been accepted to CSU SF and EastBay..which is better?

jennafezz · Feb 12, 2009

i would go to the one closer to where you live.

when you are done with your prerequisites, you will have to apply to the nursing program, and you are not given any kind of guarantee at either school for acceptance. neither school gives any kind of bonus points for doing prereq's there. san francisco state has a more competitive admission, although csueb's admission is also extremely competitive.

basically, when pre-nursing students are done with their prereq's, they usually apply to many programs to ensure that they get in somewhere. a lot of the csueb pre-nursing students apply to sfsu's nursing program, and vice versa.

therefore, i would choose the school that is the most convenient for you to go to. you want to get the BEST grades possible in your prerequisites, so go to whichever school will help you get all A's. if it is quicker to get to csueb, you will be more likely to attend extra lab sessions or study groups that may help you get better grades.

i started at the CSUEB prenursing program, but decided to finish my prerequisites and GE at community colleges, because it was cheaper and less stressful for me. it really does not matter where you complete your prerequisites or GE, just that you get good grades in the classes. what really matters is where you attend the actual nursing program.

good luck :)

NurseJeanB · Feb 12, 2009

Jennafezz said it perfectly. I am currently attending the CSUEB nursing program and I love it. I took my prereqs at a community college. I got into both SFSU and CSUEB, and I made my decision based on which school is closest to my house. Once you are in the program having hospitals nearby is a big plus. I would hate to have to commute far to get to clinicals. Getting high grades is the most important thing. One advantage to the college prenursing program is that you have priority in the classes you need. So, whereas, in community college you may have 35 people on the waitlist to take the science classes like chemistry and microbiology in the prenursing program you are guaranteed a spot in those classes. That would have been nice for prereqs, but as it turned out, I managed to get into all the classes I needed. And like Jennafezz said you don't get any advantage during application time. So whichever school you decide on just be sure to rock those prereqs. Best of luck to you. When you make your decision if you decide on CSUEB, send me a note and I will be happy to answer any questions you may have. Best regards,

Jean

lakent · Feb 14, 2009

Very helpful advice. Thanks so much!!!

caliotter3 · Feb 14, 2009

I lived in that area and remember commuting. I also advise to go to the campus that is closer to your home. Don't build in extra driving, time constraints, and aggravation if you can help it. Good luck with your program.

healthcare4life · Feb 14, 2009

Lakent,

I was kind of like in the same situation as you (whether to go to CSUEB or some other school for pre-reqs). Ultimately, I ended up going to CSUEB even though commute was an hour away (2 hour drive each day). I can honestly say that the drive was kind of a pain up the ass, but part of me loved it because of the fact that it's a drive away from home.. from all the drama, stress, and frustration that was holding me back at home... so in a sense, it was kinda like a road trip away from hell.

I finished all my pre-reqs at CSUEB and managed to get a 3.9 for all the 9 prereq classes. On top of that, I met so many great people. I loved the school because it was multi-cultural and it was so diverse. Campus is HUMONGOUS + it was on top of Hayward Hills which I loved. It's beautiful there, especially at night for sight-seeing.

So, to top it all off.. there's really only two ways to look at this to get your pre-reqs done:

1. Go to a university - experience the real college life, meet GREAT people, and take advantage of everything that the school would have to offer. Only downfall is tuition cost, which would be ridiculously expensive.

2. Go to a community college - even though you're not gonna be getting the same experience as that of a university.. you would still save A LOT on money. Most often, professors @ CC would be somewhat better than professors @ universities because CC professors are actually more focused on passing their students whereas University professors are kinda more focused on just gettin paid. I don't know if that's the same for everyone, but just wanted to speak that out based on personal experience. Once you finish your pre-reqs at some CC, you'd still be able to transfer to whichever university you'd like to go to finish the ACTUAL nursing program.

- Sorry if I blabbed too much, but I just wanted to speak it all out. Whatever decision you make, just make sure it's what you really want. Everything happens for a reason. :)

Good luck!