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I attended San Jose State University from Fall 2022 up until May 2025. I was in the online Information Science & Data Analytics undergraduate program. I would say overall the program has been nothing but great for me. The different types of classes are from cyber security, data science, information security, etc. They all taught very well, and I got out numerous skills and knowledge from each of them. The professors for my school were excellent as well. Even though it was an online program, the connection... Read More I felt was as close to in-person as possible. If I needed help with an assignment or needed a clarification. The professors always got back to me and went above and beyond explaining the modules or projects for me. I would highly recommend any upcoming university student like me to consider San Jose State University.

Although I would not immediately recommend this program to just anybody that is interested, it MIGHT be an ideal program in a particular situation depending on the student's career path and what they want and expect from this degree. However, my impression of the curriculum in this online graduate degree program is that it is more of an OVERVIEW or SURVEY of informatics in general. Each semester is divided in half with courses being 9 weeks in length. This time frame worked out fine for some courses,... Read More but other courses, the more technical ones requiring the downloading, understanding and use of software, should have been full length semester courses. Case in point: the course Big Data Analytics, a fantastic subject with a fantastic instructor, but we students were simply overwhelmed with information and the course felt very rushed. Again, the course was more of a SURVEY of Big Data, without going too far into any one subject for very long, simply because there was not enough time to do so. We had to move along. The same can be said for the course Human Centered Design, which was an overview of designing and developing user-centered knowledge structures for the Web environment. Although this was a two-unit course, it was one of the most difficult courses in the program because it involved learning a number of software tools, forming groups to work with, and developing a group presentation, all online, and all in the span of half a semester. Again, it should have been a full semester course. The career pathway (specialization) courses were overall very good, particularly the health informatics courses. The cybersecurity courses were good, but we spent far too much time using the same software program doing repetitive tasks as instructed by the software, and it just went for far too long in this manner. The lectures were excellent, however. The saving grace of this program for me was that it was still relatively inexpensive for a 30-unit graduate program when I signed up and started in January 2020 through my graduation in 2022. However, I understand that the tuition at SJSU has gone up in 2023. So, I feel that this program is great for someone already working in health informatics or cybersecurity and who wants to reinforce the knowledge that they already have in order to advance their career. For someone with no experience who wants to get that knowledge from a graduate degree program, this program will help, but falls short in certain areas. Ultimately, I can recommend the program to some, but not to all.

Avoid the UW Data Science master's programs at all costs! The professors didn't really teach anything at all. Normally i would be fine with this, if they would just give us books to read or other sources to study from. But the material they provided did not actually cover what we were expected to learn. They prided themselves on their website & chatsite to give information, but they still didn't use it to teach anything, and the sites were not as impressive as other free options elsewhere. All they... Read More did on the sites was answer ad hoc questions irrelevant to the material that we were supposed to be learning. The sole exception to all of the above was the one marketing class they require you to take, which was decent. All of the other courses were bogus. The professors didn't really know what they were doing. You could tell the university was just trying to jump on the bandwagon of providing data science degrees without actually thinking through what would be necessary to teach within such a degree.

This university makes me feel that the US is now a 3rd world country! Make no mistake and avoid this place! Why aren't news casters reporting and investigating on the poor education system that is on the side of criminals rather than students and its own people? Someone needs to report these to the general public and protect their own people! This university gives people a hard time, not in a challenging way. I feel that I barely escaped by leaving the area as its been drastically hit by crime and... Read More poor government system. The system is NOT on the students side and is criminalized. There were people who were trying to fail students and their own people literally. Due to poor government structure the education system doesn't back up the students when instructors or staff are corrupt / take their anger out on students either. I feel sorry for anyone who has to go here as they often threaten students. Despite efforts to minimize crime in the US, it is just increasing because of the terrible government. Night hours are way unsafe! Couldn't go to class without having fear. I wish I didn't go to this school because of the criminalized systems of the US. Attend a different school if you can, this place is unsafe and harmful to students.

San Jose State University is a great college to attend to further your education. Since I have graduated there have been many changes around the campus that really feels like a top of the line school. A new recreation center, a new pool, new dorm rooms built for students. However, just like any college there are pros and cons. One con to consider is the area. With being located in the middle of downtown there are some dangers that can arise when there due to the homeless population. Another to consider... Read More is the cost of living, being that it is located in a city the cost of living can be very expensive. Potentially even leaving some students unable to afford their month to month expenses. However, aside from the cons San Jose State has a good range of majors and is located in tech savvy area with many opportunities to connect with the surrounding companies.

SJSU is a great college for those looking to major in engineering or business. Sitting in the heart of the Bay Areas texhnindustry, most other schools on campus fell by the wayside and went unnoticed, the Arts especially. The Art building is one of the oldest on campus and still has yet to be renovated. It sits there as sad proof that the university does not care about the humanities. Arts lacked funding to even keep certain required classes available every semester, making classes impacted and causing... Read More many to wait even longer to try and graduate.

