Boston ABSN Programs

kam0509 · Jul 30, 2016

Hello everyone!

Newbie to this forum here, and was hoping to get an insight/advice on some Boston ABSN programs which I am in the process of applying to.

I have been doing a lot of research and I feel like it is only making me more confused/nervous about picking a school. I have found various mixed reviews for a lot of the programs so am trying to determine what is accurate!

The programs I am planning on applying to were Simmons, UMass Boston, MGH IHP, and Northeastern. I contemplated applying to BC's program which is actually a MSN program, but realized they don't award a BSN first, so will likely not apply there.

Has anyone had any experiences with these 4 ABSN programs? Looking to hear the good and the bad from experiences with courses, faculty, and clinicals (especially curious to see where clinical placements were and how the instructors were since much of the commentary I have read was negative about clinical placements and instruction.)

Also, for your application experience - did you have prior healthcare experience and do they stress this? I'm actually coming from the finance world and only have had experience medical experience with animals as a vet tech which was a job I worked while in business school. I'm wondering if I should try to get my CNA at least before applications get submitted or if they don't put too much emphasis on prior experience if you have a good GPA from 1st bachelors and strong reference letters?

Last thing I'm curious about is did anyone work part time during the program as a PCA, etc. to gain hands on experience and network for better chances of landing a job after graduating? I know the programs are intense so was not sure if even a part time job would be a good idea, but I feel like it would help for after graduating? I'm nervous after reading job postings which all say NO NEW GRADS! or require 1+ years experience. I'm concerned I won't be able to find a job post-grad! So was thinking getting a foot in the door as a PCA could be helpful? I'd love to hear about you experience in landing a job after graduation since this was the other big thing I'm concerned about. I know some gals who landed jobs in the CICU as new grads, yet all postings I see say absolutely no new grads?! (Ped. CICU is my dream/goal so I'm dying to know how they landed that straight out of school!