Easier or harder to accepted into a RN or BSN Program?

[chollygolightly]

I've researched heavily on the grades it takes to get accepted into a RN program at a community college, which requires: 3.8+ GPA, high TESA scores and good work experience (and even with all of this, may still get waitlisted for months). I am now discouraged.

Is it easier to get into a BSN program? I've read that it is easier to get into a nursing program from a more expensive private school (like USF, NYU, BC), since fewer people will apply. Even though, what type of grades do I need to get into those schools? Currently, I am a UCSD graduate, but want to do nursing. Since the degree I have is Communication, I will have to start from scratch (3.2 GPA, 3.6 Major GPA, took some really hard courses like Organic Chem & Calculus that nearly destroyed my GPA), and plan on taking my pre-requisite courses at a local community college. I am considering all my options, including getting a second Bachelors, or ideally a Masters (but I think you need atleast a RN degree before doing so).

Ideally, I would love to stay in the Bay Area of California, and am interested in schools in the city like SFSU, UCSF, SMU and USF. But would be willing to relocate to the East Coast.

Any advice will be helpful, since all the material I am reading online, especially college websites say you need atleast 3.0 GPA, but knowing how competitive nursing schools are now, I know the standards are much higher, and want a REAL breakdown of the types of grades I need.

[LilFatAzn]

Since you have a Bachelor's degree, some schools offer accelerated-BSN program

[emcadams]

I would do more research on bsn programs in the area you want to live, as you will generally be doing your clinicals or externships at local hospitals. That's a lot of time spent with an institution that you may get a job at later. You should look at All Nursing Schools - A Complete Directory of U.S. Nursing Programs and Your #1 Resource for Nursing Programs Admissions Info or a similar site to get a list of schools in your state...then go to the schools site and look at admission requirements/process. Making A's in your prereqs will go a long way to boost your overall GPA.

[UVA Grad Nursing]

I would recommmend using the database from the American Association of Colleges of Nursing at American Association of Colleges of Nursing | Nursing Program Search. This lists schools by state and level of education (BSN, Phd, etc).

The site mentioned above run by All Nursing Schools is a for-profit database, and schools need to pay to be listed there. Not all schools have marketing budgets and will pay to be adversited on site. My school used to listed in the All Nursing Schools list as a featured school, but the costs they were charging became prohibitive.

The website in my link above (American Association of College of Nursing) does not charge schools to be listed, so it tends to be a more exhaustive list of all programs at the BSN level and above.

[emcadams]

Right on, UVA. Guess I should have checked before posting the link. I found it helpful about 5 years ago, but yeah the stuff on there now is junk. Too bad! Used to be such a great tool...

[chollygolightly]

Wow great tips and website!