Univ. of St Francis & Lewis University

DermNP2Be · Apr 8, 2007

Well, when will you have to let either school know of your acceptance? I ask because I know for those that applied in January for UIC will get a decision in a week or two.

di2daana · Apr 8, 2007

for USF, i have to apply on April 13th and there is a $300 nonrefundable i have to pay.

I am not sure of Lewis... but pretty soon.

UIC is taking way tooo long!

DermNP2Be · Apr 8, 2007

Well, give Andrea Schmoyer (at UIC) a call tomorrow. I know that they do send an email of acceptance before the actual letter. Good luck!! Maybe you'll get an answer from UIC before April 13th.

Jolie, BSN · Apr 10, 2007

I have not attended any of these programs, but lived in the area for a number of years, and have friends who went to these schools. Here's my take, for what it is worth:

USF seems to have a good program with a good reputation.

Lewis's program has had some problems in the past. Their pass rate on boards fell quite low at one point, requiring a revision of their program. I don't know how things are now, but would recommend thoroughly checking the program before enrolling there. Ask for names and numbers of recent alumni who would be willing to share their experiences with you.

JJC has a good, and relatively inexpensive program, but you may be on a waiting list for ever.

UIC is one of the best values in the nation as far as nursing education programs. As a state school, your tuition would be a fraction of that at a private school, and you would graduate from one of the foremost BSN programs in the nation. If you are accepted there, I strongly urge you to go!

Good luck on your decision!

bookworm1 · Apr 20, 2007

Hope this is not too late, but I am currently attending USF. I am going to be starting the clinical portion in the fall and am very excited:yeah: . My first semester in 'preclinicals' is fun and fairly easy. You will get a very good feel for the instructors and the atmosphere, which seems great, so far, to me. As long as you keep up your GPA (because they are offering you scholarships, I'll assume the GPA is good so far) you should have no problems getting into clincicals. Only 10 people were denied acceptance into the clinicals out of the 90 or so people in the preclinicals that applied, and that was due to falling GPA's or incomplete prereq's. The down side is that you will don't really get to choose your schedule. We are placed into blocks that seem to follow the same group of students in each class. This can be a problem if you are working or have other scheduling conflicts, but is great at building a good support system! I chose USF over Lewis due to scholarships, reputation, first impression when meeting nursing instructors, the SIM lab at USF (which is very cool) and of course, Lewis' failing reputation and falling NCLEX pass rates.

good luck in your decision!

PookiesMommy · Apr 26, 2007

I'm a senior at USF right now so maybe i can help a little. Your story sounds so much like mine :uhoh21: I did my prereqs at JJC and then transfered to USF.

Only reason why I picked USF over Lewis is that there is a huge rumor circulating that Lewis has been on academic probation for a while because their NCLEX scores were not optimal and they had a lot of students that failed their NCLEX. I'm not sure if it's 100% true, nor am i going to speculate about that, but we do have faculty here that did teach at lewis and are now employed at USF. Maybe it's purely a coincedence

My friend was set to enter into Lewis program the same semester I was supposed to start at USF. Lewis basically yanked her chain the entire summer and when she showed up on the first day of classes, they said she wasn't accepted into the program and someone has wrongfully informed her :madface: By some miracle she got accepted into USF within a day (how, is beyond me, but I have a feeling her GPA had something to do with it)

Basically, I don't know about Lewis, but i LOVE USF. I love the faculty, I love the students, I've learned so much and I can't imagine going to any other school. Granted the tuition totally stinks, and don't even get me started on parking, but all in all- it's a wonderful school and I'm so glad I picked USF over Lewis

LUStuRN · Jun 26, 2007

Hi there to all.

I have not heard anything about the USF Program. I can only speak about Lewis University. The majority of people in the college will not have anything positive to say about their program because it is so hard, and the teachers are so mean, and they never help you. Well, the reality is, Lewis has high rankings, it is an amazing program, and I have learned so much. We all complain about everything in the program, but it is organized, it is well planned, it is planned to give us each an incredible experience. The teachers are not mean, they are hard on you. They want you to pass and will not let things slide. If you fail a test, or don't do an assignment, that is your fault. The teacher's will help, they give out their cell phone numbers, home numbers, anything to make sure you pass, but will not do the work for you.

Lewis has been such a great experience for me, I have learned so much and will learn so much more as I enter my last semester there. I graduate in December, 2006. I entered the program knowing so much, I was an ER tech for 6 years prior, and I am leaving knowing 100 times more. If you want, message me and we can talk more.

Jeremy

:monkeydance:

MajaReese · Jun 27, 2008

I go to Lewis and they kick your butt!!!! I too have friends at USF and JJC and from what they tell me, their programs aren't that hard. If you want an excellent education go to Lewis. When you graduate you will know your stuff. Lewis takes the Nursing program very seriously, and if you are not ready to learn, and expect to breeze by like at a community college, you will fail miserably. The teachers are tough, but very helpful! If you are really devoted to nursing and want the ins and outs of it come to Lewis! You will be glad you did! :up:

CK86RN · Jun 27, 2008

I just graduated from Lewis and am glad I didn't go anywhere else. It is true, they do kick your butt. We started with 70ish in the program and around 30 graduated this semester. The reason for the decrease is that Lewis strictly follows there minimum of a 77%. The instructors at Lewis really want you to pass and will give you all the help you need to succeed. Everyone this semester that has taken NCLEX has passed so far. St. Francis also has an excellent nursing program from what i've heard. As for financial aid situation at Lewis, make an appointment they will help you out with scholarships and such. Also, check out Perkins loans, they are forgivable if you graduate and work in a full-time nursing job.

godislove89 · Oct 26, 2009

okay for people who have both been accepted to lewis and st.francis i am currently in the process of applying to both schools..i have applied and i am takgin my TEAS and KAP test 2morrow and the day after. my main concern is that i have a 3.2 gpa.male & black and it seems like that is not a reallly good enough GPA from most people that i talked to what is your say on this ...does me being a male help ..plus my mother graduated from lewis's BSN program and i am hoping that they will tkae that into consideration as well..so please any feed back would be greatly appreciated..

thankyou so much

fellow prospective nursing student

SPower82 · Oct 29, 2009

An observation:

The NCLEX passing rate is a ABSOLUTELY WORTHLESS measure of how good a program is. Why you may ask. the nclex passing rate only reflects the students who made it through the program to actually take the nclex.

in your average nursing program about 20-50 percent of the students are cut before they are eligible for graduation which will allow them to take the nclex. Meaning they dont pass one of the classes due to grades, clinical or whatever and they fail and are kicked out. nursing schools are ruthless in this respect.

A better measure of how good a program is would be the proportion of students that make it through the program. the NCLEX is the easy part graduating is the hard part, you get three shots at it, even after than you can re mediate and retake.

Even then you have to take into account that some schools admit anyone with 2.8 and cash (Lewis University) and graduate few (30% percent make it through).