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

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 East Bay (for Berkeley) and Palo Alto region (for Stanford).

The East Bay is known to be 'gritty' in (most) places and so if you've not lived in an inner-city area with social problems then its worth finding out if it is for you. Berkeley itself doesn't have quite those problems but many people who study there don't necessarily live in Berkeley itself.

Stanford does have a great campus, but for me the wider area is incredibly boring. If you just want to study for 4 years it's ideal, but if you see university life as a rite of passage as much as an academic experience you'll find yourself spending a lot of time in SF.

I should say, I'm envious (in a positive, good way) you are in a position academically and financially to be able to apply to either - I would have loved the opportunity to go but sadly never made it to university, let alone either of these fine institutions.

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 ranking but as a feeling in the campus. But Berkeley has the advantage of being so close to SF.

All the best for your choice and your trip

Deciding whether it's a good idea to visit depends heavily on your financial / visa situation. If it's feasible, then it's a great idea! I came to Berkeley as an international student without having the opportunity to visit and things turned out just fine, but in retrospect I'd have loved the opportunity to get to know the area beforehand.

As others have said, most students at either Berkeley or Stanford don't live in SF. Staying there makes sense as a tourist though, both are easily accessible through day trips and you get to enjoy SF.

If you do visit Berkeley, a great way to get a feel for it is to sit in on classes. You can see this semester's CS classes here http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/Scheduling/CS/schedule.html. If you talk to the EECS department before hand they'll be glad to organize a mini-tour for you where can chat with a current student. If that doesn't work out, there are enough Cal students (like myself) frequenting Hacker News who'll be glad to show you around.

Edited to add: http://www.quora.com/Which-place-should-avid-technophile-per... would probably be of interest to you.

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.

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.

If you are doing engineering and can get into Stanford you should go there rather than Berkeley.

There are hostels that run $20 a night or less if you want to go on the cheap. Or you can couch surf if you have friends there already. Or since you are Australian you can probably find a girlfriend on okcupid to move in with for 2 weeks, they like the accent and most unattached men are gay, but it might be more trouble than it's worth.

Then again, since you are considering paying out of state tuition at a couple very expensive colleges, you must be fabulously wealthy and can just check into a suite at The Palace or Hotel Palomar.

From Australia? Absolutely it's worth an extended visit, although 2 weeks is a long time. If you stay busy, you could probably explore the Bay area thoroughly in just one week. If you want to stay on the Pacific coast, I'd probably check out Seattle for another week just so you get the most bang for your visit.

Yeah, I think if you're going to scout the city and want to get a feel for what it would be like to live in SF (rather than vicinity, which is completely different) you should want to spend at least two weeks in SF.

I would say stay at an AirBnB for lodging. I think that will give you a better window into what daily life might look like for you. A hotel is going to be disengaged.

"Silicon Valley" kind of has as its epicenter in Palo-Alto. However, that really is a rough geographic description. Most mature companies are HQd in SF or San Jose (those are the normal boundaries). SF has companies and startups, tho most could be considered companies which use web-technologies to provide services (AirBnB, Yelp, Craigslist) whereas peninsula companies might fit more the web-infrastructure and platformy (Google, VMware, Verisign, FB) side of things. Mountain View-Santa Clara-San Jose is more Hardware (Intel, Cisco, IBM). That's overly simplified. It's just to give you some rough bearing.

UC Berkeley is 30 mins away via Rapid Trainsit (Bart), Stanford U is about 1hr from SF on Commuter Rail (CalTrain)

SF is a bit expensive to live in, as a student with little income. Your situation might be different. Many people share rent or the sort, to make things more affordable, if they do want to remain in SF. However, that introduces the vagaries that come with having roommates.

You can look for upcoming events you might want to check out here http://sf.funcheap.com/events/san-francisco/

Lodgning at: airbnb.com

look at rent info: http://hotpads.com/ also http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/hhh/

Proto- Startup Culture, maybe a quick stop at Hacker Dojo? http://wiki.hackerdojo.com/w/page/25437/FrontPage (It's in the middle of a middle-aged non-descript office park, but it's reachable via Caltrain Mountain View Station ~10 min walk)

Speaking as one who lived in hip college towns for years and didn't attend. At the end of your stay, nothing about the town will be as memorable as the school itself (unless you get arrested or something).

Unless you have a spouse who won't be in the same univ, I'd suggest ignoring the city entirely. Plan to live (i.e., spend the entirety of your productive life) in the school. Avoid having a car if at all possible.

Of course there's a crapton of stuff to do in the area, it's a world-renowned city. But save it for when relatives come to visit!

Whether or not a trip to the SF Bay Area would be helpful or you is hard to say. But two weeks strikes me as a very long time just for the Bay Area. A day at Berkeley, a day at Stanford, a day or two hanging out at some startups, maybe going to a meetup or two. A week strikes me as plenty.

If you want to stay more than a week (and having done SFO<->SYD myself, I can understand if you would), you should think about visiting other cities.

If you're staying in San Francisco, you can get to either school, or anywhere in San Francisco proper, without a car. But a car starts to become necessary for anything beyond that. Note that many car rental companies won't rent to someone younger than 25, and those that do, will generally charge extra. And I suspect a lack of an American driver's license would further restrict your options.

It has been too many years since I spent careful time (on foot with backpack in the late 60's) in SF so I can only relate my experience in Berkeley. First an admission--- I am invariably biased in or out of favor of a city based on it's bookstores. Berkeley has so many good ones that there is no real competition in the Bay area. Two prime examples and worth at least a couple of days attention each are Moe's Books and Cody's Books. You would wind up with an excellent education just by attending both even if you skipped all of your classes at Berkeley. As for the startup culture, perhaps someone else with hands on knowledge will chime in here...

There's plenty to see in the Bay Area, but if you need to get out, there's a lot of natural beauty elsewhere. When I visited, I rented a car and drove down the Pacific Coast Highway[1] to Big Sur and it was absolutely amazing. Dramatic views of the coast, beautiful canyons... Loved it. I definitely came away with a case of coastline envy (although I don't know how it compares with Australia).

You can get there and back in a day if you get an early start (or you can overnight).

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Coast_Highway_(Californ...

With public transportation, I've been able to cover most of the valley and downtown SF in a few days. It's a great place to make the most from a short visit.

Budget at least 2 days for each university. Stanford is very walkable. I've covered the whole thing in under a day--it's my favorite part of my visits. You'll want more time to talk to students, learn about its academics....

And just head to an entreprneurial Meetup that's convenient. If you ask enough people, someone who works for a startup will be willing to bring you in for a day.

Have fun! As a non-San Franciscan, it's my favorite place to visit alone and explore.

The best thing you will get are the friendships and connections in the startup world. If you want to be in a startup, your best opportunities will come from bring in sf.

Thanks for asking since I am also thinking about taking two weeks there in May. But not for the same reasons. I am starting my professional career in May just finished a CS degree at the U of Sherbrooke (Quebec).

I would like to visit the city and do some networking there too. Maybe try some surfing.

Any ideas how and where to start ?

I'm orig from LA, lived in Vienna for a few years, then moved to the bay area for the past 10yrs. You'll feel at home and like it just fine, it's a no brainier IMO.

Definitely consider couch surfing during your visit, as it will give you an instant connection to the area and local advice.

SF itself is heavily populated by hipsters, which is either your thing or very irritating. SF is foggier and cooler than the surrounding areas, particularly in the summer months.

The San Francisco area has