What would you do?

Well, here's the way I look at it. I too want to be done with nursing school as quickly as possible so I can start working again (very fortunate that we can live off of my husbands salary while I'm in school, but it's been tight!) The problem is, that all the programs that seem to be able to get you through quickly or offer classes that are doable with a full time job are VERY expensive. From what I hear, UCC's program will cost you around $50K to finish. I'm currently at Utah Valley University, and even though it's very competitive, there's no waiting lit and tuition will be much less than private schools (I think about $12K for their ADN and $15K for the BSN) That's about a $35K difference, which is not too far off what many bring home in a year! I couldn't bring home even that when I was working as a vet tech before.

If you are worried that you can't afford to stop working to attend school full time, consider the total cost of the tuitions and what you will be saving by not going to a private school. I would rather take out the student loans to cover living expenses so I dont' have to work, rather than take the loan out just to cover the tuition cost and STILL have to work!!!

If you don't think you will be able to get into a competitive based program like UVU or U of U, then check out Salt Lake Community College. They have a waiting list, and when I was looking into it last summer, the advisor told me it was 2-3 years out, but most students would get in quicker, like 18 months b/c not everyone on the list ends up going to the school. While this may seem like a long time, it's a great time to focus on saving up so you won't have to work (at least full time) while you are in school.

Not sure if this will help your situation at all, just how I look at it!

I'm a white, male 30-year-old nursing applicant. Just got my rejection letter from WSU's RN program. They said I was a strong candidate, have my CNA, 3.64 cumulative GPA, 3.9 prerequisite and science GPA (though I didn't have my math done), and I was a Supplementary Instruction instructor/leader for Biomedical Core (Anatomy and Physiology). No previous associate's. Didn't get in. Oh well, try again next year. I've also applied at Davis Applied Technology College and Ogden-Weber Technology College for their LPN program, which bridges you to get your RN through Weber State. We'll see what happens.

Having to wait a year or so seems to be pretty common among nursing schools, from what counselors at WSU, DATC and Westminster have told me.

SLCC's waiting list is really long. When I asked them about the waiting period this year, they said I could get in their program around 2013! Four years!

I would avoid Utah Career College, Ameritek and Stephens-Henager if you're wanting to get your BSN eventually. They either aren't accredited (like Ameritek and S-H) or their accreditation is brand new and they're all very expensive. I plan on getting a Master's in Nurse Anesthesia as a long-term goal, and I don't want any "iffy" elements to the degrees I'm getting.

As far as the U's or Westminster's programs go, they're BSN programs, so when you apply, you're applying for a complete four-year program instead of a 2-year RN associate's program. So, they have more prerequisite requirements. The U's has about 5 additional pre-reqs than WSU's, including:

- Chemistry 1120 (in addition to 1110)
- Microbiology 3603 (in addition to Intro to Microbiology)
- Statistics (Math 1040, even if you've taken math 1050 you have to take this class)
- Human Growth and Development
- Nutrition 2320 (In addition to Intro to Nutrition)

Westminster doesn't require Statistics, Human Growth and Development or the additional Nutrition class, but they do require Sociology. In speaking to a counselor at Westminster, they also give priority of acceptance to students who took their pre-reqs at Westminster vs. other schools.

Also, if you're going to do your nursing pre-reqs at Weber State, they have two ways to fulfill the Anatomy/Physiology pre-req requirement for their own program: you can either take Human Anatomy and Human Physiology, or take WSU's Biomedical Core 1110 and 1111. I highly recommend avoiding Biomedical Core. It's a great class, but BIOMEDICAL CORE DOESN'T TRANSFER TO ANY SCHOOL OTHER THAN WEBER STATE. So now I'm finding that, despite getting A's in Biomedical Core, I have to RETAKE Anatomy and Physiology to be able to apply anywhere else. Stupid.

I would say waiting to get into an accredited program at an actual university or accredited community college is a far better investment than shelling out 50k to get in and get one's RN faster through a private school such as Stephens-Henager. You want the ability to progress and get a Master's degree, as you never know if you'll need more money or want more knowledge down the road.

In short, waiting sucks, but most of us have to do it. I would say don't put all of your eggs in one basket, apply to many schools. I know of students with near 4.0 GPA's and years of CNA experience that have been turned down for WSU's program multiple times. There is no guarantee there, so spread your net wide.

There is a new program in south jordan utah. they are offering a BSN program. They supposedly don't have a waitlist and are still taking applications for January 2010 class. I called the counselor and she said she'll review my courses from SLCC and UVU to see if they transfer. I'm waiting to hear from them. THe school is called the University of Southern Nevada.

Yeah, I got that e-mail about the new program from University of Southern Nevada. I'm a little skeptical about it, frankly. For one, it's $30,000 a year, so you're looking at $60,000+ debt once you have your RN. They state that they can get you a BSN in 18 months. That would be realistic if it were simply an RN-to-BSN program, which typically takes that long. But they're proposing that you'll go from prerequisites to BSN in 18 months. Every RN program I know takes a minimum of four semesters, or 1 1/2 to 2 years to just get your RN. Plus, they require you to get 90% on every test. Not that that's not doable, but it'd be challenging to get that on EVERY test. And if you have a super compressed time frame (squeezing 3 years of school into 18 months), plus clinicals, that sounds really, really grueling.

