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Ask San Franciscans: Is it worth taking a 2 week holiday to SF?

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Re: Ask San Franciscans: Is it worth taking a 2 week holiday to SF?

#31

Post by drallison »

Visit the Universities and walk around campus. If you know what you will be studying, go visit with some of the faculty. People are generally friendly and open. Both UC and Stanford have open lectures, for example, the Stanford EE Computer Systems Colloquium, http://ee380.stanford.edu. Check out the Hacker Dojo in Mountain View and Noisebridge in San Francisco. Take a look at http://www.dorkbot.org/dorkbotsf/ for an ongoing program of people doing strange things with electricity.

There are lots and lots of things to do in the Bay Area. There's the wine country to the north, Big Sur, Monterey, and Carmel to the south. Don't miss the Exploratorium and the Computer History Museum. One of my favorites is the SF Waterfront. If you have an iPhone, there is an App for that: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/san-fran-waterfront/id4075675... that will guide your tour.

Re: Ask San Franciscans: Is it worth taking a 2 week holiday to SF?

#32

Post by gojomo »

dotBen wrote: post #12

Nothing to do with startups, I think spending some time visiting campus before you apply is a wise idea. Like you said, it's 4 years you'll be here. Just remember that neither Berkeley or Stanford are in San Francisco and if you attend either it is unlikely you would be living in San Francisco during your studies. I'm assuming, therefore, you meant the SF Bay Area in which case definitely come and spend time in the E…

All good info, except I think the "(most) places" overstates how "gritty" the East Bay is. There are more poor neighborhoods than on the peninsula and valley, yes, but also plenty of everything else as well – it's expansive and diverse in every dimension.

(The areas a Berkeley student is likely to live are more urban/dense than many a suburban – or Australian – newcomer might be familiar with, but still far from 'inner-city' conditions. The prevalence of panhandlers/streetdwellers is likely to be the most notable 'grittiness', in SF/Berkeley/Oakland, for people who haven't seen it before.)

Re: Ask San Franciscans: Is it worth taking a 2 week holiday to SF?

#33

Post by gojomo »

bugsy wrote: post #8

I'll speak from the perspective of an occasional visitor there with relatives and friends who live there. Yes, it's a great city, the absolute best one of its size in the US. One of the few with good public transportation. There are fantastic places to go nearby like the Redwoods to the north and vineyards to the east. Watch out though, if looking to party, most parts of the city has no nightlife except on weekends.…

Upvoted for the suggestion of OKCupid as a short-term housing solution, I'd never heard that before and it made me chuckle. For more formal but still person-to-person accomodations, try AirBNB or Craigslist. :)

Re: Ask San Franciscans: Is it worth taking a 2 week holiday to SF?

#34

Post by dotBen »

gojomo wrote: post #32
dotBen wrote: post #12

Nothing to do with startups, I think spending some time visiting campus before you apply is a wise idea. Like you said, it's 4 years you'll be here. Just remember that neither Berkeley or Stanford are in San Francisco and if you attend either it is unlikely you would be living in San Francisco during your studies. I'm assuming, therefore, you meant the SF Bay Area in which case definitely come and spend time in the E…

All good info, except I think the "(most) places" overstates how "gritty" the East Bay is. There are more poor neighborhoods than on the peninsula and valley, yes, but also plenty of everything else as well – it's expansive and diverse in every dimension. (The areas a Berkeley student is likely to live are more urban/dense than many a suburban – or Australian – newcomer might be familiar with, but still far from 'inn…

North of San Jose, its only East Palo Alto that comes to mind as an area of crime/danger/social issue - and frankly EPA has been massively cleaned up and gentrified since Ikea was built.

Oakland remains a dangerous city, with large 'no go' areas after dark (and even some during the day). Yes there are some nice parts, Piedmont is very trendy and Berkeley is pretty mellow. But you can't deny there remains some very serious issues in large parts of the East Bay.

Re: Ask San Franciscans: Is it worth taking a 2 week holiday to SF?

