Adelphi Manhattan - NOT a program for full-time workers!

NurseDreamerNYC · Oct 4, 2009

I know this was posted a long time ago but I have a few questions. I am currently interested in transferring to Adelphi but I also work full-time. If necessary, I would definitely be willing to quit the job I have now and work part-time. My question is, what exactly are their clinical hours? I understand that lectures are given in the evening but when do they do hospital rotations? And if someone is done with all of their pre-reqs (including all sciences), would it still be impossible for them to work full-time while going through the program? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Junebugfairy · Oct 4, 2009

every nursing school i have ever looked into has stated this "you should not work full time while going to nursing school."

imo it is not unusual to need to cut back on work in order to go to nursing school.

lifetime learner · Oct 5, 2009

@FairyCari - Yes, that's true with most schools, as they are very up-front about the need to reduce work hours or leave altogether. The problem with Adelphi is that not only do they advertise the Manhattan program as "evening," but even in my initial advisement sessions I was assured that I could maintain my full-time job and follow the full-time course schedule. It works fine for the first semester, then becomes difficult/impossible after that, after about $12K and a semester of work has been invested.

@MissBr0nx - Consider this decision VERY carefully!! Adelphi is an administrative nightmare. Most of the Manhattan professors also teach at Pace, BMCC, Hofstra, etc...so you're not really paying for a particular caliber of teaching. Hard to know where the money goes. Also, we're forced to buy expensive uniforms from one place (a scrub top and pants, plus shipping, are about $100 per set), a PDA with software that never gets used (can total about $500 for the set), and the ATI program ($330) which is another hassle. I'm sure there are similar problems with other schools, but at Adelphi, the administration definitely does not support you, and they are not willing to change or listen to feedback.

To answer your question about clinicals - pardon the term, but it's a crapshoot every semester. For the Med/Surg I/II, OB, Peds, and Psych rotations, most of the clinicals are day (7-3 or 8-4), with a couple 3-11 or weekend sections (7-4 Sat or Sun) per semester. Community is ONLY weekday clinicals (Tues or Thurs, 8-4) and the final clinical (Professionalism) depends on your and your preceptor's schedule, although there frequently are 12-hour shifts.

There are only 8 spots in each clinical, so the evening/weekend sections fill up fast. It's an online registration process, and the few decent, easy-to-reach by train clinicals fill up instantly. I've known people who live in South Brooklyn or the Bronx who had to commute to Suffolk county hospitals just because those were the only sections that were left when they registered. The school does not care about the feasibility of transportation to the clinicals and will not assist you if you get stuck at a location you can't reasonably get to. Most clinical sections are on Long Island, with a few in deep Queens and Brooklyn, and maybe 1-3 in Manhattan per course. None in the Bronx, although students have been requesting placements there since my first semester. The worst part is that the clinicals that can easily be reached by train (the city clinicals) are open to the Garden City students just as much as the Manhattan students, even though they live on Long Island and have easy access to those hospitals. It's kind of a mess.

The professors overall are good, and my clinical experiences have been so-so (some great, some terrible). People who have stayed in the accelerated program have quit their full-time jobs because of scheduling, not because they couldn't handle the workload (there are some smart cookies at Manhattan...it's a shame!). The people who've stayed employed full-time go to school an a part-time schedule, typically 2 courses a semester with no summers, takes about 3 years if eveything goes well. They cross fingers and hold their breath at registration to get the evening/weekend clinicals, and I'm not sure what they'll do when they get to Community and the clinicals are only during the day.

Let me know if I can answer any other questions for you!

NurseDreamerNYC · Oct 5, 2009

Thank you lifetime learner for your response! You cleared up a lot of questions for me that probably wouldn't have been answered in detail by the admissions office. Most of the time they just tell you what you want to hear like they did with you when you were going through advisement. I am currently attending BMCC and unable to get into their clinical sequence when I have a 3.8 GPA. I can't tell you how fed up I am with this school. The only reason I was really interested in Adelphi is because they have the BSN program and I was planning on eventually getting my BSN anyway. The only evening BSN programs I know of are Adelphi and LIU and since LIU only takes students once a year in the fall, I missed their deadline. That leaves Adelphi as my only option. I will keep what you said in mind while weighing my decision.

lifetime learner · Oct 5, 2009

I took my science pre-reqs at BMCC too, and went through the whole thing trying to get into their weekend program...what a joke! Honestly, if I could do it over again, I would apply to Columbia and Beth Israel School of Nursing. I'm taking two clinicals there now, and the education seems pretty good.

Columbia is technically a masters entry program, but I don't believe it's binding - you still graduate with a BSN after a year and sit for your boards. The cost and inability to work full-time were my deterrents to applying, but one of my professors (who also teaches there) vouched for the fact that the financial aid/scholarships sometimes cover tuition in full, or close to it, and it only takes a year.

