Did you get accepted into a nursing school the first time you applied? In California

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Aug 28, 2014

Just a friendly suggestion: you should also ask people to reveal the state in which they're located. I see you're in CA, which is a state with some of the most horribly impacted nursing programs in the country.

soloreo93 · Aug 28, 2014

thank you! i edited it

Kuriin, BSN, RN · Sep 7, 2014

I was rejected from a MEPN-style program to skip the BSN. Applied to a BSN program and got in. I think I only applied to one school, too, lol.

Satori77, ADN · Sep 7, 2014

This is the pre-nursing form. You might get more responses in the nursing student forum or the California forum.

soloreo93 · Sep 9, 2014

I will be applying for schools in spring 2015, and I'm very nervous. I was wondering if you guys had to apply multiple times to nursing programs to get accepted or if you got into a school the first time you applied. How many schools did you apply to? If you don't mind can you also tell me the grades you had in the sciences? Thank you!

akulahawkRN, ADN, RN, EMT-P · Sep 9, 2014

I first started applying to RN schools in my area 7 years ago. At the time, I could realistically only attend two schools. Back then, the programs both held 2 application periods every year, so I applied every semester, and I submitted 15 applications over 4 years before I was finally offered a seat... in both programs for the same semester. Three years later (3 year plan of a 2 year program) I graduated and I'm now an RN looking for a job.

Those three years also brought other changes too... both programs have changed their application process and have reduced the pool of qualified applicants by quite a bit. Now you might have to wait maybe one or 2 years before you are granted entry. I believe the vast majority of my graduating cohort applied twice or less meeting they only had to wait a year or 2 before they could start their program. That is very much a far cry from the 4 years that I had to wait for a seat in mine.

My suggestion is actually very simple: apply to every school that you can realistically apply to and are qualified to attend. In my case, that meant that I was unable to apply to CSU Sacramento's nursing program because I already had a bachelors degree and they were closed to students like me at the time. Things have since changed, I am considering attending CSU Sacramento for an RN – BSN program.

The main thing that you should keep in mind is that once you are qualified to apply, do so and keep applying until you get a seat. If you stop applying, you will not gain entry to a program. If you apply and you are rejected for that cycle, don't stop attending classes, work on getting your general education course work done because you do not want to finish an RN program and still have to complete some general education course work before you graduate. A former classmate of mine was in exactly that position and had to wait an extra semester before he could get his ADN, and therefore get licensed as an RN.

WookieeRN, BSN, MSN, RN · Sep 9, 2014

I only applied to one program, and was accepted into said program.

hockey24 · Sep 9, 2014

Good Morning,

I live in Southern Ca. and I was accepted into two Ca. State BSN programs the first time I applied. Both programs admitted students based on academics and TEAS scores as the primary criteria for admittance.If possible attend information sessions and find out if a per-nursing advisor will review your transcripts as I found this to be very helpful. Good luck.

danielle11 · Sep 9, 2014

I was accepted into the one and only CSU nursing program that I applied to the first time. This program admitted students based on a point system which was based off of our cumulative GPA, nursing science GPA, nuring non-science GPA and TEAS score, as well as a few extra points for previous healthcare experience, second language, being from the area, etc. Since I did my pre reqs at the school, I knew what was needed of me to get into the nursing program and I worked very hard (as we all did!) to get A's and a high score on my TEAS test. Good luck to you! It is tough but not impossible!