San Jose State University (SJSU) Fall 2023 BSN The Valley Foundation School of Nursing (TVFSON)

Lone_purple · Feb 26, 2023

Ben Tran said:

Hi! Do you happen to know anyone in your cohort or previous cohorts that are military? I know they only have three slots for military so I'm wondering if there are actually a decent number of other military that apply.

As far as I am aware, there are only 2 veterans in our cohort.

Ben Tran · Feb 26, 2023

Got it thank you!!

Sabrina1233 · Mar 2, 2023

Lone_purple said:

Good question-- I work Friday/Saturday nights as a bartender and it hasn't been too much of a problem except when choosing clinicals because it gives me a lot of stress about how I will be able to work if I end up with a Fri/Sat clinical day. There are a handful of people in our cohort that work as CNAs once a week like you said. It's totally doable but I don't want to sugarcoat anything-- this program is extremely demanding and requires a LOT of time studying and completing homework. It gets easier each semester, particularly after the first 2 semesters. I have a B.A. already from SFSU and I can say that the BSN curriculum and the nature of nursing education are extremely difficult and not at all like other types of degrees. You have to be very flexible and adaptive and you have to get comfortable with ambiguity and uncertainty.

As for homework/quizzes, it really depends. Some theory classes are entirely exam-based, others involve doing smaller assignments/patient case studies here and there, mostly Theory is about studying the material in-depth on your own. Skills requires a bit of studying too in the first semester-- there may be some quizzes and there's a midterm and final but the big thing with skills in Sem 1/Sem 2 are OSCEs which are simulations where you have to perform skills and assessments on fake patients. There will definitely be times when you feel like you're drowning in schoolwork but it ebbs and flows and you get through it and you move on to the next challenge. You will make lots of sacrifices, but there are a lot of really rewarding aspects as well as you progress so it's not all gloom and doom. You'll be amazed at how much and how fast you're learning.

Happy to answer any/all questions to the best of my ability!

Hi, thank you for all your feedback! It's super helpful. I was just wondering where are the clinical sites and typically how far are they from campus? I was also wondering how the professors are and your overall experience with your cohort. I am deciding between sac state and sjsu's program, hoping I get into both.

Lone_purple · Mar 2, 2023

Sabrina1233 said:

... where are the clinical sites and typically how far are they from campus? I was also wondering how the professors are and your overall experience with your cohort.

Hey there,

Most clinicals are at Valley Medical Center (VMC), SJ Regional, ECH, Stanford, Kaiser SJ, Kaiser Santa Clara, etc. There are some other places like Good Sam for behavioral health and then when you do community health and gerontology, clinical placements are at various skilled nursing facilities (SNF) or independent living communities around SJ. I think there's even one site in Santa Cruz for gerontology but it's only one of many clinical options so if it doesn't work for you, you can probably avoid it. You definitely should have a vehicle or be very good at networking for carpools when in nursing school-- clinicals can start as early as 645 am or go as late as 11 pm (I've never had a late one but early starts are very common).

The professors are mostly great with a couple bad ones-- adjusting to the nursing style of education can be very frustrating because most of us are A-students and are used to a certain way of studying and taking tests and it's just very different in nursing school. I would say that I've liked 90% of the professors I've had. One professor that I didn't like is retired now so you'd be coming in at a good time I think. There was a LOT of complaining and frustration in the first year of the program-- many exams were near impossible to do well on and the teachers can be very difficult to persuade when there are issues with the questions/answers. Nursing exam questions are like "every answer is right but which one is the MOST right?" which, you can see would lead to a lot of differing opinions.

Cohort is good-- we have probably about 1/3 guys and 2/3 girls. The age range skews heavily towards the late-teens to early 20s. Not many people had healthcare experience going in (it wasn't a requirement or considered for acceptance, IDK if that has changed since back then). I would say everyone is pretty friendly and supportive. There can be some competitive-ness but it's only natural and I wouldn't characterize it as toxic at all.

As for the decision between Sac and SJ, that would depend on a lot of personal factors for you but I will say that if your intention is to find a job in the Bay Area after-- it's best to go to a Bay Area school because of the connections you will make throughout the program here. People can get jobs at the hospitals they did clinical or precepted, so be careful where you make your bed. SJSU is actually kind of impressive to me as a state school-- I went to SFSU before and I think SJSU is doing it better...there seems to be more of a cohesive student culture on campus and lots of nice facilities. Not to mention it's in a more central area with lots of transportation options and restaurants and stuff nearby.

Let me know if there's anything else you'd like me to elaborate on!

Sabrina1233 · Mar 16, 2023

Lone_purple said:

Hey there,

Most clinicals are at Valley Medical Center (VMC), SJ Regional, ECH, Stanford, Kaiser SJ, Kaiser Santa Clara, etc. There are some other places like Good Sam for behavioral health and then when you do community health and gerontology, clinical placements are at various skilled nursing facilities (SNF) or independent living communities around SJ. I think there's even one site in Santa Cruz for gerontology but it's only one of many clinical options so if it doesn't work for you, you can probably avoid it. You definitely should have a vehicle or be very good at networking for carpools when in nursing school-- clinicals can start as early as 645 am or go as late as 11 pm (I've never had a late one but early starts are very common).

