SFSU vs CSUEB

[anelynmae]

I have been accepted to CSU East Bay and SFSU. I am trying to decide which one is better. Both schools are the same distance from where I live and I am planning on commuting. Both schools are about the same price. SF is a 2 year program while EB is 2.5 years. I would appreciate it if current or past students could tell me how they liked the nursing program at either of these schools. Where are clinicals done? Are there evening classes? How good were your instructors? How prepared do/did you feel to take the NCLEX?

[MyAimIsTrue, BSN]

Congratulations! These are the schools I applied to as well and accepted my spot at CSUEB before my interview with SFSU. CSUEB was my first choice because I didn't want a bridge commute for classes or clinicals. I don't think I'm allowed to say where we do our clinicals, but we are all over the East Bay. Nothing in SF, nothing on the peninsula, nothing in the South Bay. They are all excellent hospitals. The instructors and professors range from meh to excellent. I believe the NCLEX pass rate for CSUEB is significantly higher than SFSU (at least the last time I checked). No evening classes at CSUEB, but there are sometimes evening clinicals. Anyway, I haven't regretted my choice at all.

NCLEX Pass Rates

[anelynmae]

Thank you MyAimIsTrue. Yes, I saw that CSUEB had higher NCLEX pass rates and I wonder why SFSU is so much lower. That was something that I was concerned about. I am a little concerned about CSUEB because it will be at their concord campus, and I can't seem to find much information on their program specifically. It seems small and new. I like the idea of doing clinicals in SF, but I also hate SF traffic.

[MyAimIsTrue, BSN]

If you live in the East Bay, I would absolutely choose CSUEB. The amount of driving nursing students do is insane. Usually 2 days/week of clinical equals 4 days of driving to the hospital, because you usually have to prep the day before. For the most part, Concord's clinical sites are through the tunnel, with a couple of exceptions. Yes, Concord is shiny and new with a very small campus (but same size nursing cohort as Hayward).

[anelynmae]

I actually live 50 miles away, so it will be an hour commute to Concord, unfortunately. I did see that housing in Concord is a lot more affordable than SF!