CSU difficulty

Unfortunately, it's the sad reality of California and the CSU and UC schools. California is extremely competitive with in-state students and then you have out-of-state students who try to get in here as well. As crazy as this sounds, the only thing I could suggest is to retake the one class you got a B in to get an A. Of course, only do this is if it's acceptable to do a retake for whatever school you are applying to. Insane, right?

I actually do not think your stats are bad at all. Sometimes it's just luck of the draw as to who gets in or doesn't.

My suggestion is to apply to every CSU school you can and see what happens. Also do not rule out out-of-state schools either. Apply there too! What have you got to lose? Probably just a couple of dollars for the application fee. For some people, another state may realistically be their only chance to get in to a nursing school. If you are still young, you have some time to figure out if an out-of-state school is worth the price rather than waiting for a spot in the CSU system.

Just FYI: check cities that are not overpopulated. Stay away from NYC, Boston, Dallas, etc. They're just as competitive. Aim for states where it's less populous: North & South Dakota, Montana, Iowa, Michigan, Wisconsin. Remember you're choosing a place to go to school, not to go party your @#* off.

You are starting work as a CNA so that is definitely a plus on your side. If you just started a month or two ago it may not make a huge difference because you have not done it for too long. However, if you do not get in this time around, in another year you will have more CNA experience and that will definitely be in your favor.

It's not you, it's just California.

Good luck!

Thank you for all of this information!! What a great help. I will work a little more as a CNA and will definitely apply to all of the schools I can, regardless of if its in-state public or private/out-of-state schools The hard part is, is that even if I get in I cannot afford anything besides in-state publics!! And the science class that I got that ONE B IN for my community college does not allow for you to retake it, unless you got a D or F. Nursing is hardcore, that never really sunk in until these past couple of hours LOL. I will probably apply everywhere and then figure out the money situation later, but do you think that hypothetically if I only get in to the privates/out-of-state schools, loans and being in debt is worth going there quicker, instead of reapplying to in-state publics the following semester and/or year? I know that is a hard personal question, but what would you specifically do? And yes, I am 20 years old still.

You are young enough that you could carry debt and get away with it. I'm assuming you still live at home? Well, if you do go and get a BSN elsewhere w/ debt, I'd suggest strongly returning back home (as long as you can find a job in the area), living with your parents until you get your debt down or completely paid off. If not with the parents, then with roommates to keep your expenditures down.

Where a lot of people go wrong is they go out & get a good paying job and start buying all sorts of overpriced cars, luxury apartments, overpriced items (clothes, shoes, etc..) and sink more into debt. As long as you keep in mind that your first priority is to pay off that school loan ASAP, you should do fine. Don't go overboard and take out way more than you need. People do this all the time because they want extra money to spend on entertainment or vacations while in school. Schools always have their tuition somewhere on the website and if you get chosen, budget wisely.

Overall, out-of-state schools might cost you a little more because you are charged nonresident tuition. What will cost you less is going to be the cost of living in those states I mentioned before because it's cheap to live there compared to CA. It sorta evens out in the end. For example, a one bedroom apartment in those states I mentioned before may cost around $700/mo. Less if you get a roommate. In CA, I don't need to tell you what an one bedroom costs since you know it's way more than $700.

If it were me at 20 years old, I would give it my best shot and apply for the next 1 - 2 years to all the CSU schools and maybe 1-3 out of state schools. After two years, if you still have not gotten in, then spread out even more and apply to more out-of-state and private schools. As long as you do well on your TEAS, I think you have a reasonable chance of getting in somewhere. Especially after working as a CNA.

Thank you so much, this is super informative and I never really thought of my situation in this way!

1 hour ago, angsalerno said:

Thank you so much, this is super informative and I never really thought of my situation in this way!

Never be afraid to apply to schools. I know you'll always see people (especially on this site) who will ask for stats and put down their stats first thing. This might be a few people applying to whatever program you are. I have seen plenty of entries of students who "claim" they have straight A's and sound like they invented electricity or something and who knows if they're even telling the truth. Now, certainly if you have a 2.50 GPA, I'd probably say you're out of luck. I think your GPA is competitive to throw your hat into the ring. Don't lose hope. Keep applying and something will hit!

Good luck to you and I wish you the best! ?

On 5/27/2020 at 5:21 AM, angsalerno said:

Hi! I am a fellow nursing student at my local community college, and have been working towards getting into SDSU for the BSN program for a while now. I have what I think are pretty good statistics with only one B in my science prerequisites, and around a 3.7 cumulative GPA. I just looked more into CSULB and SDSU and realized that my stats are not nearly good enough which is crazy to me, it is so insanely competitive! I do not know what to do now because the UC's have too many prerequisites that I am not able to fulfill (like calculus and ochem), and the privates/out-of-state schools are far too expensive for me. I feel that getting a loan is silly since where you go for nursing doesn't matter too much in terms of pay rate right, just that you get your BSN degree? Hence, privates/out-of-states should be out of the picture? Well I was really relying on getting into SDSU but now I realize that it is extremely unlikely (I calculated my points and compared it to previous years). I want to get into a cal state my first time applying, but what should I do to make my application stand out more - I already have taken majority of the prereqs and am going to take the TEA exam soon, plus I have some (very little )work experience as a CNA, I am not sure what else I can do!! Is there anyone else who got into a cal state with "average" statistics like me? I just need to know if I will get into a good CSU or if I should take out loans for private/out-of-states maybe? Thank you.

@angsalerno

You have good pre-req stats! The only problem is you live in California! UCI acceptance rate was 1.7%, and CSUF 40 students a year. These are incredibly hard to get into and probably not worth your time waiting. Sometimes a more prestigious school is worth it, but in Nursing this is not true! A BSN is a BSN. Waiting for these schools is not worth it bc each year is wasting ~$60,000 in opportunity cost working as a nurse.

If you live at home rent free I would suggest a private school. You might pay more (~30-50k) but you will wait less and get on with your life quicker. If you get your prerequisites done you might consider West Coast or Western Governors University (online). I've met many grads at my work place and they were hired quickly and are doing fine. WGU is actually very affordable if you are able to do online courses.

Good luck!

Will look more into this, thank you!