LA Southwest College Spring 2019

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Hello my fellow nurses, I just applied to the spring 2019 southwest college nursing program. Does anyone know how long would it take to get an invite to take the TEAS 6. I really need to get in this program. It's time to level up from this LVN title.

When do you have your orientation and fitting ?

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Am I the only one who thought the orientation was a disorganized mess? It seems like they didn't organize or plan out the orientation very well, the main speaker seemed unprofessional to me, especially the way she kept throwing shade at the other professor for 'delegating'. The main positive takeaway I got was the concurrent enrollment program with CDU, that seems really cool considering most hospitals are requiring BSN degrees lately.

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Will you be accepting the offer?

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Hi everyone! I was accepted too. To those who have been accepted - please be aware that LASC has a "Program on Warning Status with Intent to Close" from the BRN (Board of Registered Nursing). Check the BRN website for more information.

Will you be accepting the offer at Lasc? Or Santa Monica? I'm in the same situation as you. I got accepted into the program at cypress but would rather attend lasc. I'm just super nervous about the warning with intent to close.

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Will you be accepting the offer at Lasc? Or Santa Monica? I'm in the same situation as you. I got accepted into the program at cypress but would rather attend lasc. I'm just super nervous about the warning with intent to close.

I still have time to decide but I'm going with LASC. There are a few factors that came into play, the main reason I chose LASC is for their concurrent BSN program with Charles Drew University. Graduating with an ADN and BSN in 2 years is very attractive to me because, (1) many people say the job market is much tougher for ADN grads because of the amount of competition and # of ADN programs in the LA area. (2) I would very much like to complete my BSN as soon as possible and I really don't like the idea of starting a new job as a nurse AND having to complete a RN-BSN bridge program.

As far as the program warning, the nursing department and dalecadondon's posts in this thread have somewhat eased my concerns. The nursing classes were moved to SOCTE and they have made changes to their admissions criteria so that most of the students are admitted based on their TEAS/GPA rank and NOT by random lottery which should increase their NCLEX pass rate as well. I also have to think if the BRN did shut down the program-- either (1) all students currently in the program would be allowed to finish or (2) since LASC is part of the LACCD district, we would be able to transfer to a different LACCD college and finish the program. Of course I can't be certain of this, and I'm making some big assumptions, but I can't imagine they would allow the program to shut down and screw over all the students already enrolled.

On more minor aspects, I really prefer the small size of the nursing cohort at LASC and students and faculty seem pretty close knit compared to SMC. The commute is also much shorter for me, about 20 minutes as opposed to 50. I also really like that they offer the bootcamp class in winter so that we're not going into first semester blind and we have some idea what to expect. Cypress seems to have really good program though, their retention rate is above 80% and NCLEX pass rate above 90%. SMC only graduates about 65% of the students that enter the program which also kind of worried me. I also got accepted to El Camino Compton center but I think i'll be going to LASC. Goodluck on your decision!

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So despite all I've said in the previous post, I actually think I'm going to go to SMC. I reached out to a couple nursing students at LASC right now and based on their messages to me Ive decided I would rather not risk going to LASC due to their warning status among other issues. PM me if you'd like more details about what they said.

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Wow, I find it interesting that after that long message you wrote previously that your mind was changed after speaking to some students currently enrolled. I wonder what they told you.

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So despite all I've said in the previous post, I actually think I'm going to go to SMC. I reached out to a couple nursing students at LASC right now and based on their messages to me Ive decided I would rather not risk going to LASC due to their warning status among other issues. PM me if you'd like more details about what they said.

Thanks for the DM but it wouldn't let me DM back so I'm posting here!

Oh man, Thank you so much for taking the time to respond to my question and going even further to send me these quotes. I definitely feel conflicted about my choice. One major reason I want to attend Lasc is because I got in with my sister. My sis and I have gone through all of our pre requisite courses together and it really helps to have another person for support, homework, studying etc. Lasc is also only like 10 mins away from my home which is another plus. I really did love cypress when I went to apply and I know that statistically, it's the superior program. I guess I have a lot to think about... I have till the 7th to accept or decline the offer from Cypress. Thank you again though for your help, I really appreciate it.

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Wow, I find it interesting that after that long message you wrote previously that your mind was changed after speaking to some students currently enrolled. I wonder what they told you.

I think more than anything, reading their messages made a light switch go off in my head that I was justifying going to LASC for the wrong reasons even though objectively (in my mind) SMC is the better program with better opportunities. Definitely the one thing I can't get past is the program warning, doubly so if I were to take out a $20k loan for the CDU program. I'd feel really stupid if I took on that kind of debt (which I avoided for my BA degree) and the program were to shut down. I also think I was undervaluing the access of 10 clinical sites provided by SMC and the job/networking opportunities those hospitals will provide. No joke I even had a dream two days ago about this that I had made the wrong decision by going to LASC...

