Choosing SDSU over UCLA? Am I insane?

College Search & Selection
1

Hello, I know this is long but I’d appreciate any feedback as I am so lost. I’ve narrowed down my choice of schools to either SDSU School of Nursing or UCLA. I’ll first discuss my overall goals and then each school individually. Again, any opinions would be helpful!

Healthcare is the only field in which I can truly envision myself. My real goal is to become a clinician of some sort, such as a physician assistant or nurse anesthetist or other career requiring graduate school. I’m not set on a specific healthcare role yet, but I know I don’t want to go to medical school (physicians in my family turned me off from it). All of my potential options for graduate school require a high college gpa. I’m a California resident who has a Florida prepaid college plan which I’m hoping to maximize to pay for college. Due to specifics of the contract, I’d access about 1/3 more money toward college costs by attending a university which has a semester system rather than a quarter system. A secondary goal of mine is to learn Spanish in the coming years.

SDSU Nursing: Though this school isn’t renowned, its nursing program is far more selective than the general population (at Open House, data showed admits had 3.95 gpa and ~1900 sat). From what I understand, prestige of school isn’t very important in the nursing realm when compared to hands-on experience which SDSU definitely has. Though I know this is just one measure of ability, I think I would be ahead of many fellow nursing students given my stats (4.4 gpa, 2200 sat). Shallow as it may sound, this makes me question how well I would fit in and get along with other students. The sticker price of attendance is $25k/year, and it has the semester system which would further save me money. I haven’t received a financial aid package yet. The program itself consists of about 120 nursing students who live together in the dorms, a rigid 4-year course plan, and all classes are guaranteed to nursing students in order to progress on time. I already have 5 nursing major GE’s out of the way due to AP exams, and will have 2 more done after this summer. That’s about 20 units free in my schedule which I could use for a Spanish minor. I feel that many aspects of my life at SDSU would be structured, for better or for worse. I also wouldn’t have the freedom to change my major/career path because I don’t want anything but a nursing degree from SDSU due to its lower rankings. I’m very familiar with the campus, I LOVE San Diego, SDSU has many beautiful facilities, and I have many friends attending there next year. On the flip side, I don’t want to remain stagnant by choosing the easier option. If I choose SDSU, I think its structure combined with my academic competitiveness will allow me to achieve a high gpa, putting me on a clear path toward CRNA school (and a $145,000 salary).

UCLA: When I was accepted here, I literally fell to the ground. It’s every Californian student’s dream school and there’s something to be said for how one feels toward their college. In a social sense, I think I would be happier with my UCLA peers based on the fact that we all have to be a certain type of person to be accepted into UCLA in the first place (hardworking, academically curious). However this presents the problem of gpa – I will be competing against other top students. This concerns me for my potential in healthcare (ex: PA schools generally accept students with ~3.8 college gpa). I don’t have a clear path toward healthcare at UCLA, and I don’t even know what major I would be trying for. That really scares me as I may have to derail my dream by getting a job unrelated to healthcare after college. But I also don’t want to shy away from a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity because I’m insecure in my abilities compared to others. On another note, the school has quarter systems and a $34k/year sticker price. Based on my provisional aid letter, I would only be responsible for paying $12k/year. I could supplement this $48k/4years with the Florida prepaid money (about $20k total on a quarter system). So ultimately I would be responsible for about $28k for all 4 years. I still project this will be more expensive than if I attended SDSU. Also I have only seen pictures of the UCLA campus, don’t have a good idea of student life here, and Los Angeles isn’t a city that I really enjoy. I also don’t have a support system at UCLA like I would at SDSU. If I chose UCLA, I would be far more challenged in all aspects, be very proud to say I went there, have leeway to decide my exact career later in life, and probably have many more employment opportunities based solely on my alma mater. But I would be a less competitive student academically, and therefore probably wouldn’t end up in direct healthcare due to a lower gpa. I almost certainly would make less money than if I went to SDSU.

