Accelerated bachelor programs?

GT-50

I just started in the program at Curry last week as a member of their first ACCEL class. Including me, there's five guys in a class made up of 32 students. As a pre-med major many years ago, I had fortunately already taken all the prerequisites and Curry was glad to transfer them. If you're serious about this program, start taking as many of them as you can now. Some are offered as online courses at other schools (statistics at UMass) some are offered nights at community colleges (developmental psych).

As for the program....haven't had an exam yet..... reading and video assignments for first week were daunting.....hundreds of pages of text to read and about three hours worth of videos to be viewed at school. Quizzes weekly, five page pediatric research paper topic due tuesday.

The quality of instruction (lectures) has be impressive so far. These instructor really know their stuff and are very comfortable in front of a class.

Check out Simmons College as well. They have a similar accelerated program that I believe is 17 months. Good luck.

-ken

Hi everyone, new to the board and I’m one of the several looking for the late career change. I’ve been in accounting for 9 years and have my bachelors in it. I’m going to the open house next week for Curry’s accelerated post-bachelor program but have some questions. I think I still need to take every prerequisite course they require (Anatomy I & ,II , chem, bio, etc) I was wondering if there is anyone who has already gone through this and can give me a heads up on how long all of this could take. I think the program is 18 months or so, but I still need the prerequisites. Also, does anyone have any experience with the accelerated program at Curry?? Finally, and this may seem silly, can anyone give me their perspective as a male nurse? Im curious to know what some of the plus’s and minus’s might be…there are a lot of stereotypes out there.

Thanks for any help!

I also looked into 2nd bachelor accelerated programs (UMass, Amherst) and the only caution I would give is that I have heard that the intensity of the programs is very high. (I interviewed three people who were doing the program and heard stories of sleepless nights and broken marriages.) Having small children and a relationship I didn't want to risk, I opted for an ADN program. When I looked at master's programs, I found out that I didn't need the BSN to begin advanced study. As for the pre-requisites, it took me two years of part-time evening classes (one to two classes at a time) to finish them and once I started the ADN program, I was glad I had done with them in advance. The ADN program was challenging enough for me! I graduate in June, have a great job lined up, and can't wait! Good luck!

I'd like to know how everything turned out at Curry. I am currently a non-degree student at Simmons who is commuting to the college from the South Shore. The extended commute, on-campus construction, and lack of parking are getting me down. How is the ACCEL program at Curry?

All in all...I was very pleased with Curry's ACCEL program. I was extremely well prepared for the NCLEX....75 questions and I was done. Since graduating, I've worked at MGH and Lahey with new grads from all over the area and I honestly feel that I'm as well prepared as anyone else with the same level of experience.

But bear in mind....as wierd as this may sound...the main focus of nursing school is to prepare you for the NCLEX and give you a little taste of a few types of nursing settings. You don't even begin to learn how to be a nurse untill you start working as one......so the moral to the story is go with a school that does a good job with NCLEX prep and provides you with quality clinical experiences at teaching hospitals. The other thing to look for with an accelerated program like ACCEL is how strict they are with transferring credits for pre-reqs. My science pre-reqs were more than 20 years old and they allowed me to transfer those credits.

My 16 months at Curry often felt like a root canal that wouldn't end....but in hindsite, it's the nature of all accelerated programs. Today I look back at Curry very fondly.

Hope this helps.

ken

Ken,

I'm starting the program at Curry this Tuesday in the fourth cohort! Luckily, we got our first two weeks of reading assignments at orientation, so I've read a loooot to prepare. 15 chapters for one class? wow. any specific advice you'd feel free giving would be great. you can pm me if you want to.

thanks! glad you made it through successfully!

-Summer

Hi Summer.

