Accelerated BSN program choice advice

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Hi everyone! I would love some advice...

I currently live in Portland and will be applying to the two accelerated BSN programs that there are here in Oregon (OHSU and Linfield) this winter. I unfortunately won't quite meet all of the requirements to apply to U of Washington in time for their October deadline.

While I REALLY don't want to leave Portland, it is also really important for me to start an accelerated program next summer for various planning purposes, so while I am a fairly competitive applicant, I still need to apply to a few other schools as "back-ups".

This is where I am "stuck". I look through the list of the 230 programs available in this country, and just feel "empty" about where I might be willing to move to. Many of these states and cities are places I've never been to. I'm originally from the NY metro area and don't have any desire to return there. I almost feel like in choosing my back-up schools I am practically throwing a dart. So I thought I would share what my important criteria are, and see if any of you had some recommendations! It is just really stressful to imagine picking up and moving my whole family to a new strange place for 15-18 months - also knowing that if I am offered a job in that area we might stay....

So, what I am preferably looking for is:

A "nice" place to live (vague enough for you?) :)

I have two young children - so educational opportunities and activities for them (a zoo, children's museum, generally family friendly area, good preschools, etc)

Some sort of natural beauty - maybe close driving to great outdoor activities (hiking, etc)

Fairly low cost of living - I'll want to minimize commute time to the school while not breaking the budget so that's another reason I'm not interested in going to school in NYC or something. As an example, we pay $1500 now to rent a nice 3 bedroom home that is close-in.

Not a deal breaker, but I tend to "fit in" better in communities that lean a little more democratic or liberal

Again not a deal breaker, but I tend to like easy access to holistic or natural or organic products - so at least a Whole Foods or similar type of grocery available

Decent weather? (my hubby is from northern michigan and doesn't really want to deal with 6+ months of solid snow....

I know this doesn't give much information to go on, but I'm just hoping there are some of you who can maybe relate to my situation, and who LOVE where you live, and can let me in on the location! :)

Thanks in advance for any help!

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Specializes in ICU.

Well what does your husband do? Is he from Oregon?

Arizona, New Mexico, and even if you don't mind coming back to the east coast Maryland. I stay in FL which has eight of the 20 worst metropolitan areas in terms of their overall economy. I know Arizona has some spots like that too. Texas aint so bad in terms of overall jobs and housing but the liberal would be a minimal I would think.

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Specializes in Neuro ICU.

Check out Duke and UNC in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area, both top-notch programs in a fantastic and affordable area. (I'm starting at Duke in August and I'm absolutely over the moon about it, and I think the area really fits a lot of what you want. Plus, Duke hires a lot of its students, and has a tuition repayment plan for those who stay and work there, even though the tuition is a bit frighteningly high upfront.)

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Thanks for the replies!!

I should have mentioned - my husband owns his own business that he runs from home so his work just moves with him. Although he really does have a preference for areas that have fiber (i.e. megafast internet) installed.

I have heard really good things in the course of my lifetime about the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area - I hadn't thought about that area - I will go check out Duke and UNC's programs right now!!! :)

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Specializes in Urgent Care NP, Emergency Nursing, Camp Nursing.

You seem to like living near water, so if you want that as well as some variety in your meteorology, you should consider Chicago. The city is home to Loyola's ABSN program, in addition to DePaul's Master's Entry program (disclosure: I'm in this program), Rush's Graduate-Entry program, and UIC's Direct-Entry Master's (which'll kick you out with an RN, an MS, and an APN of your choice). The last is the hardest to get into, but it does spit you out with the APN. I heavily suggest looking at the grad/masters entry programs in addition to the straight ABSN; for example with DePaul the academics are accelerated (to make room for the APN core classes and a research project) while the clinical rotations are at the usual 2-year pace. In the near-west burbs there's also West Surburban, which offers some BSN-MSN programs.

As for the city of Chicago in general, we have wonderful mass transit (both in the city and regionally), which most of the aforementioned universities are on, so finding a reasonably-priced residence that's close in isn't too hard. There are two zoos in the area (one of which is free, the other is by Loyola), a bunch of museums geared to both adults and children (including Sue the T. Rex at the Field Museum), the Lake, and we definitely do Liberal well. There are Whole Foods and Trader Joes in the city, and farmer's markets in many areas for most of the warmer months. Most of the 20+ miles of lakeshore are public parks; the Cook County Forest Preserve is extensive, and there are state parks in four states within reasonable driving distance.

