rougewitch

I think your chances of getting in a program is still pretty high. You have all As in your other prereqs and it's only microbio where you didn't get an A. It will still depend on how competitive the programs you're applying for will be, but even then I think you have a pretty good shot. If they require other factors like ECs and essays try to do well on those to strengthen your application.

I am a student at a CC from California and considering ASU as one of the schools I will apply to when applications open. Traditional BSN specifically, I'm not interested in doing an ABSN. I looked at ASU's prerequisites and they have these health prerequisites that seem to be unique to them or Arizona at least, and there are no rough equivalent courses at my college. They also require a pathophysiology class which I cannot take at my CC as it is only for nursing students admitted to the program. I would like to hear from anyone that managed to get into ASU and was from California. How did you bypass the health prereqs they need plus pathophysiology? Or should I just not bother with ASU? It would be unfortunate since every class I have and will take transfers to ASU using their transfer credit equivalency guide yet there's nothing I can do for the other things they ask for. Thanks to anybody that can help ?

I don't have any advice for you, and I'm the last person qualified to help as I'm still a student doing prerequisites, but I admire your dedication to keep going. Nursing comes with a lot of grueling moments as you know and it can turn a lot of people away from the profession. You're asking advice from students who failed out of nursing school. Their view is going to be different from yours since you withdrew. Their alternative majors highly vary, though maybe those students declared other health related majors for the overlapping requirements. Your second to last paragraph is very intriguing to me, and frankly, the reason I replied. Not only was your school highly competitive, it also has a high attrition rate. You're right, 39% is awful. Do you know what your school's NCLEX pass rates are? Some schools have high attrition rates because they are weeding students out to keep NCLEX pass rates high. Don't get me wrong, NCLEX pass rates are highly important because that's what keeps schools' accreditation, but it's not a great program if it has the combination of mediocre NCLEX pass rates and high attrition rate. Same thing for the schools you mention that has high acceptance rates and retention rates. Make sure it's accredited and has a good NCLEX pass rate. Are you applying to expensive private schools? Because I've never seen any credible nursing schools with that high of an acceptance rate, it sounds too good to be true. Best of luck!

Pick a state or a particular school you're interested in and read their requirements. Preferably away from the west coast, I hear the entire west coast is highly competitive. Many out of state schools allow pre-reqs to be in progress as long as it's completed before the first day of the nursing program. Some don't allow you to take prereqs in the Summer and you'd have to finish it by Spring, it depends on the school. California is unique that you have to finish prerequisites before applying and this is because of the high number of applications they get. So yes, you will still be able to apply. You should know there are going to be schools that won't match with your prereqs. For example, some schools ask for General Chemistry, even though majority of CA nursing programs don't need that at all, only an intro or fundamentals course, and others ask for General Biology or Principles of Biology, which again CA programs don't need because A&P and Microbiology already fulfill the Biology prerequisite. Others want College Algebra instead of Statistics, and in certain cases, will not waive the requirement for you if you took stats. Know which schools wouldn't take your credits, and this will narrow your options down. Not all ADN programs are like that, though a lot of them will give you extra points for taking prereqs there. This shouldn't discourage you from applying anyway, students have left CA for an out of state school with not so stellar stats. Speaking of stats, what are your stats? If your grades in the science prereqs are low, it would be best to retake them.

Not OP, but where in the South are you from and was it a BSN or an ADN program, if I may ask? Also for OP, some schools outside CA don't need TEAS (every public school in CA does on the other hand)

There is some truth to what your counselor said about only the first attempt counting which is why I suggested the out of state option because there are states that are more "lenient" in their retake policy. For example, CSULA's traditional BSN program only looks at the first attempt. I'm sure ABSNs are just as competitive since there are many people that have nursing as a second career. Although I don't know a lot about the ABSN process as I don't hold a bachelor's degree (still doing my prerequisites actually LOL), so pick a school you're interested in and see what their requirements are, maybe a school's ABSN program allows retakes but the traditional BSN program doesn't, it depends.

I really don't mean to discourage you by saying this, but both your overall GPA and science GPA are pretty low, and it's not just for California standards. California is highly competitive for both CSU and CC, the most competitive state for nursing, but even a 3.0 GPA isn't really gonna get you anywhere in out of state schools when there are numbers of applications with at least a 3.5. Your best bet is to retake your science classes and the TEAS and go out of state. There are schools that only look at science GPA so do some research when searching for a program. In California, many 4.0 students with a high score in the TEAS get rejected because it's that impacted. Your other option is to become an LVN and do a bridge program if staying in California is a complete must. Also, don't apply to just one school. Good luck!

Yeah I was wondering how I was going to get around the health prereqs ASU needs seeing my CC does not have any classes that I could take. One of them was pathophysiology which my CC doesn't even have, only for students already admitted into the nursing program. Shame, because everything else I took and plan to take do transfer to ASU, I just checked their requirements and the transfer credit guide.

ASU was actually one of the schools I'm considering. The main school I'm looking at is in the east coast, not that I'm not disregarding Arizona though honestly I don't care where I end up (just not the South LOL). And I'm at a CC right now doing my gen eds and starting science prereqs in the Fall, so if there's one thing I did right, it's not going to a CSU to do pre-nursing because only Fullerton and SDSU are direct entry (and I was not a great student in high school, no way would those two and UCI/UCLA take me) and if I did go to a 4 year first I would be in debt already due to dorm expenses. Thank you for your input though, I will keep that in mind ? Out of state tuition is outrageous but we gotta do what we gotta do. I'm sorry to hear CoL is rising in Arizona, though I can't say this is the first I've heard about it, I remember a few years back I came across articles talking about how rent in Phoenix kept going up. Anyway, is it okay if I ask what your stats were at the time of acceptance? Just so I have an idea what ASU needs.