Congrats !! Getting into a BSN program is very competitive these days:roll

I'm very glad to hear that they started your reading assignments at orientation. I was pretty obsessed with getting A's so I spent alot more time reading the texts than many of my classmates did and I'll bet I was the only one in my class (first cohort) that did virtually all the reading assignments. Sure I graduated with a nice GPA, but there were a few other wise classmates that did just as well and they didn't read all the assignments or see all the videos.

Each professor will pretty much tell you what to focus on for exam preparation and though you are officially responsible for ALL the reading at exam time, I found that they tend focus the exam questions on the notes alot more than the text. If they don't tell you ...ASK.

In hindsite, I would have made it a point to know all the notes inside out and only cover the material in the text that expounds on material presented in the notes.

Another thing....get a book or software on APA format that you can use when writing the many papers that will be assigned. EVERYTHING must be in APA format. Some professors like Susan James are obsessed with APA and will assign 10% of a paper's grade to how well you complied with it. (At lease she did with us..I complained bitterly to Dr. Caldwell so that may have changed).

Also, get a couple of NCLEX prep books and before an exam, do the questions in the test prep books on the subject you're gonna be tested on. It will get you accustomed to the wierd, nebulous world of nursing exam questions. You'll discover that with many nursing exam questions, there are extremely fine shades of distinction between the right answer and the wrong answer. In fact, you must train your brain to stop thinking in terms of right and wrong answers and think in terms of finding the BEST answer. Many classmates of mine really struggled with this. Another thing.....ask your Med-Surg prof to schedule a workshop with Dr. Don Anderson and your cohort on test taking techniques. He's a renound expert on this topic, an awsome speaker and was a huge help in this area. Listen to evey word he says. Get to know Professors Susan Larocco, Don Anderson and the Lindas Caldwell and Tenofsky. They are wonderful people who are tremendous sources of advice and inspiration. They're awsome instructors who will go the extra mile to help you with anything, listen to your problems, and they also carry alot of weight in the nursing world and grad school when it comes to references. They're not easy mind you....but they are as good as it gets in nursing instruction.

Anymore questions......feel free.

All the best to you Summer !!

Ken

Ken,

Thank you SO much for your message - that is exactly the advice I was looking for. I've definitely gotten the feeling that, like you said, the courses are all intended to prep you for the NCLEX. I've gotten a few review books that the teachers recommended and also the APA manual ('required' by Susan James.. haha). The only class I have no info for is Pathophys, besides the book and a few chapters to begin - I'm a bit nervous about this one, although in prereqs. I excelled in Micro, A&P, etc. I'm very glad to hear that most of the tests will revolve around the notes.

One thing they've added for us is an hour of pass/fail clinical lab for the entire first semester - I think you only had it for a few weeks? oh, and 77% is now the lowest passing grade.

If you don't mind, which course did you find the most challenging? And how was the health assessment lab - I've read some crazy stories on here. Whatever must be done, I'll be professional about it, of course, but just wondering what to expect!

Thanks again! My stomach is tied in knots today and my heart rate's up!

-S

Hi Summer and Ken!

I have been reading this thread and your posts and I have a few questions for you both! I am currently a high school teacher and teacher mentor. This is my fifth year teaching and I am realizing this is not what I want to do forever! I am finishing up my MAT (masters in Art of Teaching) this May and originally thought I would start a CAGS or PhD program in School Leadership in the fall, but now I really think I want to go back to school for nursing. I have several nurses in my family and amongst my friends- in talking with them and through my research I think that this would be a great fit for me. I have always been more of an eng/hist person so I never seriously considered it- until now! I have looked into programs and I think that Curry's ACCEL sounds intense but great! I want to apply for March 1st so that I can start in the next cohort- Jan 08- but I do not have any of the prereqs done. Do you think that applying with none of them complete will hurt my chances. I have heard from many sources that this program is tough to get into. If I got in- I would take the prereqs over the summer and fall. Is this too ambitious? I just need a little perspective!!! Thanks! And congrats Summer on starting the program! Good luck!

