A parent's impression of San Francisco State

Would you like to go to a college that has puppies and free massages? If so, San Francisco State might be for you. Just beware of parking tickets and tsunamis.

I've toured S.F. State twice, once in 2018 with my daughter, and again in 2019 with my son. While these visits didn't give me a full picture of the university, I did leave with some strong impressions.

San Francisco State is an urban campus on the west side of San Francisco. There is a large mall immediately to the north and heavily trafficked Highway One on its eastern boundary.

On both my visits, the campus was filled with students hurriedly coming and going. San Francisco State is not so much a tranquil venue of intellectual thought as a buzzing hub of learning for busy students.

A view of San Francisco State from the top of the Student Union

The campus is compact, and to create space many of the buildings are tall. But it has surprises. You might not expect to find a soccer stadium tucked into the tight confines of the campus, but if you wander behind the tall buildings and look behind some trees, there it is.

Our 2019 guide, Victor, was fun and entertaining and noted that on certain days of the week the school brings in puppies as "therapy" for stressed students (sometimes it's kittens, or even piglets).  Wednesdays are "Free Massage Day" -- for everyone, not just students.

Unfortunately, we were there on a Tuesday, so we missed out on the free massages. But we did get something else. Just as our tour was about to end, a loud horn sounded over the whole campus. It was alarming, honestly, but Victor explained that it was a test of the tsunami warning system that sounds every Tuesday at noon.

Speaking of warnings, Victor was emphatic that students should not even think about bringing a car to campus. Parking is hard-to-find, expensive and aggravating. Parking officers, Victor explained, will literally wait as the last five minutes on your meter runs out and then give you a ticket. You might think that once you get that ticket you won't get any more that day. But you'd be wrong. Victor said officers will ticket you again and again -- one person he knew got seven tickets in one day in one spot.

Rather than drive, take the bus. The school's One Card ID includes a free pass for all San Francisco buses and discounts for the BART train system.

Another positive: A modern and expansive student recreation center, complete with a rock wall, multiple gyms, workout classes, and plenty of exercise equipment.

We didn't get to see any of the dorms on our tours. Victor suggested that some of the rooms are very small, but if you're willing to pay more you might do better.

You can't really learn much about academics on a campus tour, even two of them, so be sure to look around elsewhere to find out about that.