#35

Post by snikolov »

bugsy wrote: post #10
gsivil wrote: post #2

I have visited SF only for a bit and I had the chance to visit Berkeley and Stanford. I really liked the city a lot and I want to give you my two cents about these two Universities. If you get accepted by these Universities (and let's say you do not have any offers from better places on the East side) do not hesitate in accepting it even for a second. Stanford stands out not only as academic institution in terms of r…

If he's doing engineering there's not much on the east coast other than MIT. Stanford, CalTech and MIT are the three on the top and there is a big gap before the next one down. Of these three, Stanford is the only one where a normal social life is possible, assuming that's desirable.

Your social life is largely what you make of it. I haven't hung out much at Stanford, and I'm not sure what the parent considers to be a normal social life, but as an MIT student, I would advise the OP to not let such stereotypes deter him from considering MIT or Caltech or any other top school.

Re: Ask San Franciscans: Is it worth taking a 2 week holiday to SF?

#36

Post by cema »

marshray wrote: post #21
mattdeboard wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sorry, what? Have you ever BEEN to San Francisco? I lived there for 2.5 years. It's unforgettable, and I miss it every day.

Been in the area once. Spent most of my time at the awesomest bookstore in the world on the Stanford campus.

The "area" of San Francisco is nothing like the city of San Francisco.

Re: Ask San Franciscans: Is it worth taking a 2 week holiday to SF?

#37

Post by gojomo »

dotBen wrote: post #34
gojomo wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All good info, except I think the "(most) places" overstates how "gritty" the East Bay is. There are more poor neighborhoods than on the peninsula and valley, yes, but also plenty of everything else as well – it's expansive and diverse in every dimension. (The areas a Berkeley student is likely to live are more urban/dense than many a suburban – or Australian – newcomer might be familiar with, but still far from 'inn…

North of San Jose, its only East Palo Alto that comes to mind as an area of crime/danger/social issue - and frankly EPA has been massively cleaned up and gentrified since Ikea was built. Oakland remains a dangerous city, with large 'no go' areas after dark (and even some during the day). Yes there are some nice parts, Piedmont is very trendy and Berkeley is pretty mellow. But you can't deny there remains some very se…

...but still not "most" places in the East Bay. (And though it may be a statistical anomaly, for homicides in 2011 so far SF is running even with Oakland, and San Jose almost as many.)

Edit: Corrected; at first I wrote that SF and SJ each had more than Oakland, but the actual numbers seem to be SF-11, O-11, SJ-10... if the rate continues, each will have a much worse year than last year.

Re: Ask San Franciscans: Is it worth taking a 2 week holiday to SF?

#38

Post by _delirium »

bugsy wrote: post #22
gsivil wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do not know what he is about to study but for example in CS there are very very good places on the east besides MIT. http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-gradu... The OP does not want to get details info in rankings and at such a top level I think being in Berkeley or Stanford or Cornell or Princeton is not so different.

Cornell and Princeton have very poor engineering schools compared to Stanford. Princeton's physics and sciences are great, but not engineering is not comparable at all.

From the perspective of CS academia, I don't think of Stanford and Cornell as having particularly noticeable prestige differences. Stanford is considerably larger, so is better-known in more areas, while Cornell specializes in a few, with a math-heavy, formal focus. Stanford's business/VC connections are definitely better known, though.

Re: Ask San Franciscans: Is it worth taking a 2 week holiday to SF?

#39

Post by [deleted] »

gojomo wrote: post #37
dotBen wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

North of San Jose, its only East Palo Alto that comes to mind as an area of crime/danger/social issue - and frankly EPA has been massively cleaned up and gentrified since Ikea was built. Oakland remains a dangerous city, with large 'no go' areas after dark (and even some during the day). Yes there are some nice parts, Piedmont is very trendy and Berkeley is pretty mellow. But you can't deny there remains some very se…

...but still not "most" places in the East Bay. (And though it may be a statistical anomaly, for homicides in 2011 so far SF is running even with Oakland, and San Jose almost as many.) Edit: Corrected; at first I wrote that SF and SJ each had more than Oakland, but the actual numbers seem to be SF-11, O-11, SJ-10... if the rate continues, each will have a much worse year than last year.

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