Nursing transfering questions

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Los Angeles
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<p>Hi everyone,</p>

<p>Posting this here not for myself (sorry, I'm a USC alum) but for my little sister. She's not too Internet-hip with forums and such, so I said I'd try to get some basic answers for her. </p>

<p>Sister didn't do too well in high school for the first 2.5/3 years because of undiagnosed ADHD. She went on medication and her grades improved dramatically. (Something like being a 2.0 student to a 3.7 student.) But, despite the complete academic turnaround, she was still limited with the schools she was accepted to and wasn't too motivated to apply everywhere/anywhere she could at the time. (I think she just wanted out of the house!)</p>

<p>She applied everywhere as a nursing major and ended up going to ASU where she just finished her first year. She wasn't accepted into nursing there (they have a "conditional" admission requirement) so she was declared as a pre-health major instead. From what I understand, the basic coursework is the same as nursing, so she's taken many of the required chem and bio classes.</p>

<p>We are California residents and my parents are fed up with paying ASU's extremely overpriced out of state tuition when she could be getting a better education at a UC or Cal State school for a lot less. Recently, my sister and parents decided it's not worth it for her to return to ASU this fall.</p>

<p>Her first choice is to enter UCLA's UG nursing program.</p>

<p>She's done some research in terms of the classes she should have finished, etc., but is a bit lost on the "big picture" of transferring and the problems she might run into. Since I went straight to USC from high school, I'm also totally clueless on the CC/other college transfer protocol to UCs.</p>

<p>She heard that SMC has a high UCLA transfer rate. Can anyone speak to this -- and, even better, can anyone speak to this specifically for nursing? She wants to attend CC in LA -- is this a good idea, or should she do CC at home in the Bay Area? (Does the location of the CC affect UC transfer acceptance?)</p>

<p>What other LA CCs should she look at? I don't think she should go to LACC at all, same with the CC in the valley. (Think she's also looking at Santa Barbara CC.)</p>

<p>She says her ASU GPA for this first year was a 3.4 overall, with one C+ in a chem class which she wants to retake for a better grade.</p>

<p>What else should she be doing to ensure she has a shot at getting into UCLA as a nursing/health transfer? Should she go back to ASU or begin at CC this fall?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

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<p>Hopefully this link can help answer some of your questions! [Admissions</a> Requirements | UCLA School of Nursing](<a href=“http://nursing.ucla.edu/body.cfm?id=49]Admissions”>http://nursing.ucla.edu/body.cfm?id=49)</p>

<p>I don’t have very much experience with the CCs around LA, and don’t really know whether the location would affect her acceptance. Generally speaking, somewhere she feels comfortable, can do well (in terms of grades/GPA) would be best, because for transfer applicants, there is a definite emphasis on how well you did in your previous post-secondary institution (whether that be a CC or another 4 year university). </p>

<p>As for the chem grade, as long as that class transfers to UCLA, she won’t be able to retake it for a higher grade because you can only retake classes in which you received a C- or below.</p>

<p>I would definitely recommend calling the School of Nursing and speaking with their counselors directly; it wouldn’t hurt, especially because their requirements might be different from regular transfers to UCLA (i.e. in the College of Letters and Science).</p>

<p>Edit: Also, as far as I know, UCLA either places very little or absolutely no weight on high school grades if you’re applying as a transfer. Might want to double check on that with the Nursing counselors, but I don’t think you even send in a transcript from HS.</p>

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<p>Agree with the previous poster about having her call to talk to a counselor. BTW I hope you intend for <em>her</em> to make the call, not you. Among other things, she should be sure to ask whether retaking the chem class, which you mentioned, will even help; they may not count it. Note also on the link given above they mention a supplemental application which you can get to from links on that page. Read it over now because it asks about a bunch of stuff that she can do in the upcoming year to boost her chances of admission. </p>

<p>She should go to a CC instead of back to ASU. The UC system gives preference in admission to students from CCs, other UCs, then other colleges, in that order. That’s just to get into the UC system; getting into nursing is a separate challenge. Read thru the info on the page at [Transfer</a> Admission Guide](<a href=“http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/prospect/adm_tr/tradms.htm]Transfer”>http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/prospect/adm_tr/tradms.htm) There is a link on that page with specific requirements for nursing transfers. Be sure to meet absolutely 100% of them by all deadlines given; the 1st step in screening since they get so many more apps than they can take is to eliminate anyone that hasn’t met each and every requirement.</p>

<p>When looking at CCs I suggest she give preference to ones that are part of the UCLA TAP program. See [Transfer</a> Alliance Program - UCLA Undergraduate Admissions](<a href=“http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/prospect/Adm_tr/ADM_CCO/tap.htm]Transfer”>http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/prospect/Adm_tr/ADM_CCO/tap.htm) UCLA does not have an admission guarantee program like some UCs do; TAP just gives preference, and for that matter just into Letters and Science (and she’s Nursing)? So why bother? If the school has gone to the trouble to set up the program then they are working closer with UCLA than many others. Many of the prereqs she needs will be offered in the TAP program classes, and you can be sure they meet UCLAs requirements. The CCs will have advisors & counselors with contacts at UCLA that can help get answers, UCLA reps come out to the school regularly, etc.</p>

