Nursing School in California

botmann · Jun 2, 2020

I someone who recently got accepted into both a BSN and direct entry MSN program and who has way too much schooling, one cannot emphasize how competitive it is to get into ANY nursing program. It is very competitive. For example, I got into CSU East Bay Spring 2020 cohort and at orientation, it was rumored they got almost one thousand applicants for sixty spots.

The issues you face are more than the C, but your GPA(s) and TEAS score. Although what you have will not deny from being considered a candidate into most programs, you're going to be competing against people with 4.0 GPA(s) and have well over 90% on their TEAS.

The good news, you do have health experience and fluency in Spanish which may give you bonus points.

Although I agree you should consider redoing physiology, there are issues with it. One, you're going to have to petition to be able to repeat it with the school you attended. You're going to have to explain why and I'm not sure to be competitive will enough; maybe to better learn the material. If there is another local school you can attend, take it there. The other possible issue is repeated courses. This would make it number three. Some programs will give you negative points for any repeated courses in the core sciences. Others may allow one to three before they start. This literally varies program to program.

As to your past discrepancies in academic performance, I suggest doing an application addendum to explain why you had that bad semester. The key here is not necessarily why it accused, but explaining what you learned from it whether it be better time management, over-ambition in what you could handle, or so forth. Everyone has an excuse; be different. The other key factor of it is hopefully your transcripts show you're a much better student now than those previous times.

As for nursing programs, the thing to remember, that is always more than one path. It is good to apply to several programs. I suggest applying to both ADN and BSN. The CSU BSN programs all based it on points. I suggest trying to for the larger programs (ones with more spots) such as CSU East Bay and Long Beach; Sonoma I would not bother since it is only thirty-two. ADN programs although competitive vary and different. It the point system is only to see if you qualify. From there it can be a waiting list, lottery system (Solano Community Collete) first-come-first-served (Napa Valley College).

If you do get into an ADN program, there are bridge programs for the BSN. CSU East Bay has one that is one semester, I think, and they said most often, they have a spot for anyone who qualifies; if they get more qualified applicants, it goes to lottery system.

There is also the option of doing a LVN/LPN program. This is one year program. I know almost nothing about them. There are bridge programs for them to get a BSN.

Another option, although more time consuming is getting a bachelor's in something other than nursing and trying after that. You can still try to get into a BSN program as a second bachelor's. Everything I said before still applies. You're considered a transfer student, but if you get in, you get treated a graduate student with higher fees and so forth. Then there are direct entry BSN and MSN programs. These programs are just as competitive. You still need all those science prerequisites. Some may require a GRE score. Others a TEAS or HESI. And others no placement exams. Now you need to essays and get letters of recommendation, and that can vary on how many and from whom. And it is even more varied what they want for applicants towards the prerequisites. The core science classes is the same.

This is where it gets more wild. Since these are considered graduate programs, they are going to want a minimum of a 3.0 GPA and Cs in the core classes. Some programs will only look at the GPA of the bachelor's issuing institution for the GPA. Thus, if you did really well prior to that school but not so great at it, you can be disqualified. I'll use myself as an example. I had a 3.33 GPA at community college, than had 2.795 at the bachelor's issuing. Between the all the grades, probably around 3.1. UC Davis explicitly told me not to bother applying because I would not be considered. It should.d be noted, I had a post-bachelors GPA of 3.78, which they would not look at either.

Do be discourage yet, a lot of programs take a holistic approach to their applicants. The good news, GPA, and grades are not the primary focus. These are looked at to make sure you can handle the rigors of graduate-level academic work. Some will have other headlines. Johns Hopkins is about B- or better in the core classes. What is the big factors are those essays and letters of recommendation. They have an idea of their ideal candidate and trying to figure if you fit. At the same time, you need to make sure what they offer fits what you'll be looking to get out of school and the career path it will offer. The other thing, these programs are more expensive than an ADN, and most BSN programs, especially if you consider the per year cost. Johns Hopkins will cost about $100K in tuition over the two years.

Lastly, these programs are still competitive too. They're only slightly less applicants. JHU for example, they stay they usually get around six to seven hundred per term. They have a large class size of around 120. You're still competing against 4.0s. You're also competing against people who may already post graduate degrees and have 4.0s there too. There are also people who have worked for a number of rs and did well or are accomplished. I still say try. I got in. Not accomplished career. Pretty good student, but nothing brag-worthy. But my essays matched well in the candidate they wanted. I saw people declined admission who were significantly more impressive than me.

