Questions about SDSU

Colleges and Universities A-Z San Diego State University
1

Housing

  1. What should I indicate on my housing application if I am waitlisted to the Weber Honors College? If I make it, I would like to be placed in Zura, but if not, then I’d like to be part of the nursing living community. However, we don’t find out the status of our honors application until May 15th. What would be the best course of action?

Study Abroad

  1. Will it be possible for me to study abroad for a semester as a nursing major and still graduate in 4 years? I have quite a few AP credits (about 9-12 credits) and I intend on doing a course at a community this summer to ease my load. I was thinking of studying abroad for the fall semester of sophomore year. I’m willing to do a lot to make it work.

Financial Aid

  1. My family’s income this year is different from the one I indicated on my FAFSA. I didn’t qualify for Cal grants, but if I update it to my family’s current income which is now lower, will I be able to receive some funding?
  2. In order to update my tax return, does my mom have to come to SDSU with me and bring the files in person? We are from the Bay Area, so we’d just like to plan a visit if necessary.
2

You have to put in community not building so not sure you could even request zura. Cant speak to studying abroad. As for financial aid I’d suggest picking up the phone and calling them to tell them the changes and see what they want from you to update your financial status to see if they will give you more funding.

3

@lisa2018 -
I think you should list the nursing living community. If you make it into WHC, you’ll probably be placed in Zura automatically and if I recall, I do believe you have time plenty of time to adjust your profile after the 15th.

Which AP classes do you have the credit for? Some of them might not satisfy requirements like AP Bio and AP Chem. In regards to the study abroad, it may be possible, but none of the credits you have would translate to the nursing classes that are assigned for sophomore year first semester because those are major related I have heard that they changed the nursing program again in that clinicals will begin the third year instead of the second year. It may depend on your track as well. You should definitely talk to Jason, the nursing advisor.

4

@Bean981 @regularperson Thank you for your helpful responses!!

For now, I only have AP credit for psych and calc AB, but I believe I will be able to pass the exams for lang, stats, and bio. I know that bio and calc AB don’t go towards the pre-reqs, but would they be able to count as GEs? I also have community college credit for Spanish. I would really love to study abroad for an extended period of time, so I’m trying to clear as many classes as I can. I was also wondering if it’s possible to shift 2nd year classes into my 1st year to open up my schedule? For example, would I be able to shift BIO261 into my freshman year? (https://nursing.sdsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/NEW-Map01-track1-04_26_16.pdf)

5

Currently SDSU doesn’t have a semester abroad opportunity for Nursing students. They do have a 10-day option over winter break where students earn 2 units for participating. The last two years they’ve opened a medical clinic in Thailand. My nursing student D starting F2018 would also be interested in a semester abroad opportunity as well. During our campus visit the students confirmed clinical rotations start first semester sophomore year and we haven’t heard of any changes to that schedule.

6

@lisa2018 - First, I gotta correct myself: I am actually getting a little confused about clinicals for sophomore year and all I know is that one track has clinicals but the other doesn’t or something like that. I’ll find out more later, but I do recall they made some adjustments!

Your credit for Spanish should satisfy one out of four of the humanities requirements needed. I don’t believe that Calc AB or Bio would count for any GE credit. For our math requirement, we are require to take Stats 250 or Bio 215 or Psy 280 (all are stats classes). AP Psych counts for one of the Social and Behavioral Sciences reqs.

If you pass the AP Stats exam (get a 3, 4, or 5), you don’t have to take any more math classes! If you get a 5 on the AP English Lang, you don’t have to take RWS 100 or 200. If you get a 4, you’ll have to take RWS 200, but that still means you can replace those classes with other GEs and get a little ahead!

For the bio classes, you need to take them in the sequence of Bio 211 (Microbio), Bio 212 (Anatomy) and then Bio 261 (Physiology) so that would be three semesters of bio in total. You can’t take these classes concurrently either; you must pass 211 to go to 212 and 212 to go to 261. If you really want to try taking 261 freshman year, I would see if you can try to take 211 and Chem 103 or the equivalent of it at a community college this summer and try to move anatomy to first semester, though you must talk to Jason because all the science pre-reqs are assigned labs and we are given codes to enter when we register. You would still have the other lower division nursing classes aside from Bio 261 that you would have to take sophomore year first semester and I’m not sure how you would substitute that without taking an extra semester since I don’t think community colleges offer them. In addition, you can take Bio 261 the summer following freshman year; there are some people who do it because they want to focus solely on that one class.

If you really want to study abroad and there is no other solution, there also is no shame in taking another semester or another year to graduate, though money may be an issue. I know most people think that nursing students, because we get assigned classes have to graduate in 4 years, but don’t let that pressure get to you, especially if studying abroad is something that is important to you.

This ended up being longer than I planned, so sorry about that! I’ve said this before, but definitely reach out to Jason because he has the jurisdiction to adjust your schedule! He is really busy at this point in the semester, but it doesn’t hurt to try and email him! Also, I’m not quite sure because not all of your AP tests are over, but I think you may be able to see your Degree Evaluation on your sunspot account. It will show you which classes you’ve finished and which classes you need to take and gives you a list of classes that are eligible to satisfy that requirement and you can find course equivalents via SDSU Tap.

Edit: Might I also ask what classes you want to take over the summer?

7

I just remembered, but I believe Human Phys (Bio 261) is nursing specific and consists of Track 1 and Track 2 nursing students. Because all nursing students take it in the fall, I don’t think they offer it in the spring, so I don’t know how that would work out if you rearranged your schedule.

8

@regularperson Wow thank you for all of that information; the more the better because I have no idea what I’m doing. I think the only pre-req course that is transferable at my local CC is PSYCH 230. Would you recommend takings GEs over the summer at a CC? My local CC is Mission College in Santa Clara and I’m not sure which course(s) I should take to lighten my load at SDSU.

9

@lisa2018 - Personally, setting aside CC and just getting ahead, I think you should enjoy your summer since you don’t have any obligations just having graduated (or graduating from) high school and you don’t begin college until autumn. This is one of the rare periods of time where you really don’t or shouldn’t have much to worry about. Spend time with friends and family; get a job and make some money; travel around, take a road trip; I guarantee you there won’t be a more carefree time for a while. Once you start college, everybody will have other things to worry about for the next 4 years, like getting an internship or a job and will probably be preoccupied for the rest of the following summers.

I don’t think there really is any pressure to take classes right now, but if you wish to do so, you can take classes at a community college. There are non-nursing (humanities, American Institution reqs) GEs which I believe have some equivalents at your local CC. For me, I’m taking 3 GEs in addition to Stats 250 and Anatomy. The GEs are pretty easy, given you attend the classes and put in minimal effort. Of course, my experience is subjective though. If you want to knock out GEs, try to take some online summer classes since those are pretty lowkey. If you can see your Degree Evaluation, definitely refer to that to find course equivalents at your local CC! If you need help figuring it out, feel free to ask! Also, if you end up taking CC classes, make sure you take proper steps to ensure SDSU gets your transcript because it would be a waste if you did classes and they didn’t transfer.

I also realized there are 4 options when you’re looking at equivalent courses on SDSU tap, so I recommend use the fourth one (Select an SDSU course and search for a transfer course equivalent).
https://sunspot.sdsu.edu/pubred/!tap.disp?p_action=clg_equiv

In the end, everything is up to your discretion!

10

@regularperson Hmm I think you’re right. I should chill out a bit since I will be coming in with AP credits already and I won’t have another free summer in a long time. I do plan on picking up a part time job and traveling. It’s probably best for me to just go with the flow of the program too. Thank you so much for the insight!!