California State University - San Bernardino

1st Year Male -- Class 2008

Faculty Accessibility: A+, Social Life: C

Overall, this is a decent school education wise, especially for the amount of money you are spending. The campus in general is kept clean, and most of the equipment and lab facilities are kept in excellent condition. Alot of the buildings are newer, modern designed concrete nightmares, but are at least kept clean and well lit. As for the staff being accessible, it depends on how crowded your major is.

This is a commuter campus, so social life here and extracurricular activities are nearly non existant. On campus, the place is empty when classes are over. The campus dorms are a mess, noisy, disgusting and overpriced, you can get a much nicer apartment, cleaner apartment within walking distance of this campus. There are only two places to eat on campus, both located in the Student Union: a Taco Bell and an extremely overpriced cafeteria.

As for city life, forget it. This campus is located in what is considered the upscale area of San Bernardino. That should be a big warning, you won't want to even go to the other parts of the city because they are so poor and run down. Crime in this area is generally low except for THEFT. You have to keep an eye on everything here, all the time. Cars are constantly broken into, and the science and computer labs are always having to deal with students stealing equipment. Books and other materials are constantly stolen from the library and students are always having their back packs disappear in the student union. Students who have had someone break into thier dorm room often find their missing items for sale in the on campus bookstore.

The financial aid services here are terrible. Most of the students come here can't afford to go somewhere else, so while there is financial aid available, good luck getting any. I came here on grants that were supposed to pay for my classes in full, which were cancelled after my second quarter due to lack of funds. It takes forever for the financial aid office to distribute money to its students, who meanwhile have to pay out of pocket to go to class. Often students who are awarded grants find out later in the year that the funds are no longer available, because they "over-awarded" too many students (i.e. they sent out more award letters then they were ever capable of paying out).

Also, this campus is so overcrowded, its virtually impossible to graduate in 4 years. If you have a major in science, business, psychology or nursing, expect to be constantly in classes of 200 people, and often these classes are full, with students on a waiting list to get in. All of the core general ed classes are the same. However, the other departments in the school are much smaller, with a greater student to teacher ratio. After four years of struggling to get the classes I needed, I finally got frustrated and just transfered out.

The education here wasn't bad for what you paid, but if you have money to go somewhere else, want to graduate in four years or less, and have fun stuff to do on campus once class is out, go somewhere else.

4th Year Female -- Class 1994

Education Quality: B, Individual Value: F