I got into a private school, went to the orientation, got my classes, but there has been problem financially and I may not even go there. I have explored other pathways.
I can go to a higher education, private university in a nearby city here called Stanbridge University (it’s in Irvine, CA) for the LVN program. After that, when I pass the NCLEX-PN, I work for a year at the most. Then, I apply to LVN-BSN programs around here. I was thinking of applying to CSU Long Beach and CSUF. UCLA (my dream school) is still in mind, but I don’t think I’ll be even close to getting in from this private university.
Another path is to go to community college to get my GE done and that will probably take (will try to finish it ASAP) up to 2 years for me. Then apply to transfer to UCLA’s nursing program, since I will have a higher chance of getting in from a CC. Of course I might not even get in,but I will still applying as well as apply to the cal states and UCI.
Which is a better idea? I need lots of advice and your opinions. I am leaning towards going to Stanbridge.
The CC then xfer to ucla path is a longshot; according to the page https://www.admission.ucla.edu/prospect/adm_tr/Tr_Prof16.htm the admit rate for nursing transfers is 5%. So I would not call this the better path.
An increasingly popular path is to get an Associates Degree in Nursing (ADN) and then as an RN complete a RN to BSN program. It sounds like you’re exploring that with Stanbridge, but why pick them? There are dozens of CC that offer the same thing for much less. See http://www.rn.ca.gov/education/rnprograms.shtml#adn Perhaps your family is wealthy and the cost doesn’t matter, but I don’t see a reason for them to sign up for big loans when there are such cheaper programs available at public CCs. It sounds like you are in the Long Beach area, why not the ADN program at LBCC?
The Stanbridge program sounds new; looking on their disclosure page at https://www4.stanbridge.edu/s9/area/disclosures/adn/Gedt.html they don’t report a job placement rate saying “Program does not have enough completers to calculate a placement rate as required.” Tha’ts a risk for you.
Another thing you need to look into is whether your units will even transfer from Stanbridge. This school is acredited by Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges (ACCSC). This is a national body primarily used by for-profit colleges. Most non-profit colleges have regional acreditation. National sounds better than regional, right? Actually not. As the CSU page on transfer credit says
Before you sign up for a $70K private college program you need to call CSU and see if they will recognize the units.
If I was in your shoes I’d go to one of the public CC in the link above, but if you do the work to make sure the private is ok and you can afford it then go for it.
BTW you may get more relevant responses if you post in the “Nursing Major” sub-forum
Be suspicious of new nursing programs, and be suspicious of for profit colleges. As noted above, a student can often receive a better education for much less money at a community college than they can at a for-profit.
A very reasonable option is to attend an associate degree program to become a RN, and then get a BSN later (hopefully with financial help from your employer, which is common).
For other people reading this, California calls practical nurses “vocational nurses.”
One suggestion if you go the public CC route is to look into participating in their honors program. At LBCC, for example, the handbook at http://www.lbcc.edu/Honors/Honors-Program-Handbook.cfm says students get priority registration. This can be helpful in making sure you get the classes you need. If considering this you’d need to look into whether the requirements of the honors program can be satisfied at the same time as the ADN program. Or perhaps you participate in the honors program your 1st year and then leave it the 2nd when you are primarily taking nursing classes.