I also feel like the staff at LASC are downplaying the program warning issue by claiming it to be related only to the lack of building. I watched the entire BRN meeting and the board voted to keep the warning in place despite the fact the nursing program would be moved into SOCTE. Yet, at the orientation, they told us it was strictly due to the lack of dedicated nursing building and to not worry. I don't really buy it. I think ultimately the program warning is what tips the scale in my mind and I'd be taking a big risk for no reason considering i have other options.

Thanks for the DM but it wouldn't let me DM back so I'm posting here!

Oh man, Thank you so much for taking the time to respond to my question and going even further to send me these quotes. I definitely feel conflicted about my choice. One major reason I want to attend Lasc is because I got in with my sister. My sis and I have gone through all of our pre requisite courses together and it really helps to have another person for support, homework, studying etc. Lasc is also only like 10 mins away from my home which is another plus. I really did love cypress when I went to apply and I know that statistically, it's the superior program. I guess I have a lot to think about... I have till the 7th to accept or decline the offer from Cypress. Thank you again though for your help, I really appreciate it.

No problem! I think you just need 15 posts on the forum to have acces to DM. I replied to you thru DM because I don't want to reveal too much on this public forum, I didn't realize we can't delete our old posts which is strange.

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I think more than anything, reading their messages made a light switch go off in my head that I was justifying going to LASC for the wrong reasons even though objectively (in my mind) SMC is the better program with better opportunities. Definitely the one thing I can't get past is the program warning, doubly so if I were to take out a $20k loan for the CDU program. I'd feel really stupid if I took on that kind of debt (which I avoided for my BA degree) and the program were to shut down. I also think I was undervaluing the access of 10 clinical sites provided by SMC and the job/networking opportunities those hospitals will provide. No joke I even had a dream two days ago about this that I had made the wrong decision by going to LASC...

I also feel like the staff at LASC are downplaying the program warning issue by claiming it to be related only to the lack of building. I watched the entire BRN meeting and the board voted to keep the warning in place despite the fact the nursing program would be moved into SOCTE. Yet, at the orientation, they told us it was strictly due to the lack of dedicated nursing building and to not worry. I don't really buy it. I think ultimately the program warning is what tips the scale in my mind and I'd be taking a big risk for no reason considering i have other options.

No problem! I think you just need 15 posts on the forum to have acces to DM. I replied to you thru DM because I don't want to reveal too much on this public forum, I didn't realize we can't delete our old posts which is strange.

Hi again,

Thank you again for your insight and opinion on the matter, it is very much appreciated. Like you mentioned, I feel the exact same way about not wanting to post too much personal info concerning this matter, and seeing how I can't DM you... There's a lot id like say about this topic that I won't, just for privacy reasons. I did however, want to share with you a bit of info I found that might be very important to consider when making this decision. It will also be really helpful I'm sure to those students who only have the choice to attend Lasc in the spring.

I spoke to someone from the Board or Registered Nursing and expressed my concern about the Warning with intent to close. She informed me that she works closely with Lasc and that although the school does have the warning, it does not mean that it will be closing. She also informed me that she feels that the school has taken the necessary measures to get them back into compliance with the BRN regulations. She said that she feels very confident that the issue will be resolved and the school will not be closing.

Just wanted to share at least this bit of info with you and others, even if it doesn't change your decision not to attend LASC... I just thought you and others might find it helpful and like to know, especially because of the source.

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Hi again,

Thank you again for your insight and opinion on the matter, it is very much appreciated. Like you mentioned, I feel the exact same way about not wanting to post too much personal info concerning this matter, and seeing how I can't DM you... There's a lot id like say about this topic that I won't, just for privacy reasons. I did however, want to share with you a bit of info I found that might be very important to consider when making this decision. It will also be really helpful I'm sure to those students who only have the choice to attend Lasc in the spring.

I spoke to someone from the Board or Registered Nursing and expressed my concern about the Warning with intent to close. She informed me that she works closely with Lasc and that although the school does have the warning, it does not mean that it will be closing. She also informed me that she feels that the school has taken the necessary measures to get them back into compliance with the BRN regulations. She said that she feels very confident that the issue will be resolved and the school will not be closing.

Just wanted to share at least this bit of info with you and others, even if it doesn't change your decision not to attend LASC... I just thought you and others might find it helpful and like to know, especially because of the source.

I forgot to add, she also mentioned that those students in the middle of the program would be allowed to finish if the program were to close. The closure of the program would also have no adverse affects on licenses either.

Hope this helps some of you!

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I forgot to add, she also mentioned that those students in the middle of the program would be allowed to finish if the program were to close. The closure of the program would also have no adverse affects on licenses either.

Hope this helps some of you!

thank you! this is great news, at least those who do attend LASC won't have to worry about that factor.

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