Shasta College RN Questions

KHBP · Oct 5, 2011

It depends on where you live now. I live/work in Redding and would not recommend it. It is a realatively small community that is educationally isolated (no CSU/UC). If you want to get an education while living in Redding, I suggest you don't plan on working. I am a father who has a BS degree and is currently employed but has hated his career path since graduation. I'm being cryptic for a reason, it is a small community and I need to hold onto my job as long as possible. I'm currently on the waitlist at Shasta College and a part of the lottery system at Butte College.

Like I mentioned before, I already have a BS so my main concern was taking the three big pre-req's: Micro, Anatomy, Human Physiology.

Shasta College:

Two years ago when I decided to make the career change I assumed the hardest part of the pre-req's would be the class material and studying; wrong. The hardest part was getting into the classes. As an individual who works, my main options were night classes. First semester wasn't too bad, took Human Phys; the classroom was huge so a lot of spaces were available. I spent the next two semesters not taking any classes because I was ending up somewhere in the neighborhood of waitlist #50+ for Anatomy and Micro. This is another reason why I say Redding is educationally isolated. There were only a couple teachers for Anatomy and I believe only one for Micro, very much limiting the classes available for students. The fourth semester I decided to drive 1.25 hrs every day to take Micro and Anatomy at the College of the Siskiyous. As the semester dragged on snow started to close the only road to school, it was a mess. Not to mention, Shasta College is 10 minutes from my house, so I ended up driving an extra 2.5 hrs/day (which took away study time). Moral of this story, if you need to work and take all your pre-req's, don't come to Redding.

Simpson University:

At Simpson, you are required to start in their pre-nursing program before you get to their nursing classes. These include all the religious courses, general ed pre-req's for the program and the standard nursing pre-req's (Micro, etc.). So even if you have all the pre-req's from Shasta or any other school, you are required to take the whole program from Simpson (I checked into this and an admissions councelor gave me this info). Now you're looking at four years of education from Simpson ($20-25,000/year x 4 years = $80-100,000) for your BSN. Pricey! Simpson is a great school with great professors, don't get me wrong, but do you really want to be saddled with $80K of debt?

I'm from the Bay Area and feel that if I lived there, I could have slammed out the three pre-req's in 2 semesters and been on the wait lists at several local schools. By living in Redding, I've post-poned my nursing career by two years at least.

Good luck with your decision. I apologize for being so long winded but feel that I have some decent advice from my personal experiences.

Sannie6226 · Nov 9, 2011

I would say that if you have yet to do your pre-reqs, take those at a community college like Shasta or Butte, but make sure they are transferrable to any of the surrounding schools like Chico and Simpson. I am currently on the waitlist at Shasta college and have been for almost a year and my number is 154. They go through approx 50 students a semester to get the 30 they accept each time. Simpson just last spring started their BSN program that is completed in 2.5 years- only one semester more than Shasta and graduate with a higher degree. They do require 15 units of bible theology but that is set up in to your nursing schedule outline of the classes. Last spring after finding out they opened this program, I found the only classes I needed to apply was, statistics, human development, and enlish 2. I am still enrolled in statistics and human development, but Simpson is one of the few programs that take in progress classes on their application ( if accepted you must complete those classes with a C or better to finalize your acceptance) They also require a min of 78 on the TEAS V test, but the higher you get, the better your chance of getting in. They also say that it ups your chances of getting in if you are a currently enrolled student there. At this point they are taking 27 students each spring and not carrying a waitlist, you must reapply each time. I am lucky to say that I applied and got in, as long as I pass my classes this semster with a C. I am nervous about the price, as it is much more than community college, however I looked in to Chico as well which is comparable in price. there are ways to get financial aid, some I will have to pay back, some is free money, and Simpson offers scholarships for good grades. So there are options, it just depends on what you are looking for! let me know if you have any other questions, I woul be happy to help!