Hi guys I have a bit of a dilemma. I’m a freshman at CSULB and I’m considering withdrawing from my CSU and enrolling into my local CC to complete all my nursing school prerequisites. I wasn’t a pre-nursing major my first semester at CSULB and didn’t know that I wanted to pursue nursing until the end of my fall semester. I’m in my second semester here now and I’m currently taking prerequisites for the nursing school here. The thing is, my dream is to go to UCLA’s nursing school. I know that it’s super competitive, but I’m driven and work hard for what I want. Also, I don’t think that the nursing school here at CSULB is one of my top choices.
I’m considering withdrawing from CSULB after I finish my spring semester and going to a CC because I figured I could do the same prerequisites at a lower cost and I wouldn’t have to pay for housing. I’d save thousands. I also feel like if I were to go to a CC, it’d be easier for CC courses to transfer to UCLA or UCI rather than from a CSU to a UC. I also know that extracurricular are a huge part of being a competitive applicant at UCLA and if I’m at a CC, I’ll be able to volunteer at my local hospital and maybe become a CNA, scribe, or MA and work for a year.
I spoke to a counselor at my CSU about my situation and she did mention that I could just take all my prerequisites here even if I wanted to go to UCLA, but I feel like she may be biased? The only thing that’s holding me back is if I were to go to a CC the upcoming fall semester, would I be considered a CC applicant or CSU applicant since I’ll have 30 CSU units the end of this spring? Also, would it look bad on my application since I went from a CSU to a CC and would the admissions board see it as me “taking the easy route.” I really don’t know what to do and this is kind of a time sensitive issue. Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated!
@Gumbymom could you give me some advice?
@Banker1 could you give me some advice?
First, please get rid of the notation of a “dream” school, it only causes stress and anxiety if you are not accepted especially with an acceptance rate below 3%.
If you attend a CC to complete your pre-req’s, you will be considered a CC transfer since that is the school last attended. Doing a CC to UC transfer or a CSU to UC transfer for Nursing should really not make a difference, but saving money is a good motivator for attending a CC.
As far as I know, Local preference is not extend to Nursing school admissions at the Cal states.
Make sure you apply widely, get a competitive GPA and those Nursing related EC’s under your belt and you should be fine.
Best of luck with your decision.
https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/infocenter/transfers-major
It looks like that program accepted 11 transfers last year - a 7% acceptance rate. you need to re-focus here, your dream school might as well be Stanford or Harvard…Even if you get perfect GPA and just the right out of classroom experience, you’ve got to admit, your odds are pretty long.
I think you should stay put and apply to UCLA as a Jr next year. If they take you - AWESOME!!! in the much more likely event they don’t, you are at CSULB which is known to have an outstanding Nursing program and you are well on your way to a degree. If you go to a CC, there’s no guarantee you will even make it back into LB’s very competitive program.
The thing is, it’s not like I’m guaranteed a spot in LB’s nursing school whether I stay here or go to a CC because I’m just a pre-nursing major. So that’s why I’m thinking that I can just take the same prereqs but for cheaper at a CC and take other prereqs for other potential schools. What do you think?
My D was accepted to CSULB pre-Nursing. She was told the acceptance rate for CSULB pre-nursing students later into the nursing program are less than 10%. I seem to recall hearing that pre-nursing students are not given priority over transfer applicants. But I would advise double checking with the nursing department or admissions if that is the case.
I have also heard that CSULB is a top-notch nursing program but my D instead went with her acceptance to a direct-entry nursing program (SDSU) and largely to avoid having to compete later to get into the nursing program even as a pre-nursing student there.
I think once you taken the prerequisites and earned the highest GPA possible you should have the option to apply to several CSU/UC BSN programs along with CSULB to increase your chances.
@Banker1 Thanks for your reply! How does your daughter like SDSU? SDSU is one of the schools that I’m highly considering. Do you happen to know anything important about their transfer nursing program? And yes pre-nursing students here at CSULB do not have priority over other transfer applicants. With that in mind, do you think it’s more favorable to stay here and continue taking prereqs or go to a CC, save a couple thousand, and apply to multiple schools?
She is a local student who wanted to go away and spread her wings after high school. So SDSU was an afterthought. I think she’s settled in and thriving now however.
Acceptance for transfer students is very difficult for SDSU nursing. The last data I saw showed over 1000 transfer applicants tried for nursing and they filled 30 spots (about 75 accepted).
I don’t know if you should complete the remaining prerequisites at CSULB or a CC. I think you should expect to apply broadly and not just to (UCLA, UCI, SDSU) and might want to reach out to those schools to ask about their acceptance rates and admitted student profiles for transfers.