I'm going to go for it: pre-nursing questions and some school advice

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After spending the last year working on my transfer prerequisites at a community college for a degree in Nutrition I've decided change directions and pursue my BSN. I think all along I knew I would take this route but the time came for me to think about applying to schools and I just decided that this is what I want to do.

So what now?

I am done with almost all of my prerequisites, I am currently taking MicroBio and Organic Chem and will be taking Physiology and 2 other general education courses in the spring (sociology and child development). My cumulative GPA is about 3.6ish and my science GPA is 3.85 currently (I received all A's except a B in Anatomy that I'm still smarting over).

I live in the San Diego area and will be applying to schools here but my husband and I are also open to moving to San Francisco as well. The school I am thinking of applying to are SDSU, SFSU, USF, USD, and possibly other private or vocational schools if those don't pan out. I would like to obtain my degree from a four year university but I am willing to look at other options. I'm not completely familiar with other options in SF so if anyone has info then please share. I understand the job market in SF is not great but our plan is to finish school there just to live for a few years and then head back to SoCal after graduation.

-I have not taken my TEAS test yet, but I have ordered a practice book that someone mentioned here on the forum so I hope to take that ASAP. I was also thinking of starting some volunteer work at a nearby hospital to get started on my hours.

Any advice about schools or what I can do this fall to help with admission or anything else I should be doing/taking care of?

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Specializes in CMSRN, hospice.

Honestly Kristina, you sound super on top of this! I'm not familiar with the area so I can't offer specific advice there, but some other general stuff that you've probably already thought of:

-If you haven't visited the schools you mentioned, it can't hurt to go to an information session. Meet some students and faculty, get to know the program, etc.

-Research some scholarships. With your GPA I'm sure you'll find a bunch and be able to cover a good chunk of your tuition.

-Think about whether you want to work as a nursing student after that first nursing class or two. If so, research the process involved with that so you know what you need to do to qualify.

-Investigate some specialties. I did this during summer break to keep my momentum up. It is so energizing to think of all the cool stuff you'll get to do as a nurse, so I recommend finding out what some of those cool things are.

-Along with that, make a list of your reasons for becoming a nurse - your family, wanting to help people, an interest in the medical field/a particular specialty, etc. That has gotten me through the harder parts of doing my pre-reqs, and no doubt it can keep anyone's perspective strong during a tough nursing program.

Good luck!

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Specializes in Cardiothoracic, Peds CVICU.

I will be starting at SFSU's nursing program in the spring. It's a great school, but the area is a pain in the butt. Lol.

You should also look at Cal Sate East Bay in Hayward and San Jose State for next spring. These schools require that you have all your prereqs done BEFORE you even apply. Just in case something goes wrong and you still wanna apply to schools in the bay area, these two are great from what I hear. There is also Samuel Merritt in Oakland. It's a private (VERY expensive) and requires extra prereqs, like an extra speech class... Oh, and it's in the NICE (yes, there's a nice part. It's like 2 blocks or something) part of Oakland.

Oakland and Hayward are both extremely close to SF so you can do a lot of exploring in the city. I'm not sure how far away San Jose is.

Are you looking into community colleges as well? All of the ADN programs in the bay area require that you have all your prereqs completed before you apply.

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Thanks for the feedback ladies. The only pre-req's that I will have to do in the spring are Physio and Sociology but otherwise I will be all done. Luckily my Nutrition pre-req's were almost identical so this has/will be an easy transition in that sense. On the other hand now I'm stressing about keeping my grades up and getting into a program. I keep having scary thoughts of not getting in after spending so many years working on my gen ed's and then what? I can't think that way though, staying positive and putting in the hard work WILL pay off.

I've made a list of the SF schools and I included CSEB as one of them. I will look into San Jose State as well. I'm really excited to make this move though I secretly think that my husband wants to do it so he can be closer to the Raiders, :).

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Specializes in Cardiothoracic, Peds CVICU.

I'm sure you'll do great. Don't lose hope. Just to let you know, I was wait listed for every CSU that I applied to. I was #61 on SFSU's wait list. I found out mid-July that I had been accepted for spring! So please do not give up! Even if you're wait listed at a crazy number, I would advise you to accept your admission to the school anyway just in case.

Good luck!

And Raiders???? Hmm... ;)

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