University of San Francisco — Attraction in San Francisco

I'm a male, late 20's student at USF, and this has been my experience:

1. Rigorous - Having had a decent amount of life experience before coming here, I expected it to be easy. I was wrong. As someone who has always been good at math, the math classes were all challenging and required a lot of time and effort to do well in. The same goes for their science classes. I had attended another, easier university before coming here, and the difference was huge.

2. Political/Religious - Being a catholic university in the middle of a very liberal city, there is a good chance that someone will at some point try to shove religion or liberal politics down your throat, with a higher probability of the latter. As someone who doesn't care for politics, I'd prefer if they were left out of the classroom.

3. Small class sizes - All but one of my classes have been under 30 people, with many being less than 20. There are personal, 1-on-1 classes for music lessons in guitar, piano, vocals, etc. There are ample staff to handle any problem and any and all issues I've had were solved quickly. Compare this to a state school with class sizes in the 100's and there is really no comparison.

4. Expensive - With an annual price tag of about 50k, plus the astronomically high San Francisco cost of living, it is incredibly expensive to go to school here. I came here largely because I had a full-ride scholarship, and would have seriously considered other options if I didn't.

5. Amenities - There are several large libraries, excellent quiet study areas, private music rooms with instruments, and the campus itself is quite beautiful. With the tuition comes a free public transit card and gym access, at a very nice gym.

6. Overall quality - The quality of the school overall is very high. I can't say how it compares to the likes of top schools like Stanford, but many of USF's professors have come from those big name schools. The combination of talented, intelligent professors and personal 1-on-1 attention make it a great place to...

Let’s talk about what really matters in professional school admissions: depth, originality, and grit.

Now compare that with what you often see coming out of UC Davis: High GPA Generic “research assistant” role Cookie-cutter volunteer hours Recommendation letters from professors they impressed by playing the game, not pushing the limits

On paper, it looks polished. But scratch the surface, and you see the pattern: UC Davis rewards strategy over substance. Students learn how to survive the system, not how to stand out from it. They’re trained to chase approval, not to think independently. They check the boxes, follow the crowd, and build applications that look great until someone asks: “What did you actually do?”

Now look at University of San Francisco.

At USF, students are challenged to develop real competencies, real connections, and real stories. Whether it’s in public health, nursing, law, or business, USF students are mentored, not processed. Their education emphasizes ethics, leadership, and purpose — not just GPAs and title stacking.

USF students don’t need to rehearse fake humility or inflate their resumes with surface-level activities. They speak from experience — and that shows up in interviews, statements, and outcomes.

Meanwhile, UC Davis applicants often collapse under basic pressure. Strip away the prestige aura, and what’s left is often a record of doing the bare minimum exceptionally quietly. High GPA, low edge.

Let’s put it plainly:

UC Davis teaches you how to blend in.

USF teaches you how to break through.

So if you’re on an admissions committee comparing the two: Don’t get distracted by the UC label. Look at the substance. Because some students were built by challenge — others were just trained to smile...

My experience from this university is in one word, Unfair. My family is low income because of my parents’ disability status, initially, I was very excited to attend this university, and at the time, my family and I made the deposits required because we read on the university website that the housing deposit could be refunded if I couldn’t attend, and if it was done before July 1st. in the month that followed, our financial situation changed, and my parents told me that it was no longer possible to pay for my college at University of San Francisco. It was still before July 1st, so I called the University seeking a refund of at least the housing deposit of $300, like the website said. They responded back saying that what I read was outdated information and that they no longer offer refunds, even if you haven’t enrolled in classes or gotten a room assignment. I spoke to almost every person on campus, I sent numerous e-mails explaining how we were low income, and the deposits made up a third of what my parents make a month. And still nothing, no one could help, not even my own advisor I was to have. What happened to the Jesuit values that this school was supposed to be founded upon? I am very disappointed by the unfairness of the University, and saddened by the fact that they kept my parents’ $550 worth of deposits, just because they had misleading information on their...