Fall 2015 CSUEB

gingersnapper · May 16, 2015

Hi! Thank so much for your insight. I definitely considered the quarter system, which I have had no experience with yet. Do you feel overwhelmed or is it doable? With challenging subjects like Patho or Pharmacology I feel that it might be too short.. should I start preparing now? Thanks!

For patho and pharm, they are 10 weeks each. They are doable, but very challenging and time consuming. I did well in them, but I wasn't working and gave my life to those classes.

As for the pace, in the second year of the program (level 2), the 10-week quarter gets cut in half. You have a clinical rotation (pediatrics, geriatrics, medical-surgical, labor & delivery, psychiatrics, perioperative) and its corresponding clinical theory over a 5-week period along with other classes.

The 10-week classes felt really doable for me coming from a semester system. 5 weeks is pretty nutty. You just have to jump in right away and not miss a beat. Cramming a whole nursing subject into 5 weeks, sometimes with just a quiz and a final, makes it very hard to do really well in those subjects. You have so little time to do all that reading and study the lecture content, especially with all those 10-20 page care plans you are pumping out.

I believe CSUEB is switching to a semester system in 2018, so the intense 5-week class thing may not be an issue in the future.

ajohn2015 · May 16, 2015

ajohn2015, I probably spent about $2000 during the orientation for books and other fees, but I bought the most expensive bundle of textbooks that the school offered. Many of the current students I talked with at orientation said they recommended buying the bundle, which contained many of the books needed for program in advance and had the advantage of corresponding online versions. I personally got a lot out of having both the hard copy and the online version, so it was the right choice for me, but I talked with other students who never ended up using the online versions and felt like they would have been better off buying the hard-copy books used as they needed them.
It's up to you how you want to get the books, as long as you get all of the ones on the list they will give you by the time you will need them for class. I personally don't think that you have to spend all that money up front if it isn't feasible for you.

Thanks!! Thank god I have a credit card!

Haarlem, BSN, RN · May 17, 2015

For patho and pharm you'll have 10 weeks to learn it which might seem short if you're coming from a semester system. But the professor Julie (Hayward campus) is an awesome teacher and is straightforward. There are 2 midterms and 1 final so if you do bad on one test you still have a chance to raise your grade with the other two exams.
When you get to level 2 the courses are cut down into 5 week courses which is overwhelming and crazy. But you don't have to worry about that for another year :)
For your first year, you'll be assigned "bigs" and you can ask them for the patho and pharm syllabi but my advise is to relax this summer!

The 2 midterms sound pretty good but the '5 week craze' kind of scares me. I wonder if it's the same in SJSU. Do students there form study groups?

Haarlem, BSN, RN · May 17, 2015

For patho and pharm, they are 10 weeks each. They are doable, but very challenging and time consuming. I did well in them, but I wasn't working and gave my life to those classes.
As for the pace, in the second year of the program (level 2), the 10-week quarter gets cut in half. You have a clinical rotation (pediatrics, geriatrics, medical-surgical, labor & delivery, psychiatrics, perioperative) and its corresponding clinical theory over a 5-week period along with other classes.
The 10-week classes felt really doable for me coming from a semester system. 5 weeks is pretty nutty. You just have to jump in right away and not miss a beat. Cramming a whole nursing subject into 5 weeks, sometimes with just a quiz and a final, makes it very hard to do really well in those subjects. You have so little time to do all that reading and study the lecture content, especially with all those 10-20 page care plans you are pumping out.
I believe CSUEB is switching to a semester system in 2018, so the intense 5-week class thing may not be an issue in the future.

Wow, thanks for letting me know. That sounds really nuts indeed.. 5 weeks!? I wonder how much you'll really retain after cramming the material.

Kaytimm · May 17, 2015

Hi Jnnlm,
I'm not very familiar with the program at SJSU, but as a current nursing student at CSUEB, I'd be happy to answer any questions you or anyone else has about the program from a student's perspective. I found the nursing administration staff to be very helpful and forthcoming during my application/acceptance process, so they are your best resource for general questions about the program and acceptance process.
Let me know if I can be of any help.

