Any experiences on West Coast University for a BSN? I'm in California btw.

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I have a previous degree in the arts that messed up my GPA, its about a 2.7. I started taking prereques but got a horrible professor for anatomy plus I worked 2 jobs, I dropped out of that class and did good in my next anatomy course.

I sat with my community college nursing counselor and we went over my grades, in our school we do the chancellor's formula which needs to be at least 75 in that school to be considered for the lottery ADN program. She said since I retook anatomy that would count against me, so I would have a 76 IF I didn't retake it, but since I did I have a 73 now. She said even if I get all A's in my next classes, since I have so many previous units I would still only be up to 74 in the formula. She was kind of snobby and was like well you can always change your major... : (

She said the remediation plan for my school is to get a CNA license, then I would be considered for in the lottery like everyone else even if I don't meet the cut off score. But keep in mind other CC ADN programs in the area also use chancellor's formula which mine would be too low for, so I pretty much can't apply to many CC programs, I can apply to ones that use other criteria, but still, I'm pretty much screwed.

I remember a friend of mine that wanted to be a nurse but was complaining that she got all C's in the main sciences and she would have to go to an expensive private school and was nervous, this was in 2014. I checked on her facebook, it says she graduated from West Coast in 2017, she works at a pretty nice hospital in L.A in the NICU, shes a charge nurse, and she's in an MSN program right now... so she seems to be doing pretty good. But still....the insane loans are still scary to think about. I would love to ask her about it but I haven't spoken to her in years so I won't LOL. I also thought of being an LVN first, but LVN to RN programs still want you to have a good GPA to get in....which I don't...sigh. I'm stuck

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Specializes in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation.

Never went to WCU, but have coworkers that graduated from there (years ago) and are amazing nurses. Just be aware, you will most likely be starting at the bottom and take whatever courses WCU asks of you. One of my friends has a BS in health science and had some decent grades in anatomy and physiology but for some reason WCU didn't take those classes and he had to re-take them adding onto his debt. One of my coworkers that that graduated from WCU 10 years ago is still paying off her loans.

If you still have the "passion" to be a nurse despite having low grades and money is not an issue, go for it. Would I recommend it or any other private-for profit schools? No, it's not worth the price. Not only that, WCU has some bad rap. My hospital for one does not hire any more WCU graduates due to bad experiences with many previous new grads.

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5 minutes ago, barcode120x said:

Never went to WCU, but have coworkers that graduated from there (years ago) and are amazing nurses. Just be aware, you will most likely be starting at the bottom and take whatever courses WCU asks of you. One of my friends has a BS in health science and had some decent grades in anatomy and physiology but for some reason WCU didn't take those classes and he had to re-take them adding onto his debt. One of my coworkers that that graduated from WCU 10 years ago is still paying off her loans.

If you still have the "passion" to be a nurse despite having low grades and money is not an issue, go for it. Would I recommend it or any other private-for profit schools? No, it's not worth the price. Not only that, WCU has some bad rap. My hospital for one does not hire any more WCU graduates due to bad experiences with many previous new grads.

oh lord 10 years and still paying off loans? ?. ya it sucks you could buy a house for that money LOL. Ya I heard the bad rap thing that WCU grads get, but I know several people that had jobs at many hospitals in CA with seemingly no problems...so I dunno, I keep getting either really negative or really positive tales about this place

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Specializes in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation.
2 hours ago, cookie123d said:

I keep getting either really negative or really positive tales about this place

Sounds about right. But as I mentioned, if you have the passion for nursing, go for it! ?

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Specializes in Pre-Nursing Student.

Hey there. So, I am currently going through the process for enrollment at WCU N. Hollywood. I have a similar background as you. I completed some of my core sciences over 10 years and did not get the best grades (C's). My local community colleges all have some kind of matrix for a point system. They all vary a little bit, but in the end I know I will not be one with the highest points. I'm 41 yo and this is a career shift for me, so I really do not want to be a on waitlist for 2 years.

Just a little insight from the asking around that I have done. I have several family members that have been RNs for 15+ years, friends as well. What I have concluded is that there doesn't seem to be an issue for WCU graduates finding jobs. I too was weary of a for profit school reputation. Sometimes ppl tend to think you just buy your degree. I know of at least 3 ppl that graduated from WCU, all whom found jobs quickly and one particularity I know well. Stated he got a great education at WCU. He finished almost 5 years ago and works in a chemotherapy infusion center now.

As for the financial piece...I haven't made it there yet. I have an appt with a financial counselor in a couple weeks. I've read other threads here where students have stated they have slashed the tuition by 30,000-40,000 through qualifying for various grants and scholarships.

If you are truly interested, then contact the school and register for a zoom orientation. It is very in depth. Then you can take the next steps and truly find if it is feasible for you.

