San Jose State University Top Questions

What's the one thing you wish someone had told you about freshman year?

Erin

I wish I had known that I was unable to take Animation/Illustration classes.

Yair

Before I came to this school, I only wish I had known that it is perfectly okay to be yourself. That there is a place for everyone in college, and that nobody is considered an "outsider". If I had known sooner, I might have been much more outgoing and cheerful during my first semester in college, and i would have surrounded myself with other people with similar interests, instead of hastily asking a few other guys if I could move in with them next year because I needed to find a place close to campus. It didn't work out.

Arthur

Don't take Science 2, it's not a science class, it's a how to survive college class. The class name is deceptive but don't let it fool you. The class is for underachieving students and not worth taking if you are on your game already.

Caitlyn

I wish I'd known how bad the commute is.

Cheyenne

Not only do I wish to have known about the time it takes to graduate, but also that San Jose State is known as a party school. I do not drink or smoke so it has been a bit hard for me to make friends. Not a lot of people want to sit in and watch a movie on a Thursday night, instead of going out to party. Partying hard is a very common social pastime on campus.

Caitlin

While school has been incredibly rewarding and challenging, I wish I had learned how to advocate for myself and taken a more active role in some of my decisions rather than defer to passivity about course selection or filling out forms.

Tania

To call for information, look it up on the internet, or ask people who have gone through a similar process when dealing with the bureacracy. The professors are as helpful as they can be, but the financial aid people have left information out everytime I have spoken to them, making it more difficult to complete forms/orientations on time. The pamphlets and online materials are much more helpful than the people (though they are not unfriendly).

Krystle

I wish I had known how hard the workload is for an engineering student. I wish that I knew I could take classes like Humanities that counted for almost all your GE credits in the course of a year or two.

marissa

Get to know your general advising counselors. They really help you stay on track with your curriculum and are a wealth of knowledge in regards to classes you should be taking.

Emily

I wish I had know how much my interests would broaden and change as I encountered new experiences and met new people. If I had any idea of how much the people around me could affect and influence me (in a positive way!) I would have sought out these people sooner in my life. As it is, I'm satisfied that my university had so many events, organization, and activities that could help me find the amazing people I did.

melissa

How the financial accpect of the school works. I keep getting charged extra fees that I didn't know about until it was too late to change schools.

Cassandra

I wish I knew what I wanted to pursue for my future.

Amber

The rooms, how expensive they really are for what you get. The lower costing rooms are better than the expensive ones. You also meet more people ans get more involed. It is easier to adapt from leaving home. I also wanted to know more about where everything is on campus and off. besides that the school givee you a lot of information.

Daniel

I wish I had known a bit more about resumes, EOP, industry-related preparations, interview tips, internships, and major advising.

Alisha

I knew what to expect!

Sarah

I wish I had known more about the career prepartion and internship programs. I had avoided internships because I needed support myself and found waitressing lucrative enough to do so. However, in my senior year I discovered that many businesses were offering students well-paid internships and that career center was a resource. In either case, I do not I feel that by the time I graduated, I well enough prepared to begin my career. I knew little about the actual careers available in field and found entry-level positions to be limited in availability.

Samantha

When I was in high school, I wish I had taken my courses more seriously, rather than take a class for an easy "A" grade. I wish stayed in my honors classes and not drop out of my math course senior year so I wouldn't have been stuck in remedial courses now. I wish I had been more aware of what I wanted to do with the rest of my life so that I could have prepared myself for classes in college. I

Cheryl

I think that the most difficult aspect of going away to College right out of High School and being required to live in the Campus Housing, is learning how to live with other people that you don't know. I wish I had known about what Freshman do once that they are out of their parents home. I find it extremely difficult to understand why they drink and carry on like children. I value my education, I wish I had have known that others may take their education for granted and not appreciate their opportunity in education.

Robby

The number one thing I wish I had known before going to San Jose State University, SJSU, is how the environment of software engineering really is. Software engineering was the major I started with in SJSU but after midway through my second semester I realized it was not for me and I switched majors. I swithed to business administration in management information systems.which I enjoy. Another thing I wish I had known was where to look for housing. I rented a room off campus and did not like it so I moved out.

Raisa

I wish I knew I was stronger than I thought. SJSU offers so many amazing opportunities for students to grow. It is literally possible to go to China, Mexico, and Austria within one year without going through a traditional study abroad program. Fear usually got in my way of growing. Because of lack of confidence, I prevented myself from attending office hours, meetings, and workshops. I avoided everything that could have helped me discover opportunities for more education, networking, adventure, and identity development. The gym offered a trip to do a Yosemite Half Dome hike. Fear got to me again.

Carlos

Prior to moving to college I wish I could have known how hard it was to keep track of your classes. From time to time I would forget what class I had next. Now, going into my second semester I made sure I had an agenda to keep track of my courses and assignments.