The degree that I am in is fine but I have a problem with the overall school. San Jose State is starting to become a school that is caring less and less about students and more about money. This year SJSU admitted a record number of students at the school. They mask this as an act of generosity towards including all students but this is a lie. They only admitted more students for more tuition money and more out of state students to get more out of state tuition, which is much more expensive. This... Read More is evident because they admitted more students but are not accommodating those students. The number of classes and in campus housing is still the same and the money, of course, is going towards construction towards useless buildings and recreational centers. Students have been needing more classes available for their major yet the number of classes is still not enough and every major is now impacted. My girlfriend is currently and has been trying to get into the nursing major. The advising at SJSU told her straight that she will not get into the major. She then decided to major in another field like Health Science. The advising staff told her to basically major in business or don't go to this school. The school does not care anymore about the students' needs but now cares about how to get more money and spend nothing at all on what we need.

I wasted 4 years here studying my undergraduate degree. It's an awful school, especially now that the tuition and other rates have skyrocketed for current/future students. Luckily, I also studied at 3 WONDERFUL universities in other countries. I am currently doing my postgraduate degree in England, and couldn't be more delighted with the university, program, etc. It's not that I'm picky; SJSU simply SUCKS! PROS of SJSU: 1. It sounds nice saying you study/studied in the "Silicon Valley" 2. They have... Read More some nice sounding degrees 3. Many people find jobs in the Silicon Valley at places like Google and Apple upon graduating 4. There are a few gems of professors among the rubble CONS of SJSU: 1. Terrible, dated infrastructure. Many buildings lack AC, even the newer buildings feel cheap and like they can crumble to the ground. Very little seating to study or work. Desks and chairs are cheap, often made of plastic or 30 years old and falling apart. Many students sit on the ground of halls with their bags and study supplies on the floor as people pass by. They still use old-time projectors in many classrooms, and even the newer classrooms are incredibly behind-the-times. 2. Dangerous location. You will receive constant alerts of gun violence, rape, attempted murder, burglary etc. Most people I know experienced at least one act of violence/attempted violence against them during their studies here. I am included in that statistic, as are all of my ex-roommates. It's not a safe place to live. 3. Dated teaching. Everything is from 20+ years ago. Don't expect to learn anything of value in the modern world. 4. Shared public library. The school does not have its own library, meaning you share it with crazy people screaming at each other and homeless watching porn on the public computers. There also tend to be children running around. 5. Crummy downtown. The surrounding downtown area (where the school is located) is filled with drug fronts, boarded up buildings, and more crazy homeless people. If you are a young female, it's not a safe place to go alone. Even during the daytime hours, expect to be stalked and harassed. 6. Low ranking. SJSU has ZERO world ranking. Unless you plan to spend the rest of your life in the bay area, look elsewhere. Believe me, this university will NEVER go up in ranking. Yes, it really is just that awful. 7. Poor public transit and lack of parking. Public transit is grimy, not enough parking spots so you need to arrive 1-2 hours early for classes. 8. Commuter school. Most people commute, go to class, then go straight home. Don't expect a grand social experience. 9. Poorly run. I think this is the worst thing about SJSU. Despite all the other cons, having your information lost, incorrectly entered into their system, and having to literally chase down workers to help you SUCKS. Expect to spend weeks or possibly months attempting to get someone to help you fix an issue they made. I've had issues where I would see different department heads everyday for weeks in order to resolve issues (that they made). It took me 6 months of daily contact to even receive my diploma after I graduated (and they even made a mistake on that, and had to send another). I've seen entire departments quit, professors have nervous breakdowns etc., so it makes sense that it takes forever to get anything fixed. 10. Lazy classmates. If you want to learn, prosper, and focus on academia, don't study here. At graduation, there was a guy who was obviously high on drugs, screaming, stripped naked, and none of the security did a thing about it. The graduation speaker was a secretary complaining about her childhood. We also didn't get to walk and pick up our diplomas. We just stood there and then left. Need I say more? 11. It's expensive for what you receive. They don't offer much to students, and really couldn't care to either. Alternative recommendations nearby: Stanford and UCDavis. Alternative recommendation for those interested: Leave the country. The university I am studying at right now is INCREDIBLE. They care about the students, it's safe, everything is new and modern, excellent public transit and parking if you are inclined to drive, wonderful housing, tasty and affordable food, and the price is much more affordable than studying at SJSU or most U.S. institutions. The other two institutions I studied at in other countries were equally as impressive. Most U.S. higher education institutions will charge students (usually poor) more money to live on campus or eat on campus than if they lived off campus and ate at home (illogical and cruel). This isn't normal in most countries, where housing is more affordable on campus, food is more affordable on campus (logical and kind). Not only is it more affordable all-around, housing tends to be better. It's not normal for 3 or 4 people to be crammed in a room the size of a closet. My 1st dormitory abroad had a built in bathroom with toilet/sink/bathtub and a private balcony. My 2nd dormitory abroad was 3 times the size of SJSU rooms, incredibly modern, and 1 year rent cost the same as 1 month at SJSU (in the bricks). My current dormitory is 3 times the size of SJSU rooms as well, with huge built in closets/shelving, a private sink, and gorgeous view. It's 1/2 the price of the bricks. If you are curious, at SJSU I also stayed in 2 of the other dormitory buildings, although I don't recall the names offhand (the "fancy" one and the middle-grade one). TL;DR: SJSU is a terrible, terrible place to study. Avoid at all costs!