ABSN University of the Incarnate Word - Summer 2021

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Hello,

Starting a topic for ABSN University of the Incarnate Word (San Antonio, TX) Summer 2021 students to meet each other if you are out there. 

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Specializes in ICU.

How much is tuition?

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Specializes in Nursing Student.

Hi, @Kristen Wenger are you currently in this program? I am looking to apply but I want to hear about students from the program first

 

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Hi @BSN2022sgs,

Yes, I am currently in this program.

It is expensive so I would not recommend it as a first choice over other schools if you have other options - my options are limited in Texas because I don't have the Texas Common Core as I am not from Texas so could only apply to private schools. I believe they do have a military discount and a discount for employees at certain hospitals though. Tuition payments from Americorps or something like that could help. Also keep in mind you will need to buy scrubs, a stethoscope, possibly shoes for clinical, a watch if you don't have one, a penlight, and few little things like that. 

All the classes are online and we have no lectures so it can feel overwhelming at times. We do have office hours. Some students like the freedom.

It is a newer program and perhaps because of this (I am not sure) it seems to have a lot of kinks.

It feels diverse both in terms of students and instructors.

The class size is small - about 12 in my cohort, which I see as a strength. 

It has a strong catholic bent, which appeals to some people. 

I asked one of the instructors about the strengths of the school and he said the clinical hours that we have in 4th semester where we can start to specialize. Some students also get an internship the fourth semester (at the same hospital I think) after which the hospital will hire them for two years. 

The clinicals can be in the evening or morning and they try not to plan them on the weekends, although they can be on the weekends. 

Let me know if you have other questions. 

 

 

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Specializes in Nursing Student.
17 minutes ago, Kristen Wenger said:

Hi @BSN2022sgs,

Yes, I am currently in this program.

It is expensive so I would not recommend it as a first choice over other schools if you have other options - my options are limited in Texas because I don't have the Texas Common Core as I am not from Texas so could only apply to private schools. I believe they do have a military discount and a discount for employees at certain hospitals though. Tuition payments from Americorps or something like that could help. Also keep in mind you will need to buy scrubs, a stethoscope, possibly shoes for clinical, a watch if you don't have one, a penlight, and few little things like that. 

All the classes are online and we have no lectures so it can feel overwhelming at times. We do have office hours. Some students like the freedom.

It is a newer program and perhaps because of this (I am not sure) it seems to have a lot of kinks.

It feels diverse both in terms of students and instructors.

The class size is small - about 12 in my cohort, which I see as a strength. 

It has a strong catholic bent, which appeals to some people. 

I asked one of the instructors about the strengths of the school and he said the clinical hours that we have in 4th semester where we can start to specialize. Some students also get an internship the fourth semester (at the same hospital I think) after which the hospital will hire them for two years. 

The clinicals can be in the evening or morning and they try not to plan them on the weekends, although they can be on the weekends. 

Let me know if you have other questions. 

 

 

Yes, I understand. I am out-of-state too and even taking all the Texas core classes it is hard to get into the public schools as they put preference on Texas residents. Aside from how expensive it is - which is about what I would have to pay as out of state for the other Texas schools I was considering - is there other stuff I should have in mind? 

Do you like the clinical sites? Do you feel like they are preparing you well enough for the NCLEX? Are there any major red flags I should consider? What kind of kinks are we talking about haha?

Thank you for sharing your experience!

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Specializes in Nursing Student.

@Kristen Wenger I have been reading a lot and it looks like this program is managed by Orbis education. Are the exams administered by them or by the faculty? It seems like people that graduate from Orbis programs have a hard time finding jobs. Do you actually get to finish the program in 16 months? I have read that many Orbis-managed programs fail to stick to the 16 month timeline. 

I am really hesitant to accept this program now even if it is my only option

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Hi!

Our exams are not administered by Orbis as far as I know. We take ATI exams, and also exams created by the faculty. Everything is proctored. ATI exams are standardized. There may be other standardized exams coming up in the future.

I also tried, when I was applying, to look up the employment rate of graduates of the program but could not find it.

NCLEX pass rates for every school in Texas (public and private) are available to the public and you can look them up for all the schools you are applying to. Since I haven't taken the NCLEX I don't know how prepared I am. 

By kinks I mean disorganized, like setting deadlines which don't make sense for example. They definitely struggle with organization.

I would recommend TLU if you can live further north, but I would not recommend commuting there from San Antonio. ITLU has advantages in my mind because you have in person classes. At UIW you are very self-taught which I don't think is the best way to learn to be a good nurse (though I don't know). TLU seems VERY organized. You can talk to their admissions office and they will send you lots of details and lists. I asked about their attrition rate and I think it was 0% - they just had one person who took a pause for personal reasons I think but not one has dropped out. TLU also lets you do research (it's required) which sounds really cool! TLU is much more open sharing information about their school and helping you out! If it's an option for you I would consider their accelerated program. Attrition for my cohort at UIW: we started with 11 I think and there are 2 no longer with us. One just had some person issues come up, which can happen to anyone. The other one I don't know what happened to.

You might consider UIW if it is your only option, but I would not recommend it as a first choice, personally, because I am not a fan of online learning and it is disorganized in some ways. 

Both TLU and UIW are on the nursing common app, so it's very easy to apply to both, or a lot of schools.

Another option is Baylor distance accelerated program. They have a good reputation. The reason I decided not to go there is because I am not a fan of online learning and was afraid it would be harder for me if everything was online. Their program is also shorter, which did not appeal to me - I don't have a science background. But it might be right for you. I think Baylor was also on the nursing common app.

 

 

 

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One thing to watch out for with TLU - you'd need to take patho if you haven't. They can help you with this online and told me others have completed it in 4 weeks. 

With Baylor I don't think there were any additional prerequisites I needed, but you might want to check. It's private so they don't have the common core, but I think it is Christian and might have some perquisites you don't meet if your college didn't have you take a religion class or something similar. 

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I forgot to mention hospitals, which you asked about. So far we have been to Methodist, Christus, and Laurel Ridge. We have also seen students from other schools at these sites (possibly because fewer hospitals are open to students during covid). 

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I do want to add, clinicals and simulations feel like they are good learning opportunities, as the instructors will sometimes talk about scenarios and try to help us make connections and understand priorities, and we learn from the nurses working the floor as well.  

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I am currently in the program and it is really horrible. For those who thinking of applying for this program, I would like to warn you that you will be so miserable not because the contents are difficult (of course all nursing contents are difficult), but because they are so disorganized that you can't stand them anymore. 

 

They don't grade your exam score in a timely manner, and I had to fight for the score I deserve. They don't do the paper work correctly, so I had to reach out to someone who takes care of clinical placement. It is just a whole mess. It is hard to believe that this school is actually accredited. It is very disorganized and the administrators don't know how to run the program.

 

The lab instructors show us YouTube videos and when we are practicing skills, they don't supervise us or anything. 

 

It is really hard to find a good thing about this school. If you want to know more about it, please send me a message. I can tell you thousands more horrible things they do. 

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