Already have BA..which nursing school is best for me?

[Mockingjay]

Hey all,

I graduated from UCONN with a BA in psychology a little over a year ago and recently decided I want to go back to school for nursing. I am currently looking into Goodwin college but am having some doubts because I read in some other forums that Goodwin does not give students enough "hands on" clinical experience.

I have some pre-req's done already but still need to take classes such as anatomy, micro bio and some math classes. I was wondering if anyone has taken nursing pre-req's at a community college then transferred to a state school. I would like to go back to UCONN to get a nursing degree but do not know how possible this is to do. Also, I know SCSU has an accelerated nursing program as well that is difficult to get into. My main concern is being able to get the best education as possible, without being in school for another 4 years!

Sooo my main question is, would anyone reccommend taking pre-reqs at a community college then transferring? Or would it be best to stick it out at a community college? Also, do state schools such as CCSU, UCONN or SCSU take transfer credits from community colleges for nursing programs?

I am also only interested in an RN progam! Please help~thank you!! :)

[PavementRN]

I say go for the BSN if you can. It'll be much easier to go back for your master's or go on to management positions in the future. Southern is definitely the best choice for the accelerated program. It's cheap (relatively) and has an excellent, well established program, but these factors also make it fairly competitive to get into. I may be biased, though, I'm a Southern grad! Uconn only has the MEIN program, which is master's entry into nursing. The great thing about that program is that after the first year you can get your RN license and work part-time while finishing the master's. The other accelerated BSN programs in CT are Quinnipiac, Fairfield, and St. Joseph's. These should be only be considered if you can't get into Southern or don't want to go for your master's at Uconn, mostly because of the higher cost of these programs. All of these schools will accept pre-reqs from a community college. So just take the pre-reqs, get good grades, and transfer!

[Mockingjay]

Thank you so much this was such a help! I just found out about the MEIN program today actually and I'm glad I have options. I think the best bet for me is to take community college pre-reqs then transfer. Thanks for your time!

[xenogenetic]

I am currently in the Goodwin nursing program and know several nurses that graduated from the Goodwin program and can tell you that all of them are outstanding nurses! One RN that graduated from Goodwin, not too long ago, received Nurse of the Year award at my facility out of 100+ staff nurses within our agency. If you want to be a good nurse you will get there...you will make the most of your clinical experiences while in school. Some students attend the best nursing schools out there and turn out to be subpar clinically skilled nurses because they chose to shy away from experiences in nursing school. There really is something to the old addage of "it's what you make of it".

I received my BA in Psych from Uconn ('98) as well and later went back for my LPN and now RN and will offer you my opinion that the bigger states schools are overkill because they want you to take gym and 2 years of a foriegn language in order to get your BSN. Go get your ADN and BSN from Goodwin and then apply to any APRN program you want. If you go to Goodwin you'll be done in less time due to their trimester format as well as flexible hybrid and online classes. Goodwin, despite it's higher cost, goes out of it's way to tailor their program to the busy, working person. Uconn and the bigger universities expect you to live in a dorm and put your life on hold for them, in my opinion.

[mssjez]

Another option that I didn't see mentioned is a second degree program. Several colleges in CT have BSN programs designed for student who already have a Bachelor's in something else. Most of these programs are 2-3 years depending on what your class load is like. Also, many of these colleges accept transfer credits from the community colleges if you'd like to get some pre-reqs completed ahead of time. It might be a good thing to look into. Good luck!