How Impacted are the programs in the Sacramento area?

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Hey Folks,

My wife and I are planning to move from Southern Ca to Northern Ca to the city of Elk Grove. We are both studying to become nurses and are a few pre-reqs away from applying into a program. Being that the Sacaramento area is such a small community with few schools available, how impacted are the nursing programs out there? We were looking at Sac State but we are open to other schools with programs available within a 50 mile radius. Davis and Stockton are close areas but dont know much about schools in the area. Any suggestions on other schools would also be greatful and status on Sac State programs and how the Sac State process works would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

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Specializes in Emergency Department.

All the RN programs up here are pretty heavily impacted. At least two of the programs here use a lottery system (American River College and Sac City College) and Sac State uses a simple eligibility list. I don't know if Yuba College still has a program, but when I first looked at their program years ago, it was a simple waiting list.

For Sac State, their process is reasonably straightforward, from what I've seen.

Twice per year, they make their applications available. You simply follow the process as outlined on their website and if your points totals are high enough, you are offered a slot or an alternate slot.

UC Davis does NOT have an undergrad (4 year) BSN program.

ARC and SCC have identical requirements now for entry... and you'll likely be competing against about 1100 other applicants, but they'll also be applying to all the other programs in the same general area. The lottery is weighted so that the more often you apply serially (every semester) the greater chance you will have of being selected. Oh, and as long as you meet the minimum criteria, you stand an equal chance as someone who has straight A grades... and this is NOT true for Sac State. Excellent grades AND a high TEAS score and some extras (3 points each) will all help you get in there... but their prereqs are slightly different than ARC and SCC.

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Thanks Akulahawk!

The last few sentences of your reply got me confused. So, I would have equal weight against students with straight A's at ARC? SCC, high grades and TEAS scores will help get higher chances, but what prereqs are different from ARC and SCC?

Thanks for sheding some light!

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Do you know any info on MSN programs in Sac area? Is it impacted as well?

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Specializes in Emergency Department.
Thanks Akulahawk!

The last few sentences of your reply got me confused. So, I would have equal weight against students with straight A's at ARC? SCC, high grades and TEAS scores will help get higher chances, but what prereqs are different from ARC and SCC?

Thanks for sheding some light!

At ARC and SCC, correct. As long as you're a qualified applicant, you're good to go. ARC/SCC and Sac State differ in that ARC/SCC require microbiology where Sac State also requires O-Chem. It appears that within the past couple years, CSUS has updated their prereqs to include micro. Otherwise, they're fairly similar. The co-reqs may be a bit different... so do your homework for what the schools require.

Do you know any info on MSN programs in Sac area? Is it impacted as well?

UCDavis/Sac State offer an MSN program as a partnership, but this is NOT an entry level Masters program. You must have a BSN or have an RN License and a Bachelor's and take additional coursework that will approximate a BSN for entry to their program...

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Thank you! Is UCD/Sac State MSN's program competitive as well as their BSN program?

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Specializes in Emergency Department.
Thank you! Is UCD/Sac State MSN's program competitive as well as their BSN program?

I do not know. The MSN program (any version of it) as it exists right now will not make you an RN. You already must be an RN with a Bachelor's. This is their requirements for their MSN program, in addition to applying to the University as a Grad student:

A bachelor's degree in nursing or a related field.

A valid California RN license.

Completed an introductory nursing research class.

A minimum GPA of 3.0.

Eligibility for Public Health Nursing certification.

CSUS doesn't appear to have released any statistics about their MSN programs, so I don't know how many were accepted, how many met the above requirements and were denied entry, and how many were ineligible. I do know that FNP students, in addition to the above requirements, must also meet admission criteria for UC Davis.

UC Davis is still trying to get an undergrad program going and perhaps an Entry Level Masters...

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There is an ABSN program that is opening up. It is a joint program with CSU Stanislaus and Sac State with each campus starting with about 30 students. The program is run out of the extended ed departments, so it is a little more expensive because it is self supporting. (Comparable to the ABSN that CSU San Marcos offers if you are familiar with that.) The first class is starting in Nov. CSU Stanislaus has some info on their website (extended ed dept) and I think Sac has recently put something up as well. The program was just approved by the BRN.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Med-Surg, Psych, Geri, LTC, Tele,.

Other programs in Sac are Samuel Merrit - offers entry level BSN degrees.

There are also the Western Career/Carrington and Unitek programs. There are ROP based LVN programs.

Stockton has a few community colleges and private programs too and they aren't too far from Elk Grove.

BTW: Howdy! I live in Elk Grove, too!

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I live in Elk Grove and go to school at Delta College in Stockton. I applied there once and they admit by grades and got in immediately. I also applied to ARC and SCC twice and didn't get in. The campus is only around 50 minutes from north Elk Grove.

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Thanks to all you folks for the input! I was just in EG this past weekend and had a blast. I will definately check out the schools mentioned. We are thinking about the WGU program that Kaiser has to offer and see about getting done that way. Any thoughts?

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You may also wish to investigate the nursing program at Sierra College, a community college located in Rocklin, which is about 40 miles northeast of Elk Grove. Sierra use the "Chancellor's Formula" to determine eligibility of candidates. This rates students on four criteria that are believed to be indicative of the student's chances of successfully completing the ADN program. These criteria include the student's overall college GPA; the grade for most recently taken English composition course; the cumulative GPA in microbiology, anatomy, and physiology; and the number of times microbiology, anatomy, or physiology courses have been repeated. The school's website offers a calculator so that applicants can determine their rank according to the Chancellor's Formula.

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