The professors are mostly great with a couple bad ones-- adjusting to the nursing style of education can be very frustrating because most of us are A-students and are used to a certain way of studying and taking tests and it's just very different in nursing school. I would say that I've liked 90% of the professors I've had. One professor that I didn't like is retired now so you'd be coming in at a good time I think. There was a LOT of complaining and frustration in the first year of the program-- many exams were near impossible to do well on and the teachers can be very difficult to persuade when there are issues with the questions/answers. Nursing exam questions are like "every answer is right but which one is the MOST right?" which, you can see would lead to a lot of differing opinions.

Cohort is good-- we have probably about 1/3 guys and 2/3 girls. The age range skews heavily towards the late-teens to early 20s. Not many people had healthcare experience going in (it wasn't a requirement or considered for acceptance, IDK if that has changed since back then). I would say everyone is pretty friendly and supportive. There can be some competitive-ness but it's only natural and I wouldn't characterize it as toxic at all.

As for the decision between Sac and SJ, that would depend on a lot of personal factors for you but I will say that if your intention is to find a job in the Bay Area after-- it's best to go to a Bay Area school because of the connections you will make throughout the program here. People can get jobs at the hospitals they did clinical or precepted, so be careful where you make your bed. SJSU is actually kind of impressive to me as a state school-- I went to SFSU before and I think SJSU is doing it better...there seems to be more of a cohesive student culture on campus and lots of nice facilities. Not to mention it's in a more central area with lots of transportation options and restaurants and stuff nearby.

Let me know if there's anything else you'd like me to elaborate on!

Hi,

Thank you so much for your detailed response. It was really helpful and clarified a lot for me. I just had one last question. I noticed on the BSN roadmap semester 5 is only 10 units. Do you know if these classes are in person, Or if there is an option to do it online? Is semester 5 supposed to be easier as well like a transition for graduating? I'm asking because this would be one downside for me choosing sjsu over sac, because I would have to pay rent for an extra semester vs Sac being 4 semesters long and me finishing a little earlier.

Lone_purple · Mar 16, 2023

Sabrina1233 said:

I noticed on the BSN roadmap semester 5 is only 10 units. Do you know if these classes are in person, Or if there is an option to do it online? Is semester 5 supposed to be easier as well like a transition for graduating?

Good question— semester 5 is your preceptorship which involves working with a nurse about 2 days a week (12h shifts) at a hospital where the school places you— this is different from clinicals throughout the program because you take a much more involved role and you work one on one with the same nurse instead of with a small clinical group. You get to make your schedule with the nurse you're paired with and when they place you, you get a small say in requesting the type of unit you want to be on and hospital preferences are noted. A common question answered: no, you cannot find your own nursing preceptorship placement through your own contacts or local hospitals. The closest hospital to sac would be Stanford in Pleasant Hill/Pleasanton area but there's no guarantee you would be placed there. The other thing is that along with preceptorship is one day/week seminar class where you just sorta debrief on your week in preceptorship. There's also one Leadership class which is easy but it's an in person class as well— all leadership classes are "career development" classes that distinguish an ADN from a BSN for the most part— you learn about nursing as a profession and do more work related to the profession on a managerial/academic level rather than a patient care level. There is zero option for online or hybrid— trust me, we've tried. The University is supposedly to blame for requiring all of the classes to be in-person. Nursing programs are very particular and there is zero flexibility when it comes to doing your own thing so just expect a very structured process. At the same time, it requires a lot of flexibility due to constantly changing circumstances with regard to clinicals and what-not.

MariaAndrea Pizarro · Mar 20, 2023

Hello, I got accepted at SJSU but havent decided if I will accept the offer as I am still waiting for SFSU admission decision. I live in Daly City and it is quite a drive to SJSU plus the traffic so SJSU is really my backup. Anyone else from the peninsula? Thinking about carpooling.

Also, does anyone know when they'll change the current major (prenursing) into nursing to sign up for classes once you accept the offer? Im not that familiar of the next step after you accept the offer.

Are we supposed to be enrolling for nursing classes that are on the nursing roadmap ourselves or are we waiting for further instructions from a counselor or email to guide us with that?

Robkingg · Mar 20, 2023

MariaAndrea Pizarro said:

Hello, I got accepted at SJSU but havent decided if I will accept the offer as I am still waiting for SFSU admission decision. I live in Daly City and it is quite a drive to SJSU plus the traffic so SJSU is really my backup. Anyone else from the peninsula? Thinking about carpooling.

Also, does anyone know when they'll change the current major (prenursing) into nursing to sign up for classes once you accept the offer? Im not that familiar of the next step after you accept the offer.

Are we supposed to be enrolling for nursing classes that are on the nursing roadmap ourselves or are we waiting for further instructions from a counselor or email to guide us with that?

Hi .. I don't think SJSU started sending out admission decisions. You probably are accepted to the University but you have to wait decisions from the Nursing school. For the university, you can wait till May 1st to accept the offer. Don't rush... you will know everything by then.

I also applied to SJSU and SFSU, I live in SJ and still haven't made my mind on which school to go. (If accepted to both).

popeyeschikin · Mar 23, 2023

hello, will sjsu send out the emails late of April or early April?

JSftw · Mar 25, 2023

strawberrypeanut25 said:

hello, will sjsu send out the emails late of April or early April?

Hi, on their website it says the decisions should come out late April.

Good luck to everyone!

JSftw · Apr 7, 2023

Just received an update on upcoming decisions.

Ben Tran · Apr 7, 2023

Do you guys think the applicant pool is smaller this cycle than other fall cycles? I know that the nursing department has sent out updates on the amount of applicants in previous cycles, some hitting 640. Maybe cause they raised the minimum requirements.