I've started this thread so we can discuss and share our experiences applying to SUNY's ABSN program for 2020. This is my second time applying. I waited till the very last day of the deadline to submit my application last year (I knowww) since I had taken the TEAS and had just gotten the results. However, I've already submitted my application for the upcoming year and hope to get a call for an interview. Looking forward to chatting with you all.
Sidenote: I really like the upgrade they did to the online application. So much more user-friendly.
Just got a call for an interview! To everyone else who has interviewed, what was it like? Have you heard back?
Congrats!
The interview is exactly like others have said previously. It’s done in a group with other individuals and you are asked a couple of random questions for them to get to know you better. They’ll also give you an opportunity to ask questions about the program if you have any. Just be yourself and you’ll do fine.
@machamurse - thank you for providing so much insight! It's very kind of you. Would you be able to explain a "week in the life" or maybe breakdown what we can expect our schedule to be like in the summer, fall, and spring? Also, do you know if Downstate accepts patho or pharma as a transfer? The current student handbook says so, but admissions doesn't really provide a straightforward answer. Would you even recommend pre-students to take this before starting the program (to get ahead)? And finally, how do all of the science prerequisites transfer? Are they just transferred over as "passing grades" or are they actually incorporated into your Downstate ABSN GPA?
There was a push to move clinicals and rotations out of the first semester and push in pharmacology and pathophysiology for our cohort. This makes some logical sense, but effectively is a rough time as, in my understanding, pharm can be challenging in a regular semester, BUT we took it with a maximum course load and in a shorter semester. You can see our curriculum on the website under 2019. We were basically at the school every weekday for a few hours with some variation for labs. Myself it was M- 8:30 to 12pm, T 9-4pm, W 10:30-4pm, Th 9-12 and 3-4 hours of lab depending how fast you can get through the labwork on Friday morning. Since I also work about 30 hours a week over the weekend at all times, I pretty much spent every hour of my life on studying during the Summer semester - it was rough and don't necessarily take me as an example for work being a possibility. It's tough even without a job, but once you start clinicals you at least have the basic knowledge and can contribute to patient care once you're on the floor.
The Fall semester has been less school-time intensive, but more homework intensive. Think: never-ending list of assignments and a ton of reading. We had two hybrid courses (care of older adult and ethics), one online focused on research, and two clinical courses involving hospital rotations (psych and med-surg) for which we met for a total of 4 hours in class and spent 16 hours in clinicals each week.
Spring is an uncharted territory. We have all our courses stacked on Tuesdays, as per our request, and will be having clinicals on two other days. I'm going to mention here that you sign up every semester for clinical days yourself with many occurring on weekends. There is an option to lock yourself in with a clinical site for the duration of the program, but that works only for Downstate hospital and Maimonides.
As for the transfer courses that are part of the nursing curriculum, in my experience it was a resounding no. I tried transferring my research and physical assessment courses to no avail, which doesn't mean you shouldn't try if you already took any of those courses. Have you tried reaching out to the college of nursing? Who knows. For GPA: I transferred courses between schools twice and the old courses never calculated into the current GPA. This includes Downstate.
Lastly, anything you can get to get ahead will be an immense help. My foot in the door was my clinical degree and the experience of providing services to patients as well as having taken a few nursing courses before. Some people had biomedical degrees which included pharm, others worked as PCTs. The more the merrier.
@machamurse, wow! This is so helpful! Thank you a million times!!
Would you be so kind and elaborate on what you mean by the Maimonides? Is this a satellite hospital? Where would you recommend most doing clinicals?
I think I'm gnna try to take pharma and patho this spring to get ahead- hopefully they'll transfer over, and if not - at least I've got studying done!
Also, just to clarify/confirm - all of our science prerequisites (Microbio, A&P 1+2, Chem) are not averaged into the BSN cGPA? So, does this mean we all start with a 0.0 GPA? That's a huge bummer ?
And finally, do you have any words of wisdom to share or tips or even things you wished you knew before you started?
Thanks again for paying it forward! I'll be sure to do the same if I get in ?
New here in this forum. I just would like to know how were the interviews? I recently submitted my application last week, and I hope I can join this program because it is so close to home. I know I should have done it sooner, but things happen.
Hi - like moreteaplease said above, the interview is in a group and everyone answers questions that are chosen randomly. It's relaxed and most of the time was spent by the professors telling us about Downstate's program. We also did a short writing sample at the end. Good luck with your application!
There was a push to move clinicals and rotations out of the first semester and push in pharmacology and pathophysiology for our cohort. This makes some logical sense, but effectively is a rough time as, in my understanding, pharm can be challenging in a regular semester, BUT we took it with a maximum course load and in a shorter semester. You can see our curriculum on the website under 2019. We were basically at the school every weekday for a few hours with some variation for labs. Myself it was M- 8:30 to 12pm, T 9-4pm, W 10:30-4pm, Th 9-12 and 3-4 hours of lab depending how fast you can get through the labwork on Friday morning. Since I also work about 30 hours a week over the weekend at all times, I pretty much spent every hour of my life on studying during the Summer semester - it was rough and don't necessarily take me as an example for work being a possibility. It's tough even without a job, but once you start clinicals you at least have the basic knowledge and can contribute to patient care once you're on the floor.
The Fall semester has been less school-time intensive, but more homework intensive. Think: never-ending list of assignments and a ton of reading. We had two hybrid courses (care of older adult and ethics), one online focused on research, and two clinical courses involving hospital rotations (psych and med-surg) for which we met for a total of 4 hours in class and spent 16 hours in clinicals each week.
Spring is an uncharted territory. We have all our courses stacked on Tuesdays, as per our request, and will be having clinicals on two other days. I'm going to mention here that you sign up every semester for clinical days yourself with many occurring on weekends. There is an option to lock yourself in with a clinical site for the duration of the program, but that works only for Downstate hospital and Maimonides.
As for the transfer courses that are part of the nursing curriculum, in my experience it was a resounding no. I tried transferring my research and physical assessment courses to no avail, which doesn't mean you shouldn't try if you already took any of those courses. Have you tried reaching out to the college of nursing? Who knows. For GPA: I transferred courses between schools twice and the old courses never calculated into the current GPA. This includes Downstate.
Lastly, anything you can get to get ahead will be an immense help. My foot in the door was my clinical degree and the experience of providing services to patients as well as having taken a few nursing courses before. Some people had biomedical degrees which included pharm, others worked as PCTs. The more the merrier.
Hey machamurse,
Can you elaborate in the free clinic please? I would love to do that. I can draw labs and do Ekgs and interpret. Thank you
For those who have already interviewed, did they tell you when you could expect to hear a decision?
They didn't provide us with a specific date, but they said after we interview they turn in their paperwork and review almost immediately. They mentioned that the holiday's may delay the process, but I think maybe we can expect something in January.
They had said the same thing for my interview group (12/12/19, 10am), but said that we could reasonably expect a response before the end of the year. I’m not getting my hopes too high for a quick turnaround, especially with the extended deadline, but we’ll see...
Hello. I am trying to submit the application but my application fee page has yet to be updated even though I have paid for the fee and got the email receipt for it. Does it take some time (I submitted the fee 2 days ago). It also tells me I have an existing payment on my account when I go into the checkout page again. Is it just me or anyone else having this problem?
How did you end up resolving this problem? Mine has said the same exact thing.
moreteaplease, CNA
42 Posts
Congrats!
The interview is exactly like others have said previously. It’s done in a group with other individuals and you are asked a couple of random questions for them to get to know you better. They’ll also give you an opportunity to ask questions about the program if you have any. Just be yourself and you’ll do fine.