Fall 2014 College of Marin ADN v Sonoma State BSN

meib92 · May 23, 2014

Obviously the main difference is that SSU is a CSU, offering a BSN, and COM is a community college, offering an ADN.

College of Marin will cost significantly less, as SSU's tuition is roughly $7200/year.

They're both two year programs - so it depends on where you want to go in your nursing career. Do you mind working as an ADN? Or do you want that more "prestigious" BSN?

The pay is the same between ADNs and BSNs, new grad opportunities are about the same, there just might be more job possibilities/specialization with a BSN down the road.

I don't know how SSU's nursing facility is, but I imagine it's nice because the entire campus is. As you probably know, College of Marin has their BRAND new nursing building, so I assume they have brand new and high tech skills equipment.

College of Marin has more skills lab time, and SSU only gives their students one day for skills lab for each rotation. Aka two days a semester.

College of Marin's program consists of 46 students, and SSU's program consists of 24 students.

I'm not sure if cohort matters to you, but I do know that a lot of younger people/traditional college aged students (~twenties) are at CSU's, with only a few people from all other age groups. Whereas community college nursing programs are populated with a slightly older cohort, and again, with a few students from every age group. My friend goes to SRJC's nursing program and she says she's one of the only people in their twenties.

Both nursing programs have preceptorships the last semester of the program. SSU's clinicals are two days a week, from what I understand, on Thursdays and Fridays for majority of the program. I was talking to a few bridge students from College of Marin at SSU's orientation, and they said some of their clinical rotations were 12 hour shifts, and they liked it because they would only have one clinical day per week and more free time (to study).

Both schools are beautiful and both are great programs. One's way cheaper than the other, but the other has a higher degree in the same amount of time.

I know that fear of the unknown though, you want to make the best possible decision, because this school will be your life for the next two years! I hope I weighed some pros and cons that help your decision out.

And if you end up deciding on COM, and you still really want that BSN, SSU has their bridge program, which is mostly an online program, which allows ADN students to get their BSN. And once you get your RN at the two year mark, you can work full-time as a nurse while taking the mostly-online bridge program. Just an idea if cost is a factor for you. (Because student loans are hideous)

I hope you decide soon. Some student on the alternate list is dying to get in! Good luck deciding!

wishing&praying · May 23, 2014

From all my ups and downs and ins and outs researching nursing schools and all the stress related to it, and mainly coming from being a Mom seeing the stresses my kids have gone through, I would choose COM and be with family while you continue on. The stresses that will come as you further your schooling will be lesser with having the close support of your family and friends.

I've seen firsthand someone else make the bigger change and not be able to find friends to fit in with or a community that felt comfortable. Try not to make it any harder on yourself. Good luck with your decision and your future.

CaliRN · May 24, 2014

Wow, your posts are HUGE HELP with this crossroads decision. I wish I could talk to some bridge program students from COM to SSU- as that is super appealing to me. How many do they accept each year. I didn't realize it was mostly online. Wow.

I took a course at COM, mandatory for applicants to nursing program, NA90 (I think). One lecture was set up with students from program that were graduating or graduates. They painted a pretty bleak picture of job opportunities at graduation. I think only about 20 were employed and they were finding it hard to get jobs. So I am concerned about not having job opportunities after all this work and feeling like SSU BSN might give me more choices. Yes I want to specialize in something- not sure what. Yes, pretty sure I want to go on and get my MSN, or possibly PA.

But the cost is a big factor too, and proximity to family and support. Hard to believe that a BSN RN would be paid the same as a ADN RN, but if that's the truth maybe I should save my pennies and attend COM? I agree debt sucks and I want to try and fund my schooling with my savings, and of course not work, which will mean a lot of tuna sandwiches and rice and beans for dinner in the next two years.

If my life were strictly for the work, the goal, I would choose SSU. But I am almost 50 and I have family and friends that are vital to my emotional well being. Love that both he cohorts are small and if I do attend SSU I sure hope I find good peeps in our band of 22.

And I promise I will be offering up either spot that I do not take very soon. I want those on the wait lists to be as happy as I am for the opportunity. We have all worked very hard to get here.

