Considering a move to CA

Nursing Students Pre-Nursing

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I'm in semester 2 of 3 for prereqs at my current school in MN. There is a chance we could have housing for next to nothing in the San Francisco area because my parents have an old house there that has been just sitting for decades. So we thought we might go. We would love to move out of our current area, in any case. We would love to move this summer, so I would be transferring my prereqs elsewhere.

I am concerned about how it would impact school, though. It sounds like CA schools are some of the hardest to get into in the country. I do have a previous BS and if I moved I would want to pursue an accelerated program- the only reason I'm not doing ABSN right now is there are none offered near me. Not even in the whole state I don't think. Is it as difficult to get into ABSN as it is a traditional start afresh program?

I suppose it also wouldn't hurt to ask if anyone knows what it's like to be a teacher there. My fiance is a tenured English high school teacher with a masters and we would like to figure out his job prospects.

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Since the house in CA is available anytime you want it, make sure your husband has a job and you are accepted into nursing school before you make the move. If it's meant to be, you will both find something.

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Specializes in Emergency.

If you're speaking of San Francisco, then, I believe the only accelerated ABSN program in this area is Samuel Merritt. I do not think they will transfer courses as it is a cohort and it is accelerated. Nursing is also very very hard to find jobs in San Francisco unless you have networking.

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Specializes in L&D, infusion, urology.

Jobs for both teachers and nurses are hard to come by in the Bay Area right now. Teachers are seeing a lot of pink slips, and new grad nurses are searching for a year or so for new jobs. I don't know of any aBSN programs other than SMU, which doesn't have a very good reputation in the area among nurses. You'll need to establish residency in CA, as in, take prereqs in CA, if you want to attend one of the CSUs, as they're not taking out of state students right now. Only some are taking second bacc students, but I know that our program probably has 1/3-1/2 second bacc students. The acceptance rate for most CSUs and even community colleges right now is about 10%. Private universities may be accepting out of state students, but you'll need to contact them to find out for sure and to find out how that impacts your chances.

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Thanks so much for the info, especially RunBabyRun. Yikes.

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Are CCs as bad? I was thinking maybe if I move in the summer if it would be smarter to do ASN to make up for out of state costs and then transfer into BSN later. Just trying to figure out the fastest and best way to become a nurse :-/

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Specializes in L&D, infusion, urology.
Are CCs as bad? I was thinking maybe if I move in the summer if it would be smarter to do ASN to make up for out of state costs and then transfer into BSN later. Just trying to figure out the fastest and best way to become a nurse :-/

The community colleges here accept ADN students on a lottery system (there may be exceptions, but every CC I've seen does this). So that means it could happen on the first cycle, or it could take 5. I'm not sure if being from out of state impacts your chances of getting in, but I'm sure if you look at websites and contact schools, you can get the answers you need. I applied to 10 programs when I applied (I attend a CSU). Apply EVERYWHERE to which you can feasibly commute. Also consider the traffic here, bridge tolls, and parking, depending on where you'd be attending.

I would wait to move until you have an acceptance letter, or until your husband finds work (or both!), as the cost of living, housing aside, is pretty high.

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