Sonoma State University

Date: Feb 24 2007
Major: Business - Management and Administration (This Major's Salary over time)
Academically, Sonoma State is a fairly good school. You receive more personal attention here than you would at a larger state school. My opinion of the teachers I’ve had is mixed. I have had some teachers who are outstanding and I question why they are not at a more well known school (probably don’t want to do research) and others who I am surprised that they hold a college degree in their field. Besides the accounting program, the business department isn’t particularly strong at Sonoma. Most of the Business teachers mean well and are available during office hours, but they do not have the real world experience that is necessary for their field. The school is more known for its excellent nursing and teaching (Hutchins) programs.

The students at Sonoma are friendly, though also very homogeneous. The typical student here is a White female from an upper middle class background. There are quite a few wealthy students here.

Sonoma does not have a football team anymore and the sports teams aren’t very well supported. There is no school spirit here. I really don’t think people are proud to be here. I believe that a large part of this is due to the lack of division I sports teams.

The social life is downright awful. About 2,000 students live on campus and less than half of them are present during the weekends. From Thursday to Sunday night, this place is a ghost town. Many people live within an hour or two from the school so they go home on the weekends. The school occasionally puts on mediocre events to provide entertainment but they are usually not well attended and really show a lack of effort on the school’s part. You can literally hear a pin drop on the weekends. Rohnert Park is possibly the worst place to have a college. It is a bedroom community with absolutely nothing to do. There are a few fast food restaurants, a Costco, a miniature golf place that closes early, and a bowling alley. That’s it! There are a row of bars in Cotati, but they quickly get old.

Parties on campus are almost no existent not only because of the lack of people who stick around, but the campus police have nothing better to do then give tickets for MIP. The pickings are slim in regards to off campus parties. Even when do go on off campus, RoPo’s finest come around at 10:00 to end the fun. The residents of the community do not college students and feel that they are intruding on their peace. Frat parties are lame since the frats don’t have houses. The presence of Greek life on campus is very small.

There are a few positives about the school. The brand new Rec Center is fantastic. It’s open until midnight five days a week and all of the equipment is brand new. This is the main source of on campus entertainment. The library is very nice and provides a good place to study. Aesthetically, the campus is very nice and well kept up. There are a lot of trees and it has nice landscaping. The school is only 40 minutes from San Francisco.

My main issue with the school revolves around the town and the social life. Being a commuter school and being situated in the town of Rohnert Park unfortunately means not getting that true college experience that many seek out.

If you don’t mind being bored out of your mind and want to spend your entire college career studying, Sonoma might be for you. You can get a pretty decent education at a very affordable price here. The schools close proximity to San Francisco makes it somewhat appealing. If you do decide to go here, bring a car because the public transportation here isn’t very good.

I would strongly recommend against coming here. If you want to go to a Cal State, go to Chico State or Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. At both schools you will receive an excellent education and will have a real college experience.