Starting out. What is the best, fastest route to take?(American river college or others)

KathyVandy · Aug 9, 2015

Hi there! I'm currently a second semester RN student at ARC. I got in on my first try, which is more common than you'd think. There are SO many reasons why ARC is a great choice for aspiring RN students. First off, we do NOT have a a lottery based admissions process anymore. The admissions panel takes the top 30% of applicants based on MERIT. Then, the top 10% of those students are guaranteed admission. Some get admission based in veteran status, and the rest are put into a pool of names that gets drawn from a hat. So, if you have grades to get you into that top 10-30%, you're golden. Other things that can help your application score are an outstanding TEAS test (85%+), volunteering at a hospital, previous healthcare experience (like a CNA), being fluent in another language (Spanish, Russian, Tagalog, etc - not French or German), having an existing degree (AS or BSN), and being a veteran. (Side note: I highly suggest becoming a CNA before you even start your BIO classes. It gives you a good idea of what nursing will be like AND gives you extra points on your application.)

As far as LVN being a faster route, that's not entirely true is you plan to get your RN-BSN. LVN jobs aren't that plentiful, and you will eventually need to complete all the prerequisites for the ADN or RN-BSN program.

Our Nursing professors are amazing and all of them really want you to succeed! We have excellent reputations in the hospitals we have clinicals at. Our NCLEX passing score is over 95% last time I checked. AND we have agreements with certain colleges to complete some of your BSN bridge program while on your last 2 semesters at ARC. Sac State is one of those colleges! Finally, we have the BEST Student Nurses Association that provides great opportunities and experiences for our members.

Choosing to go to ARC was the best decision I ever made. If you have any questions about our program, feel free to DM me. Hope this helps! :)

doomoo · Aug 10, 2015

I am completely new to this nursing forum and not really sure how it works so i'm hoping you see this message. Thank you so much for your comment I had no idea they changed the admission process and based it on merit. I was actually doing a lot of research, and since eventually I plan on getting my BSN, I learned that it might be a wiser decision to do all my pre-reqs at ARC, and then when the time is right apply to Sac State or a different State University to get into a BSN program. I am aware that with their admission process only the top of the top get accepted. I plan on getting very good grades, taking that CNA course at ARC to get my license as a CNA while still studying at ARC so I will have experience. But I was wondering, if I am eligible for both Sac State and the ARC nursing program by the time I am done with all my pre- reqs, can I apply to both at the same time? kind of a stupid question, but I just want something to fall back on if I don't get accepted into a BSN program. Also, if you have the time, is there any way you can tell me the courses you took to get into the program? what professors were the best? who were difficult? I just really want to do my best at ARC and take the best possible route for my career. thank you so much for your time.

vintagemother, BSN, CNA, LVN, RN · Aug 14, 2015

Yes, you can apply to both ARC and Sac State simultaneously. You will also be able to apply to Sac City. You may also qualify to apply to Sierra (one math class is the only difference, but depending on which math you take, you may have it done at the same time.)

Prereqs I took:

Gen chem (combo ochem and gen chem may have been a better way to knock out 2 stones at once because Sac State required ochem. But come to think of it, I think they recently changed that requirement)

Microbiology

Anatomy and Physiology 1

Anatomy and Physiology 2

Those are the sciences.

The non sciences are: (I think. Things have changed a little since I started)

English 1a / ENGWR 300

advanced composition

Speech

Nutrition

Psychology

Sociology / Anthropology

Child development/ human development

Stats or a graduation level math

While the non sciences are prereqs for ARC/SCC; they are co reqs for Sac State, meaning you don't have to do them prior to application or starting the BSN program. I did them all to give myself the larger number of schools to apply to.

Each school has 1 difference in prereqs compared to the others. But this list is pretty comprehensive, I think.

I made an excel spreadsheet and listed the differences side by side. You can obtain all the official prereqs info from the school website catalogs.

Keep in mind that you may have to take math prereqs to get into the chem class and the math class. You may also have to take English prereqs to get into the ENGWR 300.

