West Coast University vs. Saddleback Jr. College

Published

Greetings,

I have been reading the boards for sometime and this is my first post. I was able to find a lot of information on both of these programs. I went to an information session at West Coast last Friday. I was not overly impressed with the admissions rep - but understand that it is very much a trade school and had that feel to me.

My situation is as follows - I am 41 years old, little prior college experience. I have 12 units from Saddleback College and am currently enrolled in 7 units.

I am a Mom and wife. I will have two children at home in the fall - a 7th grader and 10th grader.

The economy, like many has hurt us.

I see that they are approved by the RN board in California. My questions are as follows and thank you in advance for any time and consideration:

1. How long does a school hold onto that approval? Meaning the RN board approved it - what if I am enrolled and they "change" their minds? That is a concern.

2. Does going to school there impact my chances of getting into an new graduate RN program at one of our local hospitals where the competition seems to already be fierce?

I have read some pretty harsh things regarding West Coast and know it is expensive. Any other feedback is welcomed and encouraged. I am very worried about getting all A's in my core classes to get into Saddleback's impacted program - as well as waiting 4-5 years before being able to work.

Thanks so much!

Specializes in Emergency Department.
I have wasted about 7 years trying to get into the community college system for my ASN. I finally decided to go to WCU-LA and will be done in October 2009. I talked to a counselor at Cal state Fullerton and they will take the credits from WCU for my ADN to MSN degree.

Did you talk with a nursing program advisor or a general school advisor? I was told that credits that weren't from a regionally accredited program would NOT transfer to CSUF. I'd love to know who to talk to about this, "just in case".

I am looking into getting into Northwest college in Riverside for the LVn program and then plan on bridging into the Rn program. I found that WCU offers an RN program and am now confused on which way to do this???? any suggestions would be most helpful! I was hoping to do the LVn and then work part time when I go back to do the Rn Bridge program.. also any feedback on the schools I mentioned would be great!

Specializes in TELEMETRY.

I went through LVN then went to WCU lVN to RN program. If you can go straight to RN its the best and fastest choice! LVN is good if u need to make ends meet with money fast. If you have financial help The best route would be straight RN at WCU, if you don't have a LVN you can do a straight BSN... the cost about 100,000..... but its worth it if you think about if LVN school for me was like 20,000, and the LVN to RN program at WCU was about 65,000. let me know if you have any more questions because I have done all the research and feel almost like an expert at this now! =)

sabrosura98, you graduated from west coast? i go there right now.. la campus.. and so far i really like it. its my second term there. how are the nursing classes and clinicals? let me know your experience at the school, it would help a lot!! :) thanks!

Specializes in TELEMETRY.
sabrosura98, you graduated from west coast? i go there right now.. la campus.. and so far i really like it. its my second term there. how are the nursing classes and clinicals? let me know your experience at the school, it would help a lot!! :) thanks!

yes i just graduated nov. 09 from the noho campus (north hollywood). i can only say grea things about the school because it was the only school that didn't make wait for the rn program, i felt they genuinely cared if i passed or not. for the nursing portion, i felt like i had a lot of help and a lot of options for remeadition fopr extra help. the teachers who btw all have like msn's are great. i could always get a hold of someone for help! not like at a community college. term 5 transistions i didn't like becasue i don't think there was much too it and and i think it could have been combined with another class. just a lot of tedious projects. term 6 ob and med/surg i have both clinicals at hollywood presbyterian. loved it! great hospital! great staff!! pretty overwhemled with info. had to take hesi 2x for ob but passed the second time! term 7 psych, peds, and leadership.... overwhelming becasue there are three classes! my best suggestion is find people that are going to be in your nursing classes and make a study group wuickly. psych was hard very tricky, peds was like a review of med/surg for kids, and leadership was also trciky butnot too hard a lot of common sense. term 8!! advanced ms and integrations... practilly just a continuation of medsurg... neuro

wow.. thank you soo much! that's great to hear you really liked the school.. so far i'm really liking the school too, so i'm really excited. also, how are the clinicals? was lecture more challenging or clinicals? if you don't mind telling me.. did you take a loan? and if you did how's paying off your student loans so far? thanks again!!!

Specializes in TELEMETRY.
wow.. thank you soo much! that's great to hear you really liked the school.. so far i'm really liking the school too, so i'm really excited. also, how are the clinicals? was lecture more challenging or clinicals? if you don't mind telling me.. did you take a loan? and if you did how's paying off your student loans so far? thanks again!!!

i think that lecture was more challenging. clinical s were easy because i am an lvn and i work in a acute setting already. so that was pretty easy. i haven't started paying off my loans yet.... but i gotta a lot of grants and money from work. i also didnt get charged the full amount because i transferred some classes in.

I went through LVN then went to WCU lVN to RN program. If you can go straight to RN its the best and fastest choice! LVN is good if u need to make ends meet with money fast. If you have financial help The best route would be straight RN at WCU, if you don't have a LVN you can do a straight BSN... the cost about 100,000..... but its worth it if you think about if LVN school for me was like 20,000, and the LVN to RN program at WCU was about 65,000. let me know if you have any more questions because I have done all the research and feel almost like an expert at this now! =)

Hi Glow RN!

