Accelerated Programs

I am going to assume you have a BS not a BSN yet.

I think what program is faster to get into depends on what prereqs you need to take, the program admission requirements, the application process at the school and the number of applicants.

When I applied to schools in 03-04. I was accepted into a traditional program that would have taken me two years to complete since I had a BS already. I missed the cutoff by .02 points of my GPA at an accelerated program. They had an unusually high number of applicants that year and cut the number of students they would taken. If I applied a year earlier or later I would have gotten in. I ended up at a another accelerated program that opened up. It was going to be faster than the 2 year traditional program option.

My advice to anyone interested in applying to nursing school is talk to more than one program and have them review your application/file ASAP so you can plan the timelines to admittance for each school. I know many people who took all their prereqs and then applied without taking to the school first. They found out they still had to wait a year or two because the school pulled people first from the date they applied. I assumed I needed to take a class over and went to a school after I took the class. They said I did not need to take it and with the rest of the classes I needed to take I ended up setting myself behind a year in applying to that school...

Hope this helps and good luck!

Thanks for responding. I was just wondering which was the quicker route. I'm finishing my BA in accounting right now, since I've been in the field for so long. But I really want to be a nurse, so I'm going to check into a few schools and find out what the pre-req's are and apply for these schools. Another year or so won't hurt I guess. How long did you have to attend the One-plus-One program you attended?

Thanks for responding. I was just wondering which was the quicker route. I'm finishing my BA in accounting right now, since I've been in the field for so long. But I really want to be a nurse, so I'm going to check into a few schools and find out what the pre-req's are and apply for these schools. Another year or so won't hurt I guess. How long did you have to attend the One-plus-One program you attended?

I took pre req classes part from Winter 2003 until Fall 2004. The last 3 pre reqs I had to take were Winter 2005. You could only take them once you got in the nursing program. May 2005-May 2006 I did about 55 nursing credits for my BSN as a full time student.

So you can see how important it is to meet with schools to see if your pre reqs transfer and what you still have to take...

When I was "shopping" for an accelerated program, I considered doing just an ADN and doing a BSN completion later or just going back for a 4 year BSN. What I found out is that just about all of the ADN AND traditional BSN programs in the area either have waitlists up into several years (as most everyone knows about) or have filled their incoming classes for the next 3 to 4 start dates (1.5-2 years in the case of some schools). If you already have a BS and have all the prereqs done, it CAN be hands-down faster than waiting for an ADN or traditional BSN program, even if you get turned down your first time and have to reapply the next year like I did.

Mike in Michigan

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