University of San Francisco Top Questions

AESIC is the most popular organization at school, and many students have gotten internship opportunities from their. Some people get involved with groups; but many do not. Because our schools location in San Francisco, I find that internships fills the time and place of most school based organizations. The dorms may be one of the best experiences that students will endure. What is odd about USF is that not only is it the only school that encourages, but, also requires some students to live off-campus their sophomore year. Dorms are where you meet your best friends, and more often times than not, provides you with your "social infrastructure" for your college experience. People go out to the bars and clubs, but not as much as parties in people's apartments. The parties can seem like they composed of the same people every weekend, but hey, thats the fun of it!

From my experience, the groups I hear about the most are Kasamahan, VarCity, and the Greek system. Kasamahan is a club that accepts anyone whose interested, but much of the club is of asian background. They participate in many community service events, planned by them in order to raise money for various charities. VarCity is a USF dance team, they rehearse often and do compete against other schools. The Greek system at out school is not as large as it is at others. We does have sororities and fraternities in which most are academically based on one's major. There are some that are for social purposes, but our school does not allow Greek housing, therefore limiting the amount of parties. Sporting events are not of huge popularity here. We are a Division I school and do have very competitive teams, but much of the student body does not attend. There is however, a group called Los Locos whose job is to encourage school spirit and get excited for all of the games. On a Saturday night, most student do leave campus to go into the city, the list of options is very long. There are clubs, Union Square, Fisherman's Wharf, parks, hiking, and that is only to name a few. Students do often also stay in dorms with friends to hang out and just watch a movie.

Many students are active in the LGBT community as well as the Garden club. The Garden club makes food and brings it to different impoverished areas around the city. USF is very active in community participation, which also influences students to get out and explore the city. Dorms are very lively, but many people move out after freshman year because of the expense. People leave their doors open, and RA's create fun plans for their floor. USF definitely has a party scene, but it is pretty calm from what I have heard about other campuses. The library is beautiful, as well as the atrium that we just built, so people are constantly studying as well. As for the fraternities and sororities, we have them, but they do not have housing. Even without housing though, they are active and meet numerous times a week and have numerous events.

The great thing about USF is that everyone pretty has much does their own thing. Since we are centered literally in San Francisco there is SO MUCH to do on the weekends. In the morning, you could be volunteering your time to clean up Golden Gate Park then have lunch on Clement eating some yummy Dim Sum, do homework at a little cafe on Geary and then be out enjoying the nightlife in downtown. There are so many service-based organizations like Alpha Phi Omega (co-ed service fraternity) that I am a part of and cultural orgs like Hui O Hawaii that just help facilitate this getting to know the area kind of thing. As far as sports are concerned, I'm not a big sports buff & while there is somewhat a lack of Dons spirit on campus the athletes play hard regardless. Or so I've heard.

I wouldn't say that there is a most popular activity or group because there are so many to choose from. Honestly, we have a club or organization for just about anything and if it doesn't exist, you can create it! There is so much to do on and off campus that you will never be board. San Francisco offers such a great venue for new experiences and USF takes advantage of the fact that we are in this amazing city by offering different ways to explore it.

The athletes are VERY popular around campus because they are identifiable around campus and are very good.

We've got over 100 clubs and groups on campus. I can't really think of one set group that would be most popular. There is such a wide range of clubs and students can create one very easily. Greek life is not too big on campus, though its presence is getting bigger, with new sororities and fraternities being added. One of the biggest parts of campus is definitely living in the dorms. As a freshman, living on a floor with 50 other people really helps you get out of your shell and meet friends. You can meet people on your floor, in your building, in your classes, or just in the caf. It's pretty hard to be antisocial. A lot of people do things off campus on weekends, like go to Union Square, have a bonfire on the beach, or head over to Haight Ashbury. Once you move off campus, it's still pretty easy to meet people just by going to classes. School spirit is growing and, as a student, you get free admission to home games for any of our sports so people like to go and cheer on our teams. Some events are more popular than others. Campus does clear out during holidays or long weekends but on a normal weekend, most people stay on campus and hang out.

If you are looking for a frat or a sorority do NOT come to USF. We have them, but I couldn't tell you where they are! If you aren't one already, you come to USF to be a city kid. We ride the bus and BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) to get around and everything is never further away than seven miles (the whole city is only 49 square miles). That's a lot of good music, art galleries, theaters, clubs, restaurants and friends' apartments in a relatively small space. Oh, and then there is the beach, bay and parks all around us. Think about it.