I'm curious to know, what was everyone's experience with taking two science pre-reqs together (such as Chem and A&P 1, or A&P 2 and Microbio) ? I wanted to know if it's doable albeit with a lot of studying or a bad idea all around. The Chemistry in question would be a Fundamentals of Chemistry course instead of General Chemistry.

I did get that same advice to just stay in nursing and pull through because of the job opportunities from a friend who's also a nursing major. Also, not to sound rude, but driving an hour to work/school in what's most likely the same state and going out of state are two different things entirely. At least workers don't pay to go to work and students that commute for hours still have in state tuition. Anyway, I can entirely believe no one in CA contacts you, there's too many people applying it's all they can focus on. Is the fact that I'm not willing to enroll in an LVN program a sign that I shouldn't be a nurse in the first place? In another post (which I believe is the same post you refer to) it was suggested I should become a patient care tech so I can get a gist of what nursing is like. I'm already worrying about my current classes and trying to get a driver's license when no one can teach you because they never have time and are too busy with work and lessons aren't something we can't easily afford, that becoming an LVN is just not in my mind.

Thank you for that. No, I do not have any patient care experience at all, I haven't done any volunteering, even though you're right that I should because it's the only way to know. I looked it up (I don't have time right now to research it thoroughly) and I saw that it needed training which is a given but eh I don't want to go through months of training when I have classes to focus on. Last fall I didn't have the thought of applying for a job in my mind because statistics took up 90% of my time. I don't even hold a driver's license because no one could ever teach me while I was growing up, everyone is too busy to do it and my mom is trying to save money right now for driving lessons. I know I'm being lazy and I know I need to get over that but I don't know how to find a way out of things that are holding me back. Maybe I'm just being a downer but I'm nearing my second year of college and this is the time where you have to declare a major if not already and stick to it.

I don't know how to start this off. I just had an emotional breakdown yesterday and I'm having another one while typing this because I don't know why I'm majoring in nursing other than my mom pressuring me into the field and the money and job security are extremely promising. I'm from California and I'm surrounded by nurses in my family. I guess it's being broke my whole life and trying to find a way to get out of it is what makes nursing so appealing to me. Other than that, I can't find another reason why I should enter this field. I couldn't care less about any of the prerequisites. Not to mention California schools are competitive that people start moving out of the state. The thought of that makes me feel sick. As for the field itself, human and bodily fluids and blood make me extremely uncomfortable and I don't have the patience to deal with aggressive patients that will find any chance to grope you. And I don't even know what else I want to major in, it's like I'm at a dead end. I guess you can say all I care about is having money and getting out of the shady neighborhood I lived in my entire childhood and being able to afford things I've always wanted. I don't know what I'm trying to do with this post other than letting out my feelings. Well, what about you guys? What makes you stay in nursing despite the horrible parts of the field that looks like it outweighs the good parts of it? I try to tell myself that the money and the three days-twelve hour shifts is worth and I should stay, but I don't think that's working anymore, seeing as I just bottle all these feelings I have in me any longer. I'd really appreciate it if anyone can help in some way, whether it's kind words or advice, because believe me, I need it.

Yeah I am considering the community college I am currently attending, but the CCs are just as competitive. I live in a pretty populated area of SoCal and a CC that's driving distance from where I am is entirely lottery. My CC is still point-based. I don't want to wait a couple of years just to get in a CSU or a CC especially as credits eventually expire and that would be wasting my time. You mention UCs in your thread, but trying to get into a UC is worse than trying to get into a CSU: they only accept 10 students out of 1,000 and they ask for way too many subjects, like general and organic chemistry (which CSUs don't need at all). I'm aware out of state students go through all of that, it's not a walk in the park moving states in general, but that isn't stopping California residents from moving to a different state anyway because they just can't get accepted at all and got lucky out of state. I've read a lot of threads both here and a nursing subreddit, and in the nursing subreddit I've seen a bunch of California residents mention they had to leave California to get their degree. Technically, I can move if I really must, but like I said, that's a lot of financial burden on me as I would have to take out hundreds of thousands of loans and like you said, takes a lot of work, and it's not guaranteed if credits will transfer. If I were in the nursing subreddit, they would all advise me to go out of state in a heartbeat. But I just don't want to because it's cheaper to be here. I also don't want to wait 5+ years to get into a nursing school, and some CSUs have a set maximum of times you can apply. I know CSULA only allows you to apply once and that's it. Sorry if this came out as a rant, but all this talk competitiveness in California nursing is just bringing my hopes down and seriously makes me reconsider majoring in another subject just so I can finish college already.

Hello, I should start off by saying I don't know where to put this, so I just put it in pre-nursing as I only have ever posted here. Anyway, it's pretty well known that California is competitive and chances of getting into a CSU, let alone a UC, is like getting into Harvard. Because of this, many students choose to go out of state. I've considered this myself, but how do people afford it? Out of state tuition and finding a place to live is expensive. Taking out loans? Parents' money? A LOT of scholarships? I was never very well off and that would mean my only option is taking out thousands of loans and that will certainly take a hit to my finances. That is tuition alone and I didn't add the cost of living which I need to worry about too because I don't have any family outside California. Are people from California just desperate to get into a school that they will take out as much loans as they can if it means they can finally get their degree?