WGU RN-BSN in 1 1/2 years??

Nursing Students Western Governors

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I started RN-BSN on 4/1/13. I spoke with my mentor last night to set up my courses for my first term and she said that it will be nearly impossible for me to graduate in 6 months and 1 1/2 years is most likely. She said that more courses have been added recently which makes the program longer. I explained to her that I will be working only 1 day per week (if they call me in) and plan to devote 40-50+ hours weekly to studying. I have no children at home and my husband is also working on a degree with WSU. I have some pre-reqs to take--micro, statistics, bio-chem, and behavorial psych. But, I have been a nurse for 14 years: med/surg, case management and home health for 11 yrs. I have already taken 2 RN-BSN classes plus nutrition that didn't transfer. Furthermore, I had a 4.0 in college! She listened to me but said she really doesn't like to accelerate students that much. Needless to say, I was very surprised. I was hoping to finish in 6 months but 9 months at the most. Am I being unrealistic? Do I have a lot more courses to take then others do? I was so motivated and excited to start but now... Any advice is appreciated.

Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
Did any of you receive financial aid at WGU? That is my biggest concern. I am worried about not having enough money to keep going if I dont finish in 6 months. Anyone have any insight?
If you run out of financial aid, is there any way you can apply for a private student loan through a financial institution such as Chase, Citibank, Wells Fargo, Bank of America or your local credit union?

I once received a $20,000 private 'career training' loan through Sallie Mae. My friend received a $16,000 loan through Chase. If you have decent credit, this option is doable and affordable.

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i see you said 15 units and 16 on the 2nd - what is the max unit one may have to take?

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i see you said 15 units and 16 on the 2nd - what is the max unit one may have to take?

Everyone starts off with 12 units per semester. If you're getting financial aid, you have to complete at least 2/3 of these units in order to continue qualifying for financial aid. If you're not getting financial aid, I suppose there's realistically no minimum, but it would get awful expensive with the flat-rate-per-semester pricing.

There is no maximum. If you are capable of completing all your classes in one semester, you can do that.

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Specializes in OB-Gyn/Primary Care/Ambulatory Leadership.

If you're not getting financial aid, you still have to complete 12 units per semester (8 for MSN classes). If you don't finish, you get a "fail" for those classes, which will ultimately lower your GPA. You have to retake them the next semester.

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Paradisebound,

I think as your mentor gets to know you and sees you progressing through your courses she will understand you better.

I did the program BSN in one year but hadn't been in a classroom for years and worked full time. It is very paper

intensive, but it was a really great program. I also did their MSN program and finished last year. Very worthwhile.

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This morning an enrollment counselor told me the RN to MSN program takes FOUR YEARS!!! I have a bachelor's degree in psych and an associate's in nursing. Four years is a far cry from a 1-2 years. Has anyone else heard this?

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Specializes in OB-Gyn/Primary Care/Ambulatory Leadership.

It would take 4 years if you did the minimum number of credits each semester (12 credits/semester for the undergrad courses, and 8 credits/semester for the master's level courses). It's quite easy to accelerate if you're motivated and don't procrastinate.

But even with accelerating, I don't think I've heard of anyone who was able to do the whole thing in a year. More typical for highly motivated students is 2 terms for the BSN portion and 2 terms for the MSN, for a total of 2 years. I did my BSN in 3 terms (18 months) and it will take me 2 years to do my MSN. This is without acceleration. I've been a student at since July, 2011. I plan to graduate in May of 2015 (I took 5 months off between the BSN and the MSN programs).

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Hi,

I am scheduled to start Nov 2015. How long did it end up taking you to finish your BSN. I also would like to finish asap. I wonder if they are trained to discourage rapid progression through the program so they can collect more money from students?

What do you think?

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Hi, I started june 1 and have finished 31 credits. My mentor also told me at the beginning that it would be almost impossible to finish in 1 term but after I completed several classes, she has been very encouraging. I really don't think they discourage you to get more money. I think it is more so that you don't set yourself up for disappointment. I'm a member of a Facebook group where several members have completed in one term. However, most do take longer. I would say about 2 terms is average, but I have seen some take as long as 5.It truly is individual depending on what knowledge you have coming in and how much time you have to devote to school. The classes aren't extremely hard, but they are challenging and make you work for a pass.

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Specializes in OB-Gyn/Primary Care/Ambulatory Leadership.

I'm pretty sure mentors are "graded" on their students' attrition and uncompleted classes rate. They don't want to encourage taking additional classes unless they're very confident that you will finish by the end of the semester. And they certainly don't want to add more than one extra class at a time in case you run out of time (or life happens) and you cannot finish all the extra classes they've assigned to you.

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