why does MT. San Antonio College RN Nursing wait list?

dah doh, BSN, RN · Feb 4, 2013

No clue! Maybe the area? Maybe the cost? Maybe the commute to school and clinicals too far? Maybe the cost? Have you looked at their accredidation and pass rates on the BRN website?

wheeliesurfer · Feb 4, 2013

It might be bc RCC has two campuses they have the RN program through (Riverside and Moreno Valley) as well as the fact that they have a new (within the last year?) nursing/science building with labs and all at the Riveraide campus.

Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN · Feb 4, 2013

Moved to CA nursing programs for best response

SquishyRN, BSN, RN · Feb 4, 2013

Mt SAC is no longer accepting students on a waitlist basis. They are merely finishing off the waitlist they already have and will be admitting students on a points basis once they start accepting applications again.

steven626 · Feb 4, 2013

So I'm thinking of applying to RCC nursing program once I finish the nursing prerequisite classes at Mt sac . But will they be transfered to RCC ? I don't want to have to retake all the science classes at RCC .

SquishyRN, BSN, RN · Feb 5, 2013

According to their website, RCC "offer(s) workshops bi-weekly that explain eligibility requirements and the selection process." You should attend one of those workshops and bring a copy of Mt SAC's catalog (a schedule will work if you don't want to buy a catalog) so you can ask which classes at Mt. SAC meet their pre-requisite criteria.

Anatomy, Physiology, and Microbiology are the main pre-requisites for every nursing school and the ones you should be most concerned about. Mt SAC offers two different classes for each of the three. ANAT 10A, ANAT10B and MICR22 are the 4 unit classes for Anatomy, Physiology, and Microbiology respectively. ANAT35, ANAT36, and MICR1 are the 5 unit options for those same classes. Some nursing schools in the area will accept the 4 unit classes, others will only accept the 5 unit classes. To be safe, take ANAT35, ANAT36, and MICR1 so you can be eligible to apply to as many programs as possible should you not get into RCC.

steven626 · Feb 5, 2013

It's a surprise that RCC does not have a wait list considering the fact that Rns are currently in very high demand

SquishyRN, BSN, RN · Feb 5, 2013

It's a surprise that RCC does not have a wait list considering the fact that Rns are currently in very high demand

It's not surprising at all that they don't have a waitlist. Just because you apply doesn't mean you're going to get in. I haven't looked at RCC's selection criteria in awhile, but I'm sure they select their students on a points basis, like almost every other school without a waitlist. This means it is extremely competitive. Waitlist schools were good alternatives for people who made acceptable grades, but were still not competitive enough at non-waitlist schools because they would be up against applicants with straight A's in their pre-reqs, good TEAS or HESI scores, and work experience. However, due to recent changes in California legislation, all California community college nursing programs must now start using a "multi criteria selection process," which eliminates the previously used waitlist and lottery selection processes like Mt SAC had used.

barcode120x, RN, NP · Feb 13, 2013

What Squishy said about Mt. SAC pretty much hits the spot right on. As far as I know, the point of the waitlist was so that one wouldn't have to reapply every year/semester (correct me if I'm wrong). So regardless if a school had a waitlist or not, you're not guaranteed in the program and you will have to wait (unless you have flying colors on your grades and/or are attending a private school). Mt. SAC is an exception since they DID guarantee acceptance.

Mt. SAC's admittance into the program WAS lottery based and NOT point/GPA based whatsoever (although, you needed to at least hit the pre-req minimum GPA requirement which I think is like 2.5). So, everyone that applied was sent a letter every semester indicating what their lottery # was (lottery # stayed the same) and also told you how many seats (or people) were in front of you. This contributed to the lottery list.

The application for the program has been closed for a year, I believe it is STILL closed. Just as Squishy said, the program is trying to filter out the rest of the lottery students on the list (I think it's around 150 to 250, ballpark; no more than 300 for sure) before the reopen the application process which is NOW based on a multi-criteria screening (aka point system). It would be unfair to the students that are currently on the waitlist to be moved to the multi-criteria screening which does NOT guarantee admittance. The lottery system DID guarantee regardless if you pre-req GPA was 2.5 or 4.0 (I was one of those few that didn't do so hot in the pre-reqs and lucky that I just got in the program before they changed to the point system). Considering the amount of lottery students left, my guess is that the multi-criteria application process won't probably open till next year, 2014 (don't quote me on that, you can call the nursing department to verify or if you have any other questions).

Hope that answered your question about the waitlist if Squishy hasn't already done so (since I'm actually starting the program there). Aside from that, make sure you get your pre-reqs done asap, keep both your GPA and pre-req GPA as high as you can, and try to get hospital experience/work asap!. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post links, but if you just search up "Mt. SAC nursing" and click on "Application Process," the "Multi-criteria Screening" is in the upper right corner to list EVERYTHING they go by in terms of how many points to give you and for what.

steven626 · Feb 14, 2013

Thank you.

This spring I will be starting Anatomy 10A along with 3 other classes. Im nervous and excited about the anatomy 10A & 10B and Microbiology prerequisites

Dbohr1012 · Apr 17, 2013

Thank goodness for that waitlist!! lol Its so frustrating re-applying to 5 different nursing programs every single semester but now Im in :)