I'm so confused, which school do I go to?!

Nursing Students Pre-Nursing

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I live in Ocala, Fl. and all the research I have done says I have two choices for school - College of Central Florida College. I thought it was a no brainer, my friend just graduated from Rasmussen. I want to take the nursing program which is what she took. Easy peasy, right? Nope.

I just found out that Rasmussen is not accredited, they are approved but not accredited. I have no clue what that really means. I know that if I go to Rasmussen I will be able to start school relatively soon which is good. If I go to Central Florida College I won't be starting school until January at the earliest. Rasmussen doesn't require prerequisites. CFC does, 21 credits worth of prerequisites. So that would mean I would have to take the prerequisites for a year then I would have to apply to the nursing program and see if I get wait listed or not. CFC is accredited though. CFC also has a 90+% pass rate for the NCLEX-RN. Both are only Associates degrees so I would have to go to school again later to get my BSN (which is what I really want). Cost doesn't matter too much as I am a veteran and the VA will be helping me pay for college (but only 4 years worth of college).

All I need to know is do I go to the school that would take me 2 years and I could start roughly soon but isn't accredited or do I go to the school that is accredited but I will be doing 3 years and will have to wait a good 6 months or more to start doing the prerequisites.

I'm pretty much job skill-less so the best I could do for work while I am not in school is flip burgers.

Specializes in Intermediate care.

Thank you to everyone who posted with advice. After taking in all of your advice, talking to another one of my friends who is going through nursing school, and talking to my mother I have decided to call CFC tomorrow to see if there would be any way I could start my pre-reqs in the fall semester. If not I guess I am getting my CNA lol. I was just so excited about starting school that I didn't even think about the other stuff. I read that CFC's pass rate on the NCLEX-RN comes pretty close to 100% if its not 100% so at least I will have a rock awesome chance of passing! Again, thank you all for the advice! Have a great week everyone!

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Specializes in Legal, Ortho, Rehab.

According to the website: Florida Colleges - Rasmussen College FL Campus Locations

they have regional accreditation and FL BON. The problem is that it is not CCNE or NLN accredited. This can affect you later on if you want higher degrees. Regional accreditation (like the higher learning commission) in my opinion is always better than national alone like many "for-profit" schools are. This site talks about the pros and cons of each. It refers to online degrees, but also applies to brick and mortar schools as well.

College Degree Mills - Regional or National Accreditation | GetEducated.com

CFC has NLN, FL BON

http://www.cf.edu/prospective/infosessions/2012-4-12 ADN Info Session for web.pdf

and they have regional

College of Central Florida

CFC appears to be the winner if higher degrees in nursing matter or military nursing.

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I've researched and found out that the school of nursing in Ocala is a NLNAC candidate for accreditation.

NLNAC Candidates

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Sournsweet-You beat me to it. Ocalla Campus is currently under accreditation which takes two years to complete. They should have this accreditation by December 2013 I think. I am a current student and I did MUCH research and had some bad experiences. I am an LPN who is bridging. SO far, this has been an acceptional experience. The school is over 100 years old, with Campuses in other states than florida.

Florida is one of the most rigorous BON's for standards to sit for NCLEX, and this program is approved to sit. Accreditation takes any school two years to complete, each time they add a program to their campus. It is not simply accredited in Flroida because a Rsmussen Minnesota Nursing program is. ( It is by the way-accredited by theit BON)

Best of luck to anyone who is trying to become a nurse. We need you! Do whatever you can. Pay more, borrow more, whatever-there are so many way to have it paid back. The first five years of bnursing will pay it back anyway, you will never find anything so rewarding and versatile.

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And FTR- Don't base my typos above (below) on my education!! That comes from being old, in a hurry and the Florida public school system. Now THERE is something that need to meet accreditation standards :) YIKES!

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Personally, I would never go to a school that is not accredited. And I've NEVER heard of a nursing school that doesn't require pre-req classes. sounds sketchy you should really consider CFC.

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Well as always with for-profit schools, proceed with caution. Understand the future limitations that will be placed upon you and the fact that you are paying a premium.

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All school require an initial accreditation time. For instance, Santa Fe College in Gainesville, Fl which is a public school where I obtained my LPN license years ago just added an RN to BSN program. Although the school and it's nursing program have been accredited by NLN for years, the RN to BSN program will take two years. is the same. If a campus adds a program, it will take two years to obtain accreditation. The pre-req's are the same as reuired by the Florida Board of nursing in all ADN program, however, st private colleges, they include the "pre-req" curriculum in the "Nursing" program as it helps with those who qualify for financial AID. SOme nursing school loans and grant require you to be "accepted" into a program before they will fund you. Many students who would otherwise not qualify for Finanacial AID, cannot complete the pre-req and never apply.

I undertand the concern with private institutions with regard to transfer. I called the univeristy I plan to transfer to and they accept the transfer credits. In all honesty- any university will accept the nursing protion for transfer ( your valid RN license) They (and I quote) "don't care where you got your RN license, it is only the pre-req classes and Gen Ed that must be part of a statewide course numbering accredited institution". Again, this is in Florida.

With a shortage of nurses reaching the tens of thousands in Florida, I can guarantee you will have a job before you ever graduate. My facility alone has 200 vacant nursing positions currently.

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I undertand the concern with private institutions with regard to transfer. I called the univeristy I plan to transfer to and they accept the transfer credits. In all honesty- any university will accept the nursing protion for transfer ( your valid RN license) They (and I quote) "don't care where you got your RN license, it is only the pre-req classes and Gen Ed that must be part of a statewide course numbering accredited institution". Again, this is in Florida.

It isn't private institutions that are the issue usually, it is the for-profit schools. Generally, they have their own accrediting body which isn't accepted by other institutions. That isn't to say you can't get an RN from them as the BON controls that. What the issue is what happens after you get the RN. You are generally stuck with the for-profit schools.

If you have a public/traditional-private school that says they accept transfer credits from a for-profit school, then that is pretty rare.

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PurplePenguin-

I hope I'm not too late!!! Don't count out yet......they are in their candidacy for NLNAC accreditation, it just takes two years and it only started this year so by the time you graduate it will be complete. I too didn't want to wait for CF and I'm not going to. I just got accepted into Rasmussen and the credits will transfer to a BSN. My husband recieved his BS from an online accredited school and all of his credits transfered to UCF's masters program. Also, I called MRMC's HR dept. and they hire graduates from Rasmussen students all the time. One more thing, Rasmussen does require pre reqs the only difference is while you are taking them you are still a nursing student....you don't have to be accepted into the program after the pre reqs are done, you do however have to complete many steps before acceptance: vaccines, CPR, TEAS test, background check, interview, transcripts, financial aid etc. Good luck in your choice!!

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Hi, I know this post is old, but i was wondering if you stayed with CF and if so how was the program? The reason I ask is because I start the nursing program in the fall. any advice?

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I feel that CFCC is a way better choice for the two schools in Ocala. I have many friends that have done and are having trouble getting into schools for their bsn. Just something else to consider for all of you looking at nursing programs in Ocala.

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