So with a GPA like yours, if there's ANY way you could swing school full-time for a year, I would go for it and apply to Columbia also. Your education would be top-notch, and you wouldn't have to deal with all the issues.

I've also heard about York College starting a BSN program, but I don't know anything about it. Might be worth looking in to.

Good luck!

NurseDreamerNYC · Oct 5, 2009

I think the only positive thing that I can say about BMCC is that I was able to get A's in all of my sciences which a lot of people can't say that attend other schools. I don't know if it's that they dumbed it down or if I was just really good at science lol. Unfortunately I have to work atleast part-time (preferably full-time) while I am in school because I am not getting any financial assistance. Are you still currently attending Adelphi or did you transfer out? I would've liked to go to Beth Israel but I missed their deadline as well. My biggest concern is just getting into a program and sticking with it; I don't want to transfer anymore!

lifetime learner · Oct 5, 2009

I'm still at Adelphi - again, they get you with that first semester! Since you can't transfer nursing credits from school-to-school, I figured I'd just stay. Seriously though, I'm not so sure the 6ish months you'd save by going to Adelphi are worth the sweat and tears. Luckily, my job has been super-accommodating, otherwise, it would have been impossible.

Are you thinking of Manhattan or Garden City? The Manhattan crowd is a little more adult (most people are there for a 2nd or 3rd degree, work, and/or have families), which I much prefer.

NurseDreamerNYC · Oct 5, 2009

I would prefer to go to the Manhattan campus because I work in Manhattan. I would be able to go to the GC campus if necessary because where I live in the bronx is not too far from Long Island. I live literally two minutes from the whitestone bridge which crosses into Long Island. After this conversation I am thinking twice about going to Adelphi. I just didn't see the sense in taking another 3 years to get my ADN when I could get my BSN in 3 years (give or take) at Adelphi but now I'm not so sure. I appreciate all your input and now these are things I definitely need to consider. I can see from talking to you that working full-time would definitely not be a smart choice.

odessit_nurse_CCCP · Mar 31, 2010

hello everyone,

i have questions!!!!!

where do i begin? i, like you, have started my nursing journey at bmcc. in two semesters i realized that there was a shortage of sciences courses so i also enrolled into kingsborough community college where no such shortage exists. this actually worked out pretty well. i am now on my 60th general requirement credit. all along i was planning to go to liu; i have been planning my pre-reqs around liu's program, but now i think that i might not make it in (i got as & bs on most of the science pre-reqs, but i also got one c, which i think hurt me immensely). since now i have no idea where i might end up, i started looking around. i'm thinking about adelphi university. from reading your posts and also posts on http://www.studentsreview.com, i see that people are saying positive things about adelphi.

here are my questions: how difficult is it to get in? what is the gpa expectation? i learned not to trust what the school website says (liu said 3.0 is enough, but when i tried to apply they wanted a lot higher gpa since the program is so competitive). only people who actually applied would know what the real expectations are. that's why i am asking here. also, how difficult is the nursing placement exam, teas? what kind of topics should i study to do well on it? is there a prep book? any help would be greatly appreciated.

missbr0nx: did you end up going to adelphi? if yes, how is it working out for you? please share.

lifetime learner: have you finished your studies? i hope it worked out for you too.

please reply.

thanks!

NurseDreamerNYC · Mar 31, 2010

hello everyone,
i have questions!!!!!
where do i begin? i, like you, have started my nursing journey at bmcc. in two semesters i realized that there was a shortage of sciences courses so i also enrolled into kingsborough community college where no such shortage exists. this actually worked out pretty well. i am now on my 60th general requirement credit. all along i was planning to go to liu; i have been planning my pre-reqs around liu's program, but now i think that i might not make it in (i got as & bs on most of the science pre-reqs, but i also got one c, which i think hurt me immensely). since now i have no idea where i might end up, i started looking around. i'm thinking about adelphi university. from reading your posts and also posts on http://www.studentsreview.com, i see that people are saying positive things about adelphi.
here are my questions: how difficult is it to get in? what is the gpa expectation? i learned not to trust what the school website says (liu said 3.0 is enough, but when i tried to apply they wanted a lot higher gpa since the program is so competitive). only people who actually applied would know what the real expectations are. that's why i am asking here. also, how difficult is the nursing placement exam, teas? what kind of topics should i study to do well on it? is there a prep book? any help would be greatly appreciated.
missbr0nx: did you end up going to adelphi? if yes, how is it working out for you? please share.
lifetime learner: have you finished your studies? i hope it worked out for you too.
please reply.
thanks!

i did not end up going to adelphi. after long consideration i realized that it was not realistic to go to adelphi and work full-time. i ended up applying to dorothea hopfer in mount vernon and i was accepted. i'm finishing up my first semester there and loving it. i am happy with my decision. we took the net for hopfer, which is easier than the teas, but you can get the prep book for the teas here: http://www.atitesting.com/ati_store/product.aspx?zpid=890. good luck!