Dominican University advice?

RNKPCE · Dec 30, 2011

Domincan is a beautiful small university. When I visited(5 years ago) we were told that you can't just take your prerequisites and then transfer in and expect to start the the nursing program right away. You will probably spend 1-2 semester doing upper division general education. This is where it gets expensive. I believe tuition is over $30K a year now. Housing back 5 years ago was triple occupancy starting at $11k. I've heard some years they've overbooked and students have stayed in local hotels.

If you start their as a freshman you can accepted as a nursing major from the start no separate application. So you might get done in 4 years but paying their tuition all 4 years. But going the CC route doesn't mean you can just transfer and start nursing right away, they make you wait while taking other classes.

bayareastudent0711 · Dec 31, 2011

Over the past couple years, the nursing program there has slowly become impacted. The admissions office accepted more freshmen than they could take on, thinking not everyone would accept and go there- yes those are the rumors. So yes, you may have to wait a few semesters before actually starting clinicals, you would basically be waiting for an open spot from a student that got held back. With that said, there are ways around it, as long as you are ENROLLED into Dominican classes each semester, you are still on the wait list for the clinical portion of the nursing program. I have heard of persistent enough ppl to enroll in a 1-unit class and still be eligible for that wait list.

Just apply, attend the info session- they might waive your application fee at the info session i think. most colleges do that. and when you get accepted, which you most likely will. because i know their minimum criteria at the time i entered was a 3.0 in anatomy and physiology. When you get accepted, give it a chance, and see the pre-nursing counselor to plan everything out. SHE is AMAZING.

Keep in mind, that because this school is located in the North Bay, most of your clinical sites are in the north bay.

xzalense · Jan 29, 2012

Hello! I was recently accepted into the program. It's a beautiful school with a decent program. That being said, I would still go to a different school if you can. The NCLEX pass rate isn't as high as other schools. Honestly, I've been applying for three years and this is the first time I was thrown a bone. I think it might be easier to get in. So this is how it works: you need to be enrolled at the school with a minimum of one unit. I'm taking classes at a cc and only one unit at dominican. Since I have a bachelors degree already, they put me at the top. The counselor told me that I would only have to probably wait one semester. For others without a degree, it could be 2-3 semesters. Since it's so tough to get in to schools, I would apply here ASAP and get on the list. Any experience is what you make of it... So even if other programs might be more competitive, doesn't mean you can't get a quality education here.

TinaBina · Nov 29, 2012

Hi there!

I know this is an old thread, but I thought I'd ask anyways. How long did you have to wait to actually take the clinical courses at Dominican? They told me it could take 1-3 semesters and I was wondering what your experience was.

Thanks for the help!

Hi there!
Does anyone have any insight on Dominican University's nursing program? I'm interested in going there, and my main question is if it is any easier to get accepted into Dominican than other nearby schools. I'll be applying to at least 8 nursing schools in the Bay Area. I know that SF State, USF are ridiculously competitive, not to mention the depressing lottery systems in the CC's, but I haven't heard much about Dominican's stats on their enrollment process/acceptance besides what is listed on their website. I feel that I am fairly competitive with a projected overall gpa of 3.6+, a science gpa of 3.25, and volunteer work... but I'm not sure if Dominican considers supplemental criteria.
What is your experience with applying for this school, whether you got in or not?
Thanks!!

leah4 · Oct 30, 2014

i was wondering if you get accepted into the school are you accepted into the nursing program as well? i got an acceptance letter from the school not the program itself, but i was wondering what is the next step needed to be taking?

k011408 · Jan 25, 2015

Not sure if anyone is following this thread anymore, but I figure I can answer it in case it helps anyone...

I am currently a senior in the nursing program at Dominican University. I am a traditional student (which means I came straight from high school) so when i applied back in 2011, i got accepted into the school as pre-nursing and did all my prereqs with dominican. So long as I passed all my prereqs, I was guaranteed a spot in the program and started the program the next semester, immediately after i was done with the prereqs. So I didn't have to enroll in to the program because they already "saved a spot" for me once prereqs were done. For transfers, you should have already have all your prereqs done so if you got accepted as a transfer, you're in the program.

But if you are talking about just being accepted into the school, I don't think you are accepted into the program. I also mentor sophomore 1s (nursing students in their first semester of the program) and they informed me that it is no longer structured like the way I had it. From what i heard, being accepted into the school, even as pre nursing, doesn't mean you will or are already accepted into the program. Because the school actually accepts more candidates than the program can hold, I heard there is a separate enrollment that you have to do for the program. So basically, one enrollment just to get into the school, and a second one to get into the program. Hope this makes sense.

You can always call the admissions office at the school to clarify. Hope this helped somehow!

nursephillyphil, BSN, RN · Jan 25, 2015

Not sure if anyone is following this thread anymore, but I figure I can answer it in case it helps anyone...
I am currently a senior in the nursing program at Dominican University. I am a traditional student (which means I came straight from high school) so when i applied back in 2011, i got accepted into the school as pre-nursing and did all my prereqs with dominican. So long as I passed all my prereqs, I was guaranteed a spot in the program and started the program the next semester, immediately after i was done with the prereqs. For transfers, you should have already have all your prereqs done so if you got accepted as a transfer, you're in the program.
But if you are talking about just being accepted into the school, I don't think you are accepted into the program. I also mentor sophomore 1s (nursing students in their first semester of the program) and they informed me that it is no longer structured like the way I had it. From what i heard, being accepted into the school, even as pre nursing, doesn't mean you will or are already accepted into the program. Because the school actually accepts more candidates than the program can hold, I heard there is a separate enrollment that you have to do for the program. So basically, one enrollment just to get into the school, and a second one to get into the program. Hope this makes sense.
You can always call the admissions office at the school to clarify. Hope this helped somehow!

Ay nice to see a penguin on here, i just graduated in 2013. They have had that since my jr year, they started wait listing people. Anyway good luck and congrats on making it this far!

k011408 · Jan 25, 2015

Ay nice to see a penguin on here, i just graduated in 2013. They have had that since my jr year, they started wait listing people. Anyway good luck and congrats on making it this far!

Hey another penguin!

Thanks! And that is what I heard. I think my year was actually the first year that they started waitlisting, because technically I should have been graduating this May, but instead I'll be graduating in December.

And for transfers, I heard it a 1-3 semester wait. The traditional students get priority in spots, so I think that might be why the wait is so long for a transfer...

Belated Congratulations on graduating and getting your license!

adrianaboov · Mar 8, 2016

Hey guys! Not sure if any of you are still following this thread, but a counselor I had recently talked to informed me that there is no longer a wait list for transfer students into the nursing program as of 2016. I was just wondering if you guys knew about this?

sfbayyay · Mar 9, 2016

Have any of you asked about their pass rate on the NCLEX? It is a bit worrisome to think about spending so much money on a program with such a low pass rate!

SFnursetobe12 · Mar 9, 2016

@sfbauyay It is worrisome and why I dismissed the idea of applying there. 62% pass rate is too low for their expensive education IMHO.