Thankful Newbie with lots of questions!

[MommaFullofFaith]

Howdy! eeya:

Can i just say that I am simply blown away by you all? You guys ROCK!

I wish I had known about these alternatives when completing my BA at a very expensive private school (shakes fist at sky). banghead

I have a BA in Sociology and after working for years in healthcare alongside nurses I'm finally going to pursue nursing school (I'd also like to earn an MBA later on too). Being a new mom, I really don't want to add to my student debt so I will be pursuing an RN through a CC first before bridging over to a BSN program. After much thought I've decided to take my prereqs online with SL. I've already spoken to the admin department at a couple of the programs and they will accept the ACE transcript.

Here are my questions to you all:
Should I apply to one of the big 3 and have my SL/ACE transcript sent to either TESC,CO, or EC? I know this doesn't "wash" the credits and they will still show they were from SL.

Of the 3, which is truly the most affordable?

I already earned 122 credits, can the credits from an awarded bachelors degree be transferred (mostly) to a new school/program/degree?

Thanks in advance!

[davewill]

You would send the ACE transcript directly to the CC as they will be the ones granting credit. You would only send it to one of the Big3 if you were pursuing a degree there.

[bjcheung77]

First off, welcome! Thank you for those comments! Just wondering which state are you in?
I agree with going to the CC and sending everything you have there to get your RN.
If you're from one of these states California, Texas, Florida, Indiana, and Utah, you can try the WGU program here:
WGU Nursing Prelicensure: https://www.wgu.edu/online_health_profes..._licensure

If you're not from one of those states, continue on with your CC and again, send everything there until you finish the RN.
I would recommend three programs, in order of cost/preference. Here they are and the websites to their programs.
NOTE: You have at least the first 60 credits done for all of these programs, they're just the "general education courses"
WGU RN to BSN: https://www.wgu.edu/online_health_profes...ce_nursing

Excelsior RN to BSN: Excelsior College | Bachelors Degrees Nursing | Nursing Degrees, Programs | Online RN BSN
Excelsior RN to BSN requirements: https://my.excelsior.edu/documents/78666...e23fc27e62
TESU Nursing programs - RN to BSN: Nursing Academic Programs
TESU Accelerated 2nd Degree BSN - Accelerated 2nd Degree BSN Program at Thomas Edison State University

[MommaFullofFaith]

First off, welcome! Thank you for those comments! Just wondering which state are you in?
I agree with going to the CC and sending everything you have there to get your RN.
If you're from one of these states California, Texas, Florida, Indiana, and Utah, you can try the WGU program here:
WGU Nursing Prelicensure: https://www.wgu.edu/online_health_profes..._licensure

If you're not from one of those states, continue on with your CC and again, send everything there until you finish the RN.
I would recommend three programs, in order of cost/preference. Here they are and the websites to their programs.
NOTE: You have at least the first 60 credits done for all of these programs, they're just the "general education courses"
WGU RN to BSN: https://www.wgu.edu/online_health_profes...ce_nursing

Excelsior RN to BSN: Excelsior College | Bachelors Degrees Nursing | Nursing Degrees, Programs | Online RN BSN
Excelsior RN to BSN requirements: https://my.excelsior.edu/documents/78666...e23fc27e62
TESU Nursing programs - RN to BSN: Nursing Academic Programs
TESU Accelerated 2nd Degree BSN - Accelerated 2nd Degree BSN Program at Thomas Edison State University

You are quite welcome! Thank you for your advice and suggestions. I'm a former Jersey girl living in PA so the the WGU prelicensing track wouldn't work for me. I'd love to do an accelerated program but my gpa isn't the best since I had to work fulltime during undergrad. However, I am fully content getting the ADN/RN and then applying to RN-BSN programs you so awesomely listed.

While the CC's I spoke to said they will take the ACE, my only worry is that SL within itself isn't technically accredited. Nonetheless, I think I will still pursue the prereq route through SL as it is a tremendous value.

[dfrecore]

You are quite welcome! Thank you for your advice and suggestions. I'm a former Jersey girl living in PA so the the WGU prelicensing track wouldn't work for me. I'd love to do an accelerated program but my gpa isn't the best since I had to work fulltime during undergrad. However, I am fully content getting the ADN/RN and then applying to RN-BSN programs you so awesomely listed.

While the CC's I spoke to said they will take the ACE, my only worry is that SL within itself isn't technically accredited. Nonetheless, I think I will still pursue the prereq route through SL as it is a tremendous value.

Like davewill said, you can transfer all of your SL courses to an ACE account, and then submit your ACE transcript to the school you want to go to. Just be aware that it will not improve your GPA, as ACE doesn't have grades, just credits.

I would pursue your RN through your CC, make sure that you get your science courses in the manner in which they want. Some schools won't take those courses as anything but a butt-in-seat class with labs. Double check that. Just because a school will take ACE courses, doesn't mean they will take ALL of your ACE courses for every course you want. Not saying this is the case here, but I just think you need to check before wasting any time/money.

TESU and Excelsior are crazy expensive for their RN-to-BSN programs. TESU is $538/cr and EC is $510/cr. x30cr is $15k+ YIKES!!!

WGU will probably be the best place to pursue an RN-to-BSN degree. They are only $3250/6-mo term. That is a great price. They will take your prior BA as a block transfer for your gen ed's and so you'll only have the Core courses to get. At the price they offer, you could take 4 full terms to get your degree and still come out ahead of TESU/EC. But you can do it a lot faster than that.

[davewill]

While the CC's I spoke to said they will take the ACE, my only worry is that SL within itself isn't technically accredited. Nonetheless, I think I will still pursue the prereq route through SL as it is a tremendous value.

If you're unsure that the CC will take SL, then you should ask them specifically about the courses you want to transfer. If they won't accept them (either directly or through ACE) there's nothing you can do to change that.

If they're prereqs for the BSN, then you need to be sure the school you're going to take that at is ok with them, too.

[MommaFullofFaith]

Like davewill said, you can transfer all of your SL courses to an ACE account, and then submit your ACE transcript to the school you want to go to. Just be aware that it will not improve your GPA, as ACE doesn't have grades, just credits.

I would pursue your RN through your CC, make sure that you get your science courses in the manner in which they want. Some schools won't take those courses as anything but a butt-in-seat class with labs. Double check that. Just because a school will take ACE courses, doesn't mean they will take ALL of your ACE courses for every course you want. Not saying this is the case here, but I just think you need to check before wasting any time/money.

TESU and Excelsior are crazy expensive for their RN-to-BSN programs. TESU is $538/cr and EC is $510/cr. x30cr is $15k+ YIKES!!!

WGU will probably be the best place to pursue an RN-to-BSN degree. They are only $3250/6-mo term. That is a great price. They will take your prior BA as a block transfer for your gen ed's and so you'll only have the Core courses to get. At the price they offer, you could take 4 full terms to get your degree and still come out ahead of TESU/EC. But you can do it a lot faster than that.

Thanks a ton! Before taking the SL plunge yesterday evening I called the admissions department at the local CC to confirm. The WGU RN-BSN just cannot be beat! I'm confident I could push through and complete the BSN requirements in one six month term. Thanks again!

[MommaFullofFaith]

If you're unsure that the CC will take SL, then you should ask them specifically about the courses you want to transfer. If they won't accept them (either directly or through ACE) there's nothing you can do to change that.

If they're prereqs for the BSN, then you need to be sure the school you're going to take that at is ok with them, too.

Thanks Dave. I called to confirm again yesterday. I guess my worry is moreso down the line when I choose to further my nursing career. But one step (or class) at a time.