ccsf or merritt oakland? which school is better

Rabid Response · Oct 12, 2010

I have heard some pretty good things about the program at City College; apparently it is really rigorous, especially the clinicals. No offense to Merritt grads, but I haven't heard anything good about Peralta's Merritt. I took one of my prereqs at Merritt and, when I told my instructor that I was considering applying to their nursing program, she winced and told me that I could do much better--not much of a recommendation. I don't know of any Merritt grad working at my hospital, but there are a few from City (mostly my hospital hires BSNs). Of course, things may have changed with both programs in the last few years. The way things are now, you should be prepared to have trouble finding work as a graduate nurse no matter what school you attend.

Marylanding · Oct 12, 2010

hi! thanks for answering my question! :yeah:when you say "rigorous"... do you mean hard as in I'm going to die in the clinicals rigorous or just competitive in their clinical performance. Does the clinical experience or opportunity varies in different colleges? Does it really put a great impact after graduating if you came from a school with alot of clinical experience versus a school with less clinicals? Thanks!!!! :up:

Christine2009 · Oct 12, 2010

do not go to merritt!!! i was dropped from thier program last year for not having a 75% in fundamentals...the way they let you know you are dropped is have you wait in a room with others in the same boat as you and just announce it in front of everyone! our class started with 80 students and they are down to 23 that will graduate in may if all goes well. i even had to order my uniforms ($200) and pay for thier stupid ati program ($100) that is suppose to increase your chances of passing the nclex before i was dropped from the program.

everytime i try to call the office to find out where the ati books are that i paid for, i am told by the rude secretary that "she has nothing to do with that and need to make an appt. with the director" so, i made an appt to see the director and she just looked at me and says "they were handed out in class, you should of gotten them then". i tell her that i was dropped from the program before the books were handed out and she tells me "i have no control over how the books are dispensed and i have no record of your payment. i guess you are just out a $100!"

they are very unprofessional and disorganized as well. i have chosen to go a private school instead and the school even accepted my previous work from merritt. i am now on the road to graduation and so happy.

also, merritt's program's acredidation is on probation and i hear that they are doing away with their lvn program as well once this class graduates this december.

city college is a good school though and have yet to hear any bad or negative things about thier school. at the coffee shop where i go to study, there are a lot of city college rn students there studying and they all have positive things to say about the school and the program.

best of luck to you.

Marylanding · Oct 12, 2010

Oh my! They didn't even give you the books you paid for? That's a very weird college! I'm glad you seem happier at this new school of yours and I'm sorry about your bad experience at merritt. Thanks for replying. I think I might go to ccsf. I've seen stuff online about merritt and it does sound bad. I heard that it's a tough school, so I was assuming that if you graduated from their tough program, you would have an advantage over other schools after graduation. But it really is starting to sound they are just plain being mean. :mad:

Christine2009 · Oct 20, 2010

Oh my! They didn't even give you the books you paid for? That's a very weird college! I'm glad you seem happier at this new school of yours and I'm sorry about your bad experience at merritt. Thanks for replying. I think I might go to ccsf. I've seen stuff online about merritt and it does sound bad. I heard that it's a tough school, so I was assuming that if you graduated from their tough program, you would have an advantage over other schools after graduation. But it really is starting to sound they are just plain being mean.

My friend who is in their program tells me that everyday they are threatened with being dropped from the program. They started with 80 students August 21st and down to 30 students.

Another friend of mine who is in her second year in their program said they started with 85 students and now they are down to 18 students that are going to graduate.

The coffee shop that I frequent to study has a lot of CCSF nursing students there and they all say the program is hard and intense, but very good. The instructors really want to see them succeed. Actually, I have never heard anything bad about that school. Just all postive remarks from former and current students.

Best of luck to you.