Thanks wishing&praying & meib92.

meib92 · May 24, 2014

I'm glad that I can help! :)

I picked those bridge students from COM's brains about the bridge program because my boyfriend wants to go that route. Basically, your first summer in between your first year and second year, you take an online class through SSU. Then after your second year + graduation you take another summer class, then you enroll in the bridge classes the following fall & spring semesters at SSU. All the classes are online, minus the clinicals which are only one day per week. Every single bridge student I spoke to said they were planning on working as an RN while doing their bridge coursework. One of the bridge students didn't get in to the bridge program the first time applying, but the nursing department saved her application and accepted her for the post-licensure program (which is the same exact thing as the bridge program, minus the one summer of classes in between your first and second year). The cost of the bridge program plus COM is significantly less than the two years at SSU, so that is a great option.

Here is a link for the bridge program's academic plan:

https://www.sonoma.edu/nursing/pdf/bsn/cpost__cnecm__full-time_academic_program_plan_2013-2014.pdf

Interesting about the wages between BSN vs ADN. I checked on indeed.com for salary difference between ADN and BSN in San Francisco, CA, and it says on average ADNs make $90,000 and BSNs make $83,000. That's hard to believe, so I'm just going to go with what I've heard firsthand from nurses that BSNs and ADNs make the same wage starting out. However, there's more room for raises and upward mobility with a BSN.

The reason I'm choosing SSU's nursing program over COM is because SSU is 10 minutes from my house (COM is 35 minutes away), it's a BSN in the same amount of time, plus my tuition, fees, and books are completely free for SSU between grants and scholarships. Had I not received all that financial help, SSU wouldn't be an option for me (non-working single parent) as I would never be able to cover all my living expenses with student loans after paying for tuition.

Hope this helps some!

mswtruth · May 25, 2014

I ended up not applying to SSU but wish I could have but too many mediocre grades in my twenties caused me to have too low of an overall GPA to qualify as an applicant. I did thankfully get into COM and plan on attending this fall. I think I would choose COM in the long run fit myself if i had a choice simply because I know its reputation in the bay area is very good and the nurses they produce are not only top notch but have incredible skills and are great critical thinkers, two things they really emphasize a lot in their program. I plan on doing the SSU RN-BSN bridge and granted it will take me 3 years to get my BSN but I will have saved money, and can work after COM if I land a job. I also really love the staff at COM. One of the instructors was running clinicals in postpartum with COM students when I was at Marin General having my second child, a girl, this past January. I got to speak with her a lot about the program. I also got a lot of advice from the nurses at Marin General during my stay and they all raved about COM and said their favorite students are always COM students. Hearing that made me feel much more confident to go to COM. I think you can't go wrong with either school. They are both great and have good reputations. I think too i feel more comfortable at COM because I'm older too 37 and my classmates might have more in common with me than younger students.

ambannister · Jan 12, 2018

Hi Beth - I'm just reading this posts now (1/12/18). I would TRULY appreciate your thoughts as I'm 48 and applying locally at end of 2018. And you've more than walked the path ahead of me! I'm in Novato, married and have 2 kids, 12 and almost 14. They are at the forefront of my concern. The fact is for me too, my family and friends are vital to my well being. I've chipped away at the nursing pre-reqs to minimize the impact on them and it's worked really well. I have straight A's and applying to COM end of this year. Wanted to apply to SSU too but I would have to retake a stats class I took over 20 years ago because I got a C. I would have to take 2 classes then this summer which would be a huge challenge with the kids. Granted I'm fortunate my husband works from home which is amazing, but I can't lie that my heart aches at the thought of basically pushing my kids almost completely aside for summer school so that I can apply to SSU in addition to COM. I will admit I was resolved to just go community college and get bachelors later for the sake of my family but then I start to think I should just grind through and try to get into SSU for my bachelors. I have a previous bachelors and I've lived an amazing life thusfar and I'm just not sure how much I should be turning my life inside out. Part of me says do it, but then I think I've had my time and my primary focus is my children and getting them on their way. They are going through a lot to being on the front end of their teenage years and I'm worried that I will be distancing myself from them when they need me most. I think this is the normal dance of concerns about making the "right" decisions but I'd love your thoughts from your experiences!