West Coast University

[ElizabethTonoyan]

Hello All,

I am thinking of starting WCU next year, but trying to knock off my pre reqs. I heard this school is extremely expensive and their passing rate is very low compared to other nursing programs. Is anyone going to the school and currently in the program?

Once I start the program, I am going to quit my job to focus on school but still worried about passing.

thanks alot

[ShondaJ]

I didn't see you say National. I went there for my science classes. Some teachers are cool and some not, I can't attend their nursing program because of the schedule requirements but the students there love the program.

[cwk84]

mclennan said:

When I sat on a hiring committee recently, WCU grads went to the bottom of the applicant pile. We seriously questioned the judgment and decision making skills of anyone who would choose such an expensive, mediocre option for their education. We'd consider an applicant who worked their way up from CNA to LVN to ADN to BSN at local/community colleges over many years while gaining experience working in the field long before we'd consider anyone who just took on 6 figures in debt to do it the fast way.

I feel obligated to respond to this old comment because it is absolutely infuriating to me. Quite frankly, it's outrageous.  The program at WCU is one of the most rigorous BSN programs. It's no joke. The nurses in my family that went to WCU are excellent nurses. There is no indication that someone who is willing to take out a student loan for an Accelerated BSN program is incapable of critical thinking or has bad decision making. I could argue that people who pay money to become a CNA and then LVN and waste years working harder than any RN for 1/3 of the annual salary just to get the approval of some conceited person sitting in a hiring committee lack critical thinking skills and display bad decision making.

I am a 41 years old. I came here to this country 8 years ago and started attending community college. For the most part of those 8 years I worked and only took 1-2 classes because that's as much I could handle. I do not have the time to become a CNA, work, then get my LVN then work top then wait years get accepted into an ADN program due to the insane number of applicants in SoCal. Even with a 4.0 GPA, which I have, you won't stand a damn chance. Just to give you some perspective, in Summer of 2024 over 600 excellent students applied to the RN program in Riverside, CA and only 80 got accepted. 

Now, when you are 41 like me and you need to make money yesterday, you will consider private schools. It is the faster and more effective route. That doesn't mean I lack critical thinking skills or can't make good decisions. If the US wasn't so god damn expensive I wouldn't have to consider a new career to get ahead of the game. Nursing is paid well and I've always loved the sciences and medicine. And I have lots of nurses in my families, I know that I would be an excellent nurse. So how dare you insinuate that people like me are lazy wanting to take the easy way out. I hope you've changed your mind in the 11 years since you made that comment. But I doubt it.

 

 

[delrionurse]

cwk84 said:

I could argue that people who pay money to become a CNA and then LVN and waste years working harder than any RN for 1/3 of the annual salary just to get the approval of some conceited person sitting in a hiring committee lack critical thinking skills and display bad decision making.

Many people in the medical field start out as CNA's and work their way up. Whether it is CNA to RN, CNA to LVN to RN.  Some people don't know if they want to be a nurse and taking a 2 month CNA class is a more inexpensive option to test the waters to see if they want to go in to nursing. Plus there are always jobs as a CNA, if another career option doesn't work out if it comes to needing a job. So it is not wasted time, it is a valuable learning experience.