Did I miss anything?

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Hi TheSquire - YES - living near water is something we like - very perceptive of you!

Thank you so so much for all of the detailed information! I'm working my way through all of the schools you listed and there do seem to be a lot of interesting programs. Do you love the MENP program? Have you gotten a chance to speak to many alumni, and do you think there were better job opportunities for them versus just ASBN students?

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Specializes in Urgent Care NP, Emergency Nursing, Camp Nursing.

I'm enjoying my current program at DePaul. Unfortunately, as a current student, I can't really give you an opinion on how various local employers view DePaul grads vs. ABSN grads. What I do understand is that those institutions who we use as clinical sites have high opinions of our students and graduates - which is not a small number of institutions, since the program is growing and DePaul doesn't have a hospital of its own.

I don't know too many alumni since cross-cohort socialization doesn't happen too much, but those I do know are all employed right now, for whatever that's worth.

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Samuel Merritt in Northern California (bay area) has an accelerated program. I believe they have campuses in Oakland, San Francisco, San Mateo and Sacramento. If you decide to apply to the program in Sacramento, Davis is a great nearby city (about 10-20 min away) and definitely more affordable than the bay area. I went there for undergrad.

I have a ton of friends who stuck around Davis, it's definitely a true college town, very family friendly, and has a great school system (I think my friend said it was ranked #2 as the most college degrees per capita...). It's also got a great farmers market bi-weekly.

The bay area is also great, and depending on the city you decide to live in will have a great school system, but it is very expensive.

If you need any more info about the area, let me know. Sadly I'll be leaving the area for nursing school in 3 weeks...trying to soak up as much of the sun as I can before I leave :)

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Samuel Merritt in Northern California (bay area) has an accelerated program. I believe they have campuses in Oakland, San Francisco, San Mateo and Sacramento. If you decide to apply to the program in Sacramento, Davis is a great nearby city (about 10-20 min away) and definitely more affordable than the bay area. I went there for undergrad.

I have a ton of friends who stuck around Davis, it's definitely a true college town, very family friendly, and has a great school system (I think my friend said it was ranked #2 as the most college degrees per capita...). It's also got a great farmers market bi-weekly.

The bay area is also great, and depending on the city you decide to live in will have a great school system, but it is very expensive.

If you need any more info about the area, let me know. Sadly I'll be leaving the area for nursing school in 3 weeks...trying to soak up as much of the sun as I can before I leave :)

Hi, could you please tell me more about Samuel Merritt college please? I've been looking around for a very good college/uni for a while now and had no luck finding a decent place to study at!! I'm looking to do LVN-BSN program, is this uni worth going 2? Please tell me as much as u can. Thanks.

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Hi, could you please tell me more about Samuel Merritt college please? I've been looking around for a very good college/uni for a while now and had no luck finding a decent place to study at!! I'm looking to do LVN-BSN program, is this uni worth going 2? Please tell me as much as u can. Thanks.

I have a friend who graduated from Samuel Merritt's ABSN program, but I don't know too much about it. I don't actually think they have a LVN to BSN prgoram. I don't know too much about LVN to BSN programs sicne I was only considering ABSN programs. Here is Samuel Merritt's website: http://www.samuelmerritt.edu/

But, I do know that Sacramento State has a LVN to BSN program (at least the last time I checked they did). I know they have a pretty good nursing program from what I've heard. Chico State also has a great nursing program, I have a few friends who went to Chico (not for nursing though).

SF State also has a good nursing program from what the nurses I worked with told me. Although I'm not sure if they have a LVN to BSN program. I would check them out.

I primarily concentrated on schools on the east coast (even though I'm on the west coast) :), although I did work with nurses who went to programs in the area, so feel free to PM me if you have anymore questions (don't want to clog up the OP's thread).

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Specializes in Urgent Care NP, Emergency Nursing, Camp Nursing.

Tangental question - if you have your LVN and want a BSN, aren't they just going to make you do the BSN curriculum anyway?

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Finding an ABSN that meets your requisites is hard. I had to literally go down a list of schools at random and start looking at the requirements. The good/bad news is that your choices will be narrowed since programs have many varied course prerequisites.

Also, keep in mind that accelerated programs are fairly short. So, if you live someplace undesirable it is only for a short time. It takes a long time and persistence finding ABSN programs, but if that is what you want to do go for it!

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