bubbles313

I'm in the waiting game too, good luck everyone! :)

hii sorry it took me forever to respond. but yes i absolutely love the program! one thing i remember them telling us during orientation is that they really take the time in choosing each applicant because they are interested in choosing people of different backgrounds and personalities in hopes that not only do we learn academically, but learn new things from different people. And it's amazing the group of people you will be going on this journey we all came from very different walks of life which enriches our class much more than we thought. as far as tips - i can tell you about study tips and good books to recommend, what worked for me & what didn't through this insane program, but for now all i can say is enjoy your time now while you can, but don't ever lose the motivation and drive to keep going. you're going to need all the energy you can in any nursing program! if you guys have any other specific questions let me know :) till then, good luck & hang in there!

hi everyone! i was just thinking about how it's almost been exactly one year (on valentine's day) since my acceptance to the ABSN program (oakland cohort) & remembering how I was just as anxious as you all! Just wanted to stop by and say Hi and congratulate everyone who has been accepted and also to those who are still waiting, be patient- all your hard work will pay off! just for the record - everyone was receiving their calls around this time last year, i never got a call! but i did receive an email 02/14 monday evening almost 7pm as i was heading out the door for dinner! good luck everyone!

hi jmh234! that's interesting how there's a november start - so you're in class for a couple weeks, have one week off for thanksgiving and back the remaining few weeks huh? but yes if it's during your first 5 week classes then you don't have to worry about clinicals. the workload is heavy, but i think if you save the at least a couple of days to play catch up on reading & do homework, it's worth it to go away and relax. it's all about time management of course sosophia - i'm not sure if this applies to all of the campuses, but for us we got a tentative schedule for the whole school year during orientation which was very helpful, and our clinicals schedule came within the first month of class starting. but if that doesn't happen... each semester is about 3 terms long, so when you register for each semester you'll have the lecture schedule and a tentative clinicals schedule there also. hope this helps :)

hi Vickan good question. let me start by telling you a little bit about the schedule... all of the classes are 5 weeks long with the exception of about 3 classes which are 10 weeks. the order of classes depends on which campus you go to & of course i'm sure it slightly changes for every cohort. so we're talking Oakland here k... the first 5 weeks, we were on campus 4 days a week (2 only being half days) - but don't underestimate your free time, the workload was very heavy. the next set of 5 weeks was crazy - we started clinicals 2 days a week, 1 day in skills lab (also on campus) and 2 days in class for 11 hours. don't forget this only applies to my oakland cohort... however i've talked to other students from different cohorts and they agreed the 2nd term is usually the heaviest bc of it being your first clinicals & having health assessment lab at the same time was time consuming. anyway... timing wise it does get better from 3rd term and here on - generally 2 days in class, skills lab one day, and 2 days at the clinical site. as for getting a job - i do know quite a few people, including me, who worked part time during the first 5 weeks, it was doable but it did take a lot of time out of studying (which trust me you'll need!)... then that next 5 weeks we all took off work due to time restraint. we just started our 3rd term and i haven't decided how many days i want to work this month... those of us that do work, we're lucky to have a job that is very flexible with our schedule, i can pretty much pick and choose my days even if it's only 1 or 2 days a month. so if you have a job that's willing to work with a change in your schedule every 5 weeks, it's not a bad idea. but don't take on a new job or volunteer work until at least after the 2nd term when the schedule tones down a bit and you're used to the pace of the program. oh can't forget - keep in mind there is a test about every week, maybe get lucky and have one week here and there off... but it's pretty much every week. if you're not as anal like most of us wanting the straight A's - i think having a job is definitely manageable and be able to pass the program, just give yourself days off to study (and relax too!)... the way i look at it tho is - i'm paying a crapload of money so i wan to do my best and get the most out of this experience without working so much... which leads into the next question... student loans. the tuition is a lot of money ~60k, but you really get your money's worth in terms of time & resources. when you apply for financial aid, the school includes enough money in the budget to tk out that will support a student living on their own. but i suggest you plan out approximately how much you're going to need and budget yourself for the next year (plus maybe an extra couple months after graduation) & you should be fine :)

hi everyone- i'm excited for all the new groups coming in! i'm currently a student in the Oakland ABSN cohort that just started in May. it's been amazingly crazy lol. i just wanted to offer myself to you all if anyone has any questions i'll try my best to answer it. i know when i was in the waiting game i had a lot of questions myself & we had a couple past students who would jump on here to help us! but okay... congratulations to everyone and don't give up :)

As mr beebs suggested, the eastbay is much cheaper than sf and san Mateo area... Hayward or San leandro are decent places to live and cheaper than the rest of the bay area... The only thing is if u go to San Mateo campus u have to cross the San Mateo bridge which cost $4 or $5 each time (at least u guys get free parking lol) and that bridge gets really traffic during rush hours! From Hayward I say it's a good 30 min away. With traffic it could go up to 45 or an hour on it's worst times... And as someone mentioned in earlier posts, craigslist is the best place to search- jus mk sure they have legit realtor names on the post.. Good luck :)

hi nicki congratulations! i also will be attending the oakland cohort and one of our fellow classmates have created a facebook page for us! Samuel Merritt University - ABSN Oakland - Class of 2012 search the above title! btw. did anyone notice on the start dates that we received in an email a while back that the san mateo campus and sf campus gets a "welcome event" or the "mandatory lunch and learn" on top of the student orientation? oakland doesn't have anything like that aside from the orientation lol. but anyway. good luck everyone!

hey everyone- hope all is doing well with the matriculation process! i was just randomly on SMURF today and went into class registration. looks like our schedule is up! exciting to know where we're going to be at for the first few months

Hehe thanks you guys for clearing that up for me.. Duuh that makes sense lol.

hey ashlee or any other current students - i was looking at the curriculum and noticed that there isn't any classes on the medical-surgical unit. do you know if that is incorporated under any of the other topics? i haven't seen a curriculum in any school (community college, state or master's level nursing) that doesn't include med-surg?

