Please help Ca student moving to Philippines

suzanne4, RN · Aug 5, 2007

Please take the time to do some reading here. The ADN from there is not accepted for licensure in the US, the requirement is that you must be a first level RN in whatever country, and they only recognize the actual BSN if you train there.

Your other issue is even trying to get a visa to study there as a student to begin with.

Getting thru a program quickly is not the issue at all right now, but what you need to look at is that you have not completed any pre-reqs at all, and your grade point average is not high enough to get you into most programs right now, even in PI. Instead take the time and get better grades which will factor into you getting accepted into a program to begin with.

Currently, there are more that 632,000 students in nursing schools in the Philippines, if you are not in one of the better programs, your skill training will be lacking. And the other thing to consider is that licensure has nothing to do with immigration. You will not need to worry about that, but you will always be considered a foreign grad and need to meet those requirements for licensure in any state where you wish to hold a license.

I understand that you are quite anxious about starting a program, but without even making an attempt to even complete any required courses here just does not work in your favor. Especially if you are wishing to get into a second courser program.

adyhottie · Aug 7, 2007

im from the philippines and i just finished my nursing course.

i had a classmate once who was a pure american.. no filipino blood..she just went

here to study nursing.

snowball30 · Aug 8, 2007

hi, i'm from the Philippines, my brother is also based there in the US, and he is also considering to go back here just to finish his studies because he can't also get in with the raffle thing in nursing schools back there. There are a lot of great nursing schools here, universities =) so you have lots of options =) i suggest you go to our government website coz all the best nursing schools are listed there:

http://www.gov.ph/forum/thread.asp?rootID=113836&catID=6

hope it helps, good luck =)

suzanne4, RN · Aug 8, 2007

But the key thing that you are missing is that the GPA is too low to get into any program here, as well as in any other coutry. That needs to be brought up, and especially since it was not a Bachelors of Science degree in another area either. Grades would be expected to be higher in a non-science program to begin with.

Interviews do not need to be done overseas, the same way that a foreign student to the US does not come over for an interview first.

The other issue is that it does not matter who has completed what and when, but the fact that the clinical training there now is not on the same par as the training in the US. With 15 to 18 students per patient, what we take for granted in the US that a nurse can do when they finish, is just not happening. It is also getting much harder for a grad from there to get a job in a hospital, and even if they do not need to be petitioned. Hospitals are not accepting them, and even in the LA area.

There are no quick fixes to becoming a nurse that can work in the US. And with the proper GPA and the prereqs done, there are actually schools in the US that have openings in all of their programs. But without even making an attempt at that, nothing is going to work for you.

And the other issue is getting a visa to attend school there, that needs to be done as well, and is not as easy as it used to be.

There are now more than 632,000 students in over 430 programs. Not enough patients for that number of students. I am here in the US, and in CA and see what is happening here on a daily basis. Those of you that have responded are not over here, nor have any experience working in the US in the role of the RN.

suzanne4, RN · Aug 8, 2007

And you train overseas, you will always be considered a foreign grad and have to go thru all of the extra procedures. US citizenship has nothing to do with licensure at all.

Suggest that you thoroughly spend sometime on doing your research on this and not just jump to get into a program, will not help if you cannot get a job afterwards.

And for the programs there that are considered good, you need to have exceptional scores to get into them, it is very difficult for someone from there to get into.

