Hello. Do any SJSU students or parents have insights/feedback on availability of classes, especially GE class or prerequisites for your major. Right now SJSU is our top choice among our admits (Comp Eng major at SJSU). But we are concerned that 4 year graduation rate is very low. We spoke to 2-3 local students who said as long as you are flexible in your schedule (not trying to avoid Fri or morning classes, etc), it is not a big deal and you are able to get classes that satisfy your GE reqs. A few also said several kids opt to take a class in winter break (condensed duration) or during the summer or sometimes at a local cc (which would be an additional cost) to actually get ahead and graduate a semester early.
Don’t know whether the 4 yr grad rate is skewed because it does not take into account part time/ working students in this area who may not be able to complete in 4 years due to their individual circumstances.
What has your experience been? Any advice for getting the classes you need? Is there any sort of priority registration?
My daughter just graduated from SJSU in 3.5 yrs with CS degree. She didn’t have any issues getting classes she wanted all 4 yrs. She did have quite a few GE class credits because of AP’s and couple of entry level CS classes. She said those are the classes some kids have trouble getting into, the lower level classes. Her words, “Once you past the first year, you shouldn’t have any trouble getting classes you need”. She always stayed on top of the registration deadlines.
She did have priority registration for only 1 semester but that was her junior year. Seniors always get priority registration.
She did wanted to join Humanities Honors program which does give you priority for registration, but she decided to not do that because it not leveraging her AP credits.
@SKCC22 Congratulations to your daughter on graduating from SJSU…Thank you so much for sharing her experience!
I had another quick question…does SJSU have any/adequate academic support systems for students…
-how good is academic advising?
-is there a tutoring center or peer to peer tutor program. CS/Comp Eng and math courses are tough one…where/how does a student get help?
Also, if you don’t mind sharing, what were some of the other colleges she considered but passed up in favor of SJSU. Is there anything specific that drew her to SJSU ? D also has admits at CSU Fullerton, SF State, Chico State (both of which we have visited) and ASU and OSU (we haven’t visited any oos colleges… her motivation to leave Ca is low).
Obviously, students with applicable AP credit can start in more advanced courses in sequences like math, or replace required courses fulfilled by AP credit with free electives.
Academic Advising wise I would say is average, you do have to go prepared doing your homework, Me and my wife are both in Tech industry, so we were able to advise my daughter with her course pathways for 4 yrs. She did go talk to her CS advisor (general) once every semester.
Tutoring is big at SJSU, my daughter tutored other kids (freshman) for 2yrs. Its very organized and she did get tutoring for 1 class as well.
We are from Bayarea, she didn’t get into any of the top UC’s, ( Got into UCSC/Merced/Riverside), she was waitlisted at UCSD and never cleared, SJSU/SLO were the only CSU college’s she applied, she didn’t get into SLO. She got into UW(College of Science, not CS)/Purdue/UMD/Amherst/Wisconsin/University of Arizona/ASU/Oregon State.
My daughter chose to stay home as well in the last minute. We thought for sure she would go to Purdue. She changed her mind in the last week of April and stayed home, ofcourse we loved it!!