How To Approach Prequisites

[Jira]

Hi. I'm new to this allnurses.com. I'm a high school senior right now and want to get into BSN and then NP, but nowdays in California you have to get nursing prerequisites first. I have excellent grades and a lot of volunteer service, whether it be at the hospital or around my community. I also did an internship at UCSF before and found that I really liked nursing and want to become one. The problem is I seem to not know what is the best route into getting the prerequisites. My college councilor thinks I should go to a 4 year college vs community college like Mills because he hints that cc is bad? Someone else said that going to Mills doesn't make sense because I'm essentially treating Mills like cc and then bridging to Samuel Merritt. My dad however says that the best route is to go to ccsf first because the prerequisites are just a start. It has a strong program he says; most people just overlook it, he himself being a nurse. But I don't know. Help? Actually, I'm not even sure this is the right forum to put it in....

[vashtee, RN]

If you are going to bridge anyway, I don't know why you wouldn't start at a community college. I don't know how good the community college is where you live, but in California, the CCs are usually considered fantastic, which is not necessarily the case in other states. (Perhaps your counselor is an out-of-stater?) The community college near my home has an arrangement with UCLA to automatically accept any graduates of their school... if it's good enough for UCLA...

Besides, it's more about where you finish than where you start.

[cobee]

I'm in a cc right now and it isnt bad, but I worry just like everyone else if I will get into a program or not. You're lucky to have found Mills before going straight to a cc. If I knew about the program at Mills, I would have gone straight there instead of here. On the website, it says that if you meet certain requirements, you are GUARANTEED admission to Samuel Merrit. If that's true, then you'll have a lot less to worry about than if you were going to a cc. Contact Mills about that guarantee and if its true, then you should really just go to Mills!! Good luck!!

[BluntForceTrauma]

When I graduated high school, I applied to a nursing program that would guarantee you a spot when you finish your prereqs as long as you achieved a 'C' or higher. The only requirements were a 3.0 high school GPA, and a 28 on your ACT. That was the university route....and I don't know if the university you're speaking of has that same option.

But when you start at a community college doing prereq's, you have to compete with other students, meaning that you may be put on a waiting list.

If the university has an option for freshmen straight out of high school, I would take my prereqs there instead of a CC so you would be guaranteed a space and won't have to worry about competition.

[BluntForceTrauma]

i was jsut reading the nursing site for samuel merritt college and it says this:

"freshmen may choose to pursue pre-nursing at three outstanding bay area schools, holy names university, mills college, or saint mary's college of california. following completion of 2 years of pre-nursing courses, students who meet all conditions of the partnership program are guaranteed admission to samuel merritt college for the completion of the bachelor of science in nursing degree. "

you should find out what the program requirements are. it does say that you are guaranteed a spot. starting off at a cc is probably cheaper.

[classicdame, MSN, EdD]

I agree with your Dad

[nurserynurse55]

I agree with everyone, but if you want to be a NP, why not go the BSN route in the first place. It seems like it would save you extra steps in the future, because don't you need the BSN (bachlers in nursing from a university) first, in order to go to grad school to beome a NP? Either way, good luck. You sound like a great future nurse!