Transferring to UCI? PLEASE HELP! I'm completely lost!

RunBabyRN · Mar 26, 2014

Okay, first off, what is your goal? Nursing? If so, don't waste time with courses that don't fulfill what you need for nursing.

I say save your money, go to a community college, knock out your prereqs (including multiple prereqs for multiple schools if needed), get a roommate off campus somewhere, and apply to as many BSN & ADN programs as possible when the time comes.

If you were to attend UCR, and you're not a prenursing major, you may not be able to take some of the prereqs. Some schools require you to have a specific major declared in order to take courses, and nursing is often one of them, because the classes get very impacted.

mmm, BSN, RN · Mar 27, 2014

Nursing and to have a BSN.

Would I have to do the TAG thing with my community college?

But can I major in biology and take some of the prerequisites there?

For csula, could I still transfer from there to uci?

I'm not sure how hard it is for me to transfer from school to school.

Is there really no possible way for me to go from ucr to uci?

zzbxdo · Mar 27, 2014

There's a transfer articulation thing you need to follow + all the prerequisites from the cc.

A lot of the classes can be assessed here assist.org

You're off just going to a cc and then transferring, you're occurring huge debt for classes you can take at a local college. You have to assume that it may be more difficult to get in the classes if you have no credit seniority /priority.

mmm, BSN, RN · Mar 27, 2014

Transfer and 2nd Baccalaureate Applicant Information â€" Nursing Science

http://cnasstudent.ucr.edu/files/uci.pdf

Some of the courses are at ucr. Check the two sites I linked. For the remainder courses, can I take them at a cc? Does that work? Can I go to ucr for a year then pcc then uci?

thinwildmercury · Mar 27, 2014

Find out what nursing schools you want to apply to, take the pre reqs required for them at a community college and save your money!! Anatomy, physiology, chemistry, statistics, and microbiology can be very demanding classes so try to have a light schedule when taking those classes so you can do well, get a good GPA and get accepted to nursing school :) I did a similar path as you described-I went to a CSU freshman year then was unable to get into any classes I needed for my sophomore year. Instead of wasting time, I got my refund and took all the classes I needed at a CC. I should have done so from the start! Definitely utilize assist.org because the chemistry required for one school may not be good enough for another school, etc. Good luck.

mmm, BSN, RN · Mar 27, 2014

Wow, thank you so much! I feel as if pcc would be a better choice but I still really wanted that "college experience" that everyone else is going to get.

SquishyRN, BSN, RN · Mar 27, 2014

Take your pre-reqs at a community college as everyone else has said. It will be exponentially cheaper with no opportunity cost in terms of nursing school acceptance. Where you took your pre-reqs doesn't matter one bit if you got B's and C's, even if it was a UC. A lot of nursing schools use a points system for acceptance to maintain objectivity. There are X amount of points for A's, Y amount of points for B's, and Z amount of points for C's. Different schools assign various points for various other factors as well, such as hardship or number of general education courses completed. But I haven't seen a single nursing school application that gives you points for taking classes at a university as opposed to a CC. And anecdotally speaking, it's MUCH MUCH (with an emphasis on the much ) easier to get straight A's in your pre-reqs at a CC than a UC, so you'd be setting yourself up a lot better to get into the top nursing schools.

You want the "college experience"? Join clubs. Participate in campus activities. Hang out on campus instead of cooping yourself up in your room in front of the computer or TV. Move out of your parents' and share an apartment with other students. You'll get the make shift college experience version, but at a fraction of the cost. In fact, tens of thousands of dollars less. I'm still paying off my loans for the "college experience." 10k left. And I graduated in 2008. And the only thing I've used that degree for is the general education courses I'm now using towards my nursing education.

Was it worth it? Well, I've got stories. TONS of stories. I was in a sorority after all. I definitely maximized my "college experience." But my "college experience" was defined by the things I did with the people I had fun doing those things with. Not by the campus or what the school specifically offered. I would probably have the same stories just doing the things I mentioned earlier. But maybe it was just because I went to UCR and UCR itself didn't have that much to offer. We all bonded by hanging out in each other's apartments because there was literally not much else to do that was school sponsored or even just nearby. But I could have done that with friends I made at a CC. So was it worth it? Nope. I'd rather not still be paying $200 a month today for the college experience that ended 6 years ago.

Also, "the 'college experience' that everyone else is going to get'? Don't worry about what "everyone else" is doing. Do not live your life comparing yourself with others, their lives are not what you think it is. Live your life and appreciate it for what it is. I mentioned a Huffington Post blog called "Why Generation Y Yuppies are Unhappy" on this forum once. You should read it. It touched upon the issue of image crafting and the feelings of envy and inadequacy that result from skewed perceptions of others' lives. Here's a link: Why Generation Y Yuppies Are Unhappy | Wait But Why

And, it is definitely possible to transfer between UCs. I never did it myself, so I don't know how difficult the process is, but I've seen it done. One of my good friends started at UCR as a freshman, transferred to UCI the next year, but ended up graduating from UCSD. That's not wise though. Different schools have different criteria for graduation, so she ended having to repeat courses or take extra courses at every school she went. She graduated as a 5^th year. Another friend did her first two years at UCR and transferred to UCLA for 3^rd year. She graduated as a 5^th year as well. I didn't say that to encourage you to attempt the whole UC transfer thing, I just wanted to let you know that it is possible since you were wondering.

mmm, BSN, RN · Mar 27, 2014

Thank you so very much for all the responses!!!! This really makes me happier after reading all the replies I'm getting. I'm most likely going to go to Pcc now (hopefully everything goes smoothly). I'm definitely a fan of this site and all the people who are helping each other out. Im so grateful! Thank you (:

Redemption · Apr 11, 2016

Hi mmwong, I am currently a high school senior and I am stuck in the same position as you! I don't know if I should attend UCI (for biology) and then switch my majors or just go to CC. I'm leaning towards CC because it's more cheaper and easier. I was just wondering how are you doing now and how life is at CC. Any tips by the way?