Max

I honestly wish I knew how much my work in highschool effected my college work.

Christopher

One needs to manage responsibility and priority so their will be more moral and ethical decisions you have never faced before. Time is a major issue; one must be able to decide whether to participate co-curricular activity. One must always be prepared for classes because one may get a good or bad teacher or may be distracted easily from large amount of students in classes. For every subject one must make time to study each day in order to get good grades. Creating a schedule is very important in order to manage time.

Jessica

I wish I had known what classes were needed for all four years of my college life that relate to my major.

mark

I wish i knew about the consequences of not passing remediation classes. Also i wish i knew about art, so i wouldnt be new to art at my school.

Trevella

I wish I would have had more scholarship information.

Lucas

How important choosing the right classes during high school that will prepare you for college and passing them as well. As well as good study habits.

Jessica

Going to a state school should not be a dissapointment. I had almost perfect grades in highschool and students were very competitive. Chosing a CSU was a let down to almost all of my peers. They thought I was not living up to my potential. Yet, I have been saving a lot of money by doing so and enjoying my college experience. I should have known that it is not worth worrying about other student's perspectives of my choices.

Ariana

I wish I would had known exactly what campus life would be like in the dorms and how dependent I have to be on myself. I also wish I would have known about all the little fees that pop up every now and then that seem impossible to take care and come at the worst possible times.

Rigoberto

I wish that someone would have set an outline of the courses i had to take and follow-up with me every semester. I wish i could of known how much i would be paying for college.

Arica

I wish I had known what I really wanted as a career choice because San Jose State offers an excellent college for forensic science.

Tammy

There aren't many good restaurants nearby.

Phung

I wish I knew more about the area around the school becuase I am not from San Jose so I did not know what was around campus. I knew what was on campus from orientation. When I was first there, me and a friend from orientation spent about an hour walking around looking for a place to eat but all we saw were fancy resturants, clubs, clothes store, and big buildings. Later on I found out there were tons of fast food right across the street on the west side of campus.

Priscella

I wished someone told me that I could see what books I needed even before class started. I saved a lot of money going on my professor's website and looking at the syllabus to see what books were required. Then I ordered them on Amazon.com or Half.com for a lot cheaper than what they were offering in the Spartan Bookstore or Robert's Bookstore. Then, after you are done with finals, do not wait till last minute to sell your books. SIf you can't sell them at the Book Buybacks on campus, sell them online.

Vicky

I wish I would have known that in the transporation that there is around the school, there are many crazy people.

Laura

More about financial aid, scholarships and grants. I wasted all my savings in my first semester. :(

Samantha

How to cook

Jasmine

I wish I had known about how much of a "commuter school" it was. Because people come and go, it is difficult to establish solid friendships and relationships, especially if you are not living on campus (or the surrounding housing).

Marissa

I wish I would have known that I could have taken classes at a community college while in high school that could have transfered over. I also wish I had known that I should have taken my pre-requisite classes for nursing before taking my general education classes.

trung

I wish I had known what I wanted to do with my life. I had a few career choices that I wanted prior to entering college. My first career choice was in the Biological filed. However, I changed my mind and switched to Business. Since I switched to Business, I enjoy going to class and want to become a sucessfull business entreprenuer.

Danielle

That it would take longer to graduate than I thought.

alice

I wish I would've known that I was going to switch majors.

Melissa

I wish San Jose State University was more better well known for its academics which it is nationally rated on.

Gregory

Most of the lower division general Requirement classes are available during the summer and winter semesters. Most of the upper division classes are not available during the summer and winter semester. Rate my professor website ought be consulted before choosing classes.

Chris

That I didn't actually want to be an artist.

Jessica

I wish I had known that teachers are not as caring as the ones I had in high school. They didn't care if I was sick or needed to catch up with the course work, so I constantly fell behind.

Christopher

That it was really diverse over here. I like that because you get meet people from all over the world. You can learn different values and ideas from them. It also makes it easier to make friends because people are very friendly and they treat you with respect.

Becky

I wish that I knew how unfriendly the downtown and surrounding areas are to college students. There are very little activities for people ages 18-20 to do with out spending a lot of money. No cute boutiques, record stores, book stores, all-night coffee shops, there are no stores you would think you could find in a college town. Because of this, the weekend are very dead and many students go home, or out of town, and party, shop and hang out at other campuses.

Kelly

I wish that I had considered how much being away from home would bother me; when I first moved to San Jose from a small rural town, I was very homesick and lonely. I did not consider how much I rely on my family for comfort and support. Of course, this is my fourth year here, and I have grown to like it here, but I wish that I had thought more about the impact that moving would have on me.

Daniel

I wish I had known that it was so hard to find things to do on the weekends.