West Coast University

Smile Camp for Kids is a beautiful way to teach small kids the importance of dental hygiene. The students and staff are friendly. I didn’t wait anything, they called me as soon as I arrive. …I wish my doctor learn from this incredible administration. I recommend this clinic! My daughter Maya loved Lashe Britt! Wishing the best to these future dentists!

Just an update. I have passed my NCLEX, working for a County Hospital and currently in my FNP-​DNP program in one of California’s top nursing school. Thanks WCU! You guys paved the way for my success!

If you are a veteran stay away from this school! When I met with financial aid before enrollment I specifically told Kandi 3 times my Gi bill was running out. I repeatedly asked her what my obligation would be after it did. She gave me number around 31 000 and when I received my FA award letter 6 month later it doubles to 72 000 dollars. When I spoke with Kandi and it got nowhere I told I was withdrawing she could care less and kindly told me were I could go do that, no hesitation not a care in he world as how this would affect me after she was the one that baited me with those numbers. Also if you are expecting to get the yellow ribbon program, good luck they hardly offer it, you’ll be on a waiting list that you won’t get out of. Lastly when I spoke to Theresa that head of financial aid she said we like to give the best case scenario, yea that’s baiting. She also said I should have taken responsibility for knowing the tuition. I could see that as a point if it weren’t for the fact that I was told different numbers that match with being on the yellow ribbon program. Stay away, from a school that supposedly promotes veterans it’s pretty stingy on its benefits.

Hello All,
So I started the Nursing Program at WCU in Aug 2014 and have always passed every class thus far even with two little ones at home. BUT, now a year later I’m being dismissed from the program because of one instructor. This instructor made her tests extremely hard to pass. Her tests did not correlate with her lectures and the recommended texts did not help. Many students were left searching in panic for something that could help with her test. I had to retake her class because the first time I received a C and I tried to look at the bright side and thought, «Well, maybe the second time around I may learn something new I may have missed before». NOPE! The second time around I knew the material very well, but again, her tests were horrible and midway through class I realized something was definitely wrong because nobody was passing. Needless to say, my second time with her I got another C. She failed half the class both times I took her and those who passed, barley passed with a C +. I tried to appeal my grade with both the Instructor and the Dean with no success. They do not even listen or care. How can they dismiss someone without investigating why so many people are failing this class and why do they only have this one instructor? Students should be allowed to try a class they did not pass with another instructor first at least before being kicked out all together.
But, what I figured out is that they don’t care, it’s free money for them. If they cared about their students, they would do all they could to help us succeed. I would understand if I was failing miserably or even if I failed a different course before this one and got kicked out, but for the only C I have received in the program and with the same instructor that is failing half her class, come on… There is something wrong here.
As students, we have no choice but to accept what they do here. We are paying so much money to attend this school and should be treated with a little more respect and stop treating us like we do not have a voice. Upon waiting for the status of my appeal, I received the coldest email telling me my appeal was denied, no response to what I said in my appeal, no «we investigated and found so and so» no reason, nothing… Just that I was going to be dismissed, I was no longer a student and I needed to turn in my badge/​student ID. Wow! Talk about kick someone when their down! For a Nursing School, they really need to work on their «Therapeutic Communication».
Don’t be like me and ignore the negative reviews about this school and think «well it won’t happen to me». Sorry… But if you get a bad instructor, there is no fighting it. They are right and you are wrong. They will not even listen. I am stuck with a year of my life wasted and about $ 50,000 down the drain because on top of never missing a class or clinical, on top of never failing another class with any other instructor, on top of succeeding in my clinical setting and being praised by some doctors and nurses, I was also paying up front and in advance for every single term. Guess they really got lucky with me!
So now I am waiting for my dismissal letter and I really don’t even know if I want to bother fighting it because I know they are just going to send me another heartless denial. I am hoping I can transfer my courses to another program.
I am so upset I chose to come here… Please please… Stay away and save your money! You will have better luck passing and accomplishing your goals somewhere else. I would have been in another program already if I had not wasted my time believing this schools promises and ignoring all the negative feedback. When I was doing my prerequisites at a community college, I had an instructor warn me that they were thieves and I did not listen. Shame on me!

