moonsilver

Hi everyone! Applied to Psych and OR. I did get the email re: the personality test (it was immediate, before uploading docs).

Socal_EMT, like most things, the answer would be: it depends. I'm sure the school's prestige does help a bit with the competition, possibly due to reputation, drawing in stellar faculty, and attractive clinical sites, but I doubt this is the best way to consider a nursing program. Technically, as long as the nursing school is accredited, it will provide you the education you need. Like you said, RN is an RN. The more important question to ask is: does the school align with your education/career goals, and other factors, such as length of commute, housing availability, tuition, academic support, and so on? I've spoken to nursing students from West Coast and UCLA, and honestly I've heard positive and negative opinions about both of them. I personally would not go to West Coast, mainly because of tuition - paying six figures for school is dreadful to me. For your friend, West Coast is his best option because of his GPA and his willingness to deal with loans after graduation. If you're applying to UCI, UCLA, and Loma Linda only for prestige, there's a high probability you will be unhappy if you start nursing school in any of them. No nursing program can guarantee you success in getting a job. In the end, it all boils down to you: you have to work your booty off. That is what makes you competitive. If you don't, for example: study hard, volunteer, work as a CNA/allied health, get involved with clubs, networknetworknetwork, work on your portfolio and interviewing skills...does it really matter where you went to school? And speaking of jobs - you can satisfy all their requirements on paper, but does your personality fit with their current staff? New grads sometimes don't get hired for that reason. That is a variable you cannot control. (Just my humble observation )

Does anyone have any advice or remembers the kind of questions asked at the group interview? I received an email to attend a group interview next week, which is my first interview - needless to say, a little nervous!

I wouldn't say that, just because they take quite a while to get back at people. It's just an agonizing wait

I still haven't heard anything yet and my preferences were MICU, Adult ICU, and Tele/Obs. I wonder if there is an order to this, in terms of units...

Now that the deadline is extended to October 20, sure! Kayla0515, I was wondering the same thing...

matthewandrew, I checked my old posts and realized my timing was off. I found out I was waitlisted March 5 and was offered a spot April 2, so it was about a month. I remember they had to wait for the accepted folks to confirm first, giving them a deadline of March 25 or so. After that date, they started going down the wait list.

Like @myck706, I'm also in my 1st year in the program. I know it's easy to be chewing your fingernails in anticipation - I think a few of my classmates were calling the office every day last year! Hard as it may be, do you best redirecting your energies positively elsewhere, just to keep yourself off that mental hamster wheel. I was nervous of course, but I found out I was wait-listed one day, then a few days later was offered a spot. Found out while I was in jury duty, so it made the day very pleasant If you have any questions, I'll try to answer them best I can. I wish everyone the best of luck!

Hi Tweety2013 and mmccann44, I was number 18. I found out via email. :)

Yep, Tweety2013's right - last year all 60 alternates were accepted, so there is still a chance. Speaking of which...I was informed yesterday that I was accepted off the wait list! WOOOOO!

Hi mmccann44, As far as I know, the deadline for the accepted to reply to UCLA is Friday, March 22. So the earliest you will be notified that you're accepted off the wait list is Monday, March 25.

Good question, because if you end up dropping the class, $150 of the fee is non-refundable. I wasn't sure at first because I don't know the odds of alternates getting accepted. But I might sign up this week anyway because I hate the uncertainty of getting shut out of that class if I end up getting accepted :/

missbettyboo, thank you for the research! Very much appreciated :) I'm not sure about more affordable options given it's a short list and the majority are universities... I think UCLA would be the best bet for me since it's the closest commute, unless there's an online option somewhere. In my case, if I want to take it somewhere else, I'll have to deal with their Admissions department to ask if I can take only one course But if anyone else knows more, please share!

Thanks sandstone! I want to join the FB group but I want to be official, so let's hope that will happen :) Btw, about the timing of letters...from cursory experience I've had doing bulk mailing, it's just slow, because you have to presort the mail to make it cheaper to send. There's a way of grouping zipcodes that makes it convenient for USPS. A previous poster mentioned that UCLA had an internal mailing department - they're probably handling the presorting before giving it to USPS. My letter was dated February 26, so the timing seems about right...I live in LA so it would be 1-2 days, but it might take a couple days just to sort all that mail

Hello folks! First post, and congratulations to everyone who got accepted! Found out today I'm on the wait list! Crossing fingers...