Unhappy with CSCC...are there any alternatives?

U.S.A. Ohio

Published

I submitted my application to CSCC at 9:00 am this morning. Later today, I found out that dozens of other people had the same idea. They camped out in the computer lab and all waited to hit the 'enter' key at 9:00 am. The application was supposedly for Spring '11, but only a few people will get in due to the overwhelming number of applicants from the Fall '10 crowd. I'm fairly certain that I will not start until almost a year and a half from now. I find this frustrating, considering I have the same chance of getting in as someone who has much lower grades than mine (I have a 3.9 GPA). Are there any good alternatives to Columbus State out there?

Specializes in LTC.

Yeah, I will be wait listed as well. Unlike Mrs. Herr, I have no other prerequisites to take. An entire year is a long time to wait, especially when I could have been almost finished with a regular four-year program by now. I'm disgusted with CSCC. It took them three whole months to inform us of a decision that was made essentially the very second we applied? No, that's a bunch of crap. It's more like they didn't care.

I'm happy that foreverLaur got in. I know that you've been through a lot and have been playing this game a lot longer than any of us. If anyone deserves to get into Spring '11, it is you.

At this point, I'm just hoping that we can still get a job when this is all over. Acceptance into this program was the least of my concerns. I've been hearing a lot of depressing stuff at work about the jobs here in central Ohio. OSU doesn't even hire ADN nurses anymore. In order to keep their Magnet status, a lot of these hospitals need to have a minimum number of BSN nurses working in their facility. What does that mean for us? The LPN's will soon be out of work, the regular RN's will be flooding the LTC facilities, and the BSN's will be running the show in the hospitals (skilled nursing). There are way too many nurses in this town, not enough jobs.

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You know, the hospital system my aunt works at in SoCal PREFERS ADN grads over BSN grads and they have had Magnet Status for a long time. She said ADN vs BSN isn't as huge of a deal for Magnet as hospitals here make it out to be (she worked at UH and Cleveland Clinic for many years before moving to SoCal).

Also, I have two friends that were accepted for Autumn 2011 (not wait listed - flat out accepted) so I'm not even sure what wait listed means??

It is VERY annoying they made us wait SO long - 3 months!! Ridiculous.

Nursing is cyclical. By the time we graduate, the shortage will be back! *fingers crossed*

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Specializes in LTC.

It's funny that you said that. Last weekend, I had a BSN nurse come to me and ask me if I knew how to irrigate a catheter. Of course I did. I'm not allowed to do it without a nurse's supervision, but yes I did know how to irrigate a catheter. Apparently, she had never been taught how to irrigate a catheter before. She also didn't know what a "hat" was, or that it was used for obtaining a urine specimen.

If I wasn't so close to my family and if I didn't mind paying $1500/month for a one bedroom apartment, then I would totally grab the first plane to southern California after graduating. Perhaps even move to Texas where there are way more jobs than here.

According to your terms, I wasn't wait listed. To me, however, waiting a year to start school is a long wait indeed. I was accepted into Autumn '11.

You know, I really do hope things clear up by the time we graduate. Things are REALLY bad right now. It's not going to clear up any time soon. My roommate is in his final year of graduate school and is not looking forward to finishing. I just hope these baby-boomer nurses start retiring sometime soon. I'm afraid the same thing will happen to nurses that happened to teachers. About 5 years ago, baby-boomer teachers started retiring but not quitting teaching. They continued working, but making a fraction of what they formerly made. Receiving their STRS (state teachers retirement system) benefits and still working. Meanwhile, thousands of new education graduates are lining up for jobs, but no jobs to give. Only time will tell.

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well, when i was out in socal earlier this month, i spoke with some nurses that had just started the new grad program in my aunt's unit (ccu/cvicu) and i they all said they made enough to live comfortably in orange county, ca so that made me feel pretty good about it. here is exactly what my aunt sent me:

"thought i'd tell you that in a meeting wed. at abc hospital where i work they shared that recently the directors are hiring 80-90% adn grads over bsn grads. i thought this was interesting. abc hospital is hiring because we are opening a hew hospital in *city here*. of course many more apply then what we have openings for so the directors can be choosy. they said the adn grads get up to speed much faster than the bsns."

and yes, this hospital is a long standing magnet status hospital.

