Which route to take?

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So as my senior year is coming to a close, I am waiting for acceptances from the colleges I applied to: csuf, sdsu, csulb, and uci. I already got accepted into csulb's BSN program, and that's probably going to be the university I choose. My question is, what happens from there? I'm looking to get my MSN right after my BSN and become an NP, and I'm not exactly sure how to do it. Where do I go? Graduate school?

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I didn't ask what graduate school was? Lmao

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Specializes in ICU Stepdown.

After you get your BSN, you apply to grad schools. A graduate degree is a master's degree and the schools generally require a certain GPA, letter of recommendations, etc. Once you figure out where you want to go and get accepted, you go and get your master's (in nursing).

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After you get your BSN, you apply to grad schools. A graduate degree is a master's degree and the schools generally require a certain GPA, letter of recommendations, etc. Once you figure out where you want to go and get accepted, you go and get your master's (in nursing).

Thank you. Lastly, if you don't mind, can you give me maybe a short list of graduate schools for nursing in California that are known to have great programs?

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Many NP programs require 1-2 years of critical care or ICU experience. Even if your program does not it is a very good idea to get some RN experience before becoming an NP. Having no clinical knowledge or experience is a very bad combination for a person with such great responsibility's like an NP.

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Specializes in ICU Stepdown.
Thank you. Lastly, if you don't mind, can you give me maybe a short list of graduate schools for nursing in California that are known to have great programs?

I know nothing about the schools in California but this link should help Board of Registered Nursing - Advanced Practice Programs

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I know nothing about the schools in California but this link should help Board of Registered Nursing - Advanced Practice Programs

This was of much help. Thank you

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I didn't ask what graduate school was? Lmao

From Google: "graduate school: division of a university offering advanced programs beyond the bachelor's degree." So, if a graduate school offers degrees beyond bachelor's degrees, then you have to go to graduate school to get a master's degree (MSN)

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Specializes in ER, Trauma, Med-Surg/Tele, LTC.

You're getting ahead of yourself. For some of these schools, like CSULB and CSUF, you're not officially a nursing student until after you complete the nursing program pre-requisites in your first and second years and have to re-apply for the nursing program for your third and fourth years. You're technically a pre-nursing major as a freshman admit, not an actual nursing major. I have many friends that started as "nursing majors" at CSUF, but didn't actually get into the nursing program after they completed their first two years because their grades weren't competitive enough. So your first step is to get excellent grades. Focus on that. Think about graduate school once you're in your junior year and there's a light at the end of the tunnel. Grad school doesn't matter if your undergrad grades suck. Grad school doesn't matter if you couldn't even get into an RN program because your pre-req grades suck. My point? Your GRADES are everything at this point, don't worry about grad school right now.

If I were in your shoes, I would go to UCI if I were accepted. Unlike CSUF and CSULB, UCI doesn't make you a pre-nursing major if you're admitted into the nursing major as a freshman admit. You're actually a nursing major, you just can't start the nursing classes until you've finished the nursing pre-requisites. I can't speak of SDSU since I know nothing about it, but I bet it's similar to CSUF and CSULB. Given this point, I take back that your first step is to get excellent grades. Your first step is to go back and look at the fine print concerning the nursing programs of all the schools you applied to. Based on your original post, you don't sound like you knew that you're technically not going to be a nursing major once you start at CSULB. It doesn't seem like you knew you had to re-apply to the nursing program after you complete the pre-reqs in the first two years. So really, grad school should be the last thing you should be thinking about right now. You need to go back and review the fine print of these undergrad nursing programs first. Then get good grades. Then worry about grad school.

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From Google: "graduate school: division of a university offering advanced programs beyond the bachelor's degree." So, if a graduate school offers degrees beyond bachelor's degrees, then you have to go to graduate school to get a master's degree (MSN)

Oh. Sorry, I just don't know much about the college system(obviously) as I am the first of my family to be attending a university right out of high school. I thought that there might've been other routes available to get a masters degree other than graduate school such as online programs and such.

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You're getting ahead of yourself. For some of these schools, like CSULB and CSUF, you're not officially a nursing student until after you complete the nursing program pre-requisites in your first and second years and have to re-apply for the nursing program for your third and fourth years. You're technically a pre-nursing major as a freshman admit, not an actual nursing major. I have many friends that started as "nursing majors" at CSUF, but didn't actually get into the nursing program after they completed their first two years because their grades weren't competitive enough. So your first step is to get excellent grades. Focus on that. Think about graduate school once you're in your junior year and there's a light at the end of the tunnel. Grad school doesn't matter if your undergrad grades suck. Grad school doesn't matter if you couldn't even get into an RN program because your pre-req grades suck. My point? Your GRADES are everything at this point, don't worry about grad school right now.

If I were in your shoes, I would go to UCI if I were accepted. Unlike CSUF and CSULB, UCI doesn't make you a pre-nursing major if you're admitted into the nursing major as a freshman admit. You're actually a nursing major, you just can't start the nursing classes until you've finished the nursing pre-requisites. I can't speak of SDSU since I know nothing about it, but I bet it's similar to CSUF and CSULB. Given this point, I take back that your first step is to get excellent grades. Your first step is to go back and look at the fine print concerning the nursing programs of all the schools you applied to. Based on your original post, you don't sound like you knew that you're technically not going to be a nursing major once you start at CSULB. It doesn't seem like you knew you had to re-apply to the nursing program after you complete the pre-reqs in the first two years. So really, grad school should be the last thing you should be thinking about right now. You need to go back and review the fine print of these undergrad nursing programs first. Then get good grades. Then worry about grad school.

I guess I do sound misinformed, but I did at least know that, at schools like csulb and csuf, you have to do well in your pre-nursing courses and then reapply for the actual nursing program. I've been told at least that much. And I see your point with UCI. It's making me rethink attending one of the csu's and instead trying to get into UCI. But I'll have to wait and see if I get accepted. I have some confidence in my application; hopefully, things will work out. Thanks

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