I’m currently a freshman at the University of San Diego and I have gotten really interested in nursing. I am thinking about applying to transfer to UCLA’s nursing program.
Since UCLA requires that transfers come in as juniors:
Should I finish this year at USD, then take community college classes next year and live at home? The Cal State schools in my area feed into UCLA much more easily. I could also get an internship/job near home.
OR, should I just stay at USD the next two years? I am in the Honors program here, am involved in a few organizations/clubs, and am considering getting a job.
I want the best chances possible for admission of course, so let me know how you think I should approach it.
they have an information session coming up that I recommend you attend. See http://nursing.ucla.edu/body.cfm?id=72 You can ask about what they think of the CC route. My guess (and its only a guess) is that it might have an advantage in that you can be sure you are taking transferable courses and that ucla gives preference to xfer applicants from CCC’s over those from other non-UC colleges.
A former contributor to this site, askmssun, is a private admission counselor and has additional info on nursing admissions. We aren’t allowed to link to private blogs, but you can find posts by googling (w/o the quotes) ‘askmssun nursing admission’
Like many nursing programs, ucla requires a supplemental application. The good news is not everyone completes it, so the rate above is probably a bit pessimistic (but not by a whole lot). You can see it for ucla at http://nursing.ucla.edu/body.cfm?id=53 You will want to read thru it carefully to make sure you are intentionally doing the things they look for (both stated on the app and what they tell you in the info session). Many schools look quite strongly at whether you have volunteer or paid experience in a health-care setting. Some CSU schools even have an explicit point system based on how much you have.
My advice is to focus on getting into a nursing program anywhere, meaning build yourself a table of the requirements for each school and try to pick a set of courses that satisfy the rules for as many as possible. Given the unfortunate difficulty of getting in at ucla I suggest thinking of getting in as akin to hitting the jackpot rather than being your main goal and being disappointed if it doesn’t happen.
UCLA says it gives priority to both UC-UC transfers and CCC-UC transfers on its web page, and the UCLA profile of admitted students notes the overall admit rate to UCLA at 29.5% from CCC and 21.5% from a UC.
I would send an email to the school of nursing and ask if there is a difference in their evaluation, CCC vs UC. Assuming there isn’t - in other words, main criteria is GPA, completion of req, and ECs - it may be easier for you to just stay at the UC.
You mentioned both CCC and CSU so I’m not sure if you were also considering a Cal state. I don’t think that’s what you meant, but if so, that’s kind of an odd way to go: UC-CSU-UC. (Admits via other CA colleges is less than 10%.)
Anyhow, you need to get direct feedback and proceed from there, as the SON may use criteria different than the overall campus. Just know that many many people successfully transfer UC to UC, so it really would hinge on any peculiarities within the School of Nursing.
Also, it goes without saying, try to get a lot of ECs connected to medical, etc.
You wrote earlier “I’m currently a freshman at the University of San Diego”.
The University of San Diego where you are enrolled is a private Roman Catholic university, not part of the UC system. If you stay at that school you do not get the same preferential treatment in admission to UCLA that those attending CCC and other UC schools receive.