Csus (Sacramento: houses, transfer, construction)

[bayareaforlife]

im thinking about going to the college and was wondering how the school itself is. Class sizes, faculty, and just overall how the students are that go there.

[CityGirl72]

I went there for my bachelors and my masters

I adored my education

Class sizes do not matter in my opinion, It how you study and use the info given that will determine your success

[bayareaforlife]

hmm, thats a good way to think about it citygirl72. what about the students there? would i expect a loud abnoxious atmosphere, as ive heard about cal poly san luis. For me there are a few schools i want to apply to, all for their well known civil engineering programs and its pretty much just up to the location and school in general that decides which i would want to go to.

[mikefarinha]

I earned my bachelors there in MIS a bit over a year ago. The big thing about Sac State is that it is a commuter school. Sacramento is not a college town and the student body on campus reflects that. A lot of working professionals go there, especially at night.

The school does have plenty of fraternities and sororities if that is your thing but I'd venture to guess that the student body there is more mature, on average, than most state schools.

Also It seems to me that Sac State students are very diverse, ethnically.

I too enjoyed my education there and have yet to decide if I want to earn my Masters. If I do decide to get my Masters I've already decided that I will attend Sac State for it.

[gotpancit]

I got my BSME there, and am working on a MSME currently. Great school for civil engineering and construction management. The price is right ~$1400 a semester. It's diverse. Class sizes are fairly small. Classes are fairly close together. Occationally you'll have to go from the engineering building to another for GE, but everything is within walking distance, unlike neighboring UCD where you need a bike.

There have been a good amount of changes within the past few years, new parking structure, bookstore, and I think a soon to be sports complex. I chose csus because it was fairly cheap and close to home and found the education to be really good.

[bayareaforlife]

Thanks everyone, I know civil engineering's popular and quite a few schools offer it, I'm just obviously from the bay area, and found myself enjoying it here, not exactly the people, but the weather, location, and great job opportunities for the future. I went to one of the open houses for the campus and liked what i saw, just thought it'd be better to hear from alumni rather than hearing the, of course positive and encouraging, comments from the faculty there.

[bigdave01]

Remember that Sac State is pretty much a commuter school. I don't think many people live on or near campus. However, you could definitely get a good education there.

[bayareaforlife]

What about the classes themselves? Should I be imagining worst case scenarios... auditorium-style classrooms with at least a hundred students and in the eyes of the professor you're basically just a number.

[mikefarinha]

The one thing that I didn't like about Sac State were the Prof's that teach G.E. and lower division classes. It seemed to me that the professors didn't seem as engaged with the students as the professors teaching the upper division classes. However I think my experience was a bit tainted in that I transfered from a community college (Sierra College), which had fantastic teachers but only taught lower division classes. Also that meant I didn't have to take as many G.E. classes at Sac State.

I had two classes that were auditorium style with a lot of students, they were both G.E. classes. One was Film Appreciation and the other was History of Rock 'n Roll. In both classes I never felt I needed to be too engaged with the subject since they were G.E. classes, I felt the format worked fine for those particular classes. When I got into my upper division classes (Business/MIS) I worked a lot (nearly every class) in groups which I felt was a very valuable experience. Also, any teacher I wanted to get extra time with was almost always available either after class or during their office hours.

One last thing in response to biddave01. It is true that most students don't live near the campus, however I believe that is currently changing. They are revamping the dorm's and have worked with developers to build a lot of off campus student housing. Mainly off of 65th Street. Sac State is currently improving by leaps and bounds thanks to the new president.

[CityGirl72]

The classes definately are not auditorium style with 100 students

The largest classes are still only abour 40 or 50, and most are in a small class room setting of just 25

Or at least it was when I went