers are trying to get the parents of students to send that green slip of paper to their college. All I'm saying is that college should be a place where you can feel comfortable about expressing your own ideals, feel challenged and not feel like you're just another numbered student. At Santa Clara, there are no TAs (at least none that I've ever heard of) and it is a place that made me feel welcome. The school wants to see that I have a future and that I can make it in this world as a successful and well-rounded human being and for me, that's all I ever wanted in a school.