Best West Coast BSN Programs?

Smwright19 · Sep 30, 2014

Okay, thanks for clearing that up. I think I'll put off worrying about this until I actually get accepted. Right now, I need to focus on the app essays and scholarships.

RunBabyRN · Sep 30, 2014

I would really love to live in the Pacific Northwest (specifically, Portland), and private schools have the same tuition for out of state students, so it would make sense if I go out of state. Location is one of the deciding factors for me, and while it may seem like a superficial reason to go or not go to a school, I believe that it can contribute to my overall enjoyment and success at a university. I will apply to CSULA and LB, but only as backups. My reach schools, which I haven't mentioned before, are UCLA and UCI, both of which are in California.
I've been told that many colleges are what you make of them, and as a fairly highly motivated student, I feel like I could thrive in a private school better.
Additionally, many of the private schools I'm considering have substantial financial aid packages, especially for a decent student coming from a relatively low-income household. This makes them all the more appealing to me.
And, I could be wrong about this, but many of the nursing programs at CSUs have waitlists of up to two years or more. Private schools generally do not. I think. If I'm right about this, then this will definitely help me complete my program and start working as soon as possible.

Private schools do not automatically equate to a better education. I've seen some of the students from the local private universities. They definitely vary, and the nurses complained A LOT about students from one of them. I agree location is important- I didn't apply to CSU Fresno for that reason. :)

CSUs also have a lot of financial aid, especially if you come from a low income household. Have you spoken with anyone in financial aid? You could also do your lower division courses at a community college to save even more (I've never understood why people feel the need to do this stuff at a university). You can do your lower division at one place and transfer to a university. Few schools offer preference for "native" students anymore (though some do- research!).

CSUs also do not have running wait lists. Some community colleges in CA do. If you are waitlisted at a CSU, and school starts, the wait list is discarded, and you have to wait for the next application cycle. Only the top candidates are admitted each semester. Community colleges have various ways of doing it, some of which include those long wait lists.

Smwright19 · Sep 30, 2014

Private schools do not automatically equate to a better education. I've seen some of the students from the local private universities. They definitely vary, and the nurses complained A LOT about students from one of them. I agree location is important- I didn't apply to CSU Fresno for that reason. :)
CSUs also have a lot of financial aid, especially if you come from a low income household. Have you spoken with anyone in financial aid? You could also do your lower division courses at a community college to save even more (I've never understood why people feel the need to do this stuff at a university). You can do your lower division at one place and transfer to a university. Few schools offer preference for "native" students anymore (though some do- research!).
CSUs also do not have running wait lists. Some community colleges in CA do. If you are waitlisted at a CSU, and school starts, the wait list is discarded, and you have to wait for the next application cycle. Only the top candidates are admitted each semester. Community colleges have various ways of doing it, some of which include those long wait lists.

Thanks for your input (again! I remember you helped with another question of mine).

How important is it to graduate near where you want to live? Would it be reasonable to go to a CSU then move to another state? Can I do prereqs at a CC here and then transfer to WA or OR? I have several concerns about this plan of action, namely, that I won't get accepted into a nursing program at the place where I'd actually want to study. And even if they might not offer preference, at least by going to the same school for four years, I'd have the proper prereqs.

Also, is there any other active forum (excluding allnurses) where I can read reviews of specific programs? I've been doing research on some colleges but I was wondering if there's a good place for that.

Also, I apologize for all the questions, and I appreciate all your help.

2014Student · Oct 1, 2014

I am in my first year or pre-reqs for nursing! I was in the same boat that you are at this point last year, have you had the chance to visit or do you plan to visit any of the schools? I am from Portland and really considered University of Portland! Not only do they give out amazing scholarships for academics, but they also offer a seamless program and have a high success rate for their nursing program! One thing that appealed to me was the seamless, this basically means that you are accepted into nursing as a freshmen and as long as you maintain a certain GPA you do not have to reapply for actual nursing school your junior year. This really influenced my decision, I mean how relieving is that!! Not only are these the positives of UofP but many of my family members are nurses in the area and they told me University of Portland nursing grads are highly liked in many of the hospitals and clinics in the area! I currently go to Regis University in Denver which offered the same program which was a major part in my decision! If you want any other information from me I would be more than happy to give it to you! It's not the same beings that I don't attended any of the schools that you're looking at but I can help with some general questions! Good Luck! I hope you end up somewhere that also fits you!!

