Community Colleges ADN

Hey everyone, here my situation. I recently attended a nursing workshop at a local community college here in Northern California, during which one of the speakers mentioned that one of the benefits of a ADN program vs a BSN was the amount of time saved. The problem is that though the nursing program itself is shorter, the time between the application process and actually getting into the program is much longer. I was told at the community college that if I submitted the application in the fall of '09 the earliest I could expect to start taking nursing courses was in the fall of '10 or spring '11. There is one application period each year and they randomly pick 40 students in the fall and 40 in the spring. This means I might have to wait 1 or 1 1/2 years before I even start. I've completed all my pre-reqs and noticed that many ADN programs in my area have similiarly long waiting periods. Is this normal, and does anyone know of short (18 months or so to get a degree) private nursing schools in Northern California.