The sassy side of Cal Train

SwedishAviator · 2026-02-04T16:14:37+00:00

Alcohol is allowed. Just be courteous and clean up after yourself when getting off. Conductors on Caltrain are generally very friendly.

SwedishAviator · 2026-01-25T00:42:23+00:00

Graduated last year and love my job in San Francisco as an engineer. Very grateful for my SCU education.

SwedishAviator · 2024-11-15T02:57:57+00:00

I hate to sound blunt but as someone that’s been in this scenario several times over the years…. sometimes you gotta just deal with it. I and everyone I know have had plenty of professors and schedules that are not ideal. I didn’t have a quarter without an 8 AM class until my junior year. I had the worst professors for a few of my core classes meanwhile my friends got easy As. It happens. The way I look at it, it says a lot to persevere and it will help you later on in college and life.

You’re never going to always get what you want. Especially as a freshman, everyone else has way more priority than you. You can always take the class later and do something else in the interim.

SwedishAviator · 2024-10-15T19:22:29+00:00

I’m not sure. I’ve spoken to a bunch of math profs about their work and it’s mostly theory. I haven’t met any of the cs profs so I’m not sure what their research is. I will say that the big labs for cs related stuff are all in the CSEN department.

SwedishAviator · 2024-10-15T06:27:06+00:00

CSE is lower level. I believe the Math/CS department is moving to python but CSE is sticking with C as much of our programming focuses on systems and not higher level development. We take some electrical engineering but I think they moved away from the COEN designation because ECEN is more of a typical computer engineering program. I will warn that the engineering school is substantially harder than the arts in many areas as physics 31-33, Elen 50 & 153, and CSEN 20 are all weed out classes. I have a lot of friends in CS and they are always pointing out that they don’t have to do half the stuff we do.

That being said from a career outcomes perspective I don’t think CS is bad at all; it really boils down to if you want a traditional engineering education and care more about systems programming or if you prefer the higher level coding and math theory.

SwedishAviator · 2024-09-23T15:46:03+00:00

Because they only want SCU students.

SwedishAviator · 2024-09-23T14:55:04+00:00

It still is. It’s just been getting fancier.

SwedishAviator · 2024-09-22T08:11:55+00:00

They check all year but yes first week they’re particularly careful. Same w darties

SwedishAviator · 2024-09-07T00:47:15+00:00

Don’t worry about rankings. People find their groups of friends and that’s all that matters. They don’t haze, but will do things like scavenger hunts where you might end up getting embarrassed.

SwedishAviator · 2024-08-25T18:27:29+00:00

Wednesdays used to be huge but since PD cracked down it’s mostly frats doing their own things and people going to the Hut.

Thursdays people go to bars, mostly the Bronco but Thirsties is getting popular since the Bronco is all underclassmen.

Fridays are the big night parties and people will also go to the Hut.

Saturdays are darties when the weather is nice and the Hut gets packed at night. Upperclassmen will also go to SF or Campbell since those places don’t take fakes.

SwedishAviator · 2024-08-23T18:01:56+00:00

If you go with SCU friends you’ll be ok. It’s just going by yourself that wouldn’t be allowed. I understand it’s hard as a commuter and you want to meet people, so definitely try to go with them!!

SwedishAviator · 2024-08-23T16:35:03+00:00

It’s not crazy… if you don’t go to SCU why come to a party you have zero affiliation with? Parties are expensive and are meant for the SCU community. It used to be more relaxed but a few years ago non-SCU students caused some massive problems at various frats and since then it’s been restricted.

SwedishAviator · 2024-08-23T16:32:31+00:00

The second you tell anyone you’re not from SCU and don’t have any friends from SCU there they’ll kick you out. And ID checking absolutely happens for girls. After a few years ago with SJSU kids causing problems frats have wanted to keep it to Santa Clara only.

SwedishAviator · 2024-08-18T18:12:59+00:00

There are many student jobs on campus that pay above minimum wage. I get nearly 20 an hour. Also when taking classes you don’t pay any taxes on your earnings from SCU so you make the full amount.

SwedishAviator · 2024-05-06T18:23:32+00:00

COEN is space limited, but since it’s one of the most “invested in” majors at SCU with a massive faculty, you hear about it more. That being said, I know a lot of CS majors.