I start in may at the Oakland campus. After hearing what ppl has said on previous forums about their experience- I can't wait to start! Good luck on making your choice

Hi rncc! Congratulations in getting accepted into both programs! Of course there's a lot to consider wen choosing schools.. But one of my major concerns was timing. I think if you're financially secured, live with parents/spouse and have time to live out a college life, I'd choose sf state. Its a beautiful campus and much more cost efficient in that case. For me personally, I didn't apply to state. I live on my own and don't have anyone to help support me while in school, so My main concern is timing. I chose Samuel meritt knowing in the long run that the price is worth it. Hope this helps a bit, Good luck!

Yay congratulations malrey! I'm so excited for the journey were all about to start!

Current students: do u know wen are the approximate dates for financial aid disbursements throughout the school year? And do we get our first disbursement before school starts so that we can start buying books and supplies & such considering everything in our file is complete? I know I could have easily called the financial aid office for this one but my voice is completely gone since I've been sick! Lol. Thanks a bunch :)

Thanks for the tip on what to be prepared on. Are students allowed to have their computers in class? Also, can you share where your clinical sites have been located in? Since youre 2 hours away were u able to request For places close to your home? Thanks again ashlee!

hii ashleew84 thanks so much for offering! i actually do have a question about the scheduling - i understand that the schedule changes every 5 weeks? how are they in organizing that- do they tell you ahead of time? or is it as chaotic as most rumors mentioned that you may not know until the week of for clinicals and such. the reason why i ask is because i still want to pick up some hours at work even if it's one or two days a month. but we usually have to put in our schedule up to a month in advance & wanted to see how difficult that would be.. thanks any input would be greatly appreciated! and hope all is going well in your school!

tell me bout it.. i'm worried bout the same things - if i'll even get approved! like you've mentioned, i don't have a cosigner either

yeah you'll be able to pull out loans from different places as long as the total number falls below the "budget total" there's no problem

hii everyone! i just got my financial aid packet today - hope you all received yours too i'm excited! Just for the record - here's a list of the breakdown that was given in the packet to clear up everyone's concern! Tuition $58,172 Books & Supplies $2,055 Personal $4,200 Transportation $9,000 Loan Fees $563 Health $4,800 Uniforms $500 Other $50 Utilities $3,000 PEXM $500 Graduate Fees $130 SBA $50 Living Expenses $19,200 Fees $1,345 Budget Total: $103,565 so that's where the 100k comes from. therefore, those with housing and transportation taken care of, that slices off about $30k. I'm eligible for a little less than 20k for the federal loans, which means i'll have to find the rest in private student loans. well okay then, good luck!

CONGRATULATIONS TARAMTOMS! you better add yourself to that san mateo fb page & just to add to what everyone's saying about the money issue. like someone said- it is a private school. they are competitive and have a high reputation. and i don't know if anyone's visited the school and seen what it's have to offer - they have amazing resources that the state colleges and especially many community colleges don't have (or have as high quality). a lot of my friends who graduated from those schools that have seen samuel merritt recently said they would've felt so much more prepared if they had studied at samuel merritt. they have one of the most up to date simulation labs. (even though we don't tk anatomy) -- their anatomy cadaver lab is the most awesome thing i've ever seen lol. and that's all i can think of right now but really tho- their simulation lab is crazy. oh yah - and this only applies to oakland campus ive never visited the other ones sorry. but okay good luck again!

hi everyone! i know the tuition looks like a crapload of money but jus wanted to share how i justified my expenses. I know everyone is different and this is really a personal choice. but to those who are still debating - hope this helps somehow... timing is definitely a factor for me. i rather pay extra to get done in one year than pay less to get done in 2+ years. I live on my own & have to pay everything myself. so basically- its the 58k + one year worth of living expenses instead of a cheaper tuition and having to pay 2 years worth of living expenses. so basically, i can't live on student loans with no work for any more than 1 year - i'd go nuts being on too tight of a budget lol and with the student loans. i haven't looked too much into it, but i'm most likely going with the wellfargo medcap someone mentioned in previous post or salliemae. i constantly receive letters from salliemae offering specials on this and that. i know the interest seems to have variability and the price is high to pay - but i figured it'll all come back to me one way or another especially in taxes. i get credit for paying student loan interest rates and i definitely get a lot of bonuses when i claim my school. (that $1500 pharm class i took at samuel merritt boosted my tax refund ) and yeah i totally agree that some prices are not worth paying especially in spite of having a family. but compare it to other options that you do have and see what you've got? wait another year to get into another program that'll take two more years- or finally get it done with! :) good luck everyone!

ohh man- taramtoms hang in there! i'm not sure if anyone asked yet, but when did you apply? I applied in July-ish, maybe early August (but it was a while before the deadline) and i got my email on 02/14. so timing might be a big factor too! They are known to take a while, i actually forgot i applied there for the longest time! lol. but we're all rooting for you! good luck

Hey again! I also wanted to mention that i actually applied to all 3 programs - cm and fnp track, as well as the absn! I have already gotten into the absn... After careful consideration of my choices, I'm actually sticking to the absn track and will not be attending the interview for cm. So hopefully that'll open up spots for someone who deserves it more! Good luck!

hello all! i just wanted to update everyone i received an email today about signing up for interviews for the entry-level case management track. but i did put in my application in december-ish and everything was already calculated by then. so hang in there everyone =)