San Francisco State University
Colleges & Universities
1600 Holloway Ave
San Francisco, CA 94132
I am terse when I tell people SF State is my alma mater. “What did you learn from here?” Um. I want to write this review in order to give a perspective for incoming high school seniors about how the departments are run here.
This is strictly about the departments.
SF State is underfunded in such a dire way, that all the departments I studied under have at least one course requirement in which you are paying tuition to do free manual labor for the school. These requirements by each department are called “praxis,” a “lab” or “volunteering for the community.” The idea is for people to gain practical experience WITHIN SF STATE, working within the department masked as an educational experience. The more time you put in, the higher your grade.
Bull. It’s work. It’s a faux internship. What you learn is how the faculty use you for the department’s personal gain and what the parameters are for safely achieving an A. I understand many new students fluctuate in and out of departments so fast that it’s easier to burden them with free labor when there is no money to adequately fund more faculty salaries. It’s also an absolute paradox that president Robert Corrigan makes a higher salary than governor Arnold Schwarzenegger with circumstances like these.
Consider going to SF State if you want to stay in San Francisco but REALLY REALLY KNOW what you want to do here because you will not graduate in four years if you don’t. Less than one out of every five incoming Freshmen graduate in four years. The only advisers are faculty during office hours. There are too many class requirements for each department while classes are so difficult to get into, and “praxis” or “lab” course requirements are inevitable. You’ll be spending your whole day editing [X]press, organizing the Holistic Health Library, setting up readings at The Poetry Center and helping artists install their art at the International Art Gallery before you get a chance to study for a midterm exam.
Ask yourself: is it worth the low tuition to attend a severely underfunded school?
Useful: 28 Funny: 3 Cool: 7
3/1/2008