Applying for UMSL's 2010 accelerated BSN program

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You do not need a letter of recommendation, you do need a decent GPA or a Bacchelor's degree in order to be admitted. I am currently in my second semester of the accelerated program at UMSL and I have to say the program is not that difficult to get in to if you have the GPA. Can I be completely honest though? If you have no reason for being in the accelerated program (kid on the way, moving, etc.) as opposed to the general study program...go for the general. The accelerated program is emotionally and physically intense, like NOTHING you have ever done before. You have to devote everything and almost every bit of time you have to it. You should not have a job or kids or spouse/significant other if you want to be in this program. It can be done....but you will be stressed out and majorly crabby and no one will want to be around you. Don't be a glutton for punishment, do the general/traditional course. If this hasn't convinced you, let me give you an idea of what the assignments were for a TYPICAL week of the accelerated program:

Monday: Exam for Assessment, genogram due
Tuesday: Terminology sheets due, assessment form due, lab test out
Wednesday: Exam for Fundies
Thursday: Exam for Pathophysiology, case studies due, group project
Friday: clinicals, case study due, lab test out, care plan due
On top of all this you are in class from 4-7 hours a day. Not trying to discourage you, but you need a realistic view of what the accelerated program entails. The advisors will simply tell you it is "tough" but they have no idea what it is really like because they are not nurses and they never went through nursing school. By the way, Pathophysiology is very hard...if you are going to ignore my advice and do the accelerated anyway...get Patho out of the way before you start. You will be glad you did!

Thanks for the advice. I realize how difficult it will be, and I still want to do it, and I do have a few good reasons. The biggest ones being 1) I don't want to/can't afford to be in school and not earning money for longer than that, and 2) I can only mooch off my parents health insurance for so long, and since I'm diabetic, that's extremely important. But I feel that I am passionate and hard-working enough to go for it. I am planning to take Pathophysiology beforehand though. Thanks again for the advice, and I wish you the best of luck in the program!

Lacey, do you know what semester you will be taking Patho and also which semester will be your first in the actual nursing school? I may be able to sell you some books and give you some pointers since you are going to go ahead and do it. I understand the health insurance issue. My main reason for doing the program was the fact that I will be moving to Columbia in September of 2010 so I want to get it done. Also, I am married and I want to have children before I am too old and dried up! LOL. Anyways, tell your parents to support you while you're in school so you don't have to work!

I'm taking Patho in the spring, at Truman where I am right now. The nursing professors here have been really helpful letting me into classes that are normally reserved just for Truman nursing majors. I'll be starting the program in the summer of 2010, but I'm also applying to SLU's program so I'm not totally sure which I'm doing yet. (And of course, I still have to get accepted.) But if it works out, I will definitely take you up on those books. My parents are great. I'll be living at home with them during nursing school, so I won't have to pay rent or for food or anything, and I won't have to work!

I also applied in August to UMSL and to the accelerated nursing program, it took them a month to process my application, I just checked MyView, and I got admitted for general admission. I think it takes a month before you find out if you admitted to the accelerated program.

Yea...I think we find out sometime in October.

I was wondering if any of you who applied for the Accelerated BSN currently have any kind of medical experience? I don't and am a little worried about that, but I do plan to start volunteering at least in November...

Yeah, I finally heard from them last week. I'm admitted to the pre-clinical track of the college of nursing. I called to find out exactly what that meant, and they told me it's a two-tiered admission process, and that's part one, and they will let me know about the accelerated program within a month or so. It's kind of confusing if you don't know how they work!

I'm really excited too, and I think that's a great idea!! I am dying to hear if I got in, they said it won't be till mid-October though. Ugh. I might be taking the last of my pre-reqs at UMSL in the spring, depending on, well, a lot of things. But if I do I'll be taking Microbiology, Nutrition, and Human Growth & Development. Anyone else?