Snwbdr

SD has a glut of new grads, but not so much in experienced nurses.....and hospitals aren't willing to pony up the money required to train the new grads....

Our union contract states that we cant be involuntarily cancelled more than twice per pay period

Some of the Temecula ABSN students have gone as far north as Riverside.....I also know of people who go to Hemet, Inland Valley, and I heard this fall students will be going to Loma Linda Murrieta (from faculty, not a student)....but yes you can also be sent anywhere in SD county as well....

Yes they do volunteer work. There's local groups we are involved with as well as some international missions. Honestly the program did well in terms of giving me the background info, but to really be prepared, it comes w/ time on the job.

took mine this morning....got 75 questions and screen went blue.....I felt sick to my stomach....I wish CA participated in the quick results thing....good luck to those that have to take it BTW- I hate "select all" questions....I must have had about 15 of em

what was your experience like working with the advisors? i actually didn't work with the advisors before i was accepted, other than to submit my paperwork and whatnot. my advice is look at the admission point criteria, and try to get them all. sounds kinda generic, but that's as simple as it gets. volunteer, get work experience points if you work (cna/emt, whatever), foreign language points are super easy to get, and of course, do well on the teas and in your pre-req courses. once you were accepted, was it difficult to get into the required upper divsion classes? no because the upper division classes are designed only for nursing students. you have to have a permission code to enroll in those courses (which you'll get from the advisors), so nobody else who's not a nursing student can take those courses. not that they'd want to anyways i know most suggest not working during your 6 semesters of class... did you work? any tips for balancing that? i had a non-nursing job, and was able to balance it. time-management is key! many of my classmates also had to work during school, and they were able to do it. did you need to buy the ipod without a camera? (i was told you need it for some classes) yes. you also need to purchase a software package that is used during your clinicals. i wouldn't worry about that right now however. compared to your pre reqs, on a scale of 1 -10 (10 being most difficult) which semester was the most challenging academically? (sorry if i misspelled that). compared to pre-req's, all the semesters were harder. i don't want to scare or discourage you, but nursing school is a lot of work! but you can adapt and succeed if you're focused. do you think it would be better to buy a parking pass or take the sprinter? any tips on parking? (your opinion is great!) the best thing about csusm is that the school of nursing is located off-campus (we're across the street). so we never had to pay for parking for our classes. if you're still taking courses at the university (i did), then you can either carpool up and buy a day pass, or walk up to campus (about 10 mins). did you apply more than once to get in? nope! got in first try:yeah: thank you for offering to answer any or all of these. don't feel committed to respond to all of them! i appreciate anything you can share! :) i lost my job last year while taking classes, so im at the end of my finances. apply for scholarships and financial aid....there's plenty of money out there. don't be scared of taking out a student loan....nursing pays decently enough so you'll be able to pay it back, as long as you're not taking out ridiculous amounts..... hoping to feel confident about application by end of this fall when i will have all prereqs complete! im so nervous i won't get in fall of 2012. any tips on application would be welcome! i know many will appreciate it! :heartbeat:eek: like i said, make sure you have as many points as possible.....that's what it'll all boil down to. good luck and feel free to shoot me any more questions.

We do have a partnership with Palomar hospital, but it does NOT guarantee a job after graduating. About half of my graduating class is still without jobs (last I heard). The new grad situation is not a good one in San Diego, or any major metropolitan area in California really. You'll learn about the economics involved with nursing, and will understand why. My advice is to just be flexible, and you'll be ok.

Congrats to all that got in. Couple words of advice....Get involved. There's more to nursing school than just school. You'll be hearing from representatives of the student nurses association. I highly suggest joining and getting involved. It will lead to great experiences. Don't get overwhelmed by the workload....you'll be able to handle it.

Southern California is especially horrible. For example, UCSD (one of the major medical centers in San Diego) posted for 14 new graduate positions and received over 2600 applications. Many of those people graduated back in 2009. It doesn't hurt to try, but I'd be prepared to be unemployed for a while (unless you're super lucky/rockstar)

I just graduated from CSUSM. What do you wanna know?

They're both good programs. I will tell you that SDSU is very very competitive. That's not to say that CSUSM is easy to get into. Apply to both and if you're lucky, you'll get to choose which school you go to BTW- I graduated from CSUSM, but know people who go/have gone to SDSU

Bakersfield is pretty far away from San Diego...or even LA. I consider it more Central Cali than Southern Cali....but to each their own As for new grad positions in San Diego....they're becoming less and less....the area's saturated with new grads, but the hospitals aren't hiring....Those that are hired are usually internal, so unless you already work at a facility as a CNA or some other role, then your chances are slimmer.... But if it's what you really want, then I say go for it

6 months of commuting is not bad....I commuted at least an hour for classes, and sometimes almost 90 minutes for clinicals....did that for 2 years. I say go for it

I'd try the dean or the operations manager.....call up the school and explain the situation. My school is always passing along job opportunities like this.

I never understood the whole phenomenon with stethoscopes "walking away" during clinical.....I have a $160 stethoscope for the past two years that has NEVER walked away.....I've never had it out of my sight....if I'm not using it, it's tucked away in a pocket. I don't know what all these people are doing to have their stethoscopes "walk away" from them....maybe they bought magical walking scopes....Anywho My advice is to buy the best you can afford. As a student, our inexperienced ears need as much help as possible to distinguish between the various sounds, and by being cheap you can potentially rob yourself of your education. My $0.02