COC - College of the Canyons - Spring 2014

U.S.A. California

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I'm starting this thread for everyone applying for COC's spring 2014 RN program. Please feel free to join in. We're all in this together! For anyone who's thinking of applying, the deadline for turning in your transcripts and requesting your prerequisite evaluation is tomorrow!

I'm an LVN hoping to get into the LVN to RN program. I applied last year and received an email notifying me that I qualified for the program but that they didn't have the required 20 qualified LVN applicants to offer the class. Booo hooo hooo... Oh well, I completed all of the General Ed classes in the meantime and have my fingers crossed for this time around :-)

I'm a little nervous about the TEAS V test and am starting to study for it. I read that the test is pretty challenging. Yikes!

I look forward to hearing from my fellow nail-biters!

2dawn

I checked my COC email yesterday and I received an email on 7/27/13 stating that I had the green light to apply on 8/1/13. I submitted my application yesterday along with the PDF attachments that were required.

From my understanding, and don't quote me on this, is the difference for NLN accredited programs is the ability to work in certain hospitals (IE: kaiser) who looks for those certain accreditations.

I hope you get the email soon to apply. There's still plenty of time before the deadline, but I do understand the anxiousness that we all get during application period!

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Goldenheart -

Wooo hooo! I'm glad to hear that you got the go ahead to apply! Now it's just a waiting game until mid to late September.

When I said that I didn't receive a response to my prerequisite evaluation, I was talking about last year. This year I didn't need a prerequisite evaluation because I'm pre-qualified from last year. Sorry for the confusion. I applied on August 1st this year.

From the job postings I've read it looks like most, if not all, hospitals require that you are a graduate of an accredited program. I still haven't received a reply from the BRN about "approved" vs. "accredited."

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The difference between approved and accredited RN programs is very simple. An approved RN program means that California's (or any other state's) Board of Registered Nursing has approved a particular school's RN program. It is a requisite for nursing school graduates to take the licensure exam or NCLEX. So unless a nursing program is approved by a state Board of Registered Nursing, its graduates cannot take the licensure exam and become registered nurses. Here's the link to the list of 'Approved RN Programs' from the website of California's Board of Registered Nursing: Board of Registered Nursing - Approved Programs

Accreditation on the other hand is a voluntary, self-regulatory process handled by independent agencies. When a nursing program is so-called accredited, it simply means that that program has been found by an accrediting organization to meet or exceed educational quality standards and criteria. There are two national nursing program accrediting agencies recognized by the US Department of Education: the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) and the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing, Inc. (ACEN) formerly the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission, Inc. (NLNAC). Most nursing programs in community colleges are accredited by either of the two. COC's nursing program is accredited by ACEN/NLNAC.

Hope this helps clear the difference between approved and accredited nursing programs.

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I hope this post will not discourage any aspiring nursing applicant to the nursing programs of any community college in Southern California. Please take this from someone who spent two years applying to no less than 8 community colleges with nursing programs. If you are really committed to getting into a nursing program don't limit yourself to whatever is convenient. There are only 30-60 slots every semester for community college nursing programs. Compare that to the 500-700 applications that every nursing program gets every semester and you get the probability of getting accepted. There are even less slots for LVN to RN programs. So unless all your nursing prerequisites are A's then it's worth applying to as many nursing programs as you possibly can to increase your chances of getting accepted. Becoming an RN is worth all the inconveniences of nursing school and cherry-picking a nursing school is a luxury not too many prospective nursing students can afford. For me it means driving to Santa Clarita from San Bernardino four times a week the last two semesters because of all the nursing schools I applied to only COC accepted me. I have two more semesters of driving 12000 miles each time but it will all be worth it when I graduate spring of 2014.

So good luck to you all and plan well your applications.

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EdNHenry -

Thank you for your insightful posts. Your summary of the difference between "approved" vs. "accredited" mirrors my thoughts on the matter. After reading many job postings in my quest to obtain employment as an LVN, I came to the conclusion that I wouldn't even consider an RN program that wasn't accredited. What good would my RN license be if I can't get a job. From what I've read and heard, it's hard enough to get a new grad position when you graduated from an accredited program!

I admire your tenacity! Wow, I can't even imagine driving all that way four times a week! Call me a cherry-picker but I just don't think I could do it!

How do you like the program? Is the workload pretty heavy duty?

Best wishes to you! I'm sure you'll be the best, most hard working nurse ever!

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2dawn -

As far as accreditation is concerned, community colleges are always your best bet. I have checked almost all nursing programs of community colleges in San Bernardino, LA, and Orange counties and there was none that was not accredited. I understand your worries about not getting a job after graduation. However, the reality is that it is not so much that there are no job postings for new RNs but more of prospective employers like hospitals not posting their vacancies. It's not true that there are no opportunities for RNs with no experience. It's just that these types of vacancies are rather passed on by word of mouth. The key is networking. It always pays to know someone, preferably a nurse as well, within the places you want to work.