<p>To be honest, the C+ she got in the Chem course is worrisome because they are going to put a huge emphasis on science courses. More important than retaking, IMHO, is figuring out what to do in order to learn science material better. You can find a number of websites with advice on how to study for science classes. In 12 years of HS they never teach <em>how</em> to study, and my guess is she was just caught a little flat-footed. One helpful link is [The</a> Art of Doing Well in Technical Courses](<a href=“How to Ace Calculus: The Art of Doing Well in Technical Courses - Cal Newport”>How to Ace Calculus: The Art of Doing Well in Technical Courses - Cal Newport), a bunch of study skills links are at [University</a> of St. Thomas : Academic Support Center](<a href=“http://www.stthomas.edu/academicsupport/studyLinks/default.html]University”>http://www.stthomas.edu/academicsupport/studyLinks/default.html) The UCLA website itself says they take a limited number of xfer students, so she really wants to get a high GPA. Also talk to her about study hours; a rule of thumb in technical classes is to expect to spend 3 hours outside of class for every class hour. </p>

<p>Lastly, and this is a bit of work, is to cast her net widely. Several colleges offer nursing degrees and she should research the requirements for all of them and apply to all of them. I bet that with at most 1 or 2 additional classes she could cover the bases for all the schools, not just UCLA</p>

<p>Best of luck to her!</p>

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<p>Thanks to both of you. I know the schools she’s looking at are specifically because they’re a part of UCLA’s TAP program.</p>

<p>She says she knows about all the coursework and prereqs she needs to get done, so I took her word on that. She’s also applying to other schools, of course, but since UCLA is her first choice she is most concerned about making sure she can be on the right track to get a good look from them – just like any of us were like when we applied to colleges. You do a lot of schools, but there’s always the one you want to be at the most.</p>

<p>I’ll show her the other info here.</p>

<p>If anyone can weigh in on the benefits and drawbacks of SMC (since I know they have a high UCLA transfer rate) that would be best!</p>

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<p>You should also ask questions on [Nursing</a> Major - College Confidential](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/nursing-major/]Nursing”>Nursing Major - College Confidential Forums)</p>

<p>I am not sure about SMC. But, in the bay area, San Jose State, Ohlone College, Mission College have good pre-nursing and nursing programs. Cal State Long Beach has very good one too.</p>

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<p>We are originally from the Bay Area, so she would like to go to school out of that area. We live too close to SJSU for her to even want to consider it. She is looking at Long Beach, but I think the program is too impacted there; same goes for Cal State LA.</p>

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<p>SBCC might be a good choice; she’d be living in Isla Vista, which is where most students live after frosh year. </p>

<p>Not that it matter much for her since she’d just be there a year, but after your 1st semester at SBCC you can take 1 class per quarter at UCSB if you are in the SBCC honors program. </p>

<p>I have more info in the thread at <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-santa-barbara/468098-backdoor-way-get-into-ucsb.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-santa-barbara/468098-backdoor-way-get-into-ucsb.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Hey ZFG, nice to see you on my board for a change. I’ll try to give some of that nice UCLA-board hospitality i find lacking on the USC board ;)</p>

<p>As far as SMC goes, they certainly DO have the highest transfer rate to UCLA. What they DON’T tell you, is that they also have the most applicants. SMC has plenty of rejects to UCLA, and there’s plenty of people who got into UCLA without going to SMC. AFAIK, it has no special agreement with UCLA for admitting students, so her odds are just as good there as anywhere else. </p>

<p>I went to LACC and it was a pretty decent school when i was going there, but more and more funding is getting cut every year, so all the CCs are suffering. It’s a great, diverse school with lots of professors though, so i wouldn’t knock it down.</p>

<p>SMC is a big school, and classes might be easier to get there than at other CCs, but i don’t go there, nor do i know anyone else who does. If you don’t mind being a bit personal, you could always go down to campus, and ask certain students how easy/difficult it is for them to get their classes (iirc you live in LA)</p>

<p>One thing i want to let you know is that UCLA’s nursing program is EXTREMELY competitive. It has only a 12% admit rate</p>

<p>[Profile</a> of Admitted Transfer Students, Fall 2010 - UCLA Undergraduate Admissions](<a href=“http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/prospect/adm_tr/Tr_Prof10.htm]Profile”>http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/prospect/adm_tr/Tr_Prof10.htm)</p>

<p>so if she wants to get in, she’s going to have to work very hard and make herself look competitive.</p>