SDSU for Nursing? Questions about UNR?

Colleges and Universities A-Z San Diego State University
1

Hi everyone:

I’m a junior in high school and I have plans to major in nursing. I want to become a pediatric nurse practitioner. I live in California so I think out-of-state schools are out of the picture (but boy would I love to be able to attend UW)… Anyways, I am trying to aim for San Diego State University because their nursing program has a direct entry for freshmen. I don’t think my stats are good enough though aghh…

High School GPAs & Courses Taken
Freshman year 1st semester - 3.1 UW (hard time adjusting to school)
Freshman year 2nd semester - 2.3 UW (life was rough)
Sophomore year 1st semester - 3.7 UW
Sophomore year 2nd semester - 4.0 UW
Junior Year 1st Semester - 4.0 W (Honors Eng, Honors US His, Spanish III, ADV Pre-calc, AP Bio, Ceramics)
Junior Year 2nd Semester - In the process but I’m hoping to get only 1-2 Bs AND I am taking econ at a college for 7th period
Senior Year 1st Semester - (AP Eng, AP Gov, AP Spanish, Calculus, Chemistry/Psych)

Senior Year 2nd Semester - (AP Eng, AP Gov, AP Spanish, Calculus, Public Speaking/Nutrition)
Classes with a * will be dual enrollment with a community college

Summer College Courses Taken at a Community College
-College Algebra / received an A
-Stats / not taken yet

SAT/ACT - will be taken soon! aiming for 1300 though… I will come back to update :confused:

~School Involvement~
school’s student government
animal club
national honors society or nhs
key club
csf

~Community Involvement~
local animal shelter where I do chores but mostly train dogs now (over 100 hours & ongoing)
program coordinator for a summer lunch program (87ish hours)
tutoring and teen council at a library (ongoing)
weekly volunteering at a hospital, commitment of 7 months (in the process of obtaining)
paid summer internship that’s full time with hospital (in the process of obtaining)
weekly volunteering at a children’s hospital, summer commitment that only allows 6 weeks (in the process of obtaining)

Yes, I know it’s hard to say if SDSU will want to take me because I’ve included a lot of things I haven’t done yet. I don’t know if I will be able to do it but I just want a general idea if all of this happens, then am I competitive enough? This question keeps me wondering because my gpa freshman year was horrible and I wasn’t able to take any honors or APs in 10th grade because of capacity issues… I want to keep an upward trend for GPAs but my first semester of GPA unweighted didn’t go as expected. Also, I feel like I won’t do outstanding enough on the SAT. But I’m really, really trying. I get really discouraged…

Another thing I would like to address is…
My counselor has been talking to me about University of Nevada Reno through the Western Undergrad Exchange Program. I looked into it and the Orvis School of Nursing has direct entry for freshmen. My counselor tells me it’s in the top 100 for medical schools, but I’m not sure if that matters because I’m interested in nursing… Also, I’m hearing different things about UNR like how Nevada’s education system lags behind or is the worst in the nation etc :frowning: but also that it doesn’t matter where I go to for undergrad college for nursing? UNR’s campus is really nice too. UNR is kind of my safety school so far because acceptance rate is high but I’m not sure if that’s a good/bad thing.

Or should I just take the community college route? I know about UCLA TAP

Other schools I’m applying to for nursing will be – UCLA, CSU Long Beach, UCI
Other schools I’m applying to for other majors (business or veterinary are my other interests) – UCSB, UCSD, UCSC, UC Davis

BUT I’M STRONGLY INTERESTED IN NURSING </3 Let’s focus on talking about SDSU and UNR

2

SDSU Nursing admits by eligibility index and major.
At the end of Junior year, you need to calculate your CSU capped weighted GPA, below is the link.

https://www2.calstate.edu/apply/eligibility-index

Once you have your CSU GPA, then using the same link you can calculate your Eligibility index.

Here is a link to the SDSU Nursing stats for the last several years. Based on the average GPA and SAT, you are targeting an EI of at least 4618. Much will depend upon how you compare to the other applicants.

https://nursing.sdsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Freshmen-Admission-Statistics.pdf

I would also look at CSU Fullerton which has a direct admit Nursing program and University of San Francisco’s direct admit program.

I have heard UNR has a good program but I cannot confirm since I have very little information.

Apply widely and the CC to Nursing school route is another good option.

I would also post your questions in the Nursing forum where you might get more information on UNR’s program.
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/nursing-major/

3

Thank you! I didn’t know about CSU Fullerton. I will add it to my list. I just found out about Cal Poly’s program too. For University if

4

@tournesole: Cal Poly Pomona and SLO do not have a Nursing program. They however have a Pre-Nursing/Healthcare advising center to help you determine a suitable major to meet Nursing program admission requirements.

5

I couldn’t find University of SF. Did you mean SF State? I read that some of these schools require you to finish a list of pre req courses before applying like nutrition and public speaking and human anatomy. I can squeeze nutrition and public speaking during my senior year but it will not be completed at the time when I apply for college. Human anatomy… I can fit it into my second semester of senior year if I work some things around

6

Should I take adv calc to be competitive? I know nursing majors only need up to algebra and stats. Or should I take ADV Calc and wait to do stats in college so that I can take human anatomy in high school.

7

All directs in California are really competitive so it is hard to guess without an SAT score. Apply far and wide if you really want to be a nurse.

SAT really matters in a lot of programs so try to shoot for as high as you can and spend time preparing for that exam.

Be careful with UNR. It is not direct. One student we know had trouble continuing because there were not enough spots for all the nursing students trying to get into upper division. She ended up coming back to the midwest to finish all in a hurry because she did not understand it is not merely progressing forward it required reapplying essentially

From UNR website: “To apply for the nursing major, one must be a current UNR student for the semester prior
to entering the major. Purchase an admission application to UNR. Select Community
Health Science as the major and then select the Pre-Nursing sub-plan. Students must
obtain an accurate Academic Advising Report via their MyNevada account which reflects
all prerequisites for nursing admission, the Orvis GPA calculator, HESI A2 exam scores,
and, complete the Nursing major application process.”

8

What is your parents budget? USF (University of San Francisco) is an option but expensive not only due to the school but housing in SF has skyrocketed

9

USF’s nursing website: https://www.usfca.edu/nursing

10

Here is UCI’s Nursing stats for in-coming Freshman 2018:

UCI Nursing Stats:
Fall 2018 freshman applicants: 2,887
Fall 2018 freshman admissions: 72 (2.5% admitted)
Average UC GPA: 4.24 GPA
Average total SAT score (new version): 1332

UCLA’s direct admit Nursing program has a similar acceptance rate so as stated above, all the direct admit and even pre-nursing programs in California are highly competitive.

11

I still need to discuss that with my mom. I think she thinks I’m gonna end up going to a CC because of my grades and since my sister saved tons of money using the transfer path. But really I would rely on financial aid, scholarships, what my mom can come up, and I think I have family willing to help me pay for college so I don’t have to take a loan and worry about debt.

12

CSU GPA only takes 10-11th grade and they only look at courses and grade progresss in12th grade right?

13

@tornesole: You as a student can only take out a total of $27K for 4 years of undergrad. Depending upon your family’s income, you could be eligible for Federal and Cal grant aid. UC’s and Cal States give little merit based scholarships (High grades/Test scores) so you should run the Net Price Calculators for any school of interest. You can find them usually on the financial aid page of the school’s website. Knowing your budget before applying to any school is important since there is no point in applying if a school is unaffordable.