On a side note, I was rejected at a quite a few programs--ADN, BSN, and direct entry MSN. I did get offers for programs at all levels.

Lastly, I understand wanting to stay in California as someone who was born, raised, and educated in it. If you do consider the directly entry, especially one of the MSN, I would seriously consider schools outside the state as well. I personally like Johns Hopkins and Arizona State. You may want to look into the University of San Diego's; they want one hundred hours of nurse shadowing, so I'm not sure if your health experience will count, but I would ask.

megmeg, CNA · Jun 15, 2020

@caliotter3 Hi there! I'm in a similar situation as the original poster but unfortunately received all Cs in all three core classes (always missing the B by 2%). I think you mentioned that a lot of community colleges consider a retake of a course as a pass, at least for the CC I'm at they consider a C a passing grade. Anyways, you mentioned retaking the classes at another CC. If I do and pass with a better grade there, will schools take those grades than the ones I currently have?

Jorge Salazar · Jun 15, 2020

You could retake you science courses in a different CC to obtain a better grade and get more points. But one thing to consider is some nursing schools will deduct points for retaking your science classes. However, from the research I have done, each school has a different criteria. For example: grossmont college only allows you retake your science course once. If more than one time the course has been repeated, they don’t allow you to apply. Other schools will let you retake only 2 times a science class. Or even other schools will let you retake up to 3 science courses, but they will subtract points depending on how many times you have repeated the class. I would recommend checking the nursing handout at your school. If your CC allows you to repeat classes with no problem, you can definitely retake them at a different CC for a higher grade. Usually private nursing schools don’t care how many times you have retaken your classes or TEAS. I advise doing some research maybe around your area. As well as reading your grading policy for your school, it may be different from the ones I know.

megmeg, CNA · Jun 15, 2020

@Jorge Salazar Truth be told I'm in San Diego as well! And frustratingly a good amount of schools I've looked at in the area only allow for one retake :/. Thank you for your reply!

Also, I was reading the thread and the last reply touched upon looking to LVN programs! Miracosta has a REALLY great one. Something I've been looking into, LVN to RN ; LVN to BSN. It'll take longer, but hey it's worth the try!

Other forums even suggest going out of state, and U of A is a really good one!

Best of luck in your nursing journey!

Jorge Salazar · Jun 15, 2020

@megmeg You should know then SD is so competitive for nursing schools. If you are able to get accepted at a LVN program, would make much easier your admission for a RN program. Southwestern college has a LVN program. They give a lot of points for being LVN and CNA when you try to apply to the ADN at SWC. I know this program for sure allows you to retake only once a science course. If you decide to retake one, try to aim for an A. I used to attend SD city college. I took the three science courses there and for some reason they there were so much harder compared to SWC. I repeated anatomy and micro at SWC and got As on both. But that’s me, everyone is different. Another thing you can do, is to retake all of them, make sure you get better grades, and try applying to National University. I went to their orientation last year. At that time, they mentioned they didn’t care how many times you have taken the TEAS or your classes. NU is not really that expensive for being private school. The whole program is like 40k if you have all your pre-requisites. It should be even cheaper if you are a LVN and try to do LVN-BSN. I was denied at NU with a 3.5 GPA on science and 81% on TEAS. I feel I screwed up on my interview.
Just don’t give up! Keep looking for more programs. Best of luck!

megmeg, CNA · Jun 15, 2020

@Jorge Salazar WOW! really?! I'll have to look into that, especially with COVID affecting everything I wonder how the science core with labs will be formatted. I took the core sciences at Palomar, recently applied to all the CCs around SD area and really like how Southwestern is formatted!

Thank you for all the helpful tips!

botmann · Jun 15, 2020

The suggestion for retaking a class a different college is the work around if you passed the class with a C, which is passing, but want to retake it without having to go through the process of petition to retake it. Trying to getting a better grade to be more competitive for nursing schools may not be enough. I did it for statistics but mine was more as a refresher course since it had been several years since I last took a statistics course, and I did not want to wipe an A; I had this happen to me with a different course that I had taken at the same school.

That said, you need to look at how each program you're thinking about taking approaches to repeated courses. The issues are usually around the core science classes. Some allow it, not issues. Some deduct points after so many repeats, and other disqualify.

If you do repeat courses, I would include an application addendum of why you repeated and what you learned from it. Not so much the course, but maybe something like better time management, better gauging the work demand of all your classes, and so forth. This is especially true if these were more recent and your terms grades were not very good compared to the rest of your time at the school. The key being what you learned more than excuse why.