Advanced Practice Columnist / Guide · Aug 9, 2007

Please Help CA Student moving to Philippines
permalink
First so much thanks for all who post, you inspire me...
Hello all,
Please help me with any and all advise/input. I am in desparate need. I am born and raised in south cali and cannot get into the waitlisted/lottery process here. All colleges here seem backed up taking only the cream of the crop. I really want to get started in this career of Nursing. I have graduated college with a B.A. degree(2.4gpa) no nursing pre-reqs. I am seriously considering moving to the Philippines to complete a BSN program (Fatima) or a ADN (St. Ignatius College)any grads?. I have looked at other options like St. Kitts (IUON) and private (maric, national, apollo). I am a Catholic but am not Filipino and do not speak Tagalog. I lived in Samoa for 2 years so am used to the heat/humidity and can adjust to a new culture. Can it be done? Has it been done by Americans(non Filipino/AM-Fil.). I just want a RN asap and the idea really seems like a good option. Focus on school and no distractions of old friends. I am nervous cause I hear its really really hard overthere compared to U.S. college. A fear of mine is spending the money flying over and finding out i was hustled by a school where no one has done this before. I would love to hear from any one who has any input advice. For weeks I have looked at the many other threads on Philppine Universities and still need help. Would love to hear from any in my same situation/ students currently enrolled. I am thinking of tutoring privately from nursing student to assit in studies. Should I fly over for a week and interview /apply?/how possible is this to start in a dec07/jan08 semester? Please help anyone...
pms welcomed...
Thank you all for your time.

I would have to agree that you have to thoroughly research your next move before jumping into something you will end up regretting later. As a non-Filipino (both by ethnicity and citizenship) you are coming to a foreign country and knowing how it is in the Philippines, nursing is not entirely taught in English although the required nursing textbooks are mostly written by American authors. Because the program is based on the context of training a Filipino nurse, some courses such as Philippine History and Government, Filipino Languages and Literature are sometimes exclusively taught in Tagalog.

I also noticed that some posters added a link to some good discussion on where the "good" nursing schools are. Be aware that these schools that have established a good reputation for high NLE passing rates and strong clinical training do not typically admit students who have a previous bachelor's degree. It has also been previously mentioned that because of extreme competitiveness in admission to these programs, only those who have stellar academic performance in their previous studies are able to get in.

I think you should not give up on trying to earn your degree in the US. I suggest looking elsewhere in other states before leaving for a foreign land. Try to enroll in prerequisite courses and seriously work at getting good grades to beef up your GPA. Johnson and Johnson's Discover Nursing website lists schools that have no waiting list. I have no idea how accurate this list is but I am posting the link here: http://www.discovernursing.com/nursing-programs-without-waiting-lists

That's basically all I can add at this time. Listen to some good advice especially the ones Suzanne gave you.

tantrum · Aug 10, 2007

Please Help CA Student moving to Philippines
permalink
First so much thanks for all who post, you inspire me...
Hello all,
Please help me with any and all advise/input. I am in desparate need. I am born and raised in south cali and cannot get into the waitlisted/lottery process here. All colleges here seem backed up taking only the cream of the crop. I really want to get started in this career of Nursing. I have graduated college with a B.A. degree(2.4gpa) no nursing pre-reqs. I am seriously considering moving to the Philippines to complete a BSN program (Fatima) or a ADN (St. Ignatius College)any grads?. I have looked at other options like St. Kitts (IUON) and private (maric, national, apollo). I am a Catholic but am not Filipino and do not speak Tagalog. I lived in Samoa for 2 years so am used to the heat/humidity and can adjust to a new culture. Can it be done? Has it been done by Americans(non Filipino/AM-Fil.). I just want a RN asap and the idea really seems like a good option. Focus on school and no distractions of old friends. I am nervous cause I hear its really really hard overthere compared to U.S. college. A fear of mine is spending the money flying over and finding out i was hustled by a school where no one has done this before. I would love to hear from any one who has any input advice. For weeks I have looked at the many other threads on Philppine Universities and still need help. Would love to hear from any in my same situation/ students currently enrolled. I am thinking of tutoring privately from nursing student to assit in studies. Should I fly over for a week and interview /apply?/how possible is this to start in a dec07/jan08 semester? Please help anyone...
pms welcomed...
Thank you all for your time.

Unfortunately, most of the good schools there don't accept students with a Bachelors degree. Stay away from ADN programs especially the one in St. Ignatius.

The reputable schools that MIGHT accept a degree holder is Silliman University ( a good school established by American religious group) but I'm not sure about how competitive it is to get in (with your GPA).

The other one is Arellano University. They also have a bridging program in the US but it is very competitive (they only take top students). But none of these schools will accelerate you and it will take you a minimum of 3-4 years to finish.