The required GPA is 2.5 ( I think), cumulatively. Pre reqs must have been completed within last 5 years. They do accept up to 12 transfer credits from entities such as straighterline. I don't recall the TEAS pass rate this is required. I didn't take the TEAS. I took the HESI, just last week and it is only required for WCU to test reading, math, vocab, and grammar. Minimum passing is 76. I scored 93. More points, more chances for scholarships.

I will come back here and update you after my financial aid appt. Best of luck to you.

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1 hour ago, CP78 said:

Hey there. So, I am currently going through the process for enrollment at WCU N. Hollywood. I have a similar background as you. I completed some of my core sciences over 10 years and did not get the best grades (C's). My local community colleges all have some kind of matrix for a point system. They all vary a little bit, but in the end I know I will not be one with the highest points. I'm 41 yo and this is a career shift for me, so I really do not want to be a on waitlist for 2 years.

Just a little insight from the asking around that I have done. I have several family members that have been RNs for 15+ years, friends as well. What I have concluded is that there doesn't seem to be an issue for WCU graduates finding jobs. I too was weary of a for profit school reputation. Sometimes ppl tend to think you just buy your degree. I know of at least 3 ppl that graduated from WCU, all whom found jobs quickly and one particularity I know well. Stated he got a great education at WCU. He finished almost 5 years ago and works in a chemotherapy infusion center now.

As for the financial piece...I haven't made it there yet. I have an appt with a financial counselor in a couple weeks. I've read other threads here where students have stated they have slashed the tuition by 30,000-40,000 through qualifying for various grants and Scholarships.

If you are truly interested, then contact the school and register for a zoom orientation. It is very in depth. Then you can take the next steps and truly find if it is feasible for you.

The required GPA is 2.5 ( I think), cumulatively. Pre reqs must have been completed within last 5 years. They do accept up to 12 transfer credits from entities such as straighterline. I don't recall the TEAS pass rate this is required. I didn't take the TEAS. I took the HESI, just last week and it is only required for WCU to test reading, math, vocab, and grammar. Minimum passing is 76. I scored 93. More points, more chances for scholarships.

I will come back here and update you after my financial aid appt. Best of luck to you.

Thank you for your insight. Firstly, a lot of community colleges don’t do wait lists these days, they do lottery systems. But ya, since you did all those classes 10 years ago, most require for the classes to be within 7 years. And yes, I wasn’t worried about what people would think of me if I went to a for profit school so what? I don’t care what people think those students have to take the NCLEX like everybody else at the end of the day. I was more worried about the financial side.

I think I will also schedule a orientation just to see what they will say, a guy on here sent me pics from his financial orientation and they told him its 17 thousand a term and theres 8 terms so ya…that’s where the 100k comes from….My only other concern is that if you flunk out, theres no refunds and you will be stuck paying all that for nothing! ? Let me know if you can what they told you. Thanks my dear!

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Specializes in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation.
On 7/22/2020 at 10:26 AM, cookie123d said:

I think I will also schedule a orientation just to see what they will say, a guy on here sent me pics from his financial orientation and they told him its 17 thousand a term and theres 8 terms so ya…that’s where the 100k comes from….My only other concern is that if you flunk out, theres no refunds and you will be stuck paying all that for nothing! ? Let me know if you can what they told you. Thanks my dear!

Eek, that's a lot. My buddy that I highly advised not go to WCU a few years ago (he graduated with flying colors and is working at a psych facility) ended up with around a 130k or so bill. He was the one I mentioned had to take extra classes because WCU wouldn't accept some of his transferable classes from Cal-State Fullerton.

Honestly, once you finish you WILL be able to pay off your loans in the long run, but it's such a huge bill. In your case, this may seem to be the only route left in order to get into nursing.

Who knows, many of us healthcare workers are hoping that something good might come out after this C-pandemic (loan forgiveness, reimbursement, etc) and you might get lucky if this happens. But, one can only hope.

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Specializes in Pre-Nursing Student.

Hi Cookie123d. I thought I'd come here and provide an update on my experience with WCU so far. I had meeting with financial aid last Friday. Very informative and very helpful young lady named Lupe. Each individuals' situation is going to be unique...for me I qualified for around 9,000 a year in fed loans and nothing in federal grants or scholarships (primarily due to my spouses income).

9,000 isn't much if you know their sticker price is about 38,000 per year. So, Lupe advised me to apply for individual student loans, for the remaining need, through a portal which she recommended. Unfortunately, I was not able to qualify based on my income alone. I forwarded the denials to Lupe and she then sent me an application for a specific scholarship through WCU which is offered when students have a financial gap and cannot qualify for an outside loan. I am in the process of completing that application along with applying for a few other scholarships that pointed me to. They are all through WCU student portal. It seems there is a fair chance that based on CGPA, TEAS or HESI scores and financial need....that I could qualify for a scholarship to cover a good portion of the tuition. They use a matrix to determine the need based on the 3 areas I mentioned earlier.

