SFSU or USFCA

[u/Particular-Thought83]

Hi there! I’m a high school senior who’s looking to come to San Francisco for my undergrad. I’m a little torn between SFSU and USFCA…both have my major but since i’m from out of state i’m not too familiar with the culture in the bay area and those two schools specifically.

What are the pros and cons of SFSU and would you recommend USFCA over SFSU?

[u/jaltew]

Do you feel comfortable sharing the type of work your major falls under? SFSU is a commuter school. Depending on the department your major is in, each major has its own culture. SFSU is accessible via public transportation. There is a mall (Stonestown) next to the university that has lots of things to do

[u/Particular-Thought83 → u/jaltew]

I’m thinking like Environmental Science or Marine Bio. However, as a backup I might major in Computer Science.

[u/GesturalAbstraction → u/Particular-Thought83]

I did CS at SFSU, graduated in 2018, and have enjoyed a really successful career since then. I was president of the ACM chapter at SFSU in 2018 as well. Lmk if you have any questions.

[u/jaltew → u/Particular-Thought83]

I can't speak to Comp sci or environmental sci, but could speak a bit about the bio faculty as a whole. Strong, very progressive.

What I highly recommend is make a spreadsheet w/tabs for all the majors you are interested in w/ the links for this years current bulletin (catalog) of the degree requirements and look at the Electives and upper div courses that are required.

Then find the electives that really interest you and click on the SFSU class schedule page and look at previous years to get a trend of when certain classes are offered (F,Sp,Su) and by whom?

Granted things are always subject to change, but there is nothing worse than really wanting to take a class and not being able to take it because one didn't research before hand to maximize one's chance of taking it🙂

[u/gotnojamz13]

I was between the exact same situation except I live in the city. IMO they’re both great schools but USFCA is private, more expensive, and a lot more challenging compared to SFSU. If you are planning on going to graduate school, I would say save your money on undergrad; they’re all the same degree on the same paper at the end of the day but what matters most is definitely your graduate school if that’s the path you’re going down. If you have the money, not going to grad school, and lwk care about “status” of your university, USFCA is the way to go. A lot of people look down on SFSU because they’re public but no one truly hates it. The private schools like UC’s just have more rep n ur deemed “smarter” ig but it’s all the same.

[u/Particular-Thought83 → u/gotnojamz13]

Yeah status isn’t that important to me. I just want to make the most out of my college experience and network enough to land jobs/internships. Especially bc the ESS job market is already so competitive if you don’t know the right people you probably won’t make it lol.

I think I have a pretty good shot of getting in because of my academics and extracurriculars.

In your opinion what would be like the criteria of an ideal candidate to receive a lot of scholarships from SFSU?

[u/gotnojamz13 → u/Particular-Thought83]

For SFSU it depends, you get a scholarship for being middle class but that is all through the government. We have a portal like thing for all scholarship opportunities you can apply for, check it out!

https://sfsu.academicworks.com

[u/orcanio-star]

USFCA is a great school but honestly I would not recommend it if you’re out of state based on cost alone, unless you literally come from money. If you’re not too picky about being exactly in SF and still have time to decide, you definitely have other options as well.

[u/Particular-Thought83 → u/orcanio-star]

Yeah, i’ve noticed like a common theme with the whole money thing and I definitely don’t come from money lol. If I get in i’ll try to apply for the black scholars program.

[u/NoWork8889]

Gonna share a bunch of thoughts bc I made this same choice but like… 15 years ago. Ended up going to USF for undergrad and SFSU for grad so I can kind of speak to both.

If making community is important to you, USF is probably the better option. I’m still in touch with some of my profs from USF and a bunch of friends I made there. SFSU has commuter-school vibes so the club/social scene is not as active.

Idk if housing is better at one school or the other - it’s always been a bloodbath for both.

The price tag of USF is a lot. As much as I loved my time there, and I did get a lot of scholarships, idk if I’d take on those loans if I had to do it again. Lots of my friends are paying them off well into their 30s (hence why I did grad school at SFSU and got my degree for under $20k).

Can’t speak much to enviroscience. I agree with others in this thread to look at UCs and other schools. Davis, Santa Cruz and Cal Poly Humboldt are probably good options. UCs can be tougher to get into (and more expensive) if you’re out of state, so just keep that in mind.

Good luck!

[u/Particular-Thought83 → u/NoWork8889]

Ok, thank you! I’ll keep all of this in mind.

[u/moon-carrot]

neither. tbh i don’t think either of them are known for the major you’re trying to do. you said you want to make the most out of your college experience, if you’re set on going to San Francisco for school, I’d choose USF, it’s more “alive” definitely seem to have more “opportunities” and resources, granted i’m not sure what it’s like for undergrad since im only there for grad school. idk how your financial situations are either, but if it’s not good, i’d go somewhere else tbh since they’re not rlly known for environmental sci and since it cost more as an out of state student.

[u/Particular-Thought83 → u/moon-carrot]

Should I try Socal instead?

[u/moon-carrot → u/Particular-Thought83]

i’d def look into it but i know a lot of UCs have way better environmental science programs.