Academics
Saint Mary’s College of California takes a Lasallian approach to service and learning, using the study of the liberal arts to produce students who are both passionate learners and committed citizens. The diverse core curriculum is centered around the Collegiate Seminar, a series of courses in which undergrads read, dissect, discuss, and live the ideas behind major works of Western civilization. This foundation of “interesting texts…allows for students to bring in real world experiences,” and encourages the “student-based discussions rather than professor lectures” that are a key aspect of a SMC education. The academic calendar also includes January Term, a month-long course in which enrollees deep dive into one single topic, which many agree is “a fun and exciting way to keep students engaged.” Undergrads can choose from one of the many robust study-abroad programs to gain valuable experience (and college credit) while immersed in a different culture. Students also have access to a plethora of academic support services, including tutoring, mental health counseling, and the Center for Writing Across the Curriculum. And if there’s anything that attendees need, the administration is committed to listening to student needs: “The staff have been here for all of us students every step of the way.”
There are 44 majors offered across four schools, and a student-to-faculty ratio of 14:1 that allows “amazing relationships with professors thanks to the small classroom sizes.” Faculty “makes sure that you know everything that you need to prepare you for life,” and are “always accessible for meetings and office hours because they want their students to succeed.” Additionally, teachers are “an incredible resource for internships, grad school, [and] jobs,” and “are always trying to get us involved in outside events.”
Student Body
There is “diversity both ethnically and intellectually,” and since one-third of Saint Mary’s College’s students are the first in their families to attend college, there is a “great alumni network” that understands the remarkability of what many students have achieved in order to attend SMC, as well as the school’s “ability to produce well-rounded students through a well-designed curriculum.” There’s also a strong “emphasis on culture and ethic identities” throughout every aspect of the school, which students find desirable on account of the way it “fosters a sense of community.” This isn’t a gradual effect, either—students agree with the idea that “From the first day of orientation I knew that the student body was very accepting.”
Campus Life
According to students, this is most definitely “a calm campus,” one that goes hand-in-hand with the chill vibe of the San Francisco Bay and the student population, most of which leads a laid-back life when not engrossed in studying: “People walk around campus, occasionally work out, and get food from local places.” Cooking and watching Netflix are classic pastimes, and “people spend a lot of time exploring the Bay Area,” as the campus is close to Walnut Creek, Oakland, and San Francisco, where the weather is reportedly “beautiful no matter [the] time of year.” In fact, the Campus Activities Board “frequently gives BART tickets for students to take public transportation to go to events.” Game days are some of the biggest of the year, and “basketball is huge here.”
On-campus housing is guaranteed for the first two years, but students may choose to live off-campus their sophomore year. The tight-knit nature of the school creates a “communal, friendly, and intimate” sense of familiarity, as does its modest population of under 2,500 undergraduates: “I enjoy walking to class and knowing eighty percent of the people I pass on the way there.”
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