The Guide to Applying to Nursing School

Admission as a Freshman applicant:

1. Obtain a high school education taking classes such as English - 4 years, Math - 3-4 years (including algebra and geometry), Science - 2-4 years (including biology and chemistry; physics and computer science are recommended), Social Studies - 3-4 years, Foreign Language - 2 years. Individual nursing schools vary in nursing course prerequisites, so make sure you check out the nursing prerequisites for each school you are considering.

2. Determine which schools/program you are interested in applying to. Apply to more than one college so you have more options!! Many nursing programs have a limited number of students they admit (~20-150). List of California pre-licensure RN programs -> https://www.rn.ca.gov/education/rnprograms.shtml

3. Application materials: college application, high school transcript, letters of recommendation, SAT and ACT scores, application fees

4. Worried about the cost of nursing school? Apply for financial aid. Financial aid information -> https://www.rn.ca.gov/careers/financial-aid.shtml

5. Go to my "About me!" post to learn more tips and tricks to help you stand out as an applicant :)

Admission as a transfer applicant:

1. Research your prospective transfer schools that you are interested in. Talk to a counselor to plan out/determine which prerequisite courses are required for each school. Highly recommended link for all transfer applicants -> https://assist.org/

2. Contact the school advisors and confirm that your community college (or university) credits will transfer over.

3. Application materials: standard college application, college transcript, letters of recommendation (requirement varies depending on school), TEAS score (requirement varies depending on school), application fees -> https://nursejournal.org/articles/transferring-programs/

4. Worried about the cost of nursing school? Apply for financial aid. Financial aid information -> https://www.rn.ca.gov/careers/financial-aid.shtml

5. Go to my "About me!" post to learn more tips and tricks to help you stand out as an applicant :) Overview of the information is found here-> https://www.nursing.org/resources/undergraduate-application/

Note: Applying as a transfer, gives you a higher acceptance rate into a nursing program!! For example, UCI has a 1.7% admission rate for freshman applicants, whereas there's an 18% admission rate for transfer applicants. -> https://nursing.uci.edu/admissions/bs-admissions/

**Starting at a community college and finishing at a four-year school can greatly reduce the time and money it takes to earn a degree. As a transfer student, community college helped me mature, save money, determine if nursing was my passion, and increased my chances into getting into nursing school.

How to become a liscensed RN in California: https://www.rn.ca.gov/careers/steps.shtml