A parent's impressions of Sonoma State University

I've visited Sonoma State University twice with each of my children, got official tours both times and also strolled the campus on our own.

The visits didn't go perfectly -- there was the rain and the undercooked pasta. after all -- but I still found a lot to like about this college about an hour north of San Francisco.

The mostly flat, Sonoma campus is a pretty, pleasant place to be. Groves of tall, evergreen trees are sprinkled throughout the campus. The grass is green, the lawns tidy. While the overall acreage is not great compared to other colleges, the campus still seems spacious.

An unrelenting downpour fell on my first visit to campus in 2018, so my daughter and I didn't explore much. But the next year, my son and I arrived on a warm day and wandered around a bit. Behind the classroom buildings there is a small man-made lake that supposedly has fish (we found it a little dirty), and some short paths through the woods.
 
The buildings are fairly modern -- though the campus first opened in 1961, it went through a major renovation starting in 2001. We did find one building, Stevenson Hall, that seemed a little older, as evidenced by the ivy running up the side. That won't last -- the building is scheduled for a complete renovation, our guide said.

Ivy on Stevenson Hall

Almost everyone we encountered on campus was nice. One sophomore girl, unprompted, happily stepped in to take some pictures of my son and I by a fountain.

Most colleges do not offer a view of dorm rooms as part of their regular campus tours, but SSU does, likely because this is one of their strengths. I don't even want to call them "dorms," because the housing is all more like apartments.

On both my visits, we were shown a four-person suite that featured two double-occupancy bedrooms, a shared living room, and bath area with separate shower and toilet rooms (so one person showering doesn't tie up the whole bathroom). No need to stumble down a long hallway in your bathrobe to a bathroom shared by 15 or 20 people.

The "show" rooms were dressed up in brightly colored furnishings from Bed, Bath and Beyond. Still, looking beyond that bling, you could see the rooms were bigger than you would expect. Some of the freshman dorm rooms even come with small kitchens

The rooms for older students were supposed to be even nicer (though we didn't see them); some  include floor warmers for cold winter days.

There are two outdoor pools by the dorms and, during my second visit, plenty of students were in the pool on a Monday afternoon enjoying the warm weather, talking and laughing. The phrase "party pool" came to mind.

And for students living on campus, laundry is completely FREE.

Still, there was the pasta. On my second visit, my son and I sat down for a lunch at the main campus eatery. Digging into the pasta we found about one out of every six pieces of pasta hard and chewy. Ugh. And my son didn't like his marinara sauce either.

Also, our guide said there was a "frozen mountain lion" on display in the basement of the science building. But when we later went to look for it, we couldn't find it.

OK, no campus is perfect. But SSU does have a shiny modern student recreation center with climbing walls, three gyms and plenty of workout equipment.  Students can "check out" camping gear for their own outings, or sign on to an arranged trip.

You might note that this article doesn't have much about academics. That's partly because that's hard to "see" on a tour of campus, and also because our guides didn't spend much time on it. You'll need to do your own research.