I have been attending WCU since August 2014. The pre-​requisite courses and instructors are all great.
This is my first term in Nursing core and I already have many concerns. This program is based all around ATI which is an online course made to teach you all your skills for nursing. Tuition is very high at this school and If I knew I would have to be teaching myself through ATI the whole time I would’ve picked another school. Not all students have a learning style that of reading from the computer and watching videos.
The instructors expect you to know everything from ATI but isn’t it their job to be physically teaching us in class?

I am a student currently going to WCU in orange county for a BSN degree. I generally like the teaching staff and the facility looks good. Most of them are knowledgeable and helpful except a few. But why am i giving it only two star? Let me list them.
I started with WCU in April, 2014 in the Manchester campus. For a multi-​million dollar company/​school that own their building, student do not have printing access for a period of longer than 3 month in 2014. Student were unable to print lecture note/​slide for 3 months due to upgrading printing system. Even public school aren’t that bad, let along a school that charges student $ 3,000 a month.
Second, WCU student are require to wear the so call designer uniform, it’s suppose to be design by Mr. Ralph Lauren. It is suppose to be a button down shirt with collar. The uniforms were given after student completes general education part and moved on to the nursing part at the second orange county campus at La Palma. For me that is around end of 2014, which is about eight months and 3 full semester terms ago. During clinical i notice student wearing different type of uniform, some of them are wearing scrub top instead of the button down. I didn’t pay much attention to the issue, because non of the instructor said anything about it. Then in June, 2015, 6 months after we been wearing different uniforms. The Associate Dean of Nursing, pulled two of my classmates into her office and start yelling at them for wearing «none school approved uniform», even tho they are wearing the uniform they have received from WCU. So it turns out, my classmates had paid for designer uniform from Mr. Lauren, but they have been handed off the rack scrub tops by the school. And none of the nursing faculty notice for 6 month. Then Associate Dean of Nursing promise the students that she will sort this out ASAP. It is been 2 months, some of my classmates are still wearing scrub tops.
Third, if you have been a student, you know the whole process of registering for your classes is a first come first serve, nail biting experience. WCU is just the same. The only different is due to clinical site issue, sometime WCU changes your schedule for you without consent or notice. So even tho you have spend the time to work out your school schedule and your work schedule, WCU can ruin that for you a week before school. I found that out the hard way recently. A week before a new semester starts, i was communicating with some classmate about the require paper work for clinical site, this is when i found out my clinical site and date has changed from what i was originally register for, and my theory lecture class has changed as well. WCU took the liberty of placing both my lecture classes on the same day. Reader please understand this is an accelerated program, so almost exam every week. So that mean I will have exams mid-​term and finals place on the same day. So much fun? And if i happen to fail the courses, WCU can automatically kick me out of school because their policy of no more than 2 failed courses. Who should be held responsible for placing both of my lecture courses on the same day? It was done without my knowledge and then against my will? We are talking about a $ 50,000 and 16 months of time investment. I spend more than two hour driving between the two campus and talking to multiple staff regarding this issue, but all I got is an email saying I can try my luck to petition the class next week. GREAT customer service!
So my advice to all you checking out WCU for a nursing education, be ready to pay an arm and a leg, then bend over backward because once you are in, you are stuck. And their administrative staffs are the worse I have experience, unorganized, rude, and don’t care about what happen to you.

I looked into the over priced school. During the TIMED test i was interrupted twice! Who does that? Some confusion with my name and address. Really, we couldn’t fix this after? I walked out! I would never go to a school so unorganized! Im so glad I Unilocaled this before signing up!!!

It is extremely to get a hold of faculty for weeks now and it hasn’t happened. This campus tends to have that issue of not returning your calls or emails when you need help. They change policy on their students without notice. There are a numberus issues with this campus that needs to address and improve.

Back in 2010 I was starting my 4^th semester when they pulled me aside and said that I can’t continue. When I applied (23) I was under my Dad’s credit application. I finished some pre-​reqs at a community college so the tuition fee is not as high as others. I Went from two jobs to one part time job to finish school. Then I turned 24. They re check the credit application under my name and said that my income is not suitable enough and I can’t continue with the program?!? I was so lost and confuse I tried talking to the department heads but same thing. Now I ended up with a hefty 30k student loan for something I didn’t even get to finish. They didn’t even let me return the unopened books I just got for the semester. The program is nice and all but I do wish they didn’t just drop me like that no warning or anything. Now I’m still paying for that debt.

