ABQ Apollo vs. ITT

[mrs0625]

I'm moving there this winter and need to get into a program asap (time constraints, financial-wise)... I have researched the programs and narrowed it down to Apollo and ITT. I am going there this week to take the exam for both of them and I was wondering what people have to say about the programs...

I have a Bachelor's in another field but wanted to get an RN degree. I am striving for an NP later on but NM doesn't have Master's programs for non-nursing majors. I want to go to NM for personal reasons so I'm willing to take the alternate route of getting an ADN first... I've read that some classes from ITT do not transfer and professors are not great but I wanted to get more opinions.

Thanks!!!

[jjnRN]

If you provide more info on your previous degree (what it is and what school it was from) you may get more or better responses. It is my understanding that UNM will not accept credits from Apollo, ITT, or PIMA but you have a degree already so why not see if you can get in UNM second degree program or go to Santa Fe CC or NMSU.

[imbri]

If Apollo has it's BSN up and running, it's an RN-BSN program, so you'd need to get the ADN first. Pima and Apollo can get you in right away for that (provided you pass entrance exams). CNM is a 2 year wait for guaranteed ADN entry, but they do have classes to train you as a CNA while you wait to learn nursing. UNM can take you from nothing to BSN, but they have competitive entry, and if you didn't graduate with a 4.0 on your first Bachelor's, it will really hurt your chances.

ITT wasn't advertising a nursing program when I started in '07, so I'm betting they have a very new program, or an RN-BSN bridge. New programs are extremely frustrating because their curriculum, scheduling, and faculty can change suddenly and with very little warning. Also, new programs may not be fully accredited and can be excessively demanding.

I went through Apollo as one of their early classes. It was tough, but with luck a lot of the hurdles my class had to jump have been removed. It's also important to know that CNM and UNM have priority for clinical sites, making scheduling rough for Apollo and Pima.

Apollo will try to take your transfer credits for prerequisites, but core nursing classes really don't transfer from one school to another. I don't know about Pima.

Hope this helps!

[dreamerofnursing]

ITT is not accredited yet, SFCC has no wait, and I just got into CNM's program after one year of waiting. The new director has done a great job of updating the waiting list and getting students in sooner. Plus they just opened up a Rio Rancho facility, brand new! However it's only evening classes. Good luck!

[jjnRN]

Actually the Rio Rancho campass won't be open till the fall but glad to hear they no longer have a wait. I just finished Level1 at SFCC, it is a nice program.