ELM-A SFSU 2020 Applicants

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Hi Everyone, I know this is a bit early but wanted to get it going because of other past threads for ELM-A program at SFSU.

I will be applying in the fall, my last 60 units 3.7 and prereqs 3.9. I volunteer at two hospitals (SFGH, Stanford). One of those volunteers programs I am a coordinator for. I have experience in home healthcare and have supported mothers and babies for over 3 years, and supported families with children with developmental disabilities for 5 years. I am hoping to apply to Women's Health track. Would love to hear from other applicants and your stories. I found these threads really helpful, I would highly recommend reading the past applicants who were accepted into the program. Thanks everyone!

For those of you who got admitted, do you mind sharing your background, stats, and how did you study for the GRE? Greatly appreciate it.

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Long time lurker and finally decided to sign up for the forums to add my info! Congratulations to everyone else who were admitted, I was also admitted as well under the Women's Health CNS track.

Also called today since I didn't see any way to accept my offer on Student Center either and they said it should be sent out by end of week.

On 11/8/2019 at 8:18 PM, Haron717 said:

For those of you who got admitted, do you mind sharing your background, stats, and how did you study for the GRE? Greatly appreciate it.

Honestly, I was extremely extremely surprised I was even extended an interview after reading previous years' and other entry level-MSN program's applicant stats. A little about me...

Undergrad GPA: 2.12 (Environmental Econ at UCB)
Last 60 units: 3.9
GRE: 4.5 Writing
Health-related experience: Volunteer at the postpartum department at a hospital for the past year. Also a volunteer doula for a different public county hospital for the past 5 months.
LORs: 3 - one from a manager at my current workplace, one from my Microbio professor, one from a nurse where I volunteer at


I had some personal hardships during undergrad- I got dismissed at one point and ended up reapplying and barely finishing my degree (hence the outrageous undergrad GPA). I didn't talk about this really during my personal statement since there wasn't much room to. I took the risk that they would see I hopefully academically redeemed myself by retaking 60 units all over again the last year and a half while working full time and also volunteering. I took summer classes and my spring/fall would even contain upwards of 20+ units (some were shorter lengths, and a good handful online to be able to work it around my 8-5p job). I did apply to UCSF's MEPN program and did the GPA petition and the petition got denied.

My personal statement was pretty concise and touched on each of the questions that they asked. I made sure to try to at least highlight each of my areas of experience - whether it was volunteering or even my current job as an analyst and how that would contribute to my nursing skills. In comparison to my UCSF personal statement, I actually didn't really talk about my family background and experiences, so maybe I rambled too much on the UCSF statement! I referenced my doula experience mostly during the interviews, mostly because it is my most recent healthcare experience and also the most direct care to patients I have.

For GRE studying, I just looked up the formatting of the questions and how they would want to see it written out. I honestly didn't prep for this too much, but I have had a history of solid English teachers that have refined my writing technique. Some good sites I looked at (recommended to me from a friend that previously took it as well)

https://www.petersons.com/blog/gre-analytical-writing/

https://www.kaptest.com/study/gre/how-to-structure-the-gre-issue-essay/

Let me know if there is anything else I can answer! I know I've gotten a lot of peace of mind/great info from others on these forums, so want to contribute whatever I can!

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Hi there,

My stats were 3.67 undergrad GPA. I had two pre-rec science courses where I struggled and got C's. I ended up retaking these classes at community college and did much better. I know that this helped me out in the long run- so even if you struggle at first, you can always redo classes.

A side note, if you are coming from a UC or school on the quarter system make sure to call and email the school of nursing and grad studies to make sure they understand how to calculate your units. I had quite a bit of trouble with this so please make sure you are persistent if you think you have all of the pre-recs.

I volunteered during study abroad in Oaxaca Mexico and volunteered at a few hospitals during my undergrad career. I currently work as an EMT and that experience helped me so much. I also worked as an undergraduate peer advisor for Psychology majors in college. Best of luck to you!!

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I just received an email and am able to accept in SFSU Gateway now.

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45 minutes ago, yipappa said:

I just received an email and am able to accept in SFSU Gateway now.

Same here! We can finally have an official sense of being in school. Congrats to you and all of the other accepted students!