Again, I know each persons financial situation is different, but I recommend going through the motions if you are truly interested. So that you can see where it leads you. It might be more affordable for you then you think.

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46 minutes ago, CP78 said:

Hi Cookie123d. I thought I'd come here and provide an update on my experience with WCU so far. I had meeting with financial aid last Friday. Very informative and very helpful young lady named Lupe. Each individuals' situation is going to be unique...for me I qualified for around 9,000 a year in fed loans and nothing in federal grants or Scholarships (primarily due to my spouses income).

9,000 isn't much if you know their sticker price is about 38,000 per year. So, Lupe advised me to apply for individual student loans, for the remaining need, through a portal which she recommended. Unfortunately, I was not able to qualify based on my income alone. I forwarded the denials to Lupe and she then sent me an application for a specific Scholarship through WCU which is offered when students have a financial gap and cannot qualify for an outside loan. I am in the process of completing that application along with applying for a few other scholarships that pointed me to. They are all through WCU student portal. It seems there is a fair chance that based on CGPA, TEAS or HESI scores and financial need....that I could qualify for a scholarship to cover a good portion of the tuition. They use a matrix to determine the need based on the 3 areas I mentioned earlier.

Again, I know each persons financial situation is different, but I recommend going through the motions if you are truly interested. So that you can see where it leads you. It might be more affordable for you then you think.

Hmm thank you for that info! Yes I will definilty check it out, sorry if this sounds dumb but do you just see if you qualify for the loan and you don’t have to take it yet? Like can you just go there and see what you would qualify for would it effect your credit score if you inquire about one? An update on my side too, I had WCU contact me because I wanted to just ask them how long the lvn to RN program would take to get a straight answer, and the “academic counselor” on the line, had a really pushy, used car salesman attitude to him, which turned me off. He kept on trying to “sell” me the school, he said you could get started as soon as November! I said im taking physiology in November at the community college I cant, he said oh why wouldn’t you wanna take all your prereques here? I said well do save thousands of dollars duh LOL, and he got all quiet and awkward cuz he knew I know they want people to spend money at their school as much as possible. Anyways he was pushy and I couldn’t believe he was an academic counselor, it rubbed me the wrong way. Whenever im done with my CNA course next month I'll look into the scholarship program thing you said and get a hold of them again, if it covers me a lot then im going for sure!

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Specializes in Pre-Nursing Student.

Hi Cookie:

So, my first admissions counselor was not great. He was unresponsive and hard to get in touch with for clear answers. I called the main line and asked to speak to a supervisor. Ultimately, I was assigned a new admission counselor who has been much much better. The financial aide rep I have has been great. Super responsive and helpful.

If you want to know more about transfer classes, go their TES website. You can search up schools and courses to see which look like they will transfer over. That is what my admissions counselor advised me to do. She even recommended that I take classes at a local community college while I wait for Nov term to begin.

At the moment, I am waiting to see if I qualify for the centennial scholarship offered by WCU. That is what will help me decide whether or not I move forward.

I do not know if going through the steps of meeting with financial aide hits your credit report, but it certainly does not bind you to attending the school.

The school will not officially enroll until all your payment methods have been secured.

Let me know if you have any other Q's. Best wishes.

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For anyone that has been to the NoHO campus what are the clinical sites you can choose from ? 

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On 8/12/2020 at 4:07 PM, CP78 said:

Hi Cookie123d. I thought I'd come here and provide an update on my experience with WCU so far. I had meeting with financial aid last Friday. Very informative and very helpful young lady named Lupe. Each individuals' situation is going to be unique...for me I qualified for around 9,000 a year in fed loans and nothing in federal grants or scholarships (primarily due to my spouses income).

9,000 isn't much if you know their sticker price is about 38,000 per year. So, Lupe advised me to apply for individual student loans, for the remaining need, through a portal which she recommended. Unfortunately, I was not able to qualify based on my income alone. I forwarded the denials to Lupe and she then sent me an application for a specific scholarship through WCU which is offered when students have a financial gap and cannot qualify for an outside loan. I am in the process of completing that application along with applying for a few other scholarships that pointed me to. They are all through WCU student portal. It seems there is a fair chance that based on CGPA, TEAS or HESI scores and financial need....that I could qualify for a scholarship to cover a good portion of the tuition. They use a matrix to determine the need based on the 3 areas I mentioned earlier.

Again, I know each persons financial situation is different, but I recommend going through the motions if you are truly interested. So that you can see where it leads you. It might be more affordable for you then you think.

Hi CP78,

You said you didn't qualify for federal grants/scholarships because of your spouses' income. When you applied for the private loans, is that based solely on your income and not your spouses'? 

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