San Francisco State University (SFSU) Entry Level Master of Science in Nursing (ELM) Fall 2024

sarahk09 · Feb 16

california girl said:

Thank you! Was there an interview process when you applied?

There was no interview or any type of follow up after initial application, just acceptance/waitlist/denial letters in April.

NPVee · Feb 19

california girl said:

Thank you! Was there an interview process when you applied?

No there isn't an interview process

Bori · Feb 19

Hi All! I applied as well for the ELM for this Fall. I can't believe we need to wait until April for decisions.

Sarah Thank you for starting this forum and congrats on making it into the program! Would you mind sharing a little bit on your background and/or what you think made you stand out as a candidate?

Good luck to everyone!

sarahk09 · Feb 19

Bori said:

Hi All! I applied as well for the ELM for this Fall. I can't believe we need to wait until April for decisions.

Sarah Thank you for starting this forum and congrats on making it into the program! Would you mind sharing a little bit on your background and/or what you think made you stand out as a candidate?

Good luck to everyone!

Hi! Good question. So I'll start off by saying my cohort is a very diverse group of people ranging from early 20s all the way to 50s with a myriad of life and/or health care experiences. A pattern I've noticed is that a lot of us have international experiences, whether it be living, working, studying, or volunteering abroad. But there are also students with pretty basic backgrounds who have worked as CNAs and taken a simple, direct path to nursing. I'm not one of those students.

My personal background is as follows: Born and raised in the Bay Area. I graduated with a BA in Sociology and Feminist Studies from UCSB in 2012. My GPA was 3.3. Moved to NYC and worked in the service industry as a server for years. Got certified to teach English as a foreign language and began doing that. Moved to Miami. Continued serving and teaching. Then I moved to Baghdad, Iraq to teach English there. I think that was probably my biggest selling point as it's a very uncommon and bold experience to have. I also had very stellar letters of recommendations from higher ups in academia (a vice chancellor for one, and a prominent law professor for another). I decided to pursue nursing once Covid started because it became really obvious how much inequality there is in health care and I realized I could fulfill my passion for social justice and have a stable well-paying career at the same time. I had no health care experience beyond doing some volunteer work at a local nonprofit that helped the unhoused population, and calling that health care experience is definitely a stretch LOL. My prereq GPA was 4.0.

Sorry for the novel. Don't waste any time comparing yourself to other people's stats. There are so many qualified people who apply and are turned away due to the extremely limited amount of spots and huge amount of applicants. It can really be a crapshoot.

Bori · Feb 20

sarahk09 said:

Hi! Good question. So I'll start off by saying my cohort is a very diverse group of people ranging from early 20s all the way to 50s with a myriad of life and/or health care experiences. A pattern I've noticed is that a lot of us have international experiences, whether it be living, working, studying, or volunteering abroad. But there are also students with pretty basic backgrounds who have worked as CNAs and taken a simple, direct path to nursing. I'm not one of those students.

My personal background is as follows: Born and raised in the Bay Area. I graduated with a BA in Sociology and Feminist Studies from UCSB in 2012. My GPA was 3.3. Moved to NYC and worked in the service industry as a server for years. Got certified to teach English as a foreign language and began doing that. Moved to Miami. Continued serving and teaching. Then I moved to Baghdad, Iraq to teach English there. I think that was probably my biggest selling point as it's a very uncommon and bold experience to have. I also had very stellar letters of recommendations from higher ups in academia (a vice chancellor for one, and a prominent law professor for another). I decided to pursue nursing once Covid started because it became really obvious how much inequality there is in health care and I realized I could fulfill my passion for social justice and have a stable well-paying career at the same time. I had no health care experience beyond doing some volunteer work at a local nonprofit that helped the unhoused population, and calling that health care experience is definitely a stretch LOL. My prereq GPA was 4.0.

Sorry for the novel. Don't waste any time comparing yourself to other people's stats. There are so many qualified people who apply and are turned away due to the extremely limited amount of spots and huge amount of applicants. It can really be a crapshoot.

Thank you for sharing!! And do you know about how many folks apply to this particular program?

sarahk09 · Feb 21

Bori said:

Thank you for sharing!! And do you know about how many folks apply to this particular program?

Supposedly there were like 400 applications for 20 spots last year

Sophieh82 · Mar 24

Hi! I have a couple questions since their website seems really out of date.
1. is there an interview process? And what format of interview if so.
2. Are there preceptorships through the school? How are clinical placements?

3. Do you like the admin and leadership? I've been hearing things about leadership being corrupt and dismissive in other MSN programs.

sarahk09 · Mar 24

Sophieh82 said:

Hi! I have a couple questions since their website seems really out of date.
1. is there an interview process? And what format of interview if so.
2. Are there preceptorships through the school? How are clinical placements?

3. Do you like the admin and leadership? I've been hearing things about leadership being corrupt and dismissive in other MSN programs.

Hi! I've already answered question 1 in a previous post here, please read the thread.

I'm not sure what you mean by preceptorship through the school. Clinical placements are a crapshoot and based on where you live. We often don't know our sites until a week or so before we start. I got lucky this semester with a UCSF placement which is very student friendly, but some people are at SF gen and not learning or getting to do much. Admin is okay.... Everyone is nice, but things are extremely disorganized. From the teachers to admin to everyone in between, communication kinda sucks. The hardest part isn't the workload, it's just trying to figure out what we're doing because it can be super unclear. We constantly have to ask for clarification about things. But I hear this is pretty typical with these types of programs, and at least this one is only 30k as opposed to 120k like Davis.

Sophieh82 · Mar 28

Thanks for answering my last questions! I also wanted to ask about how well supported you feel? Like, what kinds of resources you have as students (even small stuff like gym access or office hours), are professors empathetic to workload and do they coordinate with each other, is collaboration emphasized, etc?

sarahk09 · Apr 1

Sophieh82 said:

Thanks for answering my last questions! I also wanted to ask about how well supported you feel? Like, what kinds of resources you have as students (even small stuff like gym access or office hours), are professors empathetic to workload and do they coordinate with each other, is collaboration emphasized, etc?

I guess I feel kind of supported? IDK there's no specific support system in place. There is some type of mentorship you can sign up for, but I haven't and don't know anyone who has. As a student of SFSU you have gym access. All profs are required to have office hours. You will have an advisor. I haven't met with my advisor and have never attended office hours. Profs understand we have a lot of work but that doesn't make them assign any less... they tell us not to work during school but most of us can't afford not to so we do anyway. They do tend to coordinate a bit in terms of when tests/quizzes are so they're not all the same week. And hybrid classes will often coordinate when they hold classes on campus so we don't have to go to campus for just 1 class and the other is online. There's definitely no hand holding.

Bori · Apr 5

Hi Everyone!

I'm biting my nails. Has anyone received any news? I've received none. 😅

Bori · Apr 5

Sarah,

Can you share what job prospects look like for folks after they graduate from the program? Have you heard positive or not so positive stories? And, also, my understanding is that after year 2, one can take the NCLEX and start work as an RN. Have you met other students that have been successful at getting jobs as RNs without their BSN?

Thank you always! I appreciate you for starting this forum!