Smwright19 · Oct 1, 2014

I am in my first year or pre-reqs for nursing! I was in the same boat that you are at this point last year, have you had the chance to visit or do you plan to visit any of the schools? I am from Portland and really considered University of Portland! Not only do they give out amazing scholarships for academics, but they also offer a seamless program and have a high success rate for their nursing program! One thing that appealed to me was the seamless, this basically means that you are accepted into nursing as a freshmen and as long as you maintain a certain GPA you do not have to reapply for actual nursing school your junior year. This really influenced my decision, I mean how relieving is that!! Not only are these the positives of UofP but many of my family members are nurses in the area and they told me University of Portland nursing grads are highly liked in many of the hospitals and clinics in the area! I currently go to Regis University in Denver which offered the same program which was a major part in my decision! If you want any other information from me I would be more than happy to give it to you! It's not the same beings that I don't attended any of the schools that you're looking at but I can help with some general questions! Good Luck! I hope you end up somewhere that also fits you!!

Good for you! I've heard good things about Regis and I hope you do well there.

I've visited PLNU and stayed in dorms for a church thing over Memorial weekend... for three years in a row. I absolutely love it, from what I've experienced first-hand. I've also done a college visit at GFU because i happened to be visiting my cousins in Olympia, so we took a five hour drive to visit that one too. I really loved the whole atmosphere there, and since it was a guided tour, I learned a lot from some of the alumni, which really helped.

I also like the idea of the whole "seamless" thing you mentioned. Would that be the same as a direct entry program? It would be great to have one less thing to worry about in college.

2014Student · Oct 1, 2014

Thanks! I love it!! GFU is another great school! I went to high school in Newberg and many of my friends are in the GFU nursing program. To my knowledge they are the same thing! It helps so much with the stress that already exists in college!

Smwright19 · Oct 1, 2014

Thanks! I love it!! GFU is another great school! I went to high school in Newberg and many of my friends are in the GFU nursing program.

Awesome! I have a more specific question regarding George Fox. Did your friends apply as freshmen or did they do any prereqs at a CC? Is it easy to transfer in (and still receive financial aid) as a transfer student? Which would you recommend?

2014Student · Oct 1, 2014

He applied as a freshmen, although (I am not positive) I believe that you can do pre-reqs at PCC which is the local community college. The only reason I did not do that route was because at all the schools I looked at it was much harder to get into the nursing program as a "outsider" rather than those who did their pre-reqs at the school. I understand if you are trying to save money as best as you can, because these schools can get expensive, but it is usually better to do your pre-reqs where you want to go to nursing school. But what you also need to remember is that the expense sucks but it will be worth it in the end!! I would recommend going the 4 year university route just because the chances of getting into actual nursing school are much better. Also!! As far as Oregon state schools the success rate of getting into other nursing schools is very low! Have you looked at Linfield? It's in McMinnville (I'm bias, I am from there!!) which is a great little town like 20 minutes south of Newberg! It has a very well known nursing program as well and gives out amazing scholarships!

ThatOneDude822 · Oct 1, 2014

Honestly, I'm not very informed as far as the private universities go, but I saw you mention csula/lb and uci/ucla and just wanted to give my two cents since these ear schools I looked into a lot when I was a junior/senior in hs.

As as far as the two CSUs go, if it comes down to where you have to decide between the two of them (which I'm sure won't happen if they're just backups, your stats are great) then I would personally go with LB. Their program is VERY highly regarded, it's generally considered THE best program in the entire CSU system by most people. I've heard some bad stories about csula and I just got a bad vibe from it while I was researching it. As far as getting accepted to these two for pre-nursing, you should have no problem. I was accepted as a pre-nursing student at csulb with lower stats than yours (3.7 weighted GPA, and 1840 SAT -- CSUs won't give your volunteer work consideration at this stage, though it will give you brownie points while applying to the actual nursing program). Csulb was my second choice (sfsu being my first). I was accepted to both for pre-nursing but ironically I ended up not going to either because the housing was too expensive.