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On 11/8/2019 at 8:18 PM, Haron717 said:

For those of you who got admitted, do you mind sharing your background, stats, and how did you study for the GRE? Greatly appreciate it.

Stats: I earned my BA in Psychology with a minor in Health Studies. Overall, I had a 3.48 GPA with a 3.8 in the prerequisites that SFSU asks for. I earned a 5 on the GRE Writing.

Health-related: I started volunteering at hospitals since high school, but I was not really consistent until college. I listed 2 different hospitals that I volunteered at. I had an internship that was part of a practicum class wherein I decided to find a health-related area to work at. I became a CNA recently too.

GRE: I would recommend not studying for any of the other portions asides from writing LOL. That is unless you have another school that will need GRE scores of course. I know you can also just take the writing portion and leave if you know you absolutely won't need the other scores. In terms of actual studying, use the pool of essay prompts available on the official GRE website. Do not try to write out every single prompt, but at least it will give you a general idea of what kind of prompts you could receive during your actual GRE. This is a general format of how I studied (and honestly I did maybe 10 full rounds of this before actually taking the exam):

  • Have someone pick two prompts for you (1 Issue, 1 Argument) at random - or do this yourself and try not to peek at the prompts you have
  • Brainstorm (aim for less than 8 mins)
  • Write
  • Review
  • Repeat Brainstorm, Write, Review
  • Look up sample essays online or have someone else who is familiar with GRE essays read it over

Tips:

  • Overuse transition words/phrases like Furthermore, In addition
  • Have some sort of formula/step-by-step process you follow like a typical 5-body paragraph
  • always include a rebuttal to possible critiques or counterpoints made!!! even if it is very brief, at least you show the reader that you gave some thought to someone else having an opposing thought to whatever opinion to share - this is especially important in the Issue essay

link to pool of essays: https://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/prepare/analytical_writing/issue/pool

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Does anyone know when the new student orientation will be?

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17 hours ago, Sarahpop said:

Does anyone know when the new student orientation will be?

I think it's 12/5

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1 hour ago, Ronin_86 said:

I think it's 12/5

Yup! I just got the orientation email this morning. Looking forward to meeting you guys!

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Specializes in Perinatal Nursing/ Women's Health.

Hi all,

Just want to congratulate those who got accepted into the ELMA program! For those that did not get accepted, do not give up! We had several students that joined our cohort a couple weeks into our start that were originally waitlisted!

I was in the first cohort they piloted in 2016 so I guess you could call me a guinea pig of sorts. I was in the Women's Health track and I am now a practicing L&D RN at a high risk perinatal unit in the Bay Area.

If anyone has questions about the program, or anything at all, let me know, I would be happy to answer as best I can recall the details ?. Just remember it's going to be a heavy 2 years with classes/clinicals year round but lean on your classmates and peers, they will be a tremendous support system! The competition is over, team work will be your best asset during this time. I loved my cohort and of course there were days where we all wanted to just get up and leave but we lifted each other up and many of my classmates are now my lifelong friends. Enjoy this time..

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Hi again,

Was just wondering what people are doing for housing in general? I've been looking on craigslist, but is there a nursing housing page people have been using? Just trying to get a feel! Thanks:)

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On 11/22/2019 at 2:29 PM, MidwifeyToBe MSN RN said:

Hi all,

Just want to congratulate those who got accepted into the ELMA program! For those that did not get accepted, do not give up! We had several students that joined our cohort a couple weeks into our start that were originally waitlisted!

I was in the first cohort they piloted in 2016 so I guess you could call me a guinea pig of sorts. I was in the Women's Health track and I am now a practicing L&D RN at a high risk perinatal unit in the Bay Area.

If anyone has questions about the program, or anything at all, let me know, I would be happy to answer as best I can recall the details ?. Just remember it's going to be a heavy 2 years with classes/clinicals year round but lean on your classmates and peers, they will be a tremendous support system! The competition is over, team work will be your best asset during this time. I loved my cohort and of course there were days where we all wanted to just get up and leave but we lifted each other up and many of my classmates are now my lifelong friends. Enjoy this time..

Hi @ MidwifeyToBe MSN RN, BSN, MSN, RN, CNS,

I tried to message you to ask some questions about the program, but it won't allow me to. I mainly wanted to know how you feel the program overall. Any set backs you've experienced in your time there? etc? thank you.

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