Best accelerated nursing programs in NYC?

estrellaCR, BSN, RN · Sep 23, 2014

CUNY Hunter has great reputation but is also challenging, you have to study alot. However, there are some great instructors and clinical experiences available. The last semester you do a preceptorship where you work one on one with an RN at a local hospital. The program is def affordable.

CUNY Lehman: has good rep also. A lot of grads from Lehman are hired by Bronx hospitals. This program is affordable also.

SUNY Downstate: good reputation, a little costlier than the CUNYs but still affordable compared to private schools.

LIU: I have not heard good things about LIU. I know two students who transferred out of LIU b/c the program was quite unorganized.

Pace and Adelphi: i dont know much about them...except that they are expensive.

Columbia: good school but very expensive

NYU: very expensive and admits way too many students (they graduate Two classes a year and each class has almost 300 students!). From my encounters with NYU students, they have challenge finding clinical placements for them all.

HopefulSRNA1234 · Sep 23, 2014

I know we're talking nursing here but SUNY downstate's medical residency was placed on probation and accreditation was almost withdrawn due to issues at the hospital. When I was applying to schools i thought that was a bad sign overall. Also, when I called downstate to get more information on their program, they were hard to get ahold of, condescending, and just plain rude. I did not apply to them because of that.

The public schools in NYC (like hunter) are amazing and cheap! They are also tough to get into because most people want to go public over private. But if you can get into one, definitely take it! I know NYU and Columbia seem like big names but for most people they are second choices and easier to get into.

Piniella · Sep 25, 2014

this was GREAT information and i'm so appreciative that you wrote back! i'm actually going to 2 info sessions today, so we'll see what happens...

thanks again!

seconddegreebsn · Sep 26, 2014

SUNY Downstate's nursing program doesn't exclusively do clinicals out of that hospital, so you don't have to worry about the status of what's going down there (it's not good), and the school has the highest NCLEX pass rate in the state. It's extremely affordable compared to the private schools. Downstate is the only SUNY nursing school in the city, but there's more SUNY schools if you're willing to leave. They accept 60 students and many people have good luck with the wait list.

Hunter is great, and everyone I met who went there is very intelligent and academically impressive (I did my prerequisites there). That being said, it is extremely competitive and hard to get into the ABSN program (they only offer 30 seats) and when I spoke with the advisors they were not really honest about my chances. I wish they hadn't wasted my time trying to get in, I could have started a year earlier somewhere else. You have to be a student at Hunter (accepted into the college) before you apply to the school of nursing, which might be a deal breaker if you mistime it. The same goes for other CUNY schools, since the few that offer ABSN programs are flooded with applications - so if I'm a Hunter student, I can't apply to Lehman's ABSN. I'd have to apply to Lehman and be accepted as a student, THEN apply to their nursing program. Usually the timing is you get accepted in the fall to the college and accepted to the CON in the spring. So be careful in that regard because you are putting all of your eggs in one basket, and follow up with them like crazy because CUNY is notorious for losing stuff (I'm a two time CUNY grad, if only I had a dollar for every thing they lost). If you do get in, go for it.

LIU - I have heard very mixed things about this program. Do some research on old threads and you'll see some pretty unhappy campers.

NYU - classes are too large, many end up doing clinicals in sim labs. You'll make the same salary as those who went to state schools, why spend more than you have to?

estrellaCR, BSN, RN · Sep 26, 2014

Actually you only have to be a CUNY student to apply to their ABSN program. I was taking pre-reqs at Lehman and while there I applied to both Lehman ABSN and for a transfer to Hunter and also to their ABSN. I was accepted to both and i ended up going to Hunter. As long as you are a student at a CUNY you can apply for a transfer to another CUNY while applying to their ABSN program. First you get a general transfer admission decision to the college (in April) and around mid-May you hear back from the ABSN program.