If you can afford to go out of state, this will open up your options of schools you can apply to. This is where you look for school with larger cohort sizes. Larger sizes will improve your chances. That said, all nursing programs programs are competitive throughout the country. The bridge programs have smaller cohort sizes, which makes it easier to get into.

As a nursing school admissions person once said at an information session I attended, "there is more than one way to get into nursing"

TheDudeWithTheBigDog, ADN, RN · Jun 15, 2020

On 5/16/2020 at 7:46 AM, caliotter3 said:
In general, competition is keen. Highly recommend that you call the nursing advisors at all considered programs and discuss or make an appointment to discuss. Be sure to bring an unofficial transcript. Other than that, you really would improve your chances if you repeated physiology even if all you get is a B. At this point that C will be your downfall where they outright reject you.

Do the first part of this post before the second. Retaking the class could just be wasting your money.

These forums have an OBSESSION with GPA. Honestly think: if schools only wanted people with a 3.5+ GPA who never got below a B in any of their prereqs, why would they make the minimum 2.0 and a minimum of C, giving themselves a ton more paperwork to go through every year? The schools can tell you better than anyone else can. It's OK to call or email them and ask specifically what you need to work on to get accepted. A lot of schools will tell you. They'd rather have you apply when you're ready to get accepted than have to do the extra work of rejecting you.

Mergirlc, MSN, RN, APRN, NP · Jun 17, 2020

On 6/15/2020 at 11:51 AM, TheDudeWithTheBigDog said:
.....These forums have an OBSESSION with GPA. Honestly think: if schools only wanted people with a 3.5+ GPA who never got below a B in any of their prereqs, why would they make the minimum 2.0 and a minimum of C, giving themselves a ton more paperwork to go through every year? ....

California doesn't play around. Yes, a "B" could very well toss you out of the running here.

Just to give you an idea, I know a person who works for a very major HMO located within California. The job ad always reads ADN/ASN or BSN or MSN degree required. We got on the subject of his friend, who was the nursing HR person and was tasked with filtering out all the resumes submitted. She usually has to go through 800-1000 applications. He asked her, how do you go through all of them. She simply said, "The first thing I do is see who has the BSN or higher and who has the ADN/ASN. Once I filter all of those, I toss out the ADN/ASN pile and go from there." True story!

So, you see, although they can advertise all they want as to what the minimum is that will be accepted, it rarely gets picked.

botmann · Jun 17, 2020

I've read that being case in many hospital environments depending on the number of the applications received. This is also true for many similar situations such as college applications.

This does not mean you cannot get a job with an ADN in those environments, but it may not be the location you would like or may have to try when the applicant pool is smaller.

If that is the case, you may have to work in some kind of skilled nursing facility while working doing a bridge program to get that BSN or higher.

Getting into nursing school is a feat in itself. It's kind of crazy how competitive it is to get into some nursing schools. In general, you'll find schools get around five to six hundred applicants for fifty spots. When I attended CSU East Bay Spring 2020 cohort, the rumor was they got almost a thousand applicants for sixty spots. That program was purely based on points earned from your application information; no first-come-first-serve or lottery system.

TheDudeWithTheBigDog, ADN, RN · Jun 23, 2020

On 6/16/2020 at 8:54 PM, Mergirlc said:
California doesn't play around. Yes, a "B" could very well toss you out of the running here.
Just to give you an idea, I know a person who works for a very major HMO located within California. The job ad always reads ADN/ASN or BSN or MSN degree required. We got on the subject of his friend, who was the nursing HR person and was tasked with filtering out all the resumes submitted. She usually has to go through 800-1000 applications. He asked her, how do you go through all of them. She simply said, "The first thing I do is see who has the BSN or higher and who has the ADN/ASN. Once I filter all of those, I toss out the ADN/ASN pile and go from there." True story!
So, you see, although they can advertise all they want as to what the minimum is that will be accepted, it rarely gets picked.

Then his friend is stupid and needs to just make the minimum a BSN.

But notice how it's always this completely indirect story, that literally nobody is ever giving first-hand accounts of "The school called and told me that my 3.8 GPA wasn't high enough to get into school."

botmann · Jun 27, 2020

Talk to the HR people who have to go through those resumes, and you'll hear plenty of stories confirming. If an actual recruiter reads your resume more than ten to fifteen seconds in the initial review of applicants, you've gotten lucky. In that stage, they're looking for ways to weed down the applicants. They do have the time or money to interview all the applicants.

Along the same lines, schools will do something similar if they have a lot of applicants.