When Should You Visit CIIS?

Anytime during your higher education search.

The best way to learn about CIIS is to visit our Mission Street and Minna Street campuses—especially while classes are in session. Call or email CIIS Admissions Counselors at (415) 575-6154 to set up a tour.

They can arrange for you to sit in on a class, and speak with faculty, students, and alumni from your programs of interest.

Even better—time your tour with one of our Public Programs or Saturday Night@CIIS events.

You can also attend an an Open House or an Information Session.

While You Are Here

The San Francisco Bay Area offers much more than cable cars, Lombard Street, and Fisherman's Wharf. Try going a bit off the beaten path to the Roller Derby, or take in a game with the best view in baseball at  AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants.

It's a short ride on BART to a sunnier East Bay, which could mean a class at Yoga Kula, drumming and dancing at Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Arts, a feminist version of "The Taming of the Shrew" in one of the many parks, or theatre at Berkeley Rep.; some music at Cal's Zellerbach Hall or Yoshi's Jazz Club.

Maybe more your speed is a visit to the Oakland Museum, getting a tattoo, an organic ice cream cone at Ici or Tara's, or a buzz at a sake tasting room.

Stay and Engage

Check out accommodations at Hotel Tomo in Japantown, Kimpton quirky-cool hotels, and nearby Hotel Whitcomb.Then wake up and explore the CIIS community's local farmers' markets; see policy being made at City Hall; visit the Museum of the African Diaspora, SoMA galleries, GLBTQ Center, and the Contemporary Jewish Museum; attend a reading at one of the area's independent bookstores...or see what's free.

The Weather Is Perfect

For the walkers and shoppers, there are walking architectual tours, a kids' carousel at Yerba Buena Gardens, the Golden Gate Bridge, a picnic on Angel Island, tennis in Golden Gate Park, a march with the CIIS contingent at SF Pride, and finding some great deals for a great cause at Out of the Closet. You can custom design an outfit at Mr. S. Leather, just take a longer hike, or surf.

Food for the Soul

Last and possibly best, the food: Try an Ayurvedic vegan curry at or some fair trade chocolate the CIIS Café, moules frites on Belden Place, soul food at Hard Knox Café, Basque cuisine at Piperade, a fast-food "healthy" hamburger at In-N-Out Burger; compare/contrast burritos in the Mission District, sample Indian pizza, grab a seat for oyster happy hour at Hog Island, try a maple bacon donut, or a margarita at Puerto Allegré.

And oh the coffee: the Beats' coffee in North Beach, Vega at Langton for "coffee and," and coffee and kink at Wicked Grounds, a few blocks from CIIS.

At night there are a host of venues for improv, performance, concerts, and sing-alongs at the Castro Theatre that the links below will direct you to.

More Information/Practicalities

Read about it all in Best of the East Bay Express and SF Guardian, and Mission Mission blog. There's so much on offer to enhance your educational experience at CIIS.

For directions, more and different information including about how to get around town, see Life in the Bay Area.