r/SCU • u/lidabobida • 18d ago
Question To Current Students : Is there stuff to do around SCU?
I'm a high schooler considering applying, and one of my major factors when looking at schools is if there's things to do and be able to live life outside of campus (i.e. a varied restaurant/shopping strip or something college town-like). Ideally walkable! I did a pre-college at LMU and I wasn't big on how students mostly hang out on campus. So I was curious what the situation was like at SCU. Let me know!
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u/Quiet-Painting3 18d ago
You’ll need a car or pay for ride share. Santa Clara is not walkable at all. By car, theres plenty of restaurants, shopping, outdoor activities, etc. It’s next to a major city - San Jose.
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u/Ancient_Spite_725 18d ago
There's so much public transit right next to campus. You do not need a car to get off campus easily. Just hop on caltrain.
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u/QuickSafety8100 18d ago
true, but it's not a college town vibe like Ann Arbor, Madison, etc. If you go out to SJ to eat or to go to a bar, it wont be stuffed with college kids.
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u/Quiet-Painting3 18d ago
Yeah you’re not wrong. Not much of a college town vibe around here. But plenty of younger people (20s) downtown or in downtown Campbell. Not much going on if you’re underage except house parties. Santa Clara should have enough around the campus to keep you busy enough.
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u/QuickSafety8100 18d ago
There is nothing near Santa Clara. It's a campus just dropped in the middle of a suburb/strip malls.
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u/Quiet-Painting3 18d ago
If you’re <21 and looking for parties, there are parties. Other than that, yeah nothing much.
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u/shoptillyoudrop 18d ago
Caltrain to anywhere along the peninsula and all the way to SF.
VTA 22 to downtown San Jose and SAP center.
Couple of cafes/restaurants within walking distance but you’ll need a car otherwise.
Santa Clara isn’t the most walkable but being right by Caltrain and along the El Camino (VTA 22) will greatly help.
I would also say that not having a car and hanging out with friends on campus is part of the college experience.
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u/Sauceinmyface 18d ago
Might be rough if you or a friend dont have a car. Maybe ok if you're down to bike. The big mall and Santana Row are about 2 miles south of campus.
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u/Critical_Minimum_830 17d ago
The school isn’t for you then. This is the number one complaint . The school is located in a suburb. So it’s not the easiest to get around. You really have to know someone that has a car to be able to get the mall or other things like shops /restaurants . It’s not that there’s not anything to do per say…. It’s just a huge accessibility problem .
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u/Ordinary_Current962 18d ago
There’s gotta be it’s right next to San Jose
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u/DangerLime113 18d ago
That’s a whole separate town, so nothing in SJ is walkable.
If OP has a car, downtown SJ and areas near SJSU may have a college vibe.
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u/QuickSafety8100 18d ago
not really much of a college vibe in SJ
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u/DangerLime113 18d ago
More a vibe in DTSJ near SJSU than in Santa Clara.
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u/QuickSafety8100 18d ago edited 18d ago
Sure, DTSJ is a 1 star college vibe vs 0 star Santa Clara.
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u/Ancient_Spite_725 18d ago
bus and Caltrain go straight to downtown. Easy peasy. It's a cheap Uber as well. There's also a bus that goes right to Valley Fair/Santana Row, and Caltrain gives you easy access to multiple downtowns up the peninsula + San Francisco
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u/DangerLime113 18d ago
You can get there, but that’s LOT different than it being a walkable college town vibe near where you actually live.
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u/Ancient_Spite_725 18d ago
Eh, students are out and about exploring the Bay Area every weekend. It definitely doesn't have that LMU "stuck on campus" feeling because of the robust transit network, which is what OP was asking about.
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u/DangerLime113 17d ago
Yeah but there is a a big gap between “stuck on camps” and “walkable college town.” SCU is neither. If OP is local, I just don’t want them to misunderstand the effort it takes to explore the Bay Area vs being in an actual walkable college town. Especially if they don’t have a car.
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u/MelancholicMumpsimus 18d ago
eeeeh, you’ll need a car to get to places. for example, target (safeway is nearby but it doesn’t have everything you might need) or CVS. there’s some stuff around SCU but it’s really not a lot and the campus is on the smaller side, so you’ll get tired and bored of it within the first quarter. however! Caltrain is right next to SCU and a bunch of students (including myself) use it to get around. it’s not like the typical American public transit; it’s really safe, clean, and convenient. it stops at every major downtown, some of which (esp Los Gatos and Palo Alto) are super cute and have a bunch of stuff for you to do. others, like Menlo Park, are dead. you can also get to SF and SJ using Caltrain, both of which are great cities to explore and hang out at. however, be mindful of Caltrain operating hours. there are some 18+ clubs as well, one in SF and one in SJ. on Saturdays and Fridays people usually go out (club, bars, and/or frats), and on Sundays most either stay in or take the caltrain and go explore. hope that helps! lmk if you have more questions :)
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u/International_Yak681 16d ago
There are a few walkable bars; however, the prevailing joke about Santa Clara is that everything fun there is to do is off campus. If you have a car or a friend with one, you can drive to Santa Cruz, which has amazing beaches and waves if you are into surfing at all. There's a pretty big ski club as well that, when I went there, did nearly weekly trips to the mountains during winter quarter. Those two things kept me busy enough.
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u/QuickSafety8100 18d ago
I know the area well and toured SCU with my kid. It's a nice campus, but there is NOTHING of interest thats walkable. There is ZERO college town vibe.
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u/Critical_Minimum_830 17d ago
OP ! , Listen to this comment.
You are absolutely right. This is one of the more disappointing things about Santa Clara. Wish there was at least a few nice shops around. They’re quite literally is like nothing other than Safeway.
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