Then there's the TEAS entrance exam. Don't worry about that until you're 6 Mos - 1 yr from applying though)

I hope this helps!

KathyVandy · Aug 16, 2015

DooMoo: can you send me a private message with your email? I would love to give you some pointers for ARC :)

Vintagemother is correct... You can apply to both. In fact, I did. I had a 3.983 GPA, 88% on the TEAS, but no optional points. I was alternate #19. The GPA and TEAS are the most significant part of Sac States application. If you keep straight As and have 100 hours of experience as an employed CNA, you have a good chance at getting in to SacState. :)

JustBeachyNurse, LPN · Aug 16, 2015

DooMoo: can you send me a private message with your email? I would love to give you some pointers for ARC :)
Vintagemother is correct... You can apply to both. In fact, I did. I had a 3.983 GPA, 88% on the TEAS, but no optional points. I was alternate #19. The GPA and TEAS are the most significant part of Sac States application. If you keep straight As and have 100 hours of experience as an employed CNA, you have a good chance at getting in to SacState. :)

FYI

You can send doomoo PM but as a new member with a post history of two this member has a ways to go before gaining full access to the PM system

akulahawkRN, ADN, RN, EMT-P · Aug 16, 2015

I graduated from Sac City about a year ago and I'm one of the students that took 8 consecutive semesters to get in. I was qualified from the get-go, but their program was a lottery. Now it's more merit-based and once you're qualified, you're in a lottery to get in, but the pool is much smaller than it once was. I had to repeat some courses, so I got to see students from pure lottery and the new merit-based system and my cohort that was merit-based all got in within 3 attempts. They did change one thing relatively recently and that is they now only have one filing period per year for both Fall and Spring starts. It really doesn't change much.

I generally say that if you're qualified at ARC, you'll be qualified at SCC, and you may be qualified to attend Sac State. If you've not earned your first Bachelors, and you've reviewed all the prerequisites for those 3 programs, you should apply to all 3. The more programs you apply to that you're qualified to attend, the more likely it is that you'll be accepted to one of those programs quickly. I would have done exactly that except I was not allowed to attend Sac State for many years as that campus was closed to all 2nd Bachelors students (as I would have been). I'm now a working ED RN and enjoying every minute of it!

OrientCrown · Nov 14, 2015

Hi there! I'm currently a second semester RN student at ARC. I got in on my first try, which is more common than you'd think. There are SO many reasons why ARC is a great choice for aspiring RN students. First off, we do NOT have a a lottery based admissions process anymore. The admissions panel takes the top 30% of applicants based on MERIT. Then, the top 10% of those students are guaranteed admission. Some get admission based in veteran status, and the rest are put into a pool of names that gets drawn from a hat. So, if you have grades to get you into that top 10-30%, you're golden. Other things that can help your application score are an outstanding TEAS test (85%+), volunteering at a hospital, previous healthcare experience (like a CNA), being fluent in another language (Spanish, Russian, Tagalog, etc - not French or German), having an existing degree (AS or BSN), and being a veteran. (Side note: I highly suggest becoming a CNA before you even start your BIO classes. It gives you a good idea of what nursing will be like AND gives you extra points on your application.)
As far as LVN being a faster route, that's not entirely true is you plan to get your RN-BSN. LVN jobs aren't that plentiful, and you will eventually need to complete all the prerequisites for the ADN or RN-BSN program.
Our Nursing professors are amazing and all of them really want you to succeed! We have excellent reputations in the hospitals we have clinicals at. Our NCLEX passing score is over 95% last time I checked. AND we have agreements with certain colleges to complete some of your BSN bridge program while on your last 2 semesters at ARC. Sac State is one of those colleges! Finally, we have the BEST Student Nurses Association that provides great opportunities and experiences for our members.
Choosing to go to ARC was the best decision I ever made. If you have any questions about our program, feel free to DM me. Hope this helps! :)

I'm curious to which you stated the top 10% guarantee. Is this reliable? Of course, this would be fair and I would support this rule. I'm just not sure they actually do this. At least not explicitly. Can you elaborate on this?