Feeling Wronged

[ScrubMan0416]

i have been attending a small community college for the past 4 years going for their adn program. i have been applying for this program for the past 2 years, and i am still waiting to get on the waiting list, which holds a 3 semester wait once i get on.

until 2 days ago i thought the reason i have been having trouble getting onto their waiting list is because of the overwhelming number of applicants. that was only part of the problem.

with the economy the way it has been over the last couple years, a major software company in a city 150 miles away has since laid off quite a few people, most with advanced college degrees in hand. most of these people are now looking for new jobs, and they seem to have found one that is "recession proof" as i have heard them say on more than one occasion. what is this "recession proof" profession you ask.....nursing!!!

now, i have no problem whatsoever with these people going back to school to get their rn, though it does scare me why they are choosing this profession, but that is beside the point.

my problem with this is that these people are getting into the nursing program ahead of other students, like myself, that have been working their butts off with all of our pre-requisite classes. they seen to have a "get-into-the-program-free" card just because they have a degree on their wall. and it's a computer degree to boot!

tell me, is this good practice?

i have been going to school part-time so i can work full-time at our local hospital as a cna so i can get as much experience under my belt before diving into the program, and i just don't feel that this is fair. please tell me if you think i am wrong. thank you!

[kcochrane]

I think the difference may be that the program has different tracks. I have a previous degree and I was accepted into a different track of nursing classes than the traditional students who do not have bachelors degree behind them. The rules are similar but not the same.

I had to do all the pre-reqs first but I can tell you that there are more applicants in the pool for second degree students in my area making the application process more competitive. Also, I had friends who would have preferred the traditional track because they had jobs and wished to take the courses more slowly but that track was not open to us because we have previous degrees.

I guess if I look at my situation from the OP's point of view than they are being "unfair" to me too! The truth is that they are looking to push out grads. They see the bigger picture and you can't critique them for trying to meet a supposed shortage of nurses (let's not go here. i am not a believer.) as quickly as they can.

BTW, OP, you don't know me or those candidates. They may have gotten laid off but it may be the opportunity they needed to go the way they wanted to go in life! I started nursing school in a fabulous economy!

Very possible. Hopefully the op will come back with more info. Its hard to judge just from the info we have. I did get better treatment being a LPN, but I still have to finish my prereqs and was only taking slots available by those that dropped out.