Which is better for city life: Rutgers or San Francisco?

For real city life, the University of San Francisco is the much closer match. USF sits inside San Francisco itself, so restaurants, neighborhoods, concerts, internships, and public transit are part of everyday life, not something you travel to occasionally. Rutgers, even though some campuses connect to New Brunswick, feels more like a large public university spread across multiple campus areas than a college embedded in a dense city.

USF fits a student who wants the city to function as an extension of campus. You can use Muni, get to different parts of San Francisco without a car, explore distinct neighborhoods, and be surrounded by a constant flow of off-campus activity. The pace is more urban, and the downtown-and-beyond experience is much more immediate.

Rutgers makes more sense for someone who wants some city access without living in a fully urban environment every day. New Brunswick has restaurants, train access, and things to do, especially around College Avenue, but Rutgers is still a big multi-campus school with its own internal bus system and a more traditional state-university feel. A lot of student life is organized around campus spaces rather than the city itself.