A Student's Guide to Fresno State University in Fresno, California

The campus sits at the bottom of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in the San Joaquin Valley. Fresno is a decently sized city with more than 200,000 people and plenty of things to do. Fresno State University is just about an hour from many beautiful lakes in the Sierra Mountains above Fresno.

Fresno State operates its college on a semester type schedule. The fall semester runs from late August through mid December. The spring semester runs from early January through later may. Fresno State has 23 nationally accredited departmental programs, which ranks at the top amongst other CSU's.

Fresno State ranks in the top 50 almost ever year in men's football and men's basketball every year, they care a lot about their sport teams and it really shows. They have a few sports facilities where they play their games and practice. One is the Bulldog Stadium for their football, for basketball and volleyball they play at the Save Mart Center, which are both excellent facilities.

On campus they have a state of the art gym with indoor basketball courts, Olympic size indoor/outdoor pools, weight rooms, and cardio rooms. In 2006 they opened a Student Recreational Center. The center has 4 full-size basketball courts, indoor running track, dance studio, 2 racquet ball court, and men and women's locker rooms. As a student myself, I spend a lot of my spare time here, because there is plenty things you can do to pass time and have fun while doing it.

If you're going to be attending Fresno State you can stay in one of their many dorms it has to offer, or get off campus housing. Obviously the easier way would be to stay in a dorm, so you don't have to worry about traffic and or being late to class since you're already on campus. They have many different types of dorms, single rooms, shared rooms, and rooms where you are the only person in them, what it comes down to is how much you can afford.

There are many things to do outside of the college itself, plenty of bars, restaurants, shopping centers and 2 malls for plenty opportunities to meet new people and have a good time. A place I recommend everybody trying is Incredible John's Pizza located about 10 minutes away from the college itself. It's a huge pizza buffet with every type of pizza imaginable, they offer beer, and they have a huge arcade fun zone for the kids. It's definitely a great place to meet people or go hang out with your friends.

One bad thing about the Fresno area is the crime that it has, if you don't much about the area don't stray to far off, there are really bad neighborhoods and parts of Fresno you wouldn't want to be in after dark. The crime in Fresno is at an all time high, and is showing no signs of dropping down anytime soon. The good thing is Fresno is a really big city and there are plenty of safe places you can be and plenty of places to go where you will feel safe.

Last but not least, one thing to keep in mind is never buy your books from the college book store, always remember to get your books from www.amazon.com you will save tons of money in doing so. This also goes for any college you should ever attend.

With this little bit of information you should be able to get yourself started here at Fresno State and this will make your stay here in Fresno a little easier.