Yes west coast university is an arm and a leg but its much better than waiting to get into a 2 year RN program other places. I had a challenging but great experience well attending west coast although after graduating my thought of WCU changed.
I have taken the NCLEX THREE TIMES and FAILED. Ive had to turn down job offers due to my unsuccessful attempts and I am not alone, many of my friends who have graduated are in the same situation as I am. The school seemed to be very helpful at our first attempt as well as offering an incentive if passing the FIRST TIME. After failing if felt as though we were on our own.
Left to pay a LARGE tuition bill while unable to get hired as an RN. When I called and asked for help they said to do the ATI green light program, which I had already tried but did not complete due to the fact that it is all online and didn’t fit in with my learning style so they told me that is all that they can do.
Ive tried KAPLAN, SAUNDERS, HURST and nothing has worked so overall Im not sure how well the school has actually prepared me.
They seemed to have left many people with large amounts of debt but not very helpful with finding a resolution.

DO NOT GO TO THIS SCHOOL!!! THEY WILL TAKE YOUR MONEY AND HAVE NO DESIRE TO SEE YOU GRADUATE! Their promise to have you graduate is a ploy to take your money and put you in a holding patter. Considering suing the school for loss of wages and shining the light on the true nature of this «university» — money grabbers.

Finding West Coast University was the best thing that happened to me. I had previously been in the community college setting where it took me semester after semester and i would only get into one class. Yes, West Coast is a big investment BUT it is worth the money, class sizes are relatively small and there is no wait lists on top of that most of the CORE instructors are great but the best part about the whole school and program is the people you are able to meet and interact with everyday they become your support system and family. I would recommend WCU to other students looking for a nursing program.
Now that i have read some of the other reviews i thought maybe i should add on to what is being said. Like i previously stated it is an INVESTMENT anyone who is serious about being an RN-​BSN (like this is your dream) then we welcome you with open arms you will never meet any other students that are as driven and dedicated like WCU students. We all go through it together. School isn’t rainbows and butterflies it’s part of the growing process in life and if you have everything handed to you all the time and want everything to be easy then WCU and Healthcare is not for you. NOW. i cannot speak about how admissions is because it’s been so long since I’ve had to contact them HOWEVER i can say that Meggan is hands down the best still to this day i see her and she remembers my name and everything about me and that’s impressive shes also knowledgeable and so kind and willing to help. Picking a private school is not an easy decision, but here’s what makes sense and makes it easier. 1. your education is worth the money 2. if you factor in how much you spend a year in classes at a CC and the amount of time on a wait list and the great possibility that your classes will expire and require you to re-​take them while waiting into the cost vs. WCU then also try to look for an RN position at a «premier» hospital that allows you to enter with just an AS – GOOD LUCK 3. if you were to go to a UC for the same degree it would most likely cost you right around 80,000−100,000 for the 4 years. 4. If WCU is not for you, then you’re entitled to your opinion about why you chose not to but speaking without experience of actually attending is not credible. WCU is a school, you get out of it what you put in. Just remember that.

I absolutely LOVE my school! Although, there are some things that need fixing, this place is so worth it. I’ve gone to other universities, and none can compare to this one. The professors are really nice, and care so much about the students.
Yes, you are paying a lot of money, but you’re paying for a quality education. I totally recommend this school.(:

DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY! Half the «professors» at this school, don’t even have teaching degrees. They seem to think that just because a person has RN after their name, it automatically qualifies them to teach. It doesn’t. For $ 137,000 (which they just increased 2% by the way) I expect the best of the best to be wearing that white coat. Another MAJOR problem with this school, is the class scheduling. Biggest stress of all our lives every single term! We were so thrilled when they rolled out the online registration process because prior to this, we weren’t even allowed to pick the days and times we wanted to attend class. Can you think of any other college or university on the planet that doesn’t let students pick their class times? Well, guess what? Despite their efforts to let us do so, they manage to switch our schedules around every term, without even notifying us of the changes they made. Totally worth $ 140,000 right? Trust me, think twice about coming to this school.

