California Nursing Advice

Nursing Students General Students

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Hey all,

So I've decided to switch my major from Biology to Nursing! It's a big step, and I'm glad to finally have some clarity with a specific profession in mind for where I want to go. I am currently about to enter my 3rd (and hopefully last) year at my community college. I wanted to get some community perspective for where I could go, and my chances at ending up at the colleges of my choice.

Right now, I am really considering :

CSU Long Beach

San Diego State University

CSU Los Angeles

San Francisco State University

I have taken 51.5 CSU transferable units at my community college, with a cumulative GPA of 3.592... I have taken Statistics and got a B, Critical Thinking Philosophy and got an A, Math 27 (Precalc and Trig) and got an A, and Chemistry 1A and got a B. I still need to take Microbiology, Sociology, Psychology, Anatomy, Physiology, Speech, and Food/Nutrition.

I am wondering on recommendations people have for nursing schools in California, and how realistic my odds are of getting into my picks of schools at a 3.6 GPA basically. I have done lots of googling, but it's hard to find articles specific to schools when it comes to nursing as a major. I also don't really know where to look to find the best schools for nursing... though from what I have seen online, all that seems to really matter is that you get your BSN in the end.

Could anyone give me some tips and advice on schools? I really want to see my odds of getting in to the listed schools. I've done some reading on their averages for the nursing students accepted but can only find these averages listed for some of the schools. Is there any school that seems perhaps more realistic for a 3.6 GPA student if these aren't?

I intend on applying to every CSU. Does anyone have recommendations on private nursing schools within California? I have been looking into West Coast University somewhat, and contacted their admissions department for more information. Apparently they have a 33 month program straight out of high school where you end up with a BSN... and considering I've done a fair amount of pre-reqs, if I finish up with this year's, I should be able to finis their BSN program after 18-20 months if I went there after this year. That said, it does seem pricier than other private schools.

I intend on applying to every CSU. Does anyone have recommendations on private nursing schools within California? I have been looking into West Coast University somewhat, and contacted their admissions department for more information. Apparently they have a 33 month program straight out of high school where you end up with a BSN... and considering I've done a fair amount of pre-reqs, if I finish up with this year's, I should be able to finis their BSN program after 18-20 months if I went there after this year. That said, it does seem pricier than other private schools.

My friend is attending National University right now. For her first bachelors she received a lot of grants and scholarships she didn't have to tap in to the college fund she had been awarded from an organization she had partnered with in high school. This allowed her to also consider private schools and because she wanted to stay in San Diego, National was the best fit for her. I think they also have another campus or two outside of San Diego. It is pricey, but she has been enjoying herself thus far (she started in January). Their classes are very short though because the university does not follow a standard semester or quarter system schedule. I believe her classes are six weeks long on average, so she feels like over the course of two years she'll be doing a lot of brain dumping (i.e. Memorizing and then quickly losing it to memorize new info). They do have pretty good NCLEX pass rates though (in the mid to high nineties I believe) so the program prepares you well for licensure it seems. I think someone else mentioned Azusa Pacific. I am not to sure what their BSN program is like as I only looked into their accelerated masters entry program since I already have a bachelors. But I have heard good things about the school in general. Do not be discouraged about the high GPAs for these CSU's though. They may also take into consideration volunteerism or certifications so research that as well to see if it may benefit you to get a phlebotomy certificate through a technical school. Then you can also have that experience under your belt while working. A lot of what I know is based off accelerated programs for second degree students so I'm not sure how much of this applied to transfer programs. So it is important to get in touch with the nursing departments and ask what else besides grades and TEAS scores they consider, if anything. For people with phenomenal scores, strictly academic-based criteria is great. You would definitely benefit programs that take into consideration your ability to possibly speak another language, at least 100 hours of volunteerism, certification, first aid/cpr, and those sort of extra curricular attributes. I was really bummed that I couldn't get into nursing in undergrad because I was transferring with a 3.01 and that would have been nowhere near competitive enough at pretty much any university. See what other easy 100 or 200 level courses you can take with known easy professors to pad your GPA in addition to the prerequisite courses you have left. For some classes it is pertinent to actually learn the material but for a lot of GE's the information is SO broad that memorizing it all really won't serve a purpose to you later in life. Use rate my professor like it's your job because applying to nursing school really can be like applying for a job. That website is a great tool because a professor who is unnecessarily difficult or harsh when it comes to grading could totally derail your career plans when you could have gotten an A with someone else no problem. If nursing is really what you want to do, then save a lot of that time, energy, and frustration that comes with picky professors for those courses because most likely you won't get a choice when it comes to your nursing professors. I have heard that San Diego State (what you're referring to as CSU SD or someone else has been) can be very difficult to transfer into because it is so impacted. I am not sure how valid that statement is though. They do say the program takes three years but I heard from someone else that you may be able to finish sooner depending on how much coursework you already have finished that can go towards the degree requirements. Don't give up! Also another side note about using your resources, if you haven't been already, USE QUIZLET. Again, does googling answers mean you're going to really learn the information? No. But what you go over in these prerequisite courses will be harped on over and over in multiple classes as well as your nursing classes. Sure, it makes it easier to do well later on if you put in work to create a good foundation but as we all know, it's a numbers game. This mainly applies to your online courses where quizzes and exams will be online. In my experience almost every single class I've ever taken online or that has offered quizzes and exams online (even in graduate school), I could find 90% of the answers online through quizlet by googling. If time might be an issue just go through and get all the answers on quizlet first and then go through with the remaining time to make sure you understand where they got those answers from. Maybe even copy and paste the questions and answers into a word document so you can review them later on your own with your text or PowerPoint slides and write down where you found the answer. Then you're still guaranteeing you're gonna do well on the exam but that you also learn the material. This is just my advice as someone who has been through a lot of post-secondary schooling.

A for-profit school should be your last resort. A private nonprofit school would be better and likely less expensive. Univ of San Diego (USD), Univ of San Francisco, and Mt. Saint Mary's are good. I'm sure you will get into a decent nursing school. Honestly, it is not that hard to get into a decent nursing school. Good luck.

A for-profit school should be your last resort. A private nonprofit school would be better and likely less expensive. Univ of San Diego (USD), Univ of San Francisco, and Mt. Saint Mary's are good. I'm sure you will get into a decent nursing school. Honestly, it is not that hard to get into a decent nursing school. Good luck.

People continue to mention to USD, but as far as I know, they only offer a master's entry program for students who already have a bachelor's degree. I don't think this is an option for the OP.

People continue to mention to USD, but as far as I know, they only offer a master's entry program for students who already have a bachelor's degree. I don't think this is an option for the OP.

I stand corrected.

Mt St Marys has an ABSN and a regular BSN

USF has a BSN

Azusa Pacific

Biola Univ

Cal Baptist

Point Loma Nazarene

Dominican Univ of Calif

Holy Names Univ

Simpson Univ

Pacific Union Coll

Samuel Merritt

Loma Linda

Bringing this one back to life. Does anyone know how transferring from a CCC out of state to nursing works? Do I need to look up schools individually, or is there a site similar to assist.org that includes more schools outside of the state.

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