WCU Accelerated BSN, any thoughts?

U.S.A. Pennsylvania

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I'd like to know if anyone has attended, or is attending, West Chester Universities accelerated BSN program? do you like the program, did it prepare you for the real world of nursing, how much is the tuition?

Thanks

Human disease course? Do you mean pathophysiology? If so...thats the toughest class you'll have and has the highest probability of flunking out of it. Its pretty much the weed-out course. Its rough, but study a lot and you'll be fine.

Clinicals were mostly in the general West Chester area, with two being in delaware, and one being in Bryn Mar. This could be changed in the future becasue their clinical sites come and go.

Im taking NCLEX soon, have not gotten my athorization to test yet. I feel pretty well prepared, but WCU will not hold your hand throughout the preparation, a lot is independent study. I know the first cohort had a 100% pass rate. But again, a lot of that is the personal motivation of second degree students. I think their traditional undergrauate pass rate is somewhere in the 70s. Yes, we had to take HESI in order for them to sign off on our paperwork. I passed...which was all I cared about. I think a few people didnt pass it, then they either had to take a Kaplan review course or retake in again this week.

I swung myself around the summer/fall/spring scheduel because, well, I pretty much had to to pay bills. I had a flexible employer who was very good to me and my schedualing. A lot of people who worked 9-5 jobs tended to only work once a week in the summer, or got tech jobs. If you plan to work for more than 20 hours/week, expecto to have NO life. Your world will revolve around school, classwork, clinicals, and work. No room for play. It is in no way fun, but it is doable. I'm thrilled to have my weekends back now that I'm finished.

I paid about $3600 a semester for tuition - thats in state tuition. about 2200 the first semester (fewer classes). It really is the cheapest second degree BSN program around. I was originally accepted into 's program, but couldnt pay the $36000 up front.

I think I answered your questions. Let me know if you have more!

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Thank you so much for the response it was very helpful. It seems like during the fall/spring would be the easiest times to work since class is only one night a week and clincals are on weekends. I know that it says during the summer classes/clincals are 4 days during the week, but is that usually evenings like the spring/fall, or during teh day? Im going to have a job 8-12 and i figured that would be perfect for the fall/spring, but wont be able to do that if the summer sessions are during the day. Thanks again.

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Yes, we had to take HESI in order for them to sign off on our paperwork. I passed...which was all I cared about. I think a few people didnt pass it, then they either had to take a Kaplan review course or retake in again this week.

Newbie gathering info. Do you know what the required HESI pass rate is? requires a very high rate and withholds your degree and charges another $3000 for remediation until you pass at the required score..a colleague's wife was in that program and almost had a nervous breakdown preparing for the HESI. It sounds like HESI is part of the program at WCU but your degree does not depend on that one test. Congrats on completing the program and good luck with NCLEX! I am in the process of applying to programs. Jeff and WCU are at the top of my list.

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According the their website, West Chester University will not have a January class. They will have a class of 40 in May.

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I just had my interview at WCU on Jan 15th. She did say they want to only do one cohort per year from now on because its getting difficult for them to arrange clincals/sites for so many students at different times. She also expressed concern about reaching the goal of 40-45 students. Apparently a lot of people sending apps arent filling them out completely or sending the proper transcripts. They give first priority to students who sent the application correctly as a whole, and who have completed all the pre-reqs.

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Just wanted to get a since of where everybody was commuting from...Im coming from philadelphia catching septa for the most part..

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Ill be commuting from York, so its gonna be a pretty long drive.

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Does anyone know if federal student loans would cover the cost of this program or do we need to seek private lenders? I also wanted to know if West chester offered any scholarships for this program?? I know that offers their absn students nothing...just wondering if it was different at West Chester.

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I was told in the interview that if there were loans you were eligible for in undergrad, but didnt use, that you can use them for this program. She did say that there are scholarships but since there are so many students enrolled in the school that its hard to get a scholarship.

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I was told in the interview that if there were loans you were eligible for in undergrad, but didnt use, that you can use them for this program. She did say that there are scholarships but since there are so many students enrolled in the school that its hard to get a scholarship.

Thanks Lefty Lou,

Being able to finance the program was a concern for me, but it sounds like federal stafford loan covers the program for the most part. So I guess my only issue now is to get accepted!

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Has anyone heard if they were accepted yet or not? I was told I wouldnt hear anything until late Feb or early March. Did they tell you guys the same thing in the interview?

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yes I was told the same thing. They are still interviewing my friend has an appointment for sometime this week coming.

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