West Coast U - Los Angeles

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Hello!

My extensive googling hasn't provided the answers I needed so I thought I'd try here. I'm considering registering for West Coast's BSN program at their Los Angeles (really North Hollywood) campus but have some questions regarding their program. For one, if any of you have attended, would you mind sharing your experiences? I've read reviews on Niche and other websites but I still get mixed reviews. One of my bigger concerns was class scheduling since I will be trying to maintain my job while I'm in school (they provide good tuition assistance benefits and the WCU price tag is no joke). Were class options flexible or do you just have to stick with what they give you? My other question is around West Coast's overall reputation to employers. I know they have a decent NCLEX pass rate but that doesn't always guarantee jobs. As someone who used to work in management and assist in hiring associate attorneys, I've seen how a school's reputation can impede someone's job search. I know healthcare and law are different industries, but it's still a concern that came up ?.

This is my second bachelors and making the career shift from legal services to healthcare has been daunting. I finished the first one on my own and debt free, but ended up finding that my heart was in nursing. I've been at this for over two and a half years with no luck and just feel like it's time to grab the bull by the horns and take the West Coast option. Overall I know that West Coast comes with a heavy price tag, which I can thankfully take on a little more comfortably thanks to my job and tuition assistance, but I just want to make sure this will be a good long term investment. Any and all advice you can offer is so very much appreciated. Thanks in advance!

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hello, i would call and talk with the advisors they can be pretty helpful. i am also looking into this program for my rn, possibly starting in august.

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6 hours ago, NurseYA25 said:

hello, i would call and talk with the advisors they can be pretty helpful. i am also looking into this program for my rn, possibly starting in august.

Thanks! Yeah I'm meeting with an advisor next week but it's always nice to get info from students for a more authentic perspective. Hopefully it all works out though. I'm so ready to be back in school. Good luck to you!

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Commenting to follow because I'd also appreciate hearing from other student's first hand experience. I'm curious about WCU's attrition rate because I've heard rumors that they will boot students from their program pretty easily. I understand lots of nursing programs are like that, though.

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Specializes in Neuro ICU.

I am in my second term at WCU north hollywood. Besides being ridiculously expensive (after loans grants and scholarship i am still paying 1200 a month) it isn't so bad. The classes move very quickly and with only meeting once a week for classes, most of it ends up being self study. The classes are blended 3 1/2 hours in class and an hour and half online per week. Once you get the hang of things keeping up with the pace becomes easier. There are a lot of tutoring sources they provide so take advantage. As for the professors some are good and some are bad. And by bad I mean they don't teach at all. Your first term you don't choose your schedule they choose for you. But after you register for classes and they have a few day and time options for every class. And you register in week 6 of the previous term so you will have time to let your employer know of the changes in your schedule. Class sizes are smaller than community college at about 20-25 a class and they encourage a lot of group work. I start nursing core in June so I can't speak for what that is like yet but so far the gen eds have not been super hard and as long as you go to class and do the work you will be fine. They don't kick people out easily during the orientation they explain how many fails you are allowed in gen ed and nursing before they kick you out. And they explain the attendance policy.

Overall I would advise you to look at all options before committing to this school as you will grow tired of figuring out how to pay for it.

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On 2/4/2019 at 12:10 PM, priiuuss said:

Thanks! Yeah I'm meeting with an advisor next week but it's always nice to get info from students for a more authentic perspective. Hopefully it all works out though. I'm so ready to be back in school. Good luck to you!

I am taking the info session on Tuesday the 19 and meeting with an adviser at that time as well. When do you do your info session?

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On 2/15/2019 at 10:23 AM, slyvalleygrl said:

I am in my second term at WCU north hollywood. Besides being ridiculously expensive (after loans grants and scholarship i am still paying 1200 a month) it isn't so bad. The classes move very quickly and with only meeting once a week for classes, most of it ends up being self study. The classes are blended 3 1/2 hours in class and an hour and half online per week. Once you get the hang of things keeping up with the pace becomes easier. There are a lot of tutoring sources they provide so take advantage. As for the professors some are good and some are bad. And by bad I mean they don't teach at all. Your first term you don't choose your schedule they choose for you. But after you register for classes and they have a few day and time options for every class. And you register in week 6 of the previous term so you will have time to let your employer know of the changes in your schedule. Class sizes are smaller than community college at about 20-25 a class and they encourage a lot of group work. I start nursing core in June so I can't speak for what that is like yet but so far the gen eds have not been super hard and as long as you go to class and do the work you will be fine. They don't kick people out easily during the orientation they explain how many fails you are allowed in gen ed and nursing before they kick you out. And they explain the attendance policy.