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You know, the hospital system my aunt works at in SoCal PREFERS ADN grads over BSN grads and they have had Magnet Status for a long time. She said ADN vs BSN isn't as huge of a deal for Magnet as hospitals here make it out to be (she worked at UH and Cleveland Clinic for many years before moving to SoCal).

Also, I have two friends that were accepted for Autumn 2011 (not wait listed - flat out accepted) so I'm not even sure what wait listed means??

It is VERY annoying they made us wait SO long - 3 months!! Ridiculous.

Nursing is cyclical. By the time we graduate, the shortage will be back! *fingers crossed*

Oops, sorry to have confused anyone! My paper says I was accepted for fall 2011, I just refer to that as being wait listed!

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Yeah, I will be wait listed as well. Unlike Mrs. Herr, I have no other prerequisites to take. An entire year is a long time to wait, especially when I could have been almost finished with a regular four-year program by now. I'm disgusted with CSCC. It took them three whole months to inform us of a decision that was made essentially the very second we applied? No, that's a bunch of crap. It's more like they didn't care.

I'm happy that foreverLaur got in. I know that you've been through a lot and have been playing this game a lot longer than any of us. If anyone deserves to get into Spring '11, it is you.

At this point, I'm just hoping that we can still get a job when this is all over. Acceptance into this program was the least of my concerns. I've been hearing a lot of depressing stuff at work about the jobs here in central Ohio. OSU doesn't even hire ADN nurses anymore. In order to keep their Magnet status, a lot of these hospitals need to have a minimum number of BSN nurses working in their facility. What does that mean for us? The LPN's will soon be out of work, the regular RN's will be flooding the LTC facilities, and the BSN's will be running the show in the hospitals (skilled nursing). There are way too many nurses in this town, not enough jobs.

I actually work for Mt.Carmel as a PCA right now and was worried about how many BSN nurses vs. ADN nurses there are in my unit. So I talked to our Unit Director about it and asked if I should consider trying to go somewhere else to get my BSN instead and was told not to worry about it. She just hired an ADN over a BSN (both fresh graduates). The BSN nurse attended a newer school with not so great clinical sites. She felt they may not have seen enough or gotten enough hands on during clinicals.

I also had one of the charge nurses tell me she prefers new ADN grads to be hired because they seem more knowledgeable. Unlike the BSN student who is mixing nursing with hard management classes and possible other general education courses, the ADN is usually solely focused on nursing with maybe a few general classes, but not mixing in a bunch of management classes that may be taking away from their patient care learning.

Our Unit Director said they like Columbus State grads. The program has been long standing, has a good reputation, and she said they know they have quality clinical sites.

So as far as getting a job, I'm not so concerned with it right now. If I were in the same boat as you with another year left and nothing else to take, I would try OTC as you can apply there 4 times a year, or maybe somewhere else with a good reputation. I wouldn't sit around doing nothing. But just be careful where you go. Apparently it plays a part, not just whether or not you got a BSN or ADN! Also, if you do stay at CSCC, maybe you can find out about what classes you can take while you are waiting that will transfer over and go towards a BSN later! I just don't want you to be discouraged about being an ADN! I think we will all be just fine:)

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Congrats everyone on getting your letters. Take the time from now until you start to finish anything else you are going to take and get your life in order.

I'm one whole week in now and I can tell you that everyone that I've spoken with in my program is looking at each other with wide eyes. The volume of reading this first week has been incredible! And, we mostly feel a bit tossed in the deep end without a lifevest.

ADN and BSN students take the same NCLEX at the end of their program. BSN has some advantages over ADN and everyone I've ever spoken with recommends continuing after CSCC to obtain your BSN. However, I would never tell someone that they shouldn't get their BSN and that it will be more difficult to find a job with a BSN. There are many jobs that require a BSN - particularly in specialty areas.

