CSU East Bay vs SJSU vs SFSU

[MadisonMachelle]

Hello!! 

So I am from San Diego, CA (SoCal) and am looking at some Bay Area schools including: CSU East Bay, San Jose State, and San Francisco.

Does anyone know anything much about these schools? I've looked up all the discussions I could find but I figured I might open up the discussion to others with the same questions.
-Are there any red flags with these schools?
-How long do you typically graduate?
-Is there any strong reason why one of these schools is better than the rest?

I'm considering not even applying to SDSU because of how competitive it is. I really like a focus on autism and special education but I know we should be well rounded. 

My stats are: 151V, 149Q, 4.5W. Cumulative GPA: 3.84, CSD GPA: 3.79. I have 7+ years working with kids with autism, 2 years as a behavioral therapist, 4+ years observing/volunteering with a SLP at a school district, NSSLHA member, deans list x7, bilingual in Spanish, and I just got an ASHA volunteer position. 

 

[slptobe!]

I didn't apply to the other 2 so I don't know as much about them, but I'm currently going to sjsu if you have questions!

 

Edited October 1, 2019 by slptobe!

[LifeisSpeechie]

HI!

I am currently at SFSU (and came here for undergrad). You can send me direct questions if you'd like. Some top points about the program:

- Every professor is very helpful and approachable. They are all so personable and consider you as their colleague 

- It really is a small community-like program (within a large school) where everyone gets along (undergrad+ grads Y1+Y2+ professors).

- You get a choice in which clinic to join (first/ second choice) and you start like ASAP second week of classes

- There's more clinical integration in the classes; instead of seminar and clinic being two separate entities. They have combined them to create a clinic-like experience within seminars (part of the new ASHA standards I believe)

- I love that there are so many specializations (the most in CA I believe!) There's Autism, AAC, and Early Intervention, new Bilingual (Eng/Spanish) coming soon. Looks like you have a lot of experience with Autism and if you want to specialize in that definitely come here! Also, that's a plus for your app.

- If you are bilingual (Cantonese, Mandarin, Spanish) this is the perfect school because of the population- you will come across families that speak these languages very often. It is quite a diverse area

- If you do specialize, it may take you longer but hey, theres $$ involved because they know you're sacrificing your time to specialize so I think it's worth it. Usually a semester or two extra. If in undergrad you took Aural Rehab, AAC, and Social Communication class (this class is new so you might not be able to get it waived) you're ahead of the game and can get them waived and be able to graduate on time. This was my case so even with a specialization, I am graduating on time.

-If you don't specialize/ don't need to take extra classes/ you are a CD major/postbacc/ have taken all the required undergrad classes it will take you generally 5 semesters (only 2 summer seminars aka lecture-type classes in Year 1)

- One "con"- people say it's kind of unorganized (more so in the past than it is now) but I never felt like it affected my learning. Unorganized in the sense of maybe some clarifications. So nothing that I was ever actually worried about. It was also more disorganized in the past because they were transitioning into their own department instead of being under SPED + they were changing from Communicative Disorders Dept to SLHS + changing from BA to BS. So I think that had a lot to do with their "lack" of organization and unclear answers/ clarifications. Luckily, all the changes are over!

- I applied to SJSU but decided I didn't care for SJ so I have no info for it. I got into CSUEB but decided to decline because they said I would have to retake 2 classes that I took in undergrad (Aural Rehab and something else I can't remember...), which would have set me back one semester; The East Bay is cheaper but SF is more diverse and I was already living in the Peninsula so the drive to EB + toll just didn't make sense to me

- I really enjoy SFSU so I don't think there are any "red flags" other than the cost of living but depends on your situation. I am lucky to have grown up in there area so I am living at home (no rent) and got a few scholarships + grants. 

Your GPA was better than mine, but our GREs are exactly the same (I think my Q was 147?)

Sorry for the long post. When I was search pros/cons about SFSU, no one wanted to post anything. Everyone kept saying "message me" but I never had the courage to directly message a person because that just isn't me. I hope this helps others out who are deciding about SFSU.

[MadisonMachelle]

11 hours ago, LifeisSpeechie said:

HI!

I am currently at SFSU (and came here for undergrad). You can send me direct questions if you'd like. Some top points about the program:

- Every professor is very helpful and approachable. They are all so personable and consider you as their colleague 

- It really is a small community-like program (within a large school) where everyone gets along (undergrad+ grads Y1+Y2+ professors).

- You get a choice in which clinic to join (first/ second choice) and you start like ASAP second week of classes

- There's more clinical integration in the classes; instead of seminar and clinic being two separate entities. They have combined them to create a clinic-like experience within seminars (part of the new ASHA standards I believe)

- I love that there are so many specializations (the most in CA I believe!) There's Autism, AAC, and Early Intervention, new Bilingual (Eng/Spanish) coming soon. Looks like you have a lot of experience with Autism and if you want to specialize in that definitely come here! Also, that's a plus for your app.

- If you are bilingual (Cantonese, Mandarin, Spanish) this is the perfect school because of the population- you will come across families that speak these languages very often. It is quite a diverse area

- If you do specialize, it may take you longer but hey, theres $$ involved because they know you're sacrificing your time to specialize so I think it's worth it. Usually a semester or two extra. If in undergrad you took Aural Rehab, AAC, and Social Communication class (this class is new so you might not be able to get it waived) you're ahead of the game and can get them waived and be able to graduate on time. This was my case so even with a specialization, I am graduating on time.

-If you don't specialize/ don't need to take extra classes/ you are a CD major/postbacc/ have taken all the required undergrad classes it will take you generally 5 semesters (only 2 summer seminars aka lecture-type classes in Year 1)

- One "con"- people say it's kind of unorganized (more so in the past than it is now) but I never felt like it affected my learning. Unorganized in the sense of maybe some clarifications. So nothing that I was ever actually worried about. It was also more disorganized in the past because they were transitioning into their own department instead of being under SPED + they were changing from Communicative Disorders Dept to SLHS + changing from BA to BS. So I think that had a lot to do with their "lack" of organization and unclear answers/ clarifications. Luckily, all the changes are over!

- I applied to SJSU but decided I didn't care for SJ so I have no info for it. I got into CSUEB but decided to decline because they said I would have to retake 2 classes that I took in undergrad (Aural Rehab and something else I can't remember...), which would have set me back one semester; The East Bay is cheaper but SF is more diverse and I was already living in the Peninsula so the drive to EB + toll just didn't make sense to me

- I really enjoy SFSU so I don't think there are any "red flags" other than the cost of living but depends on your situation. I am lucky to have grown up in there area so I am living at home (no rent) and got a few scholarships + grants. 

Your GPA was better than mine, but our GREs are exactly the same (I think my Q was 147?)

Sorry for the long post. When I was search pros/cons about SFSU, no one wanted to post anything. Everyone kept saying "message me" but I never had the courage to directly message a person because that just isn't me. I hope this helps others out who are deciding about SFSU.

That was super helpful! Thank you so so much. I'll definitely pm you as I go through the app process! Thanks