University of San Francisco nursing program versus Samuel Merritt nursing program

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Hi all,

I am very interested in the nursing program for both schools and would like to ask for some advice: do both schools have the same level of good reputation when hospitals interview the graduates from USF and SMU? Or are graduates from SMU treated differently from USF graduates?

I would appreciate any advice from anyone in the healthcare field or anyone who has had friends graduate from either university. It is a tough decision for me because I understand that USF requires students to wait one year before starting clinicals, and the nursing program is 3 years in addition to that (so 4 years total), versus SMU which is only two years and slightly cheaper since I won't have to pay for another year there. I am wondering if the quality of education at USF would be better than SMU or vice versa. Any help is appreciated....thanks for reading!

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Specializes in L&D, infusion, urology.

I would choose USF over SMU any day, but I will ask, why not SFSU, SJSU, CSUEB, etc? The CSUs are well respected (definitely more than SMU), and certainly less expensive. SMU is not well-regarded amongst the nurses and nurse managers I've encountered.

Some CSU programs, like Sonoma, are now 2 years. I'm not sure about others in the area, but it seems more and more are shortening the length of the programs.

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Thanks for your response! I'm also considering the other schools you've mentioned, however they are not accepting applications til near the end of the year, so for now I am I am just debating between these two colleges (which the applications were due in January and March). I will definitely look into the other colleges you've mentioned when the app due dates get closer.

I would choose USF over SMU any day, but I will ask, why not SFSU, SJSU, CSUEB, etc? The CSUs are well respected (definitely more than SMU), and certainly less expensive. SMU is not well-regarded amongst the nurses and nurse managers I've encountered.

Some CSU programs, like Sonoma, are now 2 years. I'm not sure about others in the area, but it seems more and more are shortening the length of the programs.

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RunBabyRun, are you currently a nursing student as well?? If so, can you share your school experience with me? Thanks!

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Specializes in L&D, infusion, urology.
RunBabyRun, are you currently a nursing student as well?? If so, can you share your school experience with me? Thanks!

I'm happy to answer any questions you may have. I'm about to graduate from a CSU program, and looked into almost every program in the Bay Area, as I have repeated prereqs and my GPA isn't top-notch.

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Do you feel satisfied with the quality of lecture and clinical courses at the CSU you are attending?

I'm happy to answer any questions you may have. I'm about to graduate from a CSU program, and looked into almost every program in the Bay Area, as I have repeated prereqs and my GPA isn't top-notch.
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Also what are the total costs for your program? While $$ is definitely a concern for me, I also want the best education I can receive...

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Specializes in L&D, infusion, urology.

Bear with me, as different programs will vary, even within the CSU system, and I can only speak to my own at Sonoma.

I'm quite happy with my program overall, though with us being only the second class that is down to two years, there have still been a few kinks to sort out. We are a small class, starting out with only 24 students. The instructors are incredibly supportive (no "nurses eat their young" "thinning the herd" mentality). We've only lost one student along the way, and she has found that another career was a better fit for her (I would agree, in her case).

We are clinicals pretty much from the get-go. The one complaint I would have about this is that we do not have an ongoing skills lab. As someone who came into the program with prior patient care experience, this hasn't set me back, however, most others in the program do not have this luxury, and fine this frustrating (and have brought it up to leadership, so perhaps it will change). The nurses I've encountered in clinicals have been awesome, and very encouraging with regards to my learning experience. The program also handles all clinical and preceptorship placements, so you are not responsible for this.

They also have a whole thing toward the end of the program where we fill out our applications for the NCLEX together, will be having resumes reviewed, and will be doing mock interviews with local nurse managers. Our program has a 97% NCLEX pass rate.

The costs, in my case, are covered, but here's an approximation:

Tuition- $3,000/semester (I believe it's about that), plus parking (about $100).

First semester books- $1,000

Scrubs, lab coat, patches, shoes (get at least 2 sets of scrubs)- varies widely, maybe $200

ATI each semester- about $200 each

Books in subsequent semesters- about $200-300 per semester

There haven't really been any other weird costs, aside from these.

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Wow! so that would be 4 semesters total for 2 years, which would be about $12,000 for tuition alone? and a 97% pass rate for NCLEX is great. I'm definitely going to check out SF state, although I know I'm most likely not going to get in (their acceptance rate is only 17% I believe).

Have you started prepping for the NCLEX yet?? Keep me posted on what you thought about the test!

Bear with me, as different programs will vary, even within the CSU system, and I can only speak to my own at Sonoma.

I'm quite happy with my program overall, though with us being only the second class that is down to two years, there have still been a few kinks to sort out. We are a small class, starting out with only 24 students. The instructors are incredibly supportive (no "nurses eat their young" "thinning the herd" mentality). We've only lost one student along the way, and she has found that another career was a better fit for her (I would agree, in her case).

We are clinicals pretty much from the get-go. The one complaint I would have about this is that we do not have an ongoing skills lab. As someone who came into the program with prior patient care experience, this hasn't set me back, however, most others in the program do not have this luxury, and fine this frustrating (and have brought it up to leadership, so perhaps it will change). The nurses I've encountered in clinicals have been awesome, and very encouraging with regards to my learning experience. The program also handles all clinical and preceptorship placements, so you are not responsible for this.

They also have a whole thing toward the end of the program where we fill out our applications for the NCLEX together, will be having resumes reviewed, and will be doing mock interviews with local nurse managers. Our program has a 97% NCLEX pass rate.

The costs, in my case, are covered, but here's an approximation:

Tuition- $3,000/semester (I believe it's about that), plus parking (about $100).

First semester books- $1,000

Scrubs, lab coat, patches, shoes (get at least 2 sets of scrubs)- varies widely, maybe $200

ATI each semester- about $200 each

Books in subsequent semesters- about $200-300 per semester

There haven't really been any other weird costs, aside from these.

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I'll be watching this thread. I'm considering a move to San Carlos so I'd like to transfer to a school as close to there as possible. I was looking at SMU since they have an accelerated program (I have a previous BS) and the San Mateo campus is very close, but they are also expensive. And for an accelerated program, they require so many prereqs that it's not going to go much quicker than a regular 4 year track anyway!

There was another school that had a master's track for people with unrelated Bachelor's, but I have a difficult time believing that a master's without work experience is very useful. I almost definitely want to get a master's eventuually, but doing it right of the bat doesn't sound like the best idea.

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Specializes in Emergency.

I'm a junior I at USF. Tuition is high (though, I don't think as high as SMU -- however, they finish fast if you decide ABSN), but, NCLEX pass rate IIRC is around 99%. Let me know if you have any questions.

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Specializes in L&D, infusion, urology.
Wow! so that would be 4 semesters total for 2 years, which would be about $12,000 for tuition alone? and a 97% pass rate for NCLEX is great. I'm definitely going to check out SF state, although I know I'm most likely not going to get in (their acceptance rate is only 17% I believe).

Have you started prepping for the NCLEX yet?? Keep me posted on what you thought about the test!

Yes, 4 semesters! It's fast, but it's been good. Pretty much all of the CSUs have about a 10-15% acceptance rate, or did when I was applying.

I have started doing some prep for the NCLEX, but there's a big computer system issue that's caused a 90 day delay in addition to the normal wait, so I am in serious limbo at the moment. I'm still doing some prep, as I am in a specialty unit right now, and not using a lot of my med/surg knowledge. Reviewing meds a lot.

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