Anyone can share their starting pay in Texas area??

Feeling discouraged

I was put on the alternate list for my nursing program in case someone drops, but I’m honestly doubtful. Admissions use a point system, and having fewer credits at the university hurt my points. I completed all my prerequisites elsewhere and only needed developmental psychology and philosophy at this school.

My advisor said my GPA and application were great, but recommended raising my TEAS score from 64% to at least 78%.

For context, I started pre-nursing at 20, took a gap year, and became an esthetician. I’ve been doing that for almost five years and returned to school within the last year or so, earning my associate’s and pre-nursing degrees. I’m still figuring out what study methods work for me.

I previously used Nurse Cheung, but I feel like her videos mainly helped me with science. I used TEAS with Tyler for English and reading, and he helped tremendously. I’m testing again in January, so I want to get ahead of it and start focusing on my weak areas now. What resources or study routines helped you significantly improve your score?

I also rush and second guess myself during exams. My advisor recommended trying the remotely proctored TEAS at home because of my test anxiety. Has anyone taken it at home, and how was your experience?

Hi everyone!

I'm looking for advice, suggestions, and resources on how to study for the TEAS. I'm not confident in the math or science sections, and I feel like it takes me a while to understand a concept fully.

Sort of relying on my TEAS score to get me into a SOCAL ADN program.

Thanks in advance! (:

I swear, trying to get into nursing school feels like an extreme sport I never signed up for. Between memorizing the Krebs cycle, trying not to fail Anatomy, and refreshing my email every 5 seconds waiting for an acceptance letter, my heart rate is higher than a patient's in SVT.

To everyone currently in the trenches of prerequisites or waiting on decisions: how are y’all keeping your sanity intact? Drop your best coping mechanisms below before I lose my mind and start diagnosing my houseplants with UTI.

hey everyone! i applied to emory's traditional bsn program for all 2027 during round 1, and decisions were originally supposed to come out today (october 15).

i just received an email from the admissions office saying that round 1 decisions have been delayed due to the high volume of applications. they mentioned that decisions would be finalized "in the coming months", but didn't provide a new release date.

just wondering if anyone else received the same email or has heard anything about when decisions might actually come out?

good luck to everyone who applied!

Hi, this might be a little long but i’m pretty emotional about this and on my period. so it might be word vomit so stay with me.

I’m 20F, a first-generation college student, and I recently found out that I was rejected from my university’s nursing program. For some background, the minimum requirements were a 3.0 prerequisite GPA and a 58.7% on the TEAS. I applied with around a 3.0 GPA and a 64% TEAS score. I knew the program was competitive, but getting that rejection email still hurt more than I expected.

Looking back, I realize there were things I could have done differently. I’ve learned that some students took anatomy at community colleges or completed statistics online, which may have helped them earn higher grades. I didn’t really know about those options at the time, and I can’t help but feel frustrated with myself for not exploring them sooner.

This past year has also been incredibly difficult for me personally. My mom was diagnosed with cancer for the second time in her life and has undergone multiple surgeries. I’ve spent a lot of time helping her through her recovery while trying to balance school and everything else in my life. Watching someone you love go through cancer is emotionally exhausting, and I genuinely believe it affected my mental health and academic performance more than I realized at the time.

I’m not sharing that as an excuse for my grades, but rather to explain that there’s been a lot happening behind the scenes.

What hurts the most is watching other students move forward into nursing school while I feel like I’m standing still. I’m genuinely happy for everyone who got accepted, but it’s hard not to compare myself or wonder where I went wrong.

I still want to become a nurse more than anything. I’m planning to retake my TEAS, work on improving my GPA, and reapply for the fall cohort. I’m determined to give myself another chance, but right now I’m struggling with the disappointment and the fear of getting rejected again. I think being a first-generation student makes this even harder sometimes because I feel like I’m figuring everything out as I go, and I don’t always know what resources or opportunities are available to me until it’s too late.

For anyone who has been rejected from nursing school before, how did you cope with it? Did you eventually get accepted? What did you do differently the second time around?

I could really use some encouragement or advice right now. I know one rejection doesn’t define my future, but it’s hard to remember that when you’re in the middle of it.