Would it be possible to hold a part time job for that first year? Maybe like 10 hours a week? What were costs like for each quarter? Is there anything we can do to prep before we start in the fall?

paisleybird · May 17, 2015

I asked for Concord, what about you?

I asked for Hayward. When do you think we will know for sure that we got the campus we asked for?

ajohn2015 · May 17, 2015

I asked for Hayward. When do you think we will know for sure that we got the campus we asked for?

we are supposed to go to our respective campus for orientation so definitely before then. Something makes me feel like we won't know until we pass the drug and background screening after June 20th.

gingersnapper · May 19, 2015

The 2 midterms sound pretty good but the '5 week craze' kind of scares me. I wonder if it's the same in SJSU. Do students there form study groups?

Yeah, the 5 week thing is intense. They do tend to pair the harder classes with the less challenging ones, so it's not the same level of intensity for every class. Each professor decides how many tests and assignments to assign, so it won't always be a midterm and a final. People often form study groups, share study guides, and online flash cards.

gingersnapper · May 19, 2015

Would it be possible to hold a part time job for that first year? Maybe like 10 hours a week? What were costs like for each quarter? Is there anything we can do to prep before we start in the fall?

It really depends on you and what else you have on your plate. The people who didn't work and didn't have other heavy commitments seemed to have an advantage. The folks who had a long commute, small children, a job, or any combination of the three definitely felt the crunch.

If a 10-hour per week job is the only other big commitment you have, it sounds feasible. If it is in a setting where you hope to work as a nurse, it might be worth it to keep the job, because you will be much more likely to score an RN position if you already work there.

Tuition changes from year to year, so I would recommend checking out the university website for that. Book costs were mostly up front with a few exceptions, as I bought all of the books on the list they gave us. You will need to buy uniforms and a stethoscope. There may also be occasional skills lab fees and charges for the Kaplan program (pre-NCLEX practice) from quarter to quarter. I would contact the nursing office about those or wait to hear about it at orientation.

At our orientation, they recommended that we review medical terminology, anatomy, and physiology with emphasis on the neuro, cardiac, respiratory, gastrointestinal, and genitourinary systems. My advice? Review at a pace that feels comfortable, but don't go overboard. Have fun, rest up, and form effective self-care habits so you can hit the ground running when you begin school.

slaybee · May 19, 2015

I got in! I asked for hayward campus but i didnt email until the next day because i was working when i got the email. I hope i get to go there since it would be so much closer to home.

@donut151: you said that working 10 hours per week was feasible. Im currently working as a cna in sunnyvale and im worried that the distance might make things difficult. I was hoping that i could work 16 hours per week (most likely just weekends), do you think that it wouldnt be smart to do so?

gingersnapper · May 19, 2015

I got in! I asked for hayward campus but i didnt email until the next day because i was working when i got the email. I hope i get to go there since it would be so much closer to home.
@donut151: you said that working 10 hours per week was feasible. Im currently working as a cna in sunnyvale and im worried that the distance might make things difficult. I was hoping that i could work 16 hours per week (most likely just weekends), do you think that it wouldnt be smart to do so?

I think it depends on you. You would have a job and a commute, so you'd have to be really good at time management. A lot of my classmates work more than 10 hours a week or have other heavy commitments. They have to become really good at getting things done quickly and potentially lower their expectations for their GPA.

rawritsyuri · May 19, 2015

Hello!

I have also been admitted but I am torn between CSU East Bay and SFSU. I have been a student at SFSU for around four years, but I live a 15 minute drive away from Hayward. My current nursing school friends recommended East Bay because distance plays a key, but I just spoke to SFSU about their clinical/preceptorship sites and they sound pretty awesome too.

Any advice? CSUEB is three years right and SFSU is two