TL;DR: Should I choose SDSU (nursing and only nursing, comfort, cost-effective, sets me up for high paying jobs in healthcare) or UCLA (prestige, allows many avenues, exciting)? I’m going to college to get a good job afterward (which leans me toward SDSU) but I also want to grow as a person and I worry I will regret choosing the easier school out of fear of the challenge. Please give me your opinion!

2

Since you’re sure and focused about healthcare, save some money and choose SDSU. My cousin graduated from SDSU and went to UCLA for nursing graduate school and is now a nurse practitioner.

3

College life is much more than interactions with students in your declared major. That you’ll get “higher” grades at San Diego State compared to UCLA is speculative. My sense is that you would be making a major career error in choosing SDSU versus UCLA, In the grand scene of things the $28k for 4 years is a relatively modest cost. Talk this through objectively with your college counselor, teachers, etc. Visit UCLA. Attend some classes. Do the same at SDSU. If for some reason UCLA proves too much, transfer after a year or so to SDSU.

4

I think you are grossly underestimating how challenging nursing will be at SDSU… you will be challenged. Don’t assume you will graduate with a high GPA.

5

Go where you would be the happiest for the 4 years. You will get a great education at either school and do not underestimate SDSU’s academics. UCLA has the name and prestige but like @UCBChemEGrad‌ stated you can go

6

If you got into UCLA nursing, it might be worth considering going there. The admit rate into the program is extremely low (it’s less than 10% IIRC.) Outside of it, it would probably be worth it to go to SDSU.

7

If your goal is to go into nursing and you didn’t get into the nursing school at UCLA, you’d be better served at SDSU since it has your major, is cheaper, and gives you the opportunity of taking Spanish. It is, indeed, already fixed - your future for the next 4 years will only have surprise thanks to the electives you can take, meaning also less intellectual freedom. You’ll be in a tight-knit group, something you won’t have at UCLA.
If you’re uncertain about your career path (ie, you could do pre-health and spanish) then UCLA is a better choice. It’ll be larger, you’ll have to make friends and fend for yourself; it’s riskier but you’ll have more choices.
Only you can decide which environment is better for yourself.

Question: if you spend a year in UCLA and don’t like it, would you be allowed to attend SDSU’s Nursing program or would you have to start from scratch?

8

I’m an N of 1 but I went to a college at which I was in the top 5% of admits. I still felt like I fit in and got along very well with my fellow students - they had strengths I didn’t and I had strengths they didn’t. SAT scores and GPA are only one measure of ability, and college is a totally different ball game altogether.

I think if you know you want to be a nurse, and later on a nurse practitioner or a physicians assistant, you should go to SDSU and get the nursing degree. PA school not only requires top grades and test scores - you also have to have hours of clinical experience. I think at most schools the minimum is 1000-2000 hours, but at the best PA schools most applicants have more than that, and the easiest and best way to get the clinical experience is to work full-time as a healthcare provider (usually a nurse, CNA, or EMT) for 2-3 years after college. And obviously NPs have to have a BSN before they can get the MSN. If you went to UCLA and decided you wanted to be a CRNA, you’d have to either go to a 14-18 month accelerated BSN program after UCLA or you’d have to do an MSN entry-to practice program, which usually takes 3 years. You save time (and money) going to SDSU.

Pride in saying you went to X school only takes you so far. What’s really important is getting to do what you really want to do. You want to be a nurse, and I doubt that you’ll have more opportunities based upon going to UCLA - especially since you want to be a nurse and you won’t be majoring in nursing at UCLA.

9

Thanks to you all for your reply. To answer MYOS1634, no, I would need to complete 60 units in order to be a transfer student, reapply to nursing schools, and I would never be able to go to SDSU because they only accept freshman nursing majors.

10

In that case I’d pick SDSU. It’s the safer choice. And if you end up hating SDSU, you can always reapply to UCLA as a transfer student.