Best ADN/BSN program in SFBay? ok to base on NCLEX pass rate?

I live in the Midwest and have no idea about the SF area (sorry!) but I had to respond. I am getting my ADN at a large community college here. I took all my pre-reqs at the same school. I'm trying to be diplomatic here, but I'm not sure there is a way to do it... I had the same experiences as you in many of my pre-reqs. I'll just stop it there. However, their nursing program is well-known to be one of the best in the state. I would strongly advise you to not base your decision solely on your experiences in pre-reqs. Nursing schools are competitive, and if you don't know your stuff, it's going to be really hard to get in. Those people will be weeded out REALLY quickly. If the school has a good NCLEX pass rate, they must be doing something right.

If you haven't already, it would be a really good idea to make an appointment with someone from the nursing department. They might even be able to set you up with a current nursing student to talk to. Do your research, see what their reputation is in the community. Tour the facilities. Don't judge just on one attribute - you need to look at the whole picture. You WILL be challenged in nursing school...I've never met anyone who said it was easy!

I know how hard it is to make such an important decision. Best of luck to you...just my two cents!

When looking at the NCLEX pass rate, take into consideration the number of student that took the exam and the number that passed. For example, if 48 out of 50 students passed the NCLEX you have a 96% pass rate. However if for some reason only 2 students took the exam, but only 1 passed the pass rate is 50%. I have seen the statistics where this has happened.

If you are able, talk to people at the nearby hospitals to get an idea of what the employer thinks of the graduates.

As Rexy points out, students with poor pre-req grades will be weeded out as the schools are quite competitive. Good luck!

Expounding on the post above, look at the school's retention rates. For example, I've seen schools that pass ~90% of students through the program but only have a 60% pass rate on NCLEX. The program I attended consistently passes 55-60% of their students, but our NCLEX pass rates stay above 90% year after year. I'd rather choose a school that passes a lower percentage of students through the program in exchange for a high pass rate on NCLEX.

Thanks! That helps a lot! Well yes, the school I feel appears a little desolate and run down. And I don't feel challenged by other students nor the environment and it's questionable whether or not they have accommodating facilities/equipment appropriate for a quality nursing education. It's been very, very painful for me to go to class everyday because I pay $12 everyday to get there and I'm not challenged.

Yes, their NCLEX pass rate is about 96.1% based on the 40-50 students that took the exam. I was just wondering if they simply just train you to take the NCLEX?? And that's it? lol..

ok, I guess I will seek it out further...

Thanks!!! :)

oh... @rexy... so in the end you feel you received a good nursing education at your school? Thanks!

I went from a large university to a CC for nursing. The nursing classes were HARD. But, we got the summer off between first and second year, so I wanted to take a few classes that would go towards my BSN at the CC.... I felt like you, holy moly... some of the people in that class were like, wooooow! But, those people dont get admitted. You have to be a smart cookie to get good enough grades to get in. Like a previous poster said... I have never met anybody that said nursing school was easy that passed the NCLEX.

I went and toured a lot of schools in the bay area. Attended SJSU for my undergrad, and was familiar with the nursing program there, but I was not impressed. I heard some pretty horrible stories about instructors from nursing students there.

After I graduated, I visited several schools. I'll list them with my experiences-

Bakersfield (not really bay area, but close)- Program and facilities seem really nice, if you can handle heat and how far away Bako is from.... everything.

Ohlone- Campus was ok, nursing building was pretty average. Heard they give priority to people who live within 10-15 miles of their campus. Overall I was not impressed.

SF (city)- I have known people who have graduated from there. They have nothing but great things to say about the program.

Evergreen (EVC)- Toured and loved it. I accepted an offer for their ADN so I will be starting in the fall. They do their clinicals and Santa Clara Med. which I am familiar with from internships during my undergrad. The faculty are all super helpful, and haven spoken to several graduates from the program- I was sold.

LMC- Well... if you have ever been to that campus before... you'll probably know how bad it is. My impression of the nursing program was not much different from the rest of the school/area. I've never spoken to anyone who attended their program so it could be really great, but just from speaking to faculty and what I saw personally, I didn't care for it.

Chabot- I liked it a lot. Great faculty and campus.

De Anza- I thought the facilities were good. I know a couple people who graduated from there and they said they enjoyed their experiences. One (of the three I knew) did not pass NCLEX the first 2 times they took it.

As for pay differences, I heard it's $1-2/hour and also easier to land a job in the first place with a BSN. But that's just hearsay, and I am sure individual experiences are different.

@ Ellie... for SF (city) Are you referring to City College of San Francisco? Not SF State? Did you get a chance to ever explore CCC (Contra Costa College) Thanks!:)

Yes, CCSF. I know two BSN nurses from SFSU who enjoyed the program but the school has such a low pass rate I didn't even bother looking into it. I never checked out CCC, nor do I know anyone who has attended the ADN program there, sorry.

oh... @rexy... so in the end you feel you received a good nursing education at your school? Thanks!

YES!! I have never doubted my decision for a second. I love the faculty, staff, and students. And my student loans will be very manageable.

HEllo,

I must respectfully disagree with EllieBean regarding Ohlone (where I currently attend NS). There is no preference regarding where you love - over half of my class does not live in the Newark/Fremont area (where the school is located). I love the nursing facilities (brand new "green" building with it's own simulation lab (I feel that the sim lab is very important, and some schools don't have their own- I have heard that Chabot doesn't, but I may be wrong).

Given that Ohline is one of the many lottery based ADN pogroms in NorCal, I feel their unique application process gives you a more than decent chance to be accepted (it requires more work in the form of mandatory orientation, testing, etc, but in the end you end up in a pool of 200-300, rather than a pool of 600-1000+ like many of the othe CCs).

And best of all (to me), Ohline has. Fall and spring program, each containing 20 students- so your odds of being selected are still pretty good, and you have a nice small class size- no worries About the school "weeding out" students and better one-one one attention :)

Finally, while the course are challenging, they are interesting and well taught. As far as I know,none of my classmates were "C" students in prereqs (you must have a minimum "score", calculated based on prereq grades, repeated courses, etc, in order to be eligible to apply. While I cannot remember the programs exact NCLEX passing rate, I believe it is 97-98%- not bad at all :). And our professors are WONDERfUL.

You can probably tell I love my program- I was impressed with their organization from day one of the application process, and continue to be impressed with the program overall. :)

On a different note, if you want an ADN but don't want to deal with the lottery, I have heard that Chabot has dropped the lottery (and residency requirement) and starting next year will select students based on merit alone.

Good look on your nursing quest - I too am a "second degree-er" but have no regrets- I love NS :)