AS to BSN help pick a school

[Hometeacher628]

Many of you have been so helpful on my DD#1 quest of AA/AS completion to get accepted into a direct nursing placement into a B&M school. Thank you! Now I would like to ask the community where they would choose, given our options presented. All schools would confir a BSN.

#1 Private school where I just found out last week will not take any classes in transfer, as they consider themselves a tier 1 school, and surely DD#1 would want to make herself competitive and move with the cohort in every class together.

#2 Private school that does all clinicals at Mayo Clinic for 1 year. Will take 4 years to graduate. Guaranteed placement in program if meets criteria. Accepts 60 and cuts to 30 students by Sophmore admittance to program. Good scholarship. OK fin. aid. Hospital doesn't have specialty.

#3 Private school, really wants DD#1, 3 years to graduate, and will do Independant Study in specialty field of choice at Hospital with Nurse and Foundation specializing in said specialty. Great scholarships and Financial aid pkg, and ends up less than State school.

#4 Private school, great medical clinic opportunities starting day 1, great scholarships and aid. Nursing scholarship and direct placement into nursing. Great medical missions opportunities. Ends up less than state school. 3 years to graduate.

#5 private school. Direct entry 15 months to graduate. Accelerated program year round. Only school not yet accepted to, but they have yet to announce their class. Program starts in Jan. least expensive school, but DD is just turning 18 this spring so she has time to mature in school.

Which would you pick and why?

[sanantone]

3, 4, or 5. CLEP3705 will tell you that accelerated BSN programs have high attrition rates.

[Hometeacher628]

Thanks sanantone. My favorites are 3 and 4 as well. I think they are the "sure" thing. These nursing slots are so competitive. I just want to set her up for success in a program that can't be whisked out from under her. I have heard of professors referring to a particular class as the washout class - the one to eliminate students from a program. She wants to work hard and does particularly well in hands on work, so she is really looking forward to clinicals. But getting the 3.5 in Organic Chemistry as #1needs may be a bit iffy. I just know my student. I also feel better having her attend a program that really wants her and is willing to add her specialty interest as an independent study the two semesters she needs credits for full time status, as opposed to "great" schools that seem to put hurdles in front of students making them jump higher and higher or lose their spot in the program. I have had people in the profession tell me that the BSN is the leveling agent. Whether you go to an expensive school 4 year program or a CC for RN then online for BSN, the outcome is the same. Attaining the BSN is what matters.

[bluebooger]

are you sure #5 doesn't require a bachelors ?

every accelerated program, direct entry program I've seen require a non-nursing bachelors to get in

[rebel100]

I like three and four. I have an issue with some though not all accelerated programs. Three years starting from virtually zero credits is a rather fast program in and of itself. Quality nursing requires seeing things over and over again in a clinical setting, I would favor a strong clinical program over other deciding factors.

[KayV]

Congratulations to your daughter on having so many fantastic opportunities! (I like #3 and #4, possibly #5 too).

[Hometeacher628]

are you sure #5 doesn't require a bachelors ?

every accelerated program, direct entry program I've seen require a non-nursing bachelors to get in

#5 requires Bachelors or Associates, but has tons of Pre-reqs, so you would have had to have had a grand plan from the start of the AA and would end up with more than 60 credit hours. Looks like DD will have 110 total by June, so it's well above the AA. She would end up with no financial aid if I had her get the BA in English that she's so close to getting. She has wanted Nursing from the get go, just getting the Associates to qualify for #5. One of the semesters does have 24 credits in the accelerated program. That's a bit scary.

[Hometeacher628]

I like three and four. I have an issue with some though not all accelerated programs. Three years starting from virtually zero credits is a rather fast program in and of itself. Quality nursing requires seeing things over and over again in a clinical setting, I would favor a strong clinical program over other deciding factors.

#3 and 4 are traditional four year programs, but transfer credits allow for a direct entry to the 3year cohort nursing portion. She will be working as a Med Tech this summer in an inner city county hospital to garner experience. #4 she would be in a clinic setting 10 hours per week from the start of school, in a setting very different than what she has experienced thus far in life. Two required internships would be in her field of study during the summer. #3 has the Independant studies in her specialty, a really cool opportunity to affirm that is exactly what she wants to do. If so, she will go on for a Masters in it. Both have similarly high NCLEX 1st time pass rates. Both are similarly priced.

[smf6824]

I have worked in many different settings within the healthcare field, and obviously I have worked with many great nurses. One thing I can say for certain is that the school doesn't make a nurse, the person makes the nurse. Obviously the better the educational opportunities the more educational opportunities the student nurse can have; however, I have seen crappy nurses come out of good programs and great nurses come out of terrible programs. What matters most is if the person is capable and willing to push themselves to be the best in the field. You don't become a great nurse right out of nursing school, you become great because you work hard at it and learn from your mistakes. All new nurses make mistakes and must learn from them. Since nursing school usually has a long waiting list and isn't the easiest to get in make the choice simple choose the one with the best educational opportunities and she is accepted to. I know I may have rambled here; however, focus on the person and not the school.

[cookderosa]

[I]Which would you pick and why?[/I]

Many of you have been so helpful on my DD#1 quest of AA/AS completion to get accepted into a direct nursing placement into a B&M school. Thank you! Now I would like to ask the community where they would choose, given our options presented. All schools would confir a BSN.

#1 Private school where I just found out last week will not take any classes in transfer, as they consider themselves a tier 1 school, and surely DD#1 would want to make herself competitive and move with the cohort in every class together. If her plan is to be a floor nurse, I'd dismiss this immediately. If her plan is to move up to at least the masters or doctoral level, AND she could do this without acquiring more than 1 year's salary in student loan debt, this is where my money would go. The zero transfer wouldn't be a deal breaker for me because I'd choose this school for prestige, not cost/time.

#2 Private school that does all clinicals at Mayo Clinic for 1 year. Will take 4 years to graduate. Guaranteed placement in program if meets criteria. Accepts 60 and cuts to 30 students by Sophmore admittance to program. Good scholarship. OK fin. aid. Hospital doesn't have specialty. I see no draw here. 50% of those students are going to have a "failure" on their record and every future employment or academic record - forever. Those odds are crap. Mayo or not. Thumbs down.

#3 Private school, really wants DD#1, 3 years to graduate, and will do Independant Study in specialty field of choice at Hospital with Nurse and Foundation specializing in said specialty. Great scholarships and Financial aid pkg, and ends up less than State school. Sounds excellent! Get info about their NCLEX pass rates (even if your daughter goes in with her RN) and job placement into specialty. It's one thing to specialize your training, it's another to get hired into that floor. Also, do they offer the educational programs POST-BSN to come back and get those specialty certs? Could your daughter get her ANCC education with them? What about grad school? If the answer is "yes" then I'd strongly consider this school. It would meet her current and future needs.

#4 Private school, great medical clinic opportunities starting day 1, great scholarships and aid. Nursing scholarship and direct placement into nursing. Great medical missions opportunities. Ends up less than state school. 3 years to graduate. Unless she wants to spend time doing missionary work, #3 edges this out for me. Also, having student loan debt makes service to the underserved population very difficult. If that's her calling, then zero debt should trump everything else.

#5 private school. Direct entry 15 months to graduate. Accelerated program year round. Only school not yet accepted to, but they have yet to announce their class. Program starts in Jan. least expensive school, but DD is just turning 18 this spring so she has time to mature in school. I only love these kinds of programs for adults / career changes. There is something to be said for maturing and developing intuition at a healthy pace. This program wouldn't allow her to participate in volunteer work, extracurricular activities, clubs, or even work part time in a clinic. These are good for the "plan B" student.