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!
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!
Your welcome! I'm happy to help. Good luck to you on your nursing journey.
Your welcome! I'm happy to help. Good luck to you on your nursing journey.
Hey slyvalleygirl,
I have a friend looking into this school and she was trying to find out is theres weekend and evenings. I started my program somewhere else but she cant do those hours. Really appreciate it!
To everyone worried about the cost- I’ll just leave this here. Someone said the other day “For every year you’re not working as an RN, you’re basically losing $110K+. That registered with me deeply even though the debt is terrifying. I have a bachelors in kinesiology but have outdated prerequisites so this school is appealing to me for that reason. You gotta pay to play with this school and it’s better in my opinion to get in and get it down.. and with a 5 year payback, you’re looking at paying $28K per year in debt, ... with a $100K salary, that leaves you $60K+ for everything else. I don’t know about y’all, but the most I’ve ever lived on is about $35K per year, so that’s definitely manageable. What’s killer is waiting years to get into impacted ADN programs and come out with an associates when most hospitals going Magnet status now require a bachelors. You’re paying to secure your financial future and have freedom. You can PAY it off.
Just did the info session today in Anaheim, and I gotta say, I’m impressed with the organization, professionalism, and beauty of this school. I’m looking forward to it!!
Best to everyone. Don’t let money stop your dreams. People get by all the time!!
I have a friend looking into this school and she was trying to find out is theres weekend and evenings. I started my program somewhere else but she cant do those hours. Really appreciate it!
Your first term at WCU you don't pick your schedule. But after the first term you can choose for yourself what days and times work best for you. So yes you can choose to take night and weekend classes.
Hi guys! I have been through the same struggles applying to community colleges in the socal area and have had no luck getting in. I have turned to west coast and plan to start this August 19th at the OC campus. I have most pre reqs transferred but have two terms(one semester) that include fys, patho, critical reasoning, oral communication, etc. before I start nursing core. I was wondering if anyone has any tips/tricks to west coast? Im not sure if i should buy the books or just go online like most people. The total cost of the program ends up being 96k.
I just stumbled across your post and I definitely could relate to the way you were feeling! Much like yourself, I graduated with my Bachelor's in 2015 and two years later decided I wanted to pursue Nursing. After another two years of taking prerequisites and being extremely hopeful of getting into an BSN/ ADN program, I discovered I was nowhere near being a competitive candidate. My undergrad grades were mediocre, did really well in pre nursing prereq's and have a TEAS score of 78.. so def not the best. I had no idea how competitive nursing schools were in Ca.
This past summer I was rejected from a few community colleges around the area and as apprehensive as I was, resulted to applying to West Coast University. I went through the entire application process only to get cold feet and decided against the WCU route. I wanted to try the public school route one more time around. I'm waiting to hear back from a few schools.. but I am feeling VERY discouraged once again (just received two rejections). I'm not getting any younger so I may just resort to WCU. The idea of being in a debilitating amount of student loan debt is scary.. I would love to hear whether or not you decided to attend WCU and your thoughts with the program thus far? Or if anyone else has any words of advice, I would really appreciate it! :)
Cmbnurse, BSN, RN
106 Posts
Your welcome! I'm happy to help. Good luck to you on your nursing journey.