[gab.rielle]

Hello! I am new to allnurses.com, so I am not sure if my question is redundant!
Anyways,
I am a senior in HS and I am looking at colleges like crazy this summer- I am very passionate about my future as a Nurse. My only concern is which school to apply to and where to go.

Right now, my choices of Nursing Schools are:
Villa Julie/Stevenson U, CCBC (Essex), Harford Community College, Towson U or York.

Please tell me about your experience at your Nursing school! Even if I didn't list it!
Thanks so much!!
-gab.rielle

[everythingbeth89]

well i went to towson last year...the nursing school is okaay. the pre-req's are pretty difficult but manageable...the teachers know how to make it hard. If I was you I would take the CC route and become an RN that way or transfer to towson after a couple semesters of doing pre-req's. villa julie is rediculously expensive...i have a friend who goes there now and is doing nursing. their program is very small...and they only accept students once a year for the program whereas towson takes students in the fall and spring. towson also has two options for nursing...the main campus and a campus at hagerstown. message me if you have any questions!

[clhRN2b2010]

Welcome to an exciting journey. Just figuring out where to begin is challenging. My two cents:

Depending upon where you live or choose to live, find an inexpensive but quality school to begin your pre requisites. Almost all nursing schools have common pre req's: Anatomy and Phys, Chem, Micro, Psych. You can begin on those and get a feel for the material. you will also have lots of time to talkto other students, advisors, and visit schools. I would suggest doing this at a CC, but I remember how determined I was to move away from my parents when I was 18, so I understand the desire to be on campus.

Look up the various schools and begin attending information sessions or open houses. University of Maryland holds them regularly and you can find out about the angreements that they hold with other local schools. You will find that as you learn more (and there is a LOT to learn about the intricacies of nursing school) you will begin making decisions based on housing, finances, (are you paying for college yourself?), career goals, academic standing, et cet.

Good luck and keep reading. You will learn a lot just crusing around this site!

[gab.rielle]

Originally Posted by everythingbeth89

well i went to towson last year...the nursing school is okaay. the pre-req's are pretty difficult but manageable...the teachers know how to make it hard. If I was you I would take the CC route and become an RN that way or transfer to towson after a couple semesters of doing pre-req's. villa julie is rediculously expensive...i have a friend who goes there now and is doing nursing. their program is very small...and they only accept students once a year for the program whereas towson takes students in the fall and spring. towson also has two options for nursing...the main campus and a campus at hagerstown. message me if you have any questions!

thanks! I have mixed info about VJC or Stevenson U as its called now. Apparently in May '07 they were in trouble and could have been shut down and no longer accredited. Thats definitely not worth the private school costs! Please let your friend know if she hasn't heard this! I love VJC but it scares me and I don't have the money to make mistakes in decisions!!
Community College is wonderful! Especially if your SAT scores are not what you want them to be- Transfering is great too!!

[HappyDay]

I would suggest looking at the NCLEX-RN pass rates published by the Md State Board of Nursing. The link for 2007 pass rates: http://www.mbon.org/main.php?v=norm&p=0&c=education/nclex_rn_stats_fy07.html

Check them out. This will only tell you the schools in MD. If you read all the information you will find out that VJ/ Stevenson U, "**Program fell below required passing rate for Maryland schools for the second consecutive year and is on Conditional Approval from the Board of Nursing." This is not good. If you start there, they could loose their program. The only 4 year BSN program with a worse standing right now is Bowie State.

My suggesstion is to get your AA (3 years) at community college and take the test for your RN. Then continue right into an RN-BSN program. (you can work only as needed, called PRN to gain experience).

My other suggestion is to find out what hospitals the school will use for clinicals (or which ones are in the area). For example YCP uses York Hospital on the corner of the campus. If those are good hospitals, you will get good experience.

**Disclaimer** I attended YCP and did not find it to my liking. I transfered out.

[k_r_ah]

I attended Harford Community College for 2 yrs and applied to the nursing program 3x. Never accepted. My LOWEST GPA was 3.66. I decided to apply to Daytona Beach College instead. I was accepted and placed on the waiting list after applying only once. I will begin nursing classes this August. I've heard of students with 4.0's getting turned away at Harford due to lack of available seats. I'm not trying to scare you, just be aware that it is VERY competitive.

[dolcebellaluna]

I go to Towson and will be a senior in their nursing program in the fall. PM me if I can be of any assistance to you. I really like the program and know RNs who think nurses that come out of my program are really among the best prepared in the state (she went to a diploma school back in the day and was an ER nurse at AAMC for ages so I don't think she's too biased).