You graduated from Westcoast?? Did you get your BSN there? I am 22-year-old, and I have a BA in Sociology, but it's sooo hard to find a job with BA, and I realize that being a Social Worker is not the right profession for me anymore. Therefore, I am changing my career to nursing right now. I have a few questions since you are a Westcoast graduate:

1) How was the nursing program for you at Westcoast? Was the professors nice there?

2) I heard that the tuition is about $116,000. So did you have a chance to pay it off??

3) Was it difficult for you to find a job after graduation?

thanks,

konp

The tuition at WCU scares me. I would be afraid to be left with that much debt, when not all new grads are getting jobs that quickly. There must be other community colleges you could consider. If you still have a lot of prereqs, focus on getting A's and apply at another school with a point system. Or put your name on the wait list and work part time while you finish your GE. I'm not sure if there is an Everest college around you, but they have no wait list for an ADN. They are not regionally accreditated, but Kaplan told me they would accept a transfer into a BA. Still expensive, but not as much as a BA at WCU.

Good luck.

Specializes in TELEMETRY.
Hi Glow RN!

You graduated from Westcoast?? Did you get your BSN there? I am 22-year-old, and I have a BA in Sociology, but it's sooo hard to find a job with BA, and I realize that being a Social Worker is not the right profession for me anymore. Therefore, I am changing my career to nursing right now. I have a few questions since you are a Westcoast graduate:

1) How was the nursing program for you at Westcoast? Was the professors nice there?

2) I heard that the tuition is about $116,000. So did you have a chance to pay it off??

3) Was it difficult for you to find a job after graduation?

thanks,

konp

I really liked the WCU-LA campus and program, everyone was really nice; but like in any private school many people like to talk trash about the money they paid. Honestly i THINK i GOT A LOT OF PERKS FROM THEM like free lunches all the time, free printing in thier computer lab, free WIFI. Of course we did pay a lot of tuition for it too.

The straight BSN with NO credits is about 116,000, but I didn't pay that becasue I didn't get my BSN there, I just got my ADN. Right now I going thru University of phoenix for my BSN which is way cheaper then WCU.

I have been working in the same hospital for ten years so I just got a raise and title was changed from LVN to RN. Honestly though I have been trying for 7 months to get a RN job closer to home and most places won't take me with out a year of RN experience. I thought my LVN background would help.... well NOT at ALL. During these times honestly I would just go through the JC route and NOT invest in WCU it is way too expensive and right now job outlook is not good for new grads...It will eventually pick up but don't expect to get a job right after school. I have a lot of friends who have been out of school about over a year and still have not found work esome have even had 5 years plus of LVN experience!! A couple of years a go I would say go for it, but from what I have seen being in the job market right now there is not a lot of jobs for NEW grad nurses. There are a few new grad programs there but they want really high GPA just to get into the NEW grad program. Im talking A average.... and Yes I olny had a 3.4 gpa and that has NOt gotten me anywhere! :( Well I wish u luck any route u go!

Specializes in TELEMETRY.
The tuition at WCU scares me. I would be afraid to be left with that much debt, when not all new grads are getting jobs that quickly. There must be other community colleges you could consider. If you still have a lot of prereqs, focus on getting A's and apply at another school with a point system. Or put your name on the wait list and work part time while you finish your GE. I'm not sure if there is an Everest college around you, but they have no wait list for an ADN. They are not regionally accreditated, but Kaplan told me they would accept a transfer into a BA. Still expensive, but not as much as a BA at WCU.

Good luck.

U are so right... the thing is thought WCU is CCNE accredited and Kaplan and Everest are not. I would say who care as long as you get your RN license, but right now employers are looking at GPA for their new grad programs and they are looking at accreditation at the schools. For example, did u know that VA hospitals won't hire nurses from WCU before they were not CCNE accredited. They just got accredited last year and my friend who was a LVN going thru the LVN-RN program at WCU was not able to keep her VA hospital job becasue when she graduated WCU was not CCNE accreditied. Times are tough now so watch out where ever u go for that degree... employers are getting SO picky right NOW...

Hi everyone! First time posting on here. I have noticed that a lot of people are concerned with the accreditation of WASC (I think that's the one), which allows you to progress to an MSN degree after earning a BSN. I am also looking into WCU BSN program and remain nervous about making a decision. I have completed most of the prerequisites at a CC (about 3-4 remaining) but have reached a point where I feel the desire to move on instead of waiting around for acceptance from a Community College RN program. There is something I have been considering and would like to hear what you folks think: After completing a BSN at WCU and being fortunate enough be hired as an RN, I am considering doing a second BA/BS degree at a traditional university-part time, after which I would be eligible to apply to any MSN program. Atleast, this way I could be working (earning and gaining experience, which many MSN programs prefer) while also getting a BA/BS degree from an accredited univ. True, this route would entail waiting a few years before starting the MSN program but it is an option I am considering.

I do have a question for anyone who has done their research: After earning a BSN from WCU, do you have the option of applying for RN to BSN bridge program at a traditional university (even though you have already earned a BSN)?

Thanks for your advice and comments in advance!

+ Join the Discussion