~Karen

Hi Karen,

Thanks for the encouragement! You've probably seen this already, but here is the link to the Curry ACCEL admissions webpage:

http://www.curry.edu/Academics/Majors+Minors+and+Departments/Nursing/Majors/Accelerated+Program.htm

They will not review your application until three of four science prereqs. are met, and since decisions are made by April 1, it would be impossible to apply this March. If you truly want to try for the program, I'd suggest taking the prereqs. and applying next year. I had a couple of them from my first degree, but still took 1 1/2 to finish them up before applying.

I wrote a thread a while back about the other accelerated programs in MA and links to their sites. https://allnurses.com/forums/f198/lots-info-re-massachusetts-schools-accel-direct-entry-adn-153628.html

Good Luck!

Summer

Hi Summer-

Thanks for the link! I talked to someone in Continuing Ed at Curry last week who told me that I could apply without any of the prereqs done as long as I had a plan to finish them before the start of the program. I am planning on attending the open house so I will double-check then.

What is your background- if you don't mind me asking- how did you end up going to nursing school? Did you feel that the program is really hard to get into? I have looked into the other accelerated post bach BSN programs and they are either too far away or way too expensive!!! I really hope that I get into Curry- even if it is for Jan 09. My husband and I still have to figure out if financially I could stop teaching at the end of this year. We may have to save a little more in preparation! Once I decide to do something though- I really just like to go for it!

Thanks again!

KAren

Karen,

I have a BA in psychology, but after graduation in 2001, I moved here to MA as a nanny and believe it or not, have been doing that since! I ended up with a great family and am now more of a house manager - it's been a fantastic experience and I'm a part of the family now, but I always knew I was going to move on.

I've always been interested in medicine and have experience working with adults with developmental disabilities, including giving meds, monitoring health, hygiene, etc... That was near the end of my first degree and I started realizing I was really drawn to nursing, but it seemed too late. I didn't know about the Accel programs then.

I could be wrong, but I believe there were hundreds of applicants for 35 spots, so in that respect, it's tough to get in. Simmons is supposed to be just as hard and I was VERY surprised and excited that I got in to both.

My husband and I have been saving a little and I'll still be working part-time for a few months until clinicals begin, but I'm mostly taking out loans. That sucks, but will pay off in the end! (fingers crossed)

-summer

Summer,

To respond to your follow up questions, I took a grad level patho course at MGH Inst. the summer before classes started at Curry. Then I kinda put them on the spot by asking them to take the credits. At first they hemmed and hawed, but I persisted to submit a detailed sylabus and course description along with my transcript. After that they had to accept it and I didn't need to take the undergrad version at Curry. Looking at the courses you excelled in, you have nothing to worry about. Patho is much more straight forward than the "nursing courses" from the standpoint that there's much less room for the typical ultra nebulous multiple choice questions you get with nursing courses. Patho is just facts.

Glad to hear the skills lab goes all semester....that was a major complaint from our cohort....not nearly enough skills stuff. The health assessment lab was, for me, kinda fun. Don't worry.... there was nothing that violated anyone's sensibilities...but you can't help but grow a little closer to some of your classmates with all the touching, poking, looking and listening.

Lastly....the course that I found the most challanging was Pedi...not that the material was challenging, rather Prof. SJ was challanging. No matter how hard I tried...I got the same friggin' grade on the first exam, mid term, term paper, final exam and of course final grade.....88. That term paper was probably the best paper I've ever written...but she wacked 10 points off for a few piddly violations of APA form....I would have had a 98. Don't get me going about her.....she's a very qualified instructor (she co-authored the text), unfortunately she knows it, and is very likely an excellent pediatric NP, but I found her to be the most arrogant, nit picky and supercilious professor I've ever had. great course....not so great instructor. As an asside....my area happens to be in pediatric and adolescent care....I love it.

Good luck....work hard, don't fall behind. If I can help...lemme know.

Ken