Published
My attempt at helping those who wish to apply to the Stony Brook Accelerated (1 year) Nursing Program.
Hello all,
I am a current SB nursing student in the accelerated program, and like many of you during this time, I had high hopes for the SB nursing program. Unfortunately, I have consistently been disappointed by the quality of staff, lack of resources, poor/misinformation the school of nursing (SON) provides its students.
Many of us feel confused as to why the institution continues to have such a great reputation. Upon applying to the SON, I expected to enter into a program staffed by knowledgeable faculty, who cared about their students. However, to this point, I have been thoroughly disappointed. While I would absolutely say about a third of the faculty are excellent, 2/3'rds are mediocre to downright awful. Stony Brook's SON has a catch phrase: "well you just have to be flexible." They apparently don't seem to want to post this to their website, but let me translate it for you. We don't care what we promised, what we stated before, or how this may affect you, suck it up cause what else are you going to do?
I am a good student, who puts in work and expects the same level of commitment from faculty, but Stony Brook has proceeded to underwhelm at every turn. I encourage people to reevaluate their options, as if I were to do it over again, I would be at another institution. I will be happy to answer any questions as you guys see fit; however, I couldn't in good conscience sit quietly and allow people to make the same mistake I made 1 year ago.
Hello Lorid,
I can imagine this comes as quite a shock to you as I heard great things about the program. It is because of this information I chose SB's SON. However, most of the professors currently teaching have been here for a short period of time. According to information relayed to us, there recently was a major restructuring of faculty, and many of the faculty who used to teach at the SON are no longer with the school.
To answer your question, I can think of several quick examples. Our last med-surge class was taught from powerpoints originally developed by a group of students, not by the teacher herself. The professor did not review these ppts before the information was disseminated, and there was an obvious error in the slide. Instead of acknowledging the error, when pointed out to her by one of the students in the class, the professor simply tried to make up information to fit the slide. In addition, she railroaded the student who tried to give the correct information. The sad thing is, this was not a minute detail, but an entire category of lung injury that the teacher was trying to make up. This same professor taught us three lectures of pathology over the summer. She utilized another teacher's slides and consistently taught the information incorrectly.
The professor teaching our psychology class is just as bad if not worse. Her slides are woefully out of date and her information, at times, blatantly inaccurate.
There have been classes with other professors I have spent more time fact checking than actually paying attention to the lecture.
While these my seem like minor incidences, they are merely a snapshot of a larger issue.
Please do not get me wrong. There are a few professors here that are truly fantastic, and, in my opinion, standout as beacons in the program Galiczewski, Frawley, Falkner. However, this only accounts for about 30% of the faculty who have taught lectures to us. I cannot tell you how many times I have heard a student say: "Yeah they are a nice person, but they really aren't a very good professor."
I read Beeup's comments in the beginning of this chain: The professors are extremely supportive and willing to work with you every step of the way"
But this has been far from my experience. I do not know where he/she got this impression, but I have seen quite the opposite. There is a faculty mentorship program here but, aside from the veteran program, it is a joke. What I can say is that the student body SB has assembled is impressive, dedicated and supportive. We are all in in together, but unfortunately it has become an us VS them mentality.
As for other accelerated programs, I'm uncomfortable giving information about what I looked at, as this will more readily identify me. There is a fine line I have to walk in these posts to maintain anonymity, but I think it's important that another perspective is put out there. One that more accurately represents the SB SON experience.
HEY GUYS!!!
I went in for my interview on 10/19 at 9am. I just noticed a change to my solar account. It has gone from saying official transcripts not received (which is true because only admitted students are required to send in official ones) now to saying unofficial transcripts were received today, 11/2 (even though I submitted it with my application when I applied). Has anyone else noticed this change to their account? Im not really sure what this means.
CurrentSBStudent,
I'm surprised to hear a bad review concerning your experience in the SB Nursing Program. You mention that us applicants should go elsewhere to apply; however, it's inevitable for ALL programs to have a substantial amount of terrible professors. A better question would be what university or college doesn't have bad professors? The answer is clear: none. From an applicant standpoint, many of the other universities/colleges in NYS seem to have a lower reputation vs SB, while a tuition that will cost us an arm or a leg. A majority of the private institutions admission filter is the tuition cost; whereas the prestigious universities weigh an applicant's academic merit, experiences, as well as leadership abilities in addition to tuition costs. Do I believe that SB will have many terrible professors? Yes. I understand your message; however, if you want to make a more meaningful impact you should bring this issue up with the academic department chair or the university's leadership. Trying to crush current applicants' goals/investments isn't the best route to tackle this issue.
P.S. your ulterior motive is transparent.
- Devil's Advocate
Hi everyone!
I was accepted into the accelerated program last year, and started this past June. Unfortunately, I had to go out on medical leave in August, so I will be rejoining the program in the summer of 2016 with you all, and graduating with your class.
I'm happy to share advice with you and give my input into any questions you may have. I won't be sharing any info about the interview, such as questions asked, etc., as its not fair to the other applicants, so please don't ask. Please feel free to PM if I can help in any way.
Looking forward to meeting some of you next summer!
p.s. I created a Facebook group for our class, as the students have done for the past few years. It helps us connect, share ideas, questions, etc. Please join us when you get accepted!! (notice I said when..the power of positive thinking!!).
Can I ask what the writing sample was like? I'm extremely nervous for it because I don't think I can write a quality essay in only 30 minutes. This is assuming I even get an interview though.
I don't think they're conducting interviews anymore. When I went in for mine they said the last week of October would be it for interviews for the 1yr program.
Does anyone know what the timeline looks like for the 2 year basic? I know the deadline is Jan. 7th but in terms of interviews and decisions I'd like to have an idea.
Do you think they're strict with it? I know basic grammar I'm just afraid they might expect something as well written as a personal statement which has taken me weeks/months to write.
Edit: I understand why specifics would create an unfair advantage; I just want to know what you guys thought of it.
Km22ange
8 Posts
Same here 😔