Have a B.A. in non-nursing field and want to get go for MSN. Please help! (Bay Area)

[ppa86]

Hi everyone. I'm a recent UCLA grad...just graduated with a double major in Sociology and Anthropology, and am interested in applying to a direct-entry MSN program. I have no hospital/clinic/patient care experience, but do have a little bit of research-based experience (during undergrad, I worked for the school's Institutional Review Board, but I don't know how relevant this is).

I have no idea where to start with all of the grad school stuff, but assume that grad schools want applicants to have experience before applying. USF accepts applicants for Spring, and I really want to apply and get into a program ASAP, but am not sure how competitive it is, or if I even have a chance in being accepted since I have no patient care experience whatsoever.

I'm also looking at SJSU and SFSU, but I think that those programs require an RN, which I don't have. I guess I can also take the JC route, and go back to community college to get my RN before applying...does anyone know of any accelerated programs in the Bay Area? I really just don't know where to start with any of this. I feel like I have so much information and so many options (which is great, albeit terribly overwhelming), but I'm having a hard time condensing everything and making sense of it all. Any help is appreciated!

Best,

Reese

[rainydaydream]

I don't think most accelerated programs require direct patient care experience, but most require stellar grades in your prerequisites and maybe some volunteer experience. Have you looked at the prerequisites yet for schools?

[ppa86]

Wow, thank you so much for the response. USF's pre-requisites include:

Human Anatomy

Physiology

Microbiology

Intro to Psych.

Developmental Psych.

Stats

Cultural Anthro. or Soc.

College Writing

Public Speaking

Nutrition

I have not taken anatomy, physiology, microbio, public speaking, or nutrition at university. They mention that it is possible to get some of these requirements waived on an individual basis, but I think it would be to my advantage to take the more pertinent ones (the science courses) at a JC. SJSU and SFSU have similar pre-reqs, however I believe that they want their applicants to be RN certified (I know that SJSU for sure wants RN certified applicants). I'm just wondering how competitive these programs are. What do I need to do in preparation, aside from volunteering? The more I look at these websites, the more discouraged I feel. Thanks again for the help.

[mfrancisco]

Hi,

I am in your same situation. Start taking your pre-requisites ASAP. Most of the schools will want Anatomy, Physio, and Micro at minimum. Depending on how much time you have, you can get these done pretty quickly. USF, UCSF, SFSU, Sonoma State, and Samuel Merritt are the schools that I know of that have the direct entry master's programs for people like us who have a Bachelor's in a field other than nursing. The most important thing is to complete your pre-requisites with good grades and get some volunteer experience under your belt. You can do this at a hospital or clinic. Samuel Merritt has an Accelerated Bachelor's program that is a 12 month program for someone who has a Bachelor's in a field other than nursing. They have additional pre-requisites, so check out their website. You can also do the JC route, but if you eventually want a Master's, then you might as well do one of these direct entry programs. Don't be discouraged. It's a lot of info, and some schools have pre-requisites that others don't, so it's best to start a notebook and take notes on all of the different programs.