Thank you to anyone who took the time to read this. ❤️

I am researching private schools to obtain my nursing degree, and I came across Pacific College who offers a ADN degree as well as RN-BSN. I am weighing my options and comparing to schools like Stanbridge/West Coast/Chamberlain... Obviously, the biggest difference is the degree type. I have not heard much about Pacific College and why someone would pursue going to school their vs the previous mentioned universities. Looking for anyone who has experience attending Pacific College.

Hi all! I'm applying to ADN programs for the Fall 2027 cohort and would love some perspective, especially from anyone who’s applied in Oregon.

TL;DR:

Strong GPA, zero patient care experience. Trying to decide if getting my CNA is worth it, and if so, whether to work full-time as a CNA (pay cut) or keep my current job and potentially pick up per diem shifts on weekends, if I proceed with a CNA program.

My background:

- BS in Computer Science. I currently work full-time in a non-clinical healthcare IT role.

- Cumulative GPA: 3.799 (all previous undergrad plus my first term of nursing prereqs, all A's so far). Should be around 3.8+ after this fall term.

- Prereqs on track to be done by March 2027.

- I don't live in the Willamette Valley, so I'm mostly focusing on ADN programs in central and southern Oregon. Going ADN because ABSN programs look significantly more expensive.

- I'm originally from the South, where my understanding is nursing admissions are much less competitive than on the West Coast. Honestly, I have no realistic sense of how competitive Oregon programs are beyond what I've read online.

Why I'm considering CNA:

I have no direct patient care experience, and I think it's the weakest part of my application. That said, I'm not sure how much CNA experience would actually change my odds.

My questions:

1. ⁠How much does CNA experience actually help with Oregon ADN admissions for someone with a strong GPA but no patient care? Is it a nice bonus, or closer to expected?
   
2. ⁠Would full-time CNA work look meaningfully better than one per diem shift a week, or is it mostly about having the certification and some hours?
   
3. ⁠Is it realistic for a brand-new CNA to get hired per diem with weekend-only availability? Should I aim for a hospital or long-term care?
   
4. ⁠Most of my deadlines are in February 2027. If I got certified in the next couple of months, I'd only have a few months of hours. Worth it for this cycle, or mainly a safety net in case I have to reapply?
   
5. ⁠Has anyone counted a behavioral health direct-care role (like a QMHA position) as patient care experience? I'm wondering if admissions would see it like CNA work.
   
6. ⁠For anyone who's applied in Oregon recently: how competitive are these programs for a ~3.8 GPA applicant?

Thanks so much in advance!

I am researching private schools to obtain my nursing degree, and I came across Pacific College who offers a ADN degree as well as RN-BSN. I am weighing my options and comparing to schools like Stanbridge/West Coast/Chamberlain... Obviously, the biggest difference is the degree type. I have not heard much about Pacific College and why someone would pursue going to school their vs the previous mentioned universities. Looking for anyone who has experience attending Pacific College.

Hey guys. I have been on this sub for more than a year. Learned a lot from here! So right now, I am only taking micro and physio at the same time and aiming for both A’s. My overall GPA is like 3.90( plan to take more credits to bring that up a bit, the only one that I got a B was English 1 lol), science GPA: 4.0, by the end of this fall I will have finished all my pre reqs for most the Cal state BSN/ cc ADN programs. I plan to take teas test next January and aim for at least 90 ( so I will not be able to apply to Cal east bay since it is due on 11/30), I am bilingual, CNA certified, had three months of full time experience at a SNF, first gen college student and so on.
And also I am located in the Bay Area, CA
So the schools I plan to apply to are:
Sonoma university
San Jose University
Sacramento University
Fresno university ( which is 2.5 year long)
CC: Sacramento city college
San Joaquin Delta College, Stockton
Modesto Junior College
Considering the Cost of living and also how competitive it is to land a new grad residency job in the bay( from NewgradRn subreddit), I plan to leave the bay but still wanna stay and gain my RN experience in Cali, I would prefer BSN but some of the programs are 3y long so I would rather go to an ADN and start working one year earlier in case I don’t get into any. My ultimate goal is to land a hospital job.
But I am also so scared since I am a new immigrant. And English is not my native language( excuse my grammar mistakes)😭
I am wondering what you guys think, What is the chance of getting in? is there any thing I am missing? I appreciate any honest advice!

I’m a PreNursing student, and I’m actually thinking of doing the LVN program at Chaffey and then bridge because the ADN programs are just so competitive. Either way I need a CNA cert.

But I was also thinking of doing an EMT course instead.

