San Diego State University Fall 2014 hopefuls

U.S.A. California

Published

Hello!

I'm starting a thread for those who have applied to SDSU's BSN program for Fall 2014. I know we still have some time to find out if we are accepted or not, but I thought it would be nice to start this thread so that we can all have some support while we are all stressing about whether we got in or not. Also, I am interested in how competitive my scores/ grades are under the new point criteria. Here are my stats:

Cumulative GPA: 3.89

prerequisite GPA: 3.73

TEAS: 89.3

5 points for work experience (I work as a CNA in a home health care agency, I think it should count, right?)

61 points total (so worried this score isn't very competitive)

military veteran also (not worth points but hopefully it is put into consideration?)

please post your stats too!! Also, for chemistry I took both general chemistry and organic chemistry, do I include both when determining my prereq. GPA or just the organic chemistry?

@SuperMurse, Thanks for enlightening us for your SDSU program knowledge!! I actually have quite a lot of questions to ask you about the program....

Do you know which hospitals our clinicals will be at?

Is there time for a part time job?

How do you like the faculty?

I saw that there is an international experience that students participate in; did you participate in that and how was it?

I apologize for the amount of questions I have, I just want a good idea of what to expect! I try to call and email the SON but don't get replies, so I appreciate your help!

Sorry for the late response!

-Clinical placements that I've been to or can remember others going to are: VA, UCSD Hillcrest (I don't think anyone went to UCSD Thorton), Sharp (Grossmont, Memorial, CV), Scripps La Jolla, CV, (not sure about Mercy or Green), and Radys. May have missed a couple

-Most people that I know of in my cohort didn't work a part time job in the first semester unless they absolutely had to. I know sometimes theres no getting around having to pay the bills, but I wouldn't personally recommend working in the first semester. Depending on how new you are to nursing and healthcare, it will take some time to get used to all of the new information that hits you suddenly, medical terminology, etc. You'll probably spend a good amount of your free time studying. If I remember correctly, that first semester you are on campus or in clinical/lab 4-5x a week, so working a day or two plus a ton of studying on top of that might be difficult to do while still performing well in school. Some made it work though, so it's not impossible. A lot of people started to get jobs in the 2nd and 3rd semester once they got used to the workload a bit. After you finish a semester of nursing school you are also qualified to work as a CNA, so this is what a lot of people started to do (good way to get your foot in a door too)

-Honestly for the most part the faculty was great...As far as lecture professors go, there was only one in my opinion that really stood out as a "not-so-great" professor. They want you to succeed, they are available, and willing to help. Every clinical professor that I had was amazing...I couldn't say a bad thing about them even if I tried.

-I did participate in the international experience. I took a class called HHS350 which fulfills the international requirement and a few others in my 4th semester of nursing. It was pricey and initially I was pretty irritated that we were required to do it, but it was actually a great opportunity. I traveled somewhere that I would have probably otherwise never travelled and got to do and see a lot of cool things. The trip was over spring break and we were gone for about 11 days. If you want to know anything more specific about the trip, cost, etc let me know

Good luck...I remember I heard back around this time so it's getting pretty close. You will graduate and start working before you know.

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SuperMurse, Thanks sooo much!! Was it difficult trying to find a job after graduating? Is there a preceptorship in the fourth semester? (Sorry for so many questions!!!)

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Don't be sorry lol. I'm happy to help. The job market is pretty tough right now, especially in So cal. I'd say about 15-20 of us had landed jobs prior to/right after graduation. Pretty competitive but you'll be equipped with the skills and knowledge to nail it in your interviews (hardest part imo was just getting the interview). There are plenty of preceptorship opportunities available. Since you start in the fall, you may have the opportunity to do a preceptorship 4th semester, over summer, and 5th semester, which would do amazing things for your resume and experience.

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I would say socal, though still tough of a market, has much much more new grad job opportunities vs anywhere else in ca.

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Don't be sorry lol. I'm happy to help. The job market is pretty tough right now, especially in So cal. I'd say about 15-20 of us had landed jobs prior to/right after graduation. Pretty competitive but you'll be equipped with the skills and knowledge to nail it in your interviews (hardest part imo was just getting the interview). There are plenty of preceptorship opportunities available. Since you start in the fall, you may have the opportunity to do a preceptorship 4th semester, over summer, and 5th semester, which would do amazing things for your resume and experience.

Hi SuperMurse, thanks so much for all this information! I was curious about what you said regarding preceptorships. Is it correct that the program does not have a final semester preceptorship built in? You say that there will be plenty of preceptorship opportunities though. Does that mean that we'd be taking on the preceptorship in addition to the lectures and clinicals in the program itself? Also, do the preceptorships offer a lot of options when it comes to the type of department?

