California State University - Northridge

Cal State Northridge's BCP program is highly competitive academically. I was looking for a challenge and to be pushed and I certainly got what I was looking for. The staff is extremely competent both academically and in their own research field. The staff really makes this program so strong. The only con with the program is primarily a con with high education in the United States in general, is the cost and the lack of financial aid. I wish there were more scholarships available for BCP students... Read More as the program is very expensive and the labs we are in require us to work 20 hours for free each week. Very difficult to keep a full time job and pay rent and bills.

I am a recent graduate of May 2014 from California State University Northridge with a Bachelor's Degree in Liberal Arts. The graduate program that I plan to pursue will be at Los Angeles Pierce College for their Pre-Veterinary Program. The program takes two to three years depending on the number of units you complete. You are expected to take a full load of 12-15 units and keep a GPA of 3.7 or higher, along with making time for volunteer hours at the farm, in the veterinary office, and working full... Read More time which is my plan. My goal is to complete this program as fast as I can, but a few setbacks have gotten in the way. I currently do not have the financial settings to take more than one or two classes as they are $46/unit and most are five unit classes. It is my dream to be able to take a full time class schedule and complete the program in two years, just around 100 units, as I have already completed some of the requirements. After I complete the program the graduate program for veterinary school takes a year to apply and then I hope to start at UCDAVIS and continue to reach my goals. The pros of this experience will be that I will get to do something that I love, travel, have the complete school experience and be able to give animals a voice as they cannot speak or tell you what hurts or what is wrong. Working with animals is not only a passion but a lifelong desire that I will slowly but surely complete in time, as I could not imagine doing anything else for the rest of my life.

The program has a high portion of quality instructors, many of whom are willing to share a research project. The workload is reasonable. Some classes are not at the graduate level - more like advanced undergraduate. A lot of the graduate students also did their undergraduate at CSUN, and have unreasonably low workload expectations. Teaching assistantships pay next to nothing and expect quite a bit of work. However, by far the worst part of the program is the complete failure of the administrators.... Read More I am trying to graduate, and no one can tell me the steps to follow. My department is helpful, and knows what I need to do for them, but in terms of forms, fees, and deadlines of those type, no one knows! I am a capable person with multiple jobs; many other alumni share my frustrations.