San Francisco State University

Honestly, if you're going to Stanford, you're getting ripped off. SFSU is the greatest college in America, possibly in the whole world. Very affordable, small classes and dedicated professors. The campus is cool and the mascot has the juice. Stop simping for Ivy Leagues and get with the program.

Drawing from numerous insightful conversations with alumni and long-time residents of the Bay Area, I’ve come to recognize San Francisco State University as a premier hub for social consciousness and intellectual fearlessness. The common thread in the stories shared by my friends is the university's unparalleled ability to merge traditional academic excellence with a vibrant, hands-on approach to civic engagement. It is genuinely impressive to observe how the campus on Holloway Avenue consistently nurtures a culture where diverse perspectives are not just welcomed but are the very fuel for creative problem-solving. My acquaintances often point to the high caliber of the faculty, who manage to bridge the gap between classroom theory and the city’s booming professional sectors with remarkable ease. All told, SF State maintains an enviable reputation for producing graduates who are as ethically grounded as they are professionally prepared, making it a cornerstone of California’s higher education landscape.

Honest Review of SFSU Mechanical Engineering (With Business Perspective) I’m a Mechanical Engineering student at SFSU, and my girlfriend is a Business major with a Marketing emphasis. After progressing through most of our degrees and comparing experiences with peers at other schools, we both feel that San José State University (SJSU) would have been the better choice for both majors, mainly due to stronger education quality, alumni networks, and industry pipelines. On paper, SFSU Mechanical Engineering offers many upper-division electives, but in reality only about 4–6 are offered per semester, usually with one section each. This problem also applies to core classes, not just electives. With recent class cuts, most required courses have only one professor and one section, leaving little flexibility if instruction quality or organization is poor. Missing or failing a course can easily delay graduation. Single-professor dependency is one of the biggest structural risks in this program. A clear example is ENGR 410 (Process Instrumentation and Control). Although ENGR 410 + its lab are required for graduation, the lab was last offered in Spring 2024 and has not appeared for roughly two years. As a result, students may be forced to replace the requirement with ENGR 447 (Automatic Control Systems) + its lab, pushing them into a more difficult and theory-heavy path due to scheduling failures. This is a program planning issue, not a student issue. The main problem is not that the program is too hard. Engineering should be rigorous. The issue is that the rigor is poorly aligned with how engineers are hired and evaluated in industry. Many upper-division courses (core and elective) are extremely theory-heavy, focused on textbooks, formulas, and exams, with limited hands-on or project-based work. As a result, students often leave not practically prepared for industry unless they aggressively self-train outside the curriculum. I’ve seen similar theory-heavy issues at UC Davis, but when combined with SFSU’s weaker industry reputation, the outcome is worse. Many lower-division engineering courses are not meaningfully hands-on and could reasonably be offered online or hybrid. Greater online availability would improve flexibility, reduce bottlenecks, and better serve commuters and working students. I’ve found it far more efficient to take many lower-division courses at community colleges, where online options are common, and then transfer them in. Some professors are unorganized or not student-centric, which becomes far more damaging when there is only one section and no alternative instructor. In contrast, schools like SJSU benefit from greater course redundancy, stronger employer presence, and established alumni pipelines that reduce uncertainty at graduation. If I could redo everything, I would complete 2 years at community college, then transfer to either a school with a lighter, flexible curriculum to focus on skills, or a school with strong pipelines and alumni connections (like SJSU). SFSU is sometimes described as an "easy ride," but I strongly disagree—limited sections, single-professor dependency, and theory-heavy instruction make it hard to justify, especially when students must still independently build employable skills. I don’t yet have a full-time Mechanical Engineering role, but I’m actively applying and improving my skills. Once I gain industry experience, I plan to update this review. While engineering hiring doesn’t heavily emphasize prestige, new-grad pipelines absolutely matter, and that’s something I underestimated. Prospective students should carefully research their major, core + lab availability, alumni outcomes, pipelines, total cost, and job market demand. Concrete improvements that would significantly help include online/hybrid lower-division courses, hands-on/project-based upper-division courses, guaranteed lab availability, and more redundancy for required classes. Choose the school that best supports career outcomes—not just the degree.

I was really excited to attend but overall it wasn’t much different than community college at least for Gen ed. my excitement peaked week 4 and by week 11 of the semester I realized what was ahead of me and how the school is kind of a crazy mess. Having ethnic studies tie their bodies to the Muni tracks and an on campus anti abortion protest with bloody pictures was definitely a bit much And not made better by the pleasant Marchant booths the fallowing week. My department I’ve heard is basically a mess though unfortunately. My CC was state if the art and this place has some buildings that are authentically 1950’s and untouched it’s kind of scary so I try not to think about earthquakes given that Fine Arts, the library and Humanities are probably the safest buildings on campus. It feels impossible and hopeless here because almost nobody lives near campus and everyone commutes so it always feels dead. This factor makes it very hard to feel/get connected on campus to any degree and make friends. Don’t get fooled by impacted programs it doesn’t exactly mean they are "good" it just means the school is cheap and hasn’t built new buildings like it probably should have(Cinema, science and kin departments that’s you!). Go here if they have a good program for your major that’s what’s important, not location, student life etc.

I visited the university today for just a couple of minutes, but the impression was very positive. A modern building, a separate sports complex, everything is clean and pleasant — the atmosphere is truly inspiring.

The campus area is green and clean, you can hear birds singing when you walk in the morning. You can see many kind of flowers, and more in the Spring. The pictures show SFSU in pandemic time when student have to study from home , the campus is really quiet and empty. 1/21/21 I add pictures of the new Dorm at Holloway Ave.

野球場に関してのみだが、綺麗な球場。 As far as the Baseball Field, very good Field. The Selection Day, there were more than 40 Players joined the "Showcase" Very Popular School.