How I Survived SDSU
Written: Feb 03 '00 (Updated Feb 04 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Good graduate programs and great place to meet people
Cons: CROWDED
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| doglover's Full Review: San Diego State University |
I can honestly say I am an expert on San Diego State University, since I attended SDSU for 14 years obtaining my undergraduate and graduate degrees. Consequently, I could write for days about this school but I will try to limit this epinion to survival tips on how to succeed in a school that every semester has 34,000 students.
Misconceptions about SDSU
Dangerous Environment?
I maintain that it is no more dangerous than anywhere else in San Diego, the second most populated city in California. You have to understand that SDSU has a reputation for having a large number of attractive women and men attending it. OK, I cannot deny that. When you live in a beach community, like San Diego, the typical outfit is shorts and tank tops. This reputation attracts to the school a certain level of "undesirables". Consequently, SDSU instituted an escort service where you call a number and someone will walk you to your car. I never had an incident the years I attended there but I spent most of my time on the east side of the campus, away from Monty's Den, the athletic fields, and the sorority and fraternity houses. These areas are where all the attacks by football players, rape incidents, and the general "party" reputation comes from. You just need to be aware to try to avoid these areas after 9:00pm.
Party School?
I am so tired of hearing that Playboy Magazine rated it the number one party school in the country. OK, the motto of SDSU students is "play hard and study hard". Unfortunately, some of the students do these two things in that order. It is not really that difficult to get through the undergraduate program with an "OK" grade. The problem is when you want to get into graduate school. That "OK" grade does not get you far into getting accepted. You see, graduate teachers at SDSU take the reputation of SDSU very personally and are bound and determined to only graduate students from the graduate programs that deserve it. The graduate program I went through had only a 20% graduation rate. SDSU has implemented an "Open University" program to give students a second chance. This program allows you to take postbaccalaureate classes as space permits in the classroom. Once your overall GPA is raised to a "B" and you pass the GRE, then you will be accepted in the graduate program. Once you are in the graduate program, you have to maintain a "B" average. Otherwise, you are put on probation for a semester, and if you do not raise your GPA to a "B" you are booted out of the program. Tough situation to raise that GPA if you are only taking a class a semester. Therefore, choose your classes carefully.
SDSU is easy?
This is ridiculous. When I went there, a number of programs such as psychology, engineering, and computer science were "impacted". Impacted means that there were more students interested in getting into the program than there was room for. Consequently, SDSU administrators instituted a program where the prerequisite for the upper division classes was calculus. That destroyed a number of students that did not have a math background and were forced to either leave the school or take preparatory classes to pass the "class from hell". I know some people that had to take the class three times to get through it. Do not be surprised if your first three years there you end up having to "crash" all your classes. With an average enrollment of 34,000 people, it is hard to get the classes you need to graduate. To make matters worse, there are some teachers there that are just downright terrible. It took me three years to build up a network of friends that were able to advise me on the teachers to avoid.
What SDSU is
So, why did I put myself through all this anguish? It is because SDSU is excellent for preparing the student for the real world. The curriculum that I went through afforded me the opportunities for promotions throughout my career. It made me a well-rounded person with exposure to both the sciences and the liberal arts. A number of schools focus a student in one direction or the other. I also had the pleasure of doing my thesis work under a thesis advisor that was a great "motivator", who always pushed me to my limit. If I complained that everyone else was home and here I was in the "lab" at 2:00am finishing my project, he said, "Don't think about them. Only think about doing your best". When I finally finished my thesis after eight long years, he was the first one to hug me and tell me how proud he was of me. Let me end this long epinion saying that the time at SDSU was a great time in my life for me. I at least did all this excruciating work in a beautiful and mild climate. What else can a student ask for?
Recommended:
Yes
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doglover
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