Thanks for complimenting what you called my tenacity in getting into an RN program. I didn't mean that to apply to every RN program applicant. It's just that I'm in my mid-40's and I don't have the luxury of time to wait for an RN program to drop on my lap.

I do like the program at COC not because I am a part of it. I've been to several hospitals in the Valley for my clinicals and COC RN students are held to a very high standard. The likelihood that an RN who is a graduate of COC will get hired by a Valley-based hospital over an RN from another community college is very high. That's just the impression I've been getting.

I can't speak for LVN to RN students in the program because they have their separate classes to answer your question about the workload. What I can tell is that the workload seem heavy for the first semester especially for students with no healthcare background because of the period of adjustment. There there's the load of paperwork COC is known for that goes with first semester clinical. Once you get through first semester the load gets much lighter for second and on to the fourth semester.

I wish that you get accepted into the program next spring. Maybe our paths will cross and I'd be glad to welcome you into the program.

Thanks and all the best to you!!!

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Hi! I, too applied for COC generic nursing for Spring 2014. Although, I do have my LVN license, I couldn't wait on the next cycle to apply so I thought I'd give it a shot. I have to re-take my TEAS V this saturday to try and get a betetr score since I didn't do so well on my first one! I have a 3.2 GPA and about 3.4. I did apply to other LVN-RN programs tho. Good luck to everyone!

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EdNHenry -

Ventura College is the only community college that I came across that wasn't accredited. It was a big red flag! There must be a reason why...

I totally agree about networking being the best bet for obtaining a new grad position! Also, I've been hearing that it's almost impossible to land a new grad position in a hospital unless you have at least a BSN. Are you planning to go on for your BSN? I'm planning to apply to () after I receive my RN. I'm working on my general ed classes for WGU and will only have to complete two more after this semester.

I tend to be a real wuss when it comes to driving long distances :-) Except for classes that have mandatory classroom attendance (i.e. anat/phys, micro, etc.), I take all of my classes online!

It's really encouraging to hear that the workload is reasonable after the first semester! The workload was so brutal in my LVN program that over half of my original classmates failed. I was expecting the RN program to be similar :-O

It's great to hear that COC's nursing program is highly regarded! Thanks for sharing your observations!

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Welcome smadriaga! We can all bite our nails together while waiting to hear if we got accepted!

Doesn't COC allow you to apply to both the RN and the LVN to RN programs in the same semester? Kudos to you for being willing to start the program from the beginning! That takes a lot of courage!

I have nightmares about taking the TEAS test! It seems like the amount of areas that the test covers makes it super difficult to study for. At least this time around you'll have a better idea about the types of questions on the test which should be helpful. I'll have all of my fingers and toes crossed for you on Saturday! Good luck! You can do it!

What other schools did you apply to?

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Aw! Thank you for welcoming me, 2dawn! Yes, that's true BUT I can't apply for it because I don't have 6months (jst got my license a week ago) experience as an LVN. And I heard that was mandatory to apply for the bridge program. I really didn't wanna be stuck not getting into any program cus I really jst wanna go back to school, and I wouldn't really mind starting over. But it would be my back up plan since I also did apply for for LVN-BSN, MSMC and Moorpark for LVN-RN. A lot of the schools I was looking a.. to apply for the LVN-RN requires at least 6months to a year and I don't have that. Haha!

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Smadriaga -

COC requires four months of LVN experience for their bridge program. I'm in a similar situation with Moorpark. I took anat/phys I and micro more than seven years ago so I don't qualify to apply to their LVN to RN program. I never want to take those classes again!

WGU is my only back up plan if COC doesn't have enough qualified LVN applicants this time around. I called them and they told me they don't have an official LVN to BSN program but you can challenge any areas that you feel you are proficient in. I assume that means that you can take some sort of test to prove you have sufficient knowledge in each area. I'm not sure how well I would do because it's been years since I went through the LVN program!

It sounds like you've got all the bases covered! Good for you that you've done your research and have applied to several programs! It's quite a challenge to research all the qualifications for each program and submit all of their application requirements in order to apply. It's a job in itself!

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Hi Guys!

Was just reading all the comments on here and thought i would chime in! I just sent my app for COC and i applied to Moorpark over a year ago and still haven't got in! Most of the people i know that applied to Moorpark waited the full two years before getting in. Its a bit depressing. I orginally only applied to Moorpark because it is close to my home and i didn't want to commute. But after waiting a year and a half i decided i better apply somewhere else. I have a friend who graduated COC already and she applied to Moorpark and COC at the same time and got her acceptance letter for Moorpark after she graduated COC! I really hope to get into either next semester, it starts to bum you out after waiting so long!!! I already too the TEAS when i applied to Moorpark and didn't do too well on it and i studied alot! that was a bummer, but my GPA is good and I have worked in healthcare for the past 9 years..... Hoping we all get letters!!!! : )

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