Seems a little fishy to me. If you're going the private college route, I'd go with Westminster, Utah Career or Provo College. I know sometimes you get antsy to get into a nursing program, but as a current nursing student (at DATC), trust me, going the regular four-semester RN route is challenging enough. But, to each their own.

Actually the counselor said that it is 18 months AFTER completing the prerequisites. You need to have your prerequisites completed before you can even enter their program. So in actuality, you go to school for about 2 years to complete pre-reqs and then you can enter the 18 month program.
I'll check out the other schools as well..thanks.

Yes, but every school you go to you have to do two years of prerequisites. Every Associate's RN program has 2 years of prerequisites required (A and P, Patho, Microbiology, Chem, Math, English, Psych, Nutrition). What I'm wondering is how they cram the 2 years for the RN and the year and a half for the BSN into 18 months.

USN is an established school. They have been pumping out pharmacy students here for years. The PharmD is a 4 year program, but they go year round at USN and finish in 3 years. Being private they are much more expensive! Also their students do not have near as good of a name as those graduating from the U of U. There is a bias against their grads. That having been said I think they will have a better rep than UCC, S-H, etc. The program started in 1996 in NV, but the program is brand new to Utah. I would skip private schools as they are TOO EXPENSIVE!! If you have to do one I would pick USN, or Westminster.

This is from their about page "Graduates of the College of Nursing will be eligible to sit for the licensing exam and assume entry level RN positions, which will help to meet the community, state, and regional needs for registered nurses. The first class was admitted in April 2006."
"The USN Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program is accredited by the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission, Inc. (NLNAC)."

You'll just have to weigh the pros and cons. Do a lot of research, as many private college programs aren't exactly upfront with you all of the time. Some things to consider are:

- Actual NCLEX pass rates

- Ability to actually sit for the NCLEX upon graduation (I know at one point Utah Career College graduates weren't able to do this after pouring out tons of money for school! I think this has been remedied now)

- Ability to take the LPN NCLEX / work as an LPN. I think personally this is very important. It was surprising to me how many RN programs DON'T allow you to do this (Stephens-Henager, Utah Career College, Westminster). Being able to sit for the LPN NCLEX has a lot of value. It lets you test on material that will be covered again in your RN NCLEX, it allows you to work as a nurse, helping you gain valuable experience and exercising critical thinking skills, plus you're compensated more than a CNA. Also, working as an LPN is often seen as valuable by employers, thus it will open more doors for employment.

- The reality of starting nursing salaries in your area. I had heard rumors of RN salaries in Utah starting around 60k / year minimum. After a quick perusal of the job listings from various healthcare institutions and making some phone calls, I found that figure to be grossly overestimated. IHC, Mountainstar and U of U hospitals were paying around $22-23 / hour last time I checked, which equates to about $48,000 / year gross income. Post-tax you're looking at around $39,000, so you can see how long a $60k+ school debt is going to take to pay off. Of course, LTC facilities, Assisted Living and Home Health pay more from what I've seen. The facility that I work for now pays case-managing RN's $30/hour. And if you're willing to relocate, other states seem to all pay more than Utah. Health care is a popular career choice among students in Utah.

I called USN to clarify and they said that the 18-months is NURSING courses ONLY. They do NOT have prereqs at the school. All students have to complete the pre-reqs at a different school and transfer them in. Its also a full-time program which allows them to have an 18-month program. Cool thing is that they teach ONE COURSE (which they call Blocks) at a time..so you don't have so much different material at the same time! You can focus on one area at a time. I'm going to check out their open house on the 21st to get more information.

First of all, let me say that I'm glad that you're excited about going into nursing. It's awesome, challenging, and exciting. I'm glad you've found a school you're excited about.

That's good that you called to clarify, but I think you're misunderstanding what I meant. I never lumped pre-requisite completion into the 18 months in which they claim to graduate nursing students. I figured, as you mentioned, that those would be done beforehand.

As far as I know, pretty much all ADN programs in Utah are full-time (Weber, DATC, OWATC, SLCC, U of U, BYU, UVU, Utah Career College), with four semesters to get your RN/ADN. Usually, it takes an additional 3-4 FULL TIME semesters to complete the BSN.

That is also neat that they teach one course at a time. I just wanted to say in my earlier post that completing the RN and BSN portions in the time it usually takes to complete a typical RN/ADN program is HIGHLY UNUSUAL. You're basically looking at doing something that takes 34 months of full-time school in 18 months. Most people find the typical nursing school schedule to be rigorous and challenging, so this program I imagine will be extremely compressed and demanding.

But if a person wants it bad enough, I believe they can accomplish anything. Me personally, the regular ADN program is rigorous enough .