Overall I would advise you to look at all options before committing to this school as you will grow tired of figuring out how to pay for it.

Aaah thank you so much! I appreciate you taking the time to share. All in all the price tag is the only thing that's really making me weary. I'm looking into all other options but I'm feeling time pressure to get back into school and all of the Southern California nursing programs seem to be so impacted and I'm not in a position to move out of the area. I have a bachelors but didn't do so great the first time around in college so I'm also stuck there. Given all of that though, I'm trying to make the smartest decision financially. But again, thank you for sharing, you definitely eased some of my concerns about the program itself. If only it wasn't so expensive....

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On 2/15/2019 at 12:58 PM, Nurserock20 said:

I am taking the info session on Tuesday the 19 and meeting with an adviser at that time as well. When do you do your info session?

I went to an info session a few weeks ago and met with my admissions advisor last Tuesday to fill out an application. I go back to meet with financial aid next week. Hopefully it all goes well for you. I highly recommend coming in with a list of questions you might have and be sure to get them answered when you meet with the admissions advisor. It's tough to get information unless your upfront about what you want to know.

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Specializes in Neuro ICU.
17 hours ago, priiuuss said:

Aaah thank you so much! I appreciate you taking the time to share. All in all the price tag is the only thing that's really making me weary. I'm looking into all other options but I'm feeling time pressure to get back into school and all of the Southern California nursing programs seem to be so impacted and I'm not in a position to move out of the area. I have a bachelors but didn't do so great the first time around in college so I'm also stuck there. Given all of that though, I'm trying to make the smartest decision financially. But again, thank you for sharing, you definitely eased some of my concerns about the program itself. If only it wasn't so expensive....

Of course! I would be happy to answer any of your questions. Also I would like to add that, you wanna find out how many of your classes are gonna transfer. You mentioned you had a bachelor's degree but I am not sure if you took all of the required sciences. If you haven't I would say you should take them at a community college. Because taking them at west coast will only add more time you are there which is only more tuition. But I do understand the frustration with the wait. That is why I made the decision to attend that school. After you meet with financial aid you will have an idea how much of a loan you will have to take out or pay out of pocket.

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Hi Slyvalleygirl! I have a question-- I am registered to start in the Summer term on June 10 at the North Hollywood campus. I live in the Bay Area So I will be moving down south to go to school. Can you tell me what happens during the Orientation/registration date and is it only one scheduled date or do they offer different dates to attend? Also, when would incoming students be able to choose the time for our classes? All of my pre-reqs transferred in so I will be taking FYS and critical thinking for the first term then GE capstone and pathophysiology the 2nd term. Thanks for your help!

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Specializes in Neuro ICU.
On 2/22/2019 at 5:11 PM, Lizza10 said:

Hi Slyvalleygirl! I have a question-- I am registered to start in the Summer term on June 10 at the North Hollywood campus. I live in the Bay Area So I will be moving down south to go to school. Can you tell me what happens during the Orientation/registration date and is it only one scheduled date or do they offer different dates to attend? Also, when would incoming students be able to choose the time for our classes? All of my pre-reqs transferred in so I will be taking FYS and critical thinking for the first term then GE capstone and pathophysiology the 2nd term. Thanks for your help!

During tech day we took our I.d photos and learned how to use blackboard and they went over basic stuff about attendance policies, how the courses work and other info like that. And during orientation they gave us our I.D photos and we got to ask the graduating students questions about their experience at west coast. You are required to attend both days. They will email you like a month or two before and give you a few different dates for both tech day and orientation. So you will have like three day and times to choose from. They choose your classes for you based on what you are required to take . In your second term you will be able to choose your own schedule. That's great everything transferred for you! And just a tip don't order your books from their bookstore. Even if you have books estimated in your tuition its better to buy them online from valore books or sites like that. Everything always costs more with them. I wish I knew that my first term lol. Good luck !

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Thank you so much Slyvalleygirl! This really helps. I'm excited to start school and just want to get everything over with already. It has been a long time coming!

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