Adelphi Manhattan - NOT a program for full-time workers!

@FairyCari - Yes, that's true with most schools, as they are very up-front about the need to reduce work hours or leave altogether. The problem with Adelphi is that not only do they advertise the Manhattan program as "evening," but even in my initial advisement sessions I was assured that I could maintain my full-time job and follow the full-time course schedule. It works fine for the first semester, then becomes difficult/impossible after that, after about $12K and a semester of work has been invested.

@MissBr0nx - Consider this decision VERY carefully!! Adelphi is an administrative nightmare. Most of the Manhattan professors also teach at Pace, BMCC, Hofstra, etc...so you're not really paying for a particular caliber of teaching. Hard to know where the money goes. Also, we're forced to buy expensive uniforms from one place (a scrub top and pants, plus shipping, are about $100 per set), a PDA with software that never gets used (can total about $500 for the set), and the ATI program ($330) which is another hassle. I'm sure there are similar problems with other schools, but at Adelphi, the administration definitely does not support you, and they are not willing to change or listen to feedback.

To answer your question about clinicals - pardon the term, but it's a crapshoot every semester. For the Med/Surg I/II, OB, Peds, and Psych rotations, most of the clinicals are day (7-3 or 8-4), with a couple 3-11 or weekend sections (7-4 Sat or Sun) per semester. Community is ONLY weekday clinicals (Tues or Thurs, 8-4) and the final clinical (Professionalism) depends on your and your preceptor's schedule, although there frequently are 12-hour shifts.

There are only 8 spots in each clinical, so the evening/weekend sections fill up fast. It's an online registration process, and the few decent, easy-to-reach by train clinicals fill up instantly. I've known people who live in South Brooklyn or the Bronx who had to commute to Suffolk county hospitals just because those were the only sections that were left when they registered. The school does not care about the feasibility of transportation to the clinicals and will not assist you if you get stuck at a location you can't reasonably get to. Most clinical sections are on Long Island, with a few in deep Queens and Brooklyn, and maybe 1-3 in Manhattan per course. None in the Bronx, although students have been requesting placements there since my first semester. The worst part is that the clinicals that can easily be reached by train (the city clinicals) are open to the Garden City students just as much as the Manhattan students, even though they live on Long Island and have easy access to those hospitals. It's kind of a mess.

The professors overall are good, and my clinical experiences have been so-so (some great, some terrible). People who have stayed in the accelerated program have quit their full-time jobs because of scheduling, not because they couldn't handle the workload (there are some smart cookies at Manhattan...it's a shame!). The people who've stayed employed full-time go to school an a part-time schedule, typically 2 courses a semester with no summers, takes about 3 years if eveything goes well. They cross fingers and hold their breath at registration to get the evening/weekend clinicals, and I'm not sure what they'll do when they get to Community and the clinicals are only during the day.

Let me know if I can answer any other questions for you!

I took my science pre-reqs at BMCC too, and went through the whole thing trying to get into their weekend program...what a joke! Honestly, if I could do it over again, I would apply to Columbia and Beth Israel School of Nursing. I'm taking two clinicals there now, and the education seems pretty good.

Columbia is technically a masters entry program, but I don't believe it's binding - you still graduate with a BSN after a year and sit for your boards. The cost and inability to work full-time were my deterrents to applying, but one of my professors (who also teaches there) vouched for the fact that the financial aid/scholarships sometimes cover tuition in full, or close to it, and it only takes a year.

So with a GPA like yours, if there's ANY way you could swing school full-time for a year, I would go for it and apply to Columbia also. Your education would be top-notch, and you wouldn't have to deal with all the issues.

I've also heard about York College starting a BSN program, but I don't know anything about it. Might be worth looking in to.

Good luck!

I'm still at Adelphi - again, they get you with that first semester! Since you can't transfer nursing credits from school-to-school, I figured I'd just stay. Seriously though, I'm not so sure the 6ish months you'd save by going to Adelphi are worth the sweat and tears. Luckily, my job has been super-accommodating, otherwise, it would have been impossible.

Are you thinking of Manhattan or Garden City? The Manhattan crowd is a little more adult (most people are there for a 2nd or 3rd degree, work, and/or have families), which I much prefer.