Cal State San Marcos Review

Campus is beautiful and very impressed with teachers, staff and programs they offer. I gave 3 stars because I had the worst time with financial aid which I feel should be one of the strongest aspects as well as one of the most helpful departments of the school. I was given wrong information numerous times which may or may not have affected my students grants. I had to call several times just to try and reach someone that seemed to know what they were talking about and every time I called I was given different information. Was not very informed or helpful with on campus housing and scholarship programs.
However, after going to orientation I learned that I was not the only parent havig this issue.

Really helpful staff...until they get your money. Then good luck! Once admissions has your info and interest, expect phone calls daily until they register you and receive payments. Felt like the admissions process was predatory.

Had friend come here for college. Very nice, small school tucked into the hills of San Marcos. Dorms are a little dirty and small but livable, and the atmosphere there seems great. Big car park for students to park in (although it seems to little to sustain so many students) and great plantation all around campus.

Too many stairs!! Also not a lot of things to do in the area.

Out of my 6 years here, the last year was an absolute nightmare. I was surprised by the biased, sexist, racist attitude of the HR department. They reminded me why I shouldn't trust white people too much. The hate is always there, simmering, looking for an excuse to exercise itself in a petty display of neurotic, absurd behavior. I emphasize the HR/Title IX people. While most of the administrators are low quality at this school, the faculty can be great. However, when an entire department makes up lies and ignores evidence and covers up for each other, SOMEONE has to speak the truth. I kept copies of everything I could...

Quality of instruction is vey uneven. Lacks a real "community" atmosphere that you will get at other universities.

Wonderful college with private feel. Our son is living on campus and having a great experience. The professors seem to have the kids education as a priority.

Best bang for the buck in the state of California. Great young vibrant teachers, improving student body and now very good on campus dorms! Facilities are among the best in the state. The only real grounds for improvement would be the typical state of Cal education Bureaucracy. Finding an advisor or getting a question answered can be a real effort. If you want service go to a private U. See USD, and pay $$$. But if you seek a solid education without taking out a lifetime student load, CSUSM is your place.

Sadness and bigotry describes this place to a tee. I wish I could have recorded the pudge of potato who called himself the Dean of Students quivering in his seat when he met with me. He was shaking so violently that I had to actively resist calling him a coward to his face. I was clueless until I found out how Swartz (AKA Fromundacheese) and Blanshan (AKA Bland Chin) were calling the cops every time they had a meeting with me, without my knowledge. They were obviously making false claims that I was a threat (I never knew the cops were even there) and telling people that as a minority male, I was a danger. Poor guy almost had a heart attack. It wasn't until the Chancellor's office chimed in with their own brand of bias that I started learning the truth about the lies that the Pasty Duo were coming up with... while dealing with the Chancellor's Office's own stack of made-up facts, of course. Don't trust the people who work here. Get yourself a lawyer and even then, refuse to communicate in anything but WRITING. These feeble cowards will abuse their power in a heart beat. ESPECIALLY if you're a minority male. And yes, they WILL ignore physical evidence that proves their claims wrong.

CSUSM 2003 - 2005. Great university. Small campus. Classes are not too crowded. Good professors.

1 star Buildings are nice and its clean

1 star Classes are fun, teachers are nice

0 stars Location: public transportstion is bad, no fun stuff for students around, most homestay is far from school

0 stars Housing: no housing for 1 semester students, even when yearly rooms are avaiable. Besides the price of those rooms are insane

0 stars Parking: The school is already difficult to reach. Still they have paid parking. So students are forced to use a bike or walk. Otherwise you have to pay.

Go to a real school and study something useful...science, engineering, etc

Best State University San Diego County has! It's the safest and friendliest campus you'll ever experience.

I enjoy it here. Comparatively low tuition rates. Newer and growing campus stocked with devoted professors. Intelligent and lively students from across the world

Good faculty. Administration offices can be disorganized.

I have watched this school grow for 20 years and it continues to do so. My wife and other family members and friends have gone here. Wonderful campus but bring your walking shoes they got some stairs there.

Honestly the amount of unprofessionalism amongst the staff of the Global Education (Dealing with international students) is appalling. They expect you to stay in a homestay because all the dorms are filled. Then why would you accept new international students if you did not have a place for them to go? Just because every international student decides to stay in a homestay doesn't mean I want to.

Honestly, having the audacity to accept new students without informing them of WHERE THEY ARE GOING TO LIVE is disgusting, especially when you are accepting new applicants until May 1st (They also said make the decision BY May 1st? What do they want?). If you're an international student, do not go here. Instead, go to Long Beach, any Poly university, Fullerton, or Fresno. These are the universities that have had enough respect for me to reply quickly so I can make a decision.

I have decided to attend Fresno State. The communications from them are absolutely amazing, and even though Fresno isn't the greatest city, the university seems quite good.

I love the school. The student fees and parking permits are a bit expensive, but it's a newer school and there have been many new installments.

Education wise:
I just got done with my first year. The professors definitely want you to succeed; they do everything in their power to get you to where you need to be. The S:T is about 24:1. Some are much less. The GE classes are a bit harder to get into by basic enrollment, but usually a professor will let you in if you crash. They have resources every where around campus, through the CCC or the media library, to the math lab, language center, you name it.

Social life wise:
There's school activities every Tues & Thurs (U-hour). I don't see how anyone could call the school remotely ratchet. It's a commuter school, no doubt, in more of a quiet area. Lots of stairs which is why we're nicknamed 'Cal State Stair Master'. Only things to really do around the campus is grab a bite to eat, movies, bowl, visit some puppies, or whatever. You kind of have to search for it, other than that... They have a game room that you can go to on campus, even if you don't dorm (which I don't), or if you get to network and make friends with people who dorm, you can visit the quad area and play some pool.

Hopefully we'll end up getting a football team in the future, but the expansion of the school is remarkable. If you want a medium-small school to go to I would definitely recommend CSUSM.

My sister goes here and I have visited her and it is AMAZING!

Great university, a huge library, teachers of all kinds, many steps to keep you fit, out of the hustle, visit and see at your own will .....

Communication Department is biased, other than that a good college.

The university has this general attitude towards its student population they're blatant in their attempt to extort their students for parking fees with only one structure and the majority of the parking is in the sun. The counselors are not knowledgeable in the school of business it's a waste of time. I have zero school pride.

Has Some very Good professors but be aware of Dr. Wu. As I heard from MS CS students that Wu does not allow international students to do internship, he rejects their CPT application even if you show him offer letter. I would encourage international students to join other good univ like sjsu, sdsu etc. CPT is the most important part of your career , Big companies always give preference to the students with internship experience. This univ is deceiving international students.

About to start my 6th year here. Why do you ask? Well I took too long to pick a major (my fault), but this school has MORE than doubled tuition since I started, has extremely limited options on required courses, and the list goes on. The bottom line - it's the 'Little Cal State That Almost Could.'

The school and most of the professors were great. What I did not like about the school was the staff. They gave me a lot of misinformation. The people working in the financial aid/admissions office need to receive more training. I was told what I needed to do in order to become a resident. I did exactly what the woman told me to do last year. This year another woman told me that I am still not a resident. No one is trying to help me work this out, when I am in fact a resident. I have decided to leave this school and enroll somewhere else. I'm a bit sad because I liked the school. The people in the financial aid/admissions office have ruined it for me though.

Absolutely fabulous experience at the conference, great atmosphere !!!
Excellent California State University. Campus San Marcos !!!

Currently learning a lot here so far a really fun time with far out professors