PLAN: get CNA or EMT cert in the spring (Jan start), find a job working as an ER tech or some other unit in the hospital. My background is mainly HR admin work for a four year public university. And so I don’t really have much clinical experience at all except for my patient transporter job I had in 2019 at huntington hospital. So idk maybe the job market might be bleak for me.

Right now I volunteer at Loma Linda, so that helps me network.

The only thing is I have a misdemeanor DUI from 2018. If I decide to do the EMT route, I feel like there will be obstacles in getting licensed even though my goal isn’t to work as an ambulance EMT.

Any thoughts or advice on this??

I've been in college since Fall 2024 working toward nursing school. Unfortunately, my TEAS score was lower than expected, and even though I applied for Spring 2027, I was told I couldn't move forward because of my score. Now I have to wait until January to apply again for Fall 2027.

The problem is that I've basically finished all my prerequisites. I really only need Biology II, but I have to remain a full-time student (12+ credit hours) to keep my scholarship. Financial aid is telling me they won't cover random classes because they aren't part of my course of study. I even asked about taking a psychology course about drugs and medical terminology, but neither would be covered, which is frustrating because I feel like both could be useful in nursing.

I've also tried reaching out to multiple academic advisors through email to figure out what classes I can take and what my options are, but I haven't received a response from any of them. I live over an hour away from campus, so it's not exactly convenient to drive there just to ask questions that could easily be answered through email. It's frustrating because I'm trying to plan ahead and make responsible decisions, but I feel like I'm getting nowhere.

I'm also worried that because I've already been in college for over two years, I might run out of financial aid before I even finish nursing school. I feel like I'm spending more money just trying to remain eligible for my scholarship while waiting to get accepted.

What makes it even harder is that everyone in my classes keeps talking about how they got accepted into the spring nursing program. I'm genuinely happy for them, but it's hard constantly hearing about everyone moving forward when I was hoping to be starting alongside them. It honestly makes me feel like I'm falling behind, even though I've been working toward the same goal.

I also don't have many nursing schools to choose from. There are only about three schools within an hour of my house, and those are already the closest options. One requires a CNA certification, which I can't realistically get right now while attending college, especially since the program costs around $1,500. Another school doesn't accept the TEAS and requires the Kaplan entrance exam instead, meaning I'd have to pay for and prepare for two different nursing entrance exams just to have more than one option.

I really wanted to start nursing school this spring, and knowing I have to wait until next fall is honestly upsetting. I've considered LPN programs, but the spring application deadlines have already passed, and I don't necessarily want to go the LPN route if I have a chance of getting into an RN program.

My biggest fear is not getting accepted for Fall 2027 either. At that point, I genuinely don't know what I'd do. I love nursing and want to become an RN, but I don't want to keep spending time and money taking classes that aren't getting me any closer to my goal. Part of me feels like giving up if I don't get accepted next fall because I can't keep putting my life on hold indefinitely.

Has anyone else been in this situation? What did you do while waiting to get into nursing school? Did you take extra classes, transfer schools, pursue an LPN program, or take a semester off? I'm especially interested in hearing from anyone who dealt with financial aid issues, limited nursing school options, unresponsive academic advisors, or having to take multiple entrance exams. I just feel really lost right now and could use some advice.

Hi everyone! I’m still a pre-nursing student, but I’m planning to attend Samuel Merritt’s ABSN program because it’s close to where I live.

For recent graduates, were you able to land a hospital RN job as a new grad, especially in the Bay Area? How long did it take, and which hospitals or specialties hired you? Did your clinical placements help you get interviews or offers?

With the cost of the program, I’m trying to get a realistic idea of the job prospects after graduation. Thanks for sharing your experience!

Hi everyone! I’m planning to apply to FIU’s Traditional BSN program for Fall 2027 and wanted some advice!
I’m currently attending Broward College with a 3.8 overall GPA and am almost finished with my AA. I’ve completed most of my nursing prerequisites, including A&P I and II, Microbiology, Nutrition, Human Development, and Sociology (All A’s) I’m also a certified medical assistant with previous clinical experience.
I haven’t taken the TEAS yet, but I plan on studying for the next few months to get a competitive score.
For those who got accepted, what were your GPA and TEAS scores? How competitive was the application process, and do you think I’d have a good chance of getting in?
I’d really appreciate any advice! 💕