Hi guys,
My name is rex and I am from Los Angeles California and was just wondering if I should get enroll the dental hygienist program at wcu. If anyone is graduated from the program or currently enrolled in the program. How is it and is it Fsure that it will land me a good job after I achieve the bs in dental hygienist?

Front office are nice however I had to waits almost an hr to be seen by admissions
The lady who attended me went over the program info so fast she wouldn’t let me understand deeply how it worked and financial aid
She kept asking me personal questions like how I took care of my kids and why I had 3 kids if I could afford going to school or things that don’t even come into the subject
It seemed like she didn’t even care I was there and needed info…

I am currently a WCU student enrolled in Med Surg 1 and Pharmacology. We are now into our second week of the term (nine total) and have yet to walk the clinical floor at our «new» facility Health South Tustin Rehabilitation. I normally am not the type to complain about situations that don’t go my way but I feel like this needs to be brought to attention.
Nursing school is stressful, yes. We put hours and hours of work into the hopes of one day graduating and being able to help people. Why I am writing this is because it seems as though administration is more worried about advertising than our education. (Faculty is amazing– at least from my experience so far).
Freshly out of Fundamentals, all of my peers along with myself were thrilled to be able to start Med Surg this term. Unfortunately what we weren’t thrilled about, was an e-​mail sent Friday night before the term started on Monday saying:
«Good Afternoon Students,
Please be advised to check your Spring I 2015 Portal as some changes have been made we want you to be apprised of. Your clinical site has changed to:
HealthSouth Tustin Rehabilitation Hospital
Sundays, 0700 — 1900
Instructor: Jill Ridens
We apologize for any inconveniences this may cause and thank you for your patience.
Thank you
Clare Stephens»
I chose to accept the last minute change in schedule and move on with the term. After having to sit in a class room on campus from 6:30am-5pm Super Bowl Sunday (the day our clinical was supposed to start) we soon learned that not much was known about Health South at all and many of us were concerned about the level of experience we were going to receive compared to other students in Med Surg who all have Hospital locations, not a rehabilitation center.
I e-​mailed the following last night and got no response:
Good evening Ms. Condie,
My name is Michelle and I am writing you this e-​mail in regards to Med Surg 1 clinical.
As we both know, there has been a change for a few of us students and as to where the clinical site is. I am very understanding to the fact that facilities drop nursing schools for clinical sites and appreciate all of the work that goes into finding a new one. This leads me into wanting to discuss my concerns of South Tustin Rehabilitation Center and their ability to effectively utilize what is said to be taught throughout this course.
While attending the orientation today, we were privileged enough to meet with their very kind and knowledgeable personnel who gave us a look into what their facility offers. With that being said, Saad Niazi the Director of Quality/​Risk, explained to us that yes South Tustin is an acute surgical hospital but they do not see any patients using tubes (NG, Intubation), stay away from IV’s/needles because they are trying to ambulate their patients frequently towards their recovery, no wounds to care for, no labs for lab work, and no ER/​OR.
In our syllabus it is said that: week 2 we are expected to «practice GI focused assessment, including stoma assessment», week 3– «discuss suprapubic catheter care and seek opportunities to care for patients with conditions related to week 1 to 5 course content» wk 6– «apply Fundamental and beginning Medical Surgical nursing week 1 to 6 course content» which includes: Perioperative Patient care GI and Ostomy Care, Diabetes Management, Skin and Wound Care, STD Prevention and treatment Tracheostomy Care and Suctioning, Cardiovascular Care and IV Therapy. Wk 9 will be a «Summative Clinical Evaluation».
I do not think that there should be such a disparity between two clinical sites for students in the same term. This facility is not conducive towards the level of my learning experience and would greatly appreciate it if I were moved into another site which allows me to practice what I am learning in a clinical setting and not confined to only skills lab.
Thank you for your time,
Michelle
This led us, along with the Saturday group at the same facility to walk into the Education Suite earlier today wanting to speak with ANYONE about what and why this is going on. The gal at the front told us that Gloria Nwagnu (Clinical Manager) was not there today and to write down our info and they will contact us. At this point, with all of their non-​responses to our e-​mails, we waited to speak with Susan Condie (Assistant Dean).
Ms. Condie was very understanding to our situation when explained to her and apologetic towards the situation and said she will talk to the Clinical Manager and keep us updated. This however does not solve the fact that we (all 20 of us students) are assigned to a facility that does not meet the requirements of the course. So now we wait…

