I was afraid, and confused, and even a little angry at times... But, allNurses helped me choose (and even get accepted to) my first choice nursing school. This is about how I came to my decision, and how I'm very appreciative of all the help I've received in regards to choosing my school. Nurses Announcements Archive Article
I know there are many opposing opinions in regards to private/ for-profit/ community college/ university/ ADN/ BSN schools and degrees, but I just wanted to say that thanks to AN, I have been able to research, visit, take an entrance exam, submit an application, and be accepted to the nursing school of my choice.
I was able come to a decision to start at Galen College of Nursing at St. Petersburg, FL.
My ultimate decision wasn't made from school reviews. It wasn't made by people who didn't attend the school. It wasn't even made by just touring the facility. It was made by me; by spending hours online researching medical facilities in my area; by talking to hiring managers and different colleges in my state; by talking to individuals who were directly responsible for Galen's accreditation; by interviewing (in person) current students and recent graduates.
I would not have realized that I needed to do these things if it were not for the advice I received on allNurses.
1. I've been in contact with 2 separate individuals at SAC. Both that I've spoken to have said that Galen will be SAC accredited in June of 2013. Yes, I understand that this is not the same as NLNAC or CCNE accreditation (although I had no idea what either were when I first started on AN)
2. From the reviews I've read online, many people are mostly complaining about: cost and credits not transferring... Cost is not an issue for me (I'm not rich, but I have enough to pay for classes), and credits not transferring is something I am not worried about (I already have my A.S. in biology, and I've taken micro and labs, A&P I-II and labs, stats, psyche, pre-calc, chem, speech, lit, and a few others) so from what I've seen, and from what I've been given in writing from other universities and community colleges in the area, I don't have to worry about those credits transferring. Also, in regards to the NUR credits, of the 5 schools I've talked to about getting my BSN, they accept Galen's NUR credits for transfer, just not their non-nursing credits.
3. I've called several medical facilities: home health, hospitals, ALF's, SNF's, ALTC, LTC... the ones that I am most interested in hire Galen graduates. I don't want a hospital job as my first, and from what I've heard that makes me weird, but I'm okay with that!
4. I have gone to the school for more hours that I should have, and I've talked to the students. I've gone on study group dates to Starbucks and talked to them (about 30 in all, different times, dates, study groups lol), and the ones who didn't like the school were the ones who were going out to party every weekend and those who missed their social lives because they had to study 3-4 hours a night and on the weekends. There were a few who didn't like the instructors or the clinical sites, but that's to be expected with any school in my experience.
5. I have a close friend that I've known for a few years, we both went to the local community college together. She decided about 3 years ago to go to Galen, and sure, there were tears and stressful days and freakouts (it's nursing school!) but she passed her NCLEX the first time around, and is working at a pediatric home health co. that she loves.
The best advice I've gotten from AN is to do homework. You can ask for opinions all you want, and you can go based solely on those opinions, but you'll never have the answers. Even after doing my homework I'm still a little nervous, but it's getting less and less.
"There is a real threat of danger, but fear is something that you choose to feel." Instead of being afraid, I did research.
And that would not have happened if it weren't for everyone who gave me the good, the bad, and the ugly advice I asked (and even didn't ask) for.
So thank you AN! I got my acceptance letter to Galen College of Nursing today. It's going to be a journey, and I'll always be honest about what's happening at the university. Some of you may think that I'm a faculty member, or a current student, or even a fan-girl of the college, but the truth is, I'm just like all of you other nursing school hopefuls- I hope this turns out for the best, but I won't be sure until I'm done with this leg of the journey.
Happy learning, and thanks again. All of you.