For ucla and uci, they're both very tempting because they're direct entry programs, I believe the only two DEs in CA. I know more about uci than ucla, so I'll talk about that. I applied to UCI's program (and got rejected. Definitely very competitive. About 80 spots for ~2000 applicants). After I applied I looked into the program more and began wishing I didn't waste the $70 app fee. Their NCLEX scores weren't the greatest, most of the CSUs had higher scores than UCI. I began talking to people who went to uci for nursing, and a lot of them said that they felt uci focused too much on the science and not enough on the practical applications of what they were learning - the program was very textbook. I think the main reason people are drawn to uci is because it's direct entry and they're regarded as a good science school, but it seems like they focus on the science bit too much for nursing..I've heard similar stories about ucla, but I couldn't give much detail about it as I didn't find myself intentionally researching ucla's program very often (I wasn't going to waste my time on a school that wasn't going to accept me)

Sorry, I know you were mainly interested in info about the private unis, but i saw you talk about these specific schools and wanted to interject to give you some advice/info from a person who has had some experience with the schools (at least in the application and financial processes). Whatever you decide you can't go wrong. Every school has ups and downs, you just have to fund out what you value more in a university. Good luck :up:

Smwright19 · Oct 1, 2014

Have you looked at Linfield? It's in McMinnville (I'm bias, I am from there!!) which is a great little town like 20 minutes south of Newberg! It has a very well known nursing program as well and gives out amazing scholarships!

I have actually, but I thought they didn't have an undergrad BSN program, only accelerated and RN-BSN.

SubSippi · Oct 1, 2014

If you live in an area where the market for new grads is tough, everything I've read on this board says that you should definitely plan on living in the area where you went to school. People seem to most often get jobs through contacts they've made at hospitals. Some of your clinical instructors will have worked at these hospitals.

Smwright19 · Oct 1, 2014

Honestly, I'm not very informed as far as the private universities go, but I saw you mention csula/lb and uci/ucla and just wanted to give my two cents since these ear schools I looked into a lot when I was a junior/senior in hs.
As as far as the two CSUs go, if it comes down to where you have to decide between the two of them (which I'm sure won't happen if they're just backups, your stats are great) then I would personally go with LB. Their program is VERY highly regarded, it's generally considered THE best program in the entire CSU system by most people. I've heard some bad stories about csula and I just got a bad vibe from it while I was researching it. As far as getting accepted to these two for pre-nursing, you should have no problem. I was accepted as a pre-nursing student at csulb with lower stats than yours (3.7 weighted GPA, and 1840 SAT -- CSUs won't give your volunteer work consideration at this stage, though it will give you brownie points while applying to the actual nursing program). Csulb was my second choice (sfsu being my first). I was accepted to both for pre-nursing but ironically I ended up not going to either because the housing was too expensive.
For ucla and uci, they're both very tempting because they're direct entry programs, I believe the only two DEs in CA. I know more about uci than ucla, so I'll talk about that. I applied to UCI's program (and got rejected. Definitely very competitive. About 80 spots for ~2000 applicants). After I applied I looked into the program more and began wishing I didn't waste the $70 app fee. Their NCLEX scores weren't the greatest, most of the CSUs had higher scores than UCI. I began talking to people who went to uci for nursing, and a lot of them said that they felt uci focused too much on the science and not enough on the practical applications of what they were learning - the program was very textbook. I think the main reason people are drawn to uci is because it's direct entry and they're regarded as a good science school, but it seems like they focus on the science bit too much for nursing..I've heard similar stories about ucla, but I couldn't give much detail about it as I didn't find myself intentionally researching ucla's program very often (I wasn't going to waste my time on a school that wasn't going to accept me)
Sorry, I know you were mainly interested in info about the private unis, but i saw you talk about these specific schools and wanted to interject to give you some advice/info from a person who has had some experience with the schools (at least in the application and financial processes). Whatever you decide you can't go wrong. Every school has ups and downs, you just have to fund out what you value more in a university. Good luck

No, thank you so much. This is actually really helpful. In case I change my mind or realize that the money situation isn't going to work out or something, these are the schools I'm definitely considering (more csulb than the others now). The UCs have always just been reach schools for me. The DE factor really helps, but the 5%ish acceptance rate into the nursing program is formidable. I'd have more luck getting into Johns Hopkins or Harvard...

May I ask where you ended up going and why you chose it?