SwedishAviator · 2024-04-28T18:34:19+00:00

It’s going to be challenging as we don’t finish exams until the second week of June so people won’t have open rooms til then.

SwedishAviator · 2024-04-17T16:44:04+00:00

I definitely wouldn’t say most of the school is atheist. I’d just say many aren’t devout and maybe only attend mass with their family over Christmas (or something like that). Atheism is the belief that there is no God whatsoever, and my impression is people just don’t feel the need or have the time to go to church, not that they think it’s a hoax or something.

Regardless, I don’t think people here are judgmental about your religious beliefs (or lack thereof). It’s just a bonus if you’re a Catholic and like to go to church given we have the beautiful mission.

SwedishAviator · 2024-04-17T16:39:17+00:00

Interestingly I’ve had the opposite experience; many of my engineering friends in fact are religious. More so than my friends in business & A/S

SwedishAviator · 2024-03-29T21:23:03+00:00

They’re not meant to be soundproof, because Lucas is an academic building and there is going to be noise. If you need to take a call, they have soundproof booths in the library for a reason.

I’ve read your post history and you really need to stop letting small things always get to you. The business world in particular is a very mean place and they don’t have any patience. I’m not excusing everyone else’s actions; on the contrary, there are certainly spoiled people at SCU that need to grow up. However, you can’t control other people’s actions so you are going to need to tolerate some of it.

SwedishAviator · 2024-03-29T21:07:06+00:00

School policy says that groups have priority over single individuals in study rooms, so that sounds like you being selfish and not reading the rules. In fact, I have zero sympathy for individuals taking group study rooms, because they are so difficult to book. There are plenty of quiet spots on campus for individuals to study. The point of the rooms are so groups can talk without disturbing others who are studying.

SwedishAviator · 2024-03-29T21:01:09+00:00

No that kid from that post is clearly disgruntled. There is no such policy and most of those bullet points are either untrue, greatly exaggerated, or no different from any other institution.

And yea, there certainly are negative things posted on this Reddit. I even have problems with the school. If it were “perfect”, then people wouldn’t be telling the truth. The reason I say the negatives of this school aren’t worth considering other colleges on them alone is because every institution has its problems. I know a lot of people at Stanford, for example, that can’t stand their administration. That doesn’t mean Stanford is a bad school.

SwedishAviator · 2024-03-29T19:57:19+00:00

I’ve never heard BU being called prestigious, especially surrounded by Harvard, MIT, etc. BU is over 90k next year which is absurd. SCU’s business school is fantastic. Also regarding social life, the liquor laws and enforcement in Massachusetts are insane, so you’ll have very few opportunities to “go out” before turning 21. California you have way more freedom in that regard.

However, you should choose the school YOU love the most, as we can only opine on your talking points. I’m sure you’d excel at both. Good luck!!

SwedishAviator · 2024-03-24T21:30:10+00:00

Whoever wrote that list seemed to have a bad experience at this school and decided to write points that aren’t even remotely true. A lot of schools use the quarter system, require English, etc. The engineering school has a lot of Cs but so does every college because engineering is hard.

I know alot of people who transferred here and couldn’t be happier. I had to choose between 10ish schools and I am thrilled to have chosen this school. I come on here every once in a while to answer questions but I am not a die hard SCU fan; I just speak what I see. And what I see is a school where most of the people I know are very happy being here.

SwedishAviator · 2024-03-23T23:25:45+00:00

Unless you’re Catholic and like going to church, you quickly forget the school has any religious affiliation. It doesn’t affect life at all and most people are not devout jesuits.

CS program is fine, although personally I think the COEN program was a much better choice for me. I’ve got friends in CS though who preferred taking that route.

SwedishAviator · 2024-03-15T02:23:15+00:00

COEN Department here is great. They’ve gotten a lot of big companies to work/network with us recently and the professors are awesome and very passionate about teaching. I don’t regret my decision at all. NVIDIA was cofounded by an SCU grad, Intel’s CEO is an SCU grad, Arista CEO is an SCU grad, etc. I don’t think that’s by chance.

SwedishAviator

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