<p>I've been researching, but I still haven't found the answers to some questions:</p>
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<li><p>Does it matter which undergraduate school to? Like, can I go to CSU Chico for Nursing or should I go to CSU Long Beach (doubt I'm getting into this one though for nursing)? </p></li>
<li><p>Is Nursing a difficult major to transfer into? Can I major in Biology and transfer into Nursing easily? </p></li>
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<p>3.Do you have to major in Nursing? Or can it be Biology? </p>
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<li>If I want to be a Nurse Anesthetist, am I out when I'm in my late 30s?<br></li>
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<p>Thank you so much! :) BTW, I'm applying to UCs and Cal States only for my undergrad. </p>
<p>If you know you want to be a nurse - Sonoma State has an accelerated program that will get you a BSN and working in the field in just 4 calendar years. That saves on tuition, time, etc. Like most of the nursing programs at public schools, it is VERY competitive. I believe you need a year+ of practical RN experience and a few more years of school to be an Nurse Anesthetist - similar to Nurse Practitioner. Clearly, there’s a lot to know. If you start @ 18, it is doable while you are still in your late 20s.<br>
Sac State also has a very good program.
Good luck.</p>
<p>At 2 + 2 colleges, you cannot usually start nursing as a freshman. You apply as a sophomore after completing prerequisites. Other colleges are “direct entry” meaning that a student enters as a nursing major from high school. Direct entry programs can offer a much higher comfort level for a student, because they don’t have to worry if they will be accepted into nursing as a sophomore.</p>
<p>As long as a college does a good job of preparing you for the certification test, and offers you a range of clinical experiences, the name on your degree is not that important. It is not worth paying a huge amount for a degree from one college if a more affordable quality option is available. The graduate of the expensive college will probably have the same starting salary as the grad from the less expensive college. However, many hospitals like to hire graduates of programs they trust. </p>
<p>Also, at some colleges, you may have really long drives to get to some clinicals. </p>
<p>The competitiveness level for nursing admissions varies greatly from college to college, and from state to state. You may find that some colleges in other states are less competitive than in California. </p>
<p>I believe in order to become a NA, you must work on an ICU for 1+ years. The NA programs costs roughly $100,00 if memory serves me. I could be mistaken.</p>
<p>I will try to answer your questions. I have been looking at the UC/Cal State nursing programs closely also.</p>
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<li><p>CSU Long Beach would be the larger & stronger nursing program. Both CSU Long Beach & Chico are non direct admits meaning you must apply sophomore year for junior year admission into nursing. All the CSU along with UCLA & UC Irvine have heavily impacted programs. Nursing students in the Cal State programs often take 5-6 years in order to complete the program since it can be difficult to get the required classes. UCLA accepts only 40 in-state students out of 1940 applicants & UC Irvine is almost as selective. San Diego State Univ. is the only school in the Cal State system which is freshmen direct admit. UC Davis will be starting a BSN program but probably won’t start until after 2016 & a new nursing program will have its growing pains.</p></li>
<li><p>It is extremely difficult to transfer into nursing unless you are accepted as a pre nursing major as a junior into a Cal State nursing program [having taken all the necessary prerequisite classes required of nursing majors].</p></li>
<li><p>It is much better to major in nursing than biology if nursing is your primary goal.</p></li>
<li><p>Nurse anesthetist school is another 3 years after the BSN. The Kaiser Hospital system has nurse anesthetist schools in California. Nurse anesthetists are not used as much in California [Kaiser does though to keep costs down]. California has an influx of anesthesiologists so the nurse anesthetists are not needed as they are in other states.</p></li>
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<p>You may want to look out-of-state also. Arizona State is not too far & even with out-of-state tuition it is still reasonable. If your stats are high enough, maybe you would qualify for merit aid at USF, and U Portland, Seattle U. & Gonzaga - all of which are direct admit schools & not too far from California [especially if you are in the northern part of the state]. I suggest that you volunteer in a health care facility to see if nursing is your calling if you are undecided between biology and nursing. Good luck!</p>