SSU Videos:
Sonoma State University:
Sonoma State University is tucked in between Cotati and Rohnert Park in wine country. The campus is not in the center of a town, but rather a remote location surrounded by hills, farms, and rolling green fields. By the community layout it is very clear that the campus was built first and then the nearby area was built in accordance with a gas station across the street with very large food mart attached, 7-Eleven, and Starbucks Coffee half a block away.
Pluses: Campus housing surrounds the campus on both ends and is really the highlight of the entire campus. The housing is more like mini townhouses rather than one large building with everyone housed inside. The majority of students that attend Sonoma State are locals who commute to the campus rather than spend a lot of time on the campus grounds, so the majority of activity is between classes when people are heading to class or their cars. With such a small study body(less than 8,000) there is always an open seat to study in one of the beautiful study areas on campus. The recreation center has a rock wall, ropes course, weight room, basketball courts, and group fitness activities in a brand new facility that is a hangout spot for active students. The Sandwiches at "The Pub" are pretty great, as well as eating them at the lake on campus. The entire campus is really well put together and flows like someone really knew what they were doing. It's spread out without feeling like you're in different parts of a town. You can walk from end to end in under ten minutes, and I don't know of five other places that I would want to drink a cup of coffee on a nice day other than behind "Toast" by the statue of bacon. The Library and Art Department were hands down some of our favorite places to stay for long periods of time, and when you can find a comfy chair with a view you usually don't want to give it up when you are studying. As low key and slow as this campus is, it feels like a small community that cares about you and you can have alone time and be really social all at the same time without feeling like everyone is right on top of you.
Minuses:If you are looking for a Frat or Sorority house you will have to look long and hard because there are no true "houses" on campus. These organizations usually just meet or have events going on but have a pretty decent impact on the campus activities. A lot of benefits are held in "The Pub" on campus during the year by different chapters. The classrooms for specific majors and concentrations are really underdeveloped, but for high priority classrooms and subjects they are beautiful and spacious. Parking is scattered all throughout campus, which makes it incredibly difficult to count on one spot having parking for you, but eventually a spot opens up depending on how far you are willing to walk. The campus has a small variety of food available in different locations, but what they do supply is very high quality. This isn't a big campus, and a lot of the people who do go to this college don't live on campus so it's a lot of locals which can make it difficult at times to meet people around campus.
Unofficial College Podcast: Episode #6 Sonoma State University