beware: if you’re planning to transfer credits from a different school think again.
the list of equivalent classes that can be transferred to their school is a total lie! on the side next to the class name theres a stupid tiny box you need to click under where it says «note». click that and it will say whether the class will be a approved or denied by the board. make sure to do this for every class youre planning to take before you take that class. they will not tell you to do this if you ask them about it! its very misleading!
i made the mistake of not doing this. therefore i am currently wasting my time taking classes that arent even transferable. first of all why would you even list classes that will be denied anyways??? why not just list the classes that will be approved??! i’ll tell you why its because they will do whatever it takes to get you to take more classes there, which means more $$$ for them! thats the way it goes.
if after you read this review and would still want to attend, best of luck to you! but please be careful cause everything about this school is fake and they will put on a pretty face just to get inside your wallet. After finding out about my classes that im wasting my time on cant be transferred i decided not to attend. they want me to attend 6 semesters and thats just gonna waste even more of my time. so no thanks bye

Passed my boards first time around, and that’s taking it 4 months after I graduated! Unfortunately, the BRN was switching their computer systems, and it took FOREVER for them to mail my ATT (aptitude to test, I believe?) and schedule my NCLEX. That’s why I took so long to take it.
Btw, for studying tips (because I feel ATI isn’t enough), I would make sure to get the Kaplan strategies and review content with Hurst. Do lots and lots of questions, and try not to get stuck on content. It’s good to review content of course, but those nclex questions are tricky… very tricky. Like, I don’t even understand how nclex expects me to know 5 different medications and a specific contraindication for each med FOR ONE QUESTION. Seriously… I don’t even know how one would study for pharm?! oh yeah… Do the «Pearson Trick» as soon as you leave the test area. ;D
HEY, I’M A FOR REAL REGISTERED NURSE! Booyah.
So that was back in December and I’ll speed ya up on things. I needed time to decompress. Apparently, I was having all of these crazy health symptoms that I thought was contributed with stress and it would go away once school/​nclex was over… I finally got my annual physical and lo and behold, I have Graves disease. Doh! It’s a theory, buuut… I totally think the stress from school totally triggered my autoimmune disease. I literally was an unemployed ex-​nursing student housewife for 7 months to try to get my body back to normal. it’s still getting there… sigh.
So can’t be a housewife forever right? Got a nursing degree for something, right? After some nudging from my husband to get a job, I started applying HARDCORE. I applied to hospitals, craigslist, indeed, etc everyday for a month and got 2 interviews. Got a verbal acceptance from one, and a written acceptance from another. Whoohoo!
Many of my friends got jobs, and there are those still looking too, but that’s okay. They’ll get one soon! Yes, the older nurses at the hospital are staying longer, and there are more and more nursing students getting turned out by schools with no where to go… but they keep at it and get a job.
I was super fortunate and found the job posting of my current job at the right moment. I was accepted as a BSN-​RN to learn one of the EHR systems (EPIC, specifically) and train nursing staff for when it went live at the hospital.
It’s an AMAZING experience and I get to meet so many wonderful hospital staff (doctors, nurses, cna’s, rt, dieticians, case managers, etc). Not only do I get to meet contacts, but I also get to learn a popular EHR system to put on my resume. :D Bonus!
I’m not quite at bed-​side nursing yet, but this is a wonderful experience for now. If any new grad ever gets a chance, it’s a great way to get into the hospital system!

Love WCU they set up all your classes for you which is nice. Best of all I’ll finish in 2.5 years and I was able to transfer over like 6 classes. It’s not an easy program, people think that just because it private it’s easy. that’s not the case. The teachers bend over backwards to help you and so does the administration.
I love David Tucker he is the best Administrator, so helpful with everything. He always takes the time to answer all my questions and trust me I’m always asking questions.
The only bad part about WCU is
1. Coast
2. The parking situation sucks! Not enough parking on campus
3. They have no cafeteria