On a side note, I'm curious how many students are in a cohort at SDSU. I could not seem to find that info anywhere on the website! Thank you!

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Specializes in Hospice & Palliative Care, Oncology, M/S.
@SuperMurse, Thanks for enlightening us for your SDSU program knowledge!! I actually have quite a lot of questions to ask you about the program....

Do you know which hospitals our clinicals will be at?

Is there time for a part time job?

How do you like the faculty?

I saw that there is an international experience that students participate in; did you participate in that and how was it?

I apologize for the amount of questions I have, I just want a good idea of what to expect! I try to call and email the SON but don't get replies, so I appreciate your help!

Hi! I hope you don't mind if I jump in, too. :)

Clinicals at the hospitals haven't varied much, however there are always chances there are clinical cancellations due to hospital availability. This hasn't happened recently, as far as I know... just wanted to throw it out there for general awareness.

Clinicals for the most part were held at the VA, Scripps, Sharp, Kaiser, various mental health facilities, and Rady Childrens. I believe we had a few groups at Alvarado Hospital, too. Personally, I was at Sharp Memorial, Sharp Grossmont, Scripps Chula Vista, Kaiser, VA, and Rady.

I started working as a nursing assistant during my third semester and continued until after I graduated, as it took me 10 months to land a job. For some reason, it was difficult for many of my classmates - I think it was because we had a double group due to the second-degree students. I worked per diem, so it was nice to write my own schedule and allot for exams and classes.

I loved the faculty. There are one or two that were more difficult to click with, yet we made it work and went on to the next. There's always going to be someone who doesn't communicate the way you do, and they were always open to a sit-down conversation to figure out how to work together.

I graduated before we had to do an international experience, however I did join the Global Medical Brigades to Panama, and that was incredible. I encourage you to travel as much as possible in addition to your required trip. :)

If there is anything else, please let me know!

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Specializes in Hospice & Palliative Care, Oncology, M/S.
Hi SuperMurse, thanks so much for all this information! I was curious about what you said regarding preceptorships. Is it correct that the program does not have a final semester preceptorship built in? You say that there will be plenty of preceptorship opportunities though. Does that mean that we'd be taking on the preceptorship in addition to the lectures and clinicals in the program itself? Also, do the preceptorships offer a lot of options when it comes to the type of department?

On a side note, I'm curious how many students are in a cohort at SDSU. I could not seem to find that info anywhere on the website! Thank you!

SuperMurse is awesome with his answers, and I hope it's okay if I answer, too.

I didn't have a preceptorship as I was busy with other projects, however many of my classmates did and they enjoyed them very much. The program does not have a built-in preceptorship, rather you will apply for a position. This would be in addition to your other coursework, yes.

Preceptorships tended to be pretty varied, with a lot of people desiring to precept in L&D or the ER. There are several med/surg preceptorship opportunities, too. This will vary as each facility may or may not have their programs staffed.

I do encourage a preceptorship, as this seems to be a big question in interviews. :)

In most cohorts, there is generally a 70-80 person range, with some groups smaller or larger depending on how many RN-BSN students there are. We had over 100 because we had the second-degree students join us. It was a crowd, but a lot of fun.

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Hi all, just wanted to update you all... I called the office of nursing today to ask when we will be notified about acceptances/denies... The lady said late April...

I am a transfer student so as transfer students we have to accept or deny our intent to enroll by May 1st. As you can see this date is close to the date to when we find out from the nursing program. So I called the university admissions and the lady said they will alternate the intent to enroll date according to when we find out about admissions from nursing...

hopefully this was somewhat helpful.

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I also called the office of admissions this morning to find out what's up, as I have heard nothing. They said the people who find out of their acceptance after April 21 will have an intent to enroll deadline of June 1.

Has anybody heard of their acceptance? This is torture! :/

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I still have not heard!!! I agree with you about it being torture! We've been waiting soooo long.

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no word for me either. I have to accept CSULB's nursing school by may 1st. So it looks like I am going to go with CSULB.. I don't want to risk not getting in!

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no word for me either. I have to accept CSULB's nursing school by may 1st. So it looks like I am going to go with CSULB.. I don't want to risk not getting in!

I'm in the same boat as you Beccaz07! SDSU is my top choice, but they're not making it easy with all this waiting! Hopefully I'll find out in time to let CSULB know either way by May 1st. Do you prefer one program over the other? I'm from northern California and don't know a whole lot about the programs. From what I've researched, I think I'd like SDSU more than CSULB and I would rather be in San Diego than Long Beach. I'd love to know what you think about the programs.

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