BT001

Hi Kadc, I did chose Cerritos College over Citrus and I feel as though I made the right decision. I have 1 semester left to go before I'm done with nursing school. I can't really say much about Citrus College since I don't know any one who graduated from the program previously. I can give you examples what it's like being in the nursing program at Cerritos, but the best thing to do is to ask someone that has gone or is in the program at Citrus so you can get a comparison of the two. Luckily my sister lives in Cerritos so I stayed with her during the weekday. I must say that the commuting time is a big hassle and wastes a lot of time and by the time you get home you will feel like you need a nap in order to attempt studying on clinical days. The last thing you want to do is to sit in traffic after being at the hospital all day. However, at Cerritos you usually have an option of AM or PM shift clinicals at the hospital. If you don't have any pre-commitments such as children, family, work then you should do the PM shifts since you will miss a lot of the traffic going and coming back (10am- 8pm). However, some of my classmates commute from huntington beach, inglewood, Glendale, Chino hills, and even from San Diego county and they've made nursing school work for them and are some of the more successful students in our class. It really all depends on your dedication. The professors are helpful, they genuinely want you to do well in the program. I mean if you do well, it makes their program look good. You have clinicals 2 days a week and lecture the other 2 days. The lectures are usually powerpoints and you have to be a fast writer and a good listener to fill in the ppt notes and to jot down anything they say that would be important. The professors also have office hours as well if you have questions. Cerritos also has an open skills lab where you could study, practice any nursing skills, ask questions/get help with skills with the nursing instructor assigned for that day or with student workers. They also have a clinical lab tutor, so if you need tutoring on a subject you are stuggling with, you can sign up for tutoring for free. All in all, I'm glad I chose Cerritos College. My class is very supportive of each other and we all push each other to do well by forming study groups and giving each other a heads up. Also I forgot to mention that Cerritos is an accredited nursing program, which is important if you will want to continue on with your education and to get a higher degree. I'm not sure what Citrus college has. I hope I answered some of your questions and helped you out a little. Shoot me another message if you have any other concerns. Good luck on your decision!

@ Kim05, I honestly had a pretty low overall GPA. I think it was the fact I did well in my 3 core sciences (A's in anatomy and microbio, and B in physio) and I'm done with all other classes needed to get an associate's because I already hold a BA in another field. I was shocked as well that I got accepted into Citrus college as a last minute alternate because I thought a lot more people had a better chance than I did but you never know! So I encourage everyone to apply anyways. @ Ms. A, wow temecula is far from cerritos and citrus college. Do you plan on moving? Traffic does take a lot out of you and the time spend studying. Every hour counts in nursing school! @ SugarNsass, I ended up choosing Cerritos. I'm doing well in my classes so far, so that's why I like it! It will only get harder and harder, so we'll see how that goes. The teachers are really good at lecturing and they test you things that they have taught. Good luck everyone!

Wow thats far! Does commuting far affect your studies at all? I'm just worried that traffic will give me even more stress than I need while in nursing school especially because classes start at 7AM?! Plus would it be harder to meet up with classmates to form study groups? How are the teachers at cerritos? Do they actually help you out and give you 1-on-1 time if you need it because Cerritos has a big nursing class of 50 compared to citrus' 24. How are the nursing classes at cerritos? I know nursing courses at different schools aren't easy but would you say that it is manageable and attainable to get an A in classes at cerritos? Or teachers rarely give out A's? Sorry I'm asking so many questions! But it is seriously taking a toll on me trying to decide. Thanks for responding and feel free to address anything else I didn't mention if you would like to share more about your experiences so far.

i need help deciding which nursing program to attend. here's the breakdown (please help with advice if you can): i got accepted to cerritos college nursing program for spring 2011 and will start in jan. 10th. this was the only school i got accepted to from the 5 other communities in the la area i applied to. of course i accepted it and was planning to go there in the spring. then citrus college emails me last week and told me i was put on the alternate list for fall 2010 and i needed to pass the teas again. i decided to take my chances and thought hey why not try, and long story short i got in! so now i'm in a predicament in which school to choose. i broke down the pro's and con's of both programs: cerritos college (cerritos, ca) accepts 100 students a year; acceptance based on lottery pros * established in 1964; long nursing program history * newly renovated, state-of-the art nursing department (22,000 sq.ft) * high nclex passing rate 2008/2009: 81 students passed the test 96.3% passing rate * grading percentage for an a is 90-100% * need an 80% to pass dosage math test cons * about an hour drive with traffic to campus and to clinicals * will be starting in spring 2011 citrus college (glendora, ca) accepts 24 students a year; acceptance based on overall and science gpa pros * campus and clinicals close to home (only 10-15 min drive) * will be easier to form study groups because it's closer to home * will be starting in fall 2010 cons * program just started 2 years ago * nclex pass rate was 77.27% (2008/2009) 22 students passed test * small nursing facility * grading percentage for an a is 93-100% * need 90% to pass dosage math test so basically, the drive and distance to cerritos is deterring me from going there. while the high percentage needed to get an a at citrus is making me unsure if i want to go there as well. it will be very important that my adn grades will be on an a/b average since i'm planning to get a masters in nursing afterwards. please help me decide! i haven't been this torn ever!

i need help deciding which nursing program to attend. here's the breakdown (please help with advice if you can): i got accepted to cerritos college nursing program for spring 2011 and will start in jan. 10th. this was the only school i got accepted to from the 5 other communities in the la area i applied to. of course i accepted it and was planning to go there in the spring. then citrus college emails me last week and told me i was put on the alternate list for fall 2010 and i needed to pass the teas again. i decided to take my chances and thought hey why not try, and long story short i got in! so now i'm in a predicament in which school to choose. i broke down the pro's and con's of both programs: cerritos college (cerritos, ca) accepts 100 students a year; acceptance based on lottery pros * established in 1964; long nursing program history * newly renovated, state-of-the art nursing department (22,000 sq.ft) * high nclex passing rate 2008/2009: 81 students passed the test 96.3% passing rate * grading percentage for an a is 90-100% * need an 80% to pass dosage math test cons * about an hour drive with traffic to campus and to clinicals * will be starting in spring 2011 citrus college (glendora, ca) accepts 24 students a year; acceptance based on overall and science gpa pros * campus and clinicals close to home (only 10-15 min drive) * will be easier to form study groups because it's closer to home * will be starting in fall 2010 cons * program just started 2 years ago * nclex pass rate was 77.27% (2008/2009) 22 students passed test * small nursing facility * grading percentage for an a is 93-100% * need 90% to pass dosage math test so basically, the drive and distance to cerritos is deterring me from going there. while the high percentage needed to get an a at citrus is making me unsure if i want to go there as well. it will be very important that my adn grades will be on an a/b average since i'm planning to get a masters in nursing afterwards. please help me decide! i haven't been this torn ever!