I am a High School senior in San Marcos, CA. I am about to submit my college application for Fall 2022 Admission. I am wondering if you know which college has a better direct entry nursing program (BSN - Bachelor of Science in Nursing) for freshman applicant? Which college should I pursue for my nursing major (among these 6 choices: CSU San Marcos, SDSU, CSU Long Beach, CSU Fullerton, UC Irvine, or UCLA)?
My capped weighted GPA (for 10th & 11th grade) is 4.37
Beside, I got almost 60 college credits (earned from community college) during my High School years, includes Calculus, Chemistry, Biology, and complete IGETC (General Education).
In addition, I work part time at a Pharmacy as Pharmacy Technician Trainee.
I have done about 1,000 volunteer hours. I have a few academic awards & a member of PTK Honors.
I heard that CSUSM has a better nursing program than UCLA (when comparing NCLEX passing rate), is that true? Should I choose CSUSM over UCLA? My career path is getting a PhD degree and become nurse anesthetist after getting a BSN. Please advise.
Since all CA Nursing programs are highly competitive, I would apply to all and see where you are admitted since there are no guarantees. CSUSM will give you priority since you are local and CSULB is not direct admit but a 2+2 program.
Once you have your acceptances, you can make the decision of which program would be “best” for you.
Here is a link to the NCLEX pass rate for all CA Nursing schools and you can see for yourself which schools have the better pass rate vs. going by hearsay.
I agree that the best one is the one that accepts you. I remember seeing that UCLA’s acceptance rate was 2%.
Also check each school to see if there is a high weed-out college GPA that you need to earn to stay in the nursing major.
For 2020,
UCLA had a 1% admit rate for Nursing.
UCI had a 1.6% admit rate for Nursing.
SDSU had a 6% admit rate for Nursing.
CSUSM had a 34.8% admit rate for Nursing. (Local applicants given priority).
CSUF does not show Nursing admit rate but they only admit 40 students into the Direct BSN program.
CSULB had an admit rate of 15.5% for Pre-Nursing.
Just to give you an idea of how competitive these programs can be. I would also look into Azusa Pacific University which has a direct admit BSN and also University of San Francisco for more options. The rest of the Cal states have the 2+2 programs which would be great backups.
Problem with such programs is that weeded-out students end up with nothing. Would a better 2+2 path be to start in an ADN/RN program at a community college, then do an RN->BSN program at a four year school? Getting into the ADN/RN program may not be easy, but does result in a useful credential after the first two years, and RN->BSN programs may not be as competitive to get into as other BSN programs.
I got admitted to SDSU nursing and UCSD biology majors this fall 2022. I paid SIR fees to both schools, so I have more time to make a final decision while I am very busy with my senior year’s final exams. This is my big decision which leads me to my long-term career. Would you please advise me which major should I pursue? Could you PLEASE tell me the pros and cons, job outlook, and career advancement of each major?
I personally love both majors, and will do well with either major. I like the research system at UCSD which will challenge me to reach high. The scholarship is more than enough to pay for my tuition and dorm at UCSD , and it guarantees for 4 years. I just have one fear…. If I don’t get accepted to a Medical School at my first try, my biology major may not pay me a return on investment. I wish not to spend more than 8 years in education to become an Anesthesiologist. On another hand, I also like the vibe at SDSU and its outstanding nursing program. Its tuition and dorm fees are fully covered by my scholarship. Besides, if I don’t get accepted into Certified Registered Nurse Anesthesia (CRNA) on my first try, at least I still get a stable job in healthcare as Registered Nurse. Anyway I am just a kid, and I need to learn a lot from your life experience. I greatly appreciate your insight and feedback.
You should check with UCSD to make sure they will allow you to stay for 4 years. In your original post you wrote that you have almost 60 college credits. UCSD will give you credit for transferable units and it may count towards the unit cap of how many units you can earn while an undergrad. For AP credit they say this does not happen, hopefully it doesn’t for dual enrollment credit. For example UCLA says
A maximum of 216 units is permitted for all students, regardless of the number of majors or minors completed. Students with advanced placement (AP) or international baccalaureate credit (IB) may exceed the unit maximum by the amount of that credit.
https://caac.ucla.edu/policies/unit-maximum/
If they count the 60 units towards the cap this may cause issues with applying to med school. Med schools don’t like the prereq classes to have been taken at a CC so the usual advice is to take additional upper division classes in those subjects. But you’ll only have perhaps two years to do so in addition to fulfilling the requirements for your Bio major. My advice is to research this carefully.
Incidentally submitting 2 SIR is not allowed and if your HS finds out (such as when you request final transcripts to be sent to two schools) they may notify both schools.
UCSD says “An undergraduate student who enrolls at UC San Diego as a first-year student in fall 2019 or thereafter is allowed to enroll for twelve quarters to complete all requirements for a bachelor of arts (BA) or bachelor of science (BS) degree; if a student reaches this quarter limit and needs additional time to complete those requirements, they will be required to submit a completion plan and have it approved by their college prior to enrolling for additional quarters to continue work toward the degree.”
https://catalog.ucsd.edu/undergraduate/degree-requirements/index.html
Regarding UCLA, the page linked does suggest that a petition to exceed the unit limit is likely to be allowed if graduating within four years.
You should not have Sir’d for two schools at the same time. Both offers could be rescinded if they find out or when your counselor was asked to send transcripts.
You need to withdraw one of the SIRs asap. You are only allowed to SIR to one college and they can rescind your offer if you don’t withdraw one of them.
+1
And it wasn’t a good idea to post so much identifying information when you admit breaking rules. If someone emails SDSU to complain they just need to look in their 350 or so admits for the frosh from San Marcos with 60 CC units; I’d bet there aren’t too many.
Five days have gone since your last post. What is your final decision?
??? Anesthesiology is one of the most desired specialties in medicine. Why would that be a sub-optimal outcome? The anesthesiologists I know love their work, have reasonable work/life balances, are challenged professionally but not exhausted all the time.
What logic are you using here?