Chamberlain, Capella, Kaplan, or who???

[Chibi-chan]

Hey everyone, I'm an ADN RN who is having a heck of a time finding employment. I graduated in May and am still looking for a full-time job. Every hospital I apply at glances at my resume, sees 'ADN' and quickly tells me that they only accept BSNs. I have never been so depressed in my life.

So I have decided to get my BSN. The only difficulty I'm having with it is deciding where I want to go. I've narrowed it down to Capella or Chamberlain because I need an online-only program so that I can study after I (hopefully) find gainful employment. I'm also the spouse of a military vet, and both places offer a tuition discount for spouses.

I hope that some of you who have went to these schools can give me some helpful advice. Thanks in advance!

[proud nurse, BSN, RN]

Checked out Grand Canyon University? I just started (sep 30th) and it is 100% online (no clinicals) And it was priced right as well. Not sure if they give spouses a discount though. I know if you join the ANA, one gets 10% off. I think in ttl its around $17,000. Each class is only 5 weeks in length, so they do squeeze a full semester into those 5 weeks. I know a lot of my fellow class mates work full time. Registered Nurse to Bachelor of Science in Nursing (RN to BSN) | Grand Canyon University and I guess they do offer discounts to military spouses:Grand Canyon Universityost people from An ADN program require 12 classes to graduate. I require 12, but can test out of 2. Best of luck

Hi Flames,

I was looking into this after reading your post. Are you an ANA member? I wonder if you can get the 10% discount with the $45 ANA membership? How were you able to test out of 2 classes, if you don't mind me asking?

[Flames9_RN, BSN, RN, EMT-B]

How am I able to test out of 2 classes? I can't recall the exact wording, but classes that I took during my ADN, were similar, but not quite enough. I have yet to test out of them, I don't have to decide right now...They sent me a link regarding those classes, so I do know what the class entails, whats books they used, so in theory, I can study and just write the big exam...or just take the classes!

You just send in ur tarnscipts and they tell you what classes you need. Vast majority of ADNs require 12. I first sent in my un-official transcipts.....and once I was set on GCU, one has to send in an official transcript.

Yes I signed up for the ANA to get the 10% discount. Not sure about the $45 option, you could ask a counseller--I had an awesome one, and I can PM her email if you want it. 1 thing I really liked about GCU---they were NOT pushy about me going with them. A few other well named schools pretty much harassed me via phone and email!

Regarding the ANA discount there is 1 **** Same goes if you have a loan.....if you are going to take a break longer than 2 weeks, you need to get prior approval to do so!! I'm paying out of pocket, so I can take as long as breaks between classes with no problems, EXCEPT for the ANA discount of 10%.

Another thing I like is that one pays $110 a class for all ur books! And they are online. I just stocked up on cheap generic ink cartridges off of ebay!! And like what 1wellnessnurse stated a great online library! I'm doing this course from Nicaragua!!

If ur not a fan of writing papers, maybe not the course for u,lol I'm not a big fan either, but I'm willing to give it a go as they seem to be very flexible and the cost was very good. And like others stated, it didnt take long to get the grasp of an APA paper--perrla.com is ur friend, the $34 software automatically formats ur papers into APA format, a few minor tweaks, but it is a superb program.

Another downside is group projects! All the NUR classes have them, some will even have 2 in a class! If you get a good group, sweet! But as we all know, always tends to be a slacker,lol In my very first class, we had a group of 3 and we all did our part with no problems!! So we shall see how the next class goes,lol

3.5 weeks into my first class and I can say, thus far I am glad I have went with GCU. Maybe I won't be saying that later on,lol but right now I am very happy! our prof is very reachable via the online discussion board, email and even her personal cell #

Instructions for the assignments and discussion questions have been very straight forward. Best of luck

[proud nurse, BSN, RN]

Flames!!! WOW! What a big help you are. That post was jam packed with info.

The funny thing about writing papers...I LOVE it, lol. I wasn't the greatest in math, had to get a tutor and really put my heart into it. But English and writing papers I could always do effortlessly...straight A's. Weird, I know.

Good luck to you as well. Keep us posted! I will definitely look more into this.

[Flames9_RN, BSN, RN, EMT-B]

I'm on the 1st course---NRS-430V Professional Dynamics. Broken down into 5 weeks. Week starts on a Monday and ends Sunday at midnight--Phoenix arizona time

This is probably the easiest of all the courses--so I have been told.

Each week we have 2 discussion questions we have to answer--1st one due by Wed--2nd on due by Friday. And during the week, one has to respond to others posts. And to make it count, you have to post twice a day, for at least 3 days! Posting once a day, does you no good, so if ur going to post, ensure u do it twice.

We had 2 group projects---first 1 was SUPER easy, just making up a "contract" on what each ones responsibilities were for the real group project--which was due at thew end of week 3--a 12 point power point presentation on Theory. Pretty simple

A total of 2 papers, 1 was due week 2--another week 4, and for week 5, there is some kind of thing we have to put together!

You can see what is required to do for the whole 5 weeks! So if you wanted to, could write the papers when ever you wanted--just don't miss the deadline to turn them in. Not sure if you can turn stuff in early, prob up to the prof. And if you had the time, I guess you could take 2 classes at once.

If one is good at paper writing, I think you would excel. As well when I got my 1st paper back--the prof took the time and displayed corrections, found that to be very helpful.

As well they offer a FREE intro course for ALL students doing an online course. does not give you a grade, you can't fail it,lol but helps you learn ur way around the "classroom" It takes place over 3 days--at ur own time and convenience. I'm pretty computer savy, but still found it useful, it's a very easy system to use!!

As well another feature I enjoy is the "turnit in" program! Its for your papers--checking for plagiarism, I thought it would be a pain in the butt, but it is useful! Has to be under 20%, before you can submit it to the prof--but can check as many times as you wish! And it shows u the results, what is word for word from the book or another source.

Happy to pass on names of the councillor and the instructor I currently have, just PM away.