As far as jobs in the future, there are lots of hospital expansions going on in Central Ohio that will increase the need for nurses. There are also many nurses who would have retired in the past couple of years who lost retirement money when the markets collapsed or whose spouses lost their jobs, etc. Many of them will be retiring once the markets improve and their spouses are reemployed, etc. Nearly every sector of the job market has been hit HARD by the economy in the past couple of years. Nursing has been hit too. But, we are fortunately going into a field that will recover and one that traditionally does not suffer has hard or as long as many other fields.

There are jobs out there for both ADN and BSN educated nurses. I don't think there is any reason to put down one over the other. Some hiring managers will prefer one over the other for many reasons. But, anecdotal evidence that one hiring manager somewhere has a preference does not mean that every HR person prefers that training. It is important to get excellent grades and top notch references and make a great impression at clinical whenever possible. These are the things that will get you hired - not your specific training, unless a specific degree is required.

I also agree with the PP that where you go to school plays a big part in the hiring process as well. But, the idea that BSN students aren't as well trained as ADN doesn't make a whole lot of sense because the required learning is set by the BON, not by the school. BSN students do take additional management classes, etc. that we do not take. However, they don't skimp on their nursing training. It may be more of a quality of the school issue rather than quality of a BSN v. ADN education.

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To those currently in the program:

I have a full time job that can be flexible around my school schedule. Having this full-time job is the only way I can afford to live (and get health insurance). However, I have heard that it is next to impossible to hold down a full-time job and pull off great grades in the nursing program. I'll only be taking the NURS coursework, but I'm a little nervous and have to decide before January 1 what to do... thoughts?

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I'm really not qualified to give you a good answer since I just started. But, I cannot imagine working a full time job right now. I don't know anyone in our cohort who is working full time, but I do know several who work part time. I am only 1 week in, but that first week was crazy. 14 hours of on campus time for 6 credits (starting tomorrow 4 of that will be at clinical) plus the first week we had almost 200 pages of reading. 12 of that was actual in class time with an additional 2 in SI, which should be very helpful in learning how to study for nursing.

I don't work out of the house, but am VP of our school board, have a significant number of volunteer involvements and have 3 kids who each have 2 activities that I need to get them to. I was considering looking for a part time/contingent SNA job, but am now thinking I will wait until summer quarter. Some people have said that 2nd and 3rd quarter are more difficult than 1st.

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Specializes in Psych/med surg.

Are you going to be in the traditional? I would just tough it out the first quarter and then switch to the online. You have to do case studies and discussion boards but you are only in lab for 3.5 hours and clinical 4 hours. I really like it so far. I work a part-time third shift job and I have a 5 year old so it would be really rough for me to sit in lecture for 14 hours a week. I would probably fall asleep. In our orientation our coordinator said there have been 3 traditional that switched to online and 1 online that switched to traditional. You have to do some writing and cite your work using APA. I am kind of kind of glad we are doing that because I am thinking of going on with my nurse practitioner Phd so I will get a lot of practice.

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Yes, I will be starting out in traditional and I do plan to switch to online the second quarter. I have heard it isn't really a problem to switch from traditional to online as long as you have the bachelors degree and are in good standing. I just want to make sure I have enough time to get everything done. First quarter I won't have a single day off work and two of the days I'll have class and work in the same day :( Yuck!

I did a lot of writing and citing sources and such in my psych/neuroscience degree. I hated it - you couldn't pay me to get my PhD :) I'm not even looking forward to the mini research/thesis stuff for my masters! I just like to get my hands dirty. I love doing research but not when someone tells me I have to and forces me to write about it.

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Specializes in Psych/med surg.

I was hoping to get my nurse practitioner with just a masters from Otterbein but by 2015 they will require you to have a PhD unfortunately. I can't be done with it in time since you need 2 years RN experience to apply. I graduate from CSCC in spring of 2012 so I can't start it until 2014 and it takes more than 2 years to do. I don't how they are going to handle that.

You'll love the online program. They give you online lectures so you don't just have to read the notes and book like many of the science courses were. Our clinical instructor said she loves the online students.

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