How are my odds for nursing schools in SoCal?

[caracas]

Hello lovely student nurses :). I'm currently a freshman in my local CC. I barely graduated high school with a 2.1 GPA and after flunking all but 1 of my Spring semester classes (leaving me at a 1.33 GPA) I've been knocked to my senses. I realize my time is running out very quickly and for the past week I've been doing all the research I could.

I'm in Southern California, so the closest schools to me are gonna be CSUCI and CSUN, and while I know they're already as selective as they are, I've become enamored with the idea of attending UCLA. (Also worth mentioning the Pepperdine Calabasas SON they're opening Fall 2025!)

I know my grades are not a lot to show for my work ethic but I really have been involved in medicine when I could. My Junior year of high school I volunteered at a local free clinic whilst being part of my school's patient care pathway (we learned CPR, first aid, patient care, basic injections.)

Furthermore, that same year of high school my mom was diagnosed with stage IV breast cancer and quickly lost her battle. I was her primary caretaker and was with her as she passed thanks to the skills I learned in that same patient care class. I am so passionate about patient care (I actually thought about being a doctor till I realized how little they actually spend with patients plus the price of school.)

Once my mom died I became severely depressed and barely graduated high school as is. It took me up to my freshman year to recover. Especially since my family was technically just her and my dad, so we suffered a great economic struggle with her funeral and medical arrangements. Ever since then I've been in charge of all the house keeping, cooking, and cleaning as well.

As of right now, my financial aid SAI is at -1500 and I am part of EOPS at my CC because of how low income my situation is. I've seen a lot of transfer student nurses work as a CNA for clinical experience but since I'm undocumented I can't work at all, but I can still get my CNA certification, would that be of any help in applying? Thankfully most unis here in SoCal accept undocumented students!

As for academics and extracurriculars, I've done the math and if I get nothing but As in the upcoming Summer, Fall, and Spring semesters, I might just make the cut to get a 3.5 by the end of the Fall Semester (just in time for applications!) As well as being involved with my CC's medical club and signing up to volunteer in my local hospital.

I also think it might be worth mentioning my severe fear (and fainting) at the sight of blood I overcame after witnessing a car crash where I tried to help the victim who was declared deceased at the scene (literally my junior year of high school too, IDK why everything happened to me back then) which I then overcame by donating blood until I was able to manage it.

I know how selective and insane almost every nursing school is and I know how insane I am to even think about UCLA but I keep thinking about the opportunities I missed in the past and I don't want to grow old and regret not even applying to nursing schools. I feel like want to know if I have a "worthy" story to tell and if I do, I want to maximize my chances.

Thank you for reading my entire sermon, I really didn't think I would have so much to say!

 

[Kasan, LVN]

Sweet heart I just want to send you a big virtual hug, no young person your age should have to go through half of the things you have been through and yet you survived it all which by itself is already such a huge accomplishment that shows your strength and resilience. I am sure you will be able to recover your grades if you really set your mind to it. I would like to point out that the nursing field is a bit different than most other careers. Getting into UCLA in general might be possible but getting into their nursing program specifically will be near impossible since you are competing against UCLA students who did their first 2yrs at ucla and presumably have excellent grades. Even most ucla students will be unable to get into their nursing program and have to transfer elsewhere to pursue nursing. When it comes down to it, nursing schools do not focus on your overall GPA,  but on very specific classes which are :
Anatomy
Physiology
Microbiology
Chemistry
English 101

And your score on the entrance exam which is usually the TEAS

Each school has their own criteria but for many programs, each repetition of these classes counts against you even if that was a W.

Nursing is not as holistic as other fields and is mostly based on grades. Work experience and life hardships will get you a few extra points but not much. Most programs do not even accept letters of recommendation or personal statement.
If you really want to get into a nursing program, you must really apply to every program near you to better your chances which will include many community colleges in your area.

Now I understand you want your college/university experience probably at a 4yr university, but not every uni even offers a nursing BS (csun doesnt). There are SO MANY people with previous bachelors degrees in other fields who went and got a college experience and ended up realizing they have no job prospects and end up applying to CC nursing programs. I am one of those people, I went to CSUN and got a bs in communicative disorders  now I I just got into LACCONAH for nursing which will be an associate degree.

I think you should really do your research on the schools around you but also research other degrees or fields you are interested in that might not be nursing. Enjoy your college classes for now and see where your interests take you while getting the best grades possible. Do not put too much pressure on yourself to decide now. I am rooting for you and I really wish you the best of luck!

[FullGlass, BSN, MSN, NP]

Unfortunately, your odds of getting into the UCLA nursing program are zero.  They have a highly competitive admissions process.

Your best bet is to go to a CC  and earn an ADN, then get your RN license.  While the CC ADN RN programs are impacted, everyone I know who got waitlisted got in within a year.  

1.  Talk to academic advising to see if you can retake some courses that you did poorly in to raise your CC GPA.

2.  You must get excellent grades from now on.

3.  Forget about HS, no one is going to care about that now, especially if you get good grades from now on.

Once your finish your ADN and become an RN, you can then apply for a bridge to BSN or MSN program.  Many RN employers will pay for part or all of this.  

Once you earn your BSN or MSN, you could then apply to a prestigious school like UCLA for further studies if you wish to pursue graduate studies or become an Advanced Practice RN (NP, CRNA, etc).

Tip:  in future, make sure you know the deadlines for dropping a class (this will not appear on your transcrip) and for withdrawing (W will appear on transcript).  There is no shame in dropping a class if you are doing poorly.  It's OK to have 1 or 2 W's on your transcript, so don't listen to fearmongering about this, but better to just drop the class if possible.  The first time I tried to take Anatomy, I was just unprepared for all the memorization, was headed for a D,  and had to withdraw from the class.  The 2nd time, I knew what to expect and got an A.

Good luck!