California Nursing schools and 2+2 programs

what is 2+2 program?
I need a bit more help to understand Nursing path for a graduating high schooler.
I understand that direct admits are very competitive and may not work for average student ( 3.6 uw, 3.9w).
What are the other ways to get into Nursing for these students while hedging yourself for other career in case admission to Nursing doest work out.

Is it better to do go for 4 years college to major in Bio, Biochem, PublicHealth type of majors and apply to ADN as soon as you have done pre-req courses.

Or go to community colleges for those prereq courses and then apply for ADN. But then what to do you if you donot get into the ADN.

I guess I am confused about how to go about being Nurse while protecting yourself from the uncertainty of not getting admission.

@Aafat
I moved your post into a new discussion since I did not want to derail the original posters Nursing discussion.

The 2+2 Nursing programs are the most common program found at the Cal states. The student is admitted into the Pre-Nursing program where they take their Nursing Pre-requisite courses and need to meet GPA requirements. They then apply during their Sophomore year to the Nursing school to complete their BSN. There is no guarantee that a Pre-Nursing student will be admitted to the specific Nursing school after completing their requirements so some students will also need to consider applying to other Nursing programs as a Transfer or change the major.

Here is a link to CSU Long Beaches program information as a example: Program: Nursing, B.S.N. - California State University, Long Beach - Modern Campus Catalog™

How to become a Nurse:

There are several ways to become a registered nurse with a BSN these days.

The easiest and most direct way is to major in nursing as an undergrad the first time around. You’d need to go to a university that offers a BSN (bachelor’s of science in nursing) program. These usually take four years, and sometimes take five. There are two flavors of these BSN programs. A small number of schools offer direct admission as a freshman (e.g., you’re admitted to the school of nursing when you apply to the college, and you are guaranteed to be a nursing major as long as you keep your grades up). But most make you apply to the nursing school in your sophomore year to start your junior year. In those, you complete pre-nursing prerequisites in your first two years and then start nursing classes in your third year.

The second way is to complete a regular bachelor’s degree (in anything, although a science major makes this easier), then go back to school and get an accelerated second BSN. ABSN programs usually take 14-18 months after your first bachelor’s degree, which adds time and expense to getting your BSN. This route is usually chosen by people who didn’t realize they wanted to be a nurse until after they were already in college, but I’ve known a couple of college students who chose to go this route because they wanted to go to a liberal arts college to undergrad and yet still wanted to be a nurse. If you do this you have to plan your prerequisites carefully, since colleges without nursing programs tend not to have classes like anatomy and physiology.

The third way is to complete a regular bachelor’s degree (in anything, although again, a science major makes this easier) and then go into an entry-to-practice MSN program. Entry-to-practice programs are 3-year programs in which you get your RN in the first year and then your MSN in the last two years, which allows you to practice as a nurse practitioner. This is only a good idea if you know you want to be a nurse practitioner (an NP is a nurse who gives primary care).

Really, if you know you want to be a nurse now, the best way is to go to a college/university that has a nursing undergrad major.

One additional option is to get an Associates degree in nursing from a Community College that has an approved RN program. Those programs are usually competitive for entry, unlike most other community college programs. Often, the community college has a waiting list for nursing and will make you take a number of science classes first to prove that you are capable of handling it, before you are accepted as a nursing major. Your job opportunities will not be as wide as if you have a BSN, but you should still have no problem getting hired. Many of those grads then go onto later get a BSN, while taking classes part-time. Many health care employers will subsidize those classes.

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Love this post. Thank you very much. You clarified so many things for me. God bless you.

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Not that you asked about out of state programs, but several friends kids in CA have gone to AZ due to the competition for direct entry programs in CA. You might want to take a look at NAU, which is part of the WUE network, for direct entry BSN. Their kids came back to CA when finished and are about to take their licensing exams - they seem very well prepared. Good luck!

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This is great information. Thank you for sharing.
Any idea about other WUE school like Uni of Utah?

Unfortunately I only have anecdotal information about NAU…but you could start a new thread for Nursing Admissions @ WUE schools and I bet you will get some good info!

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Daughter went to ASU, was direct admit and is now a nurse in an Emergency Department in Scottsdale, AZ… ASU was a great program for her.

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NAU is not direct admit…but ASU is!

Apologies. However, it is still my understanding that it is (relatively due to less competition) easier to obtain your nursing degree in AZ than in CA.

Be aware that ASU nursing has a relatively high college GPA in critical prerequisites needed to stay in the nursing major. The GPA is 3.50 minimum each of first four semesters with no grade lower than C, according to https://degrees.apps.asu.edu/major-map/ASU00/NUNURDBSN/NURTPBSN/ALL/2024?init=false&nopassive=true .

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To be fair…most 2+2 programs would most likely require a 3.5 minimum GPA and great TEAS/HESI scores to be a competitive applicant to the nursing program. I don’t feel the 3.5 that ASU requires is unreasonable.

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I know this is few months old, but does anyone know the acceptance rates for the 2+2 programs (approximate)? I see that the direct entry UC’s are single digits? How about CSU’s, especially the southern CA locations? It seems super stressful working on those prereq’s and building your campus life to have to transfer. Or what if you are left with no acceptances…just pivot to graduate quickly and attempt the ABSN?