I currently on my 3rd year of community college and I was planning on applying to transfer to a BSN program at a UC or CSU (mainly in Southern California- like UCI) this Fall 2019.
I have not taken the TEAs yet, and I realize that some of the BSN programs require applicants to report a TEAs score in their applications.
I am a bit hesitant on taking it this year because, upon taking a practice test online, I discovered that I have not learned some of the science material. I am still completing the last few classes of the required major courses and prerequisites (anatomy/physiology).
This brings me to another issue that I face: some BSN programs, like CSULB, have a policy in which they count all in-progress classes as a “C” grade during the application review- despire whatever final grade the students earns at the end of the semester.
I know that these specific policies may vary from school to school, but I just hope that someone can provide some advice/insight:
Should I take a gap year and apply to programs then?
or is the TEAs exam not too difficult and it is manageable to study and pass the exam in a short time frame?
Would it be worth the shot applying to some of these colleges with a “C grade”?
Overall, I am worried that my science classes would “expire” if I wait too long to apply and that I am only allowed two attempts to take the TEAs (also, the cost of these college applications are expensive).
Instead of doing this there may be a better option. An alternative for those that don’t get into a direct-admit program is to do the RN->BSN pathway in which they get a RN degree from a CC and then finish their BSN either online or on-campus. There is much less competition for this. Fullerton for example says
The Fullerton minimum is a 2.75gpa, a RN license, and the classes it sounds like you've already been taking like Anatomy. You can research the accept rate at schools you'd want to attend; look at http://www.rn.ca.gov/education/rntobsn.shtml for a list of schools with the program
This advice of RN->BSN would have been more helpful before you entered college, but even now if you take a gap year and then apply it will be 2 more years after you finish this one before you’d enter the BSN program. So 3 years down the road you’d be just starting your nursing education. If you switch to a RN program then in 3 years you’ll have a marketable skill with the option to continue on to your ultimate goal
@mikemac Thank you so much for your helpful information! I will look into RN degrees for community colleges in my area, as my current college does not have this option.
@jumbopanda there is a nursing forum here worth visiting to read what other students are asking as well as to ask your questions to a more focused audience
I hope you have been earning good grades so far which is important not just for admission but for eventually doing well on the NCLEX. Aids include things like anatomy coloring books, index cards to quiz yourself, review books, etc. There is a book “Make it Stick” worth getting from the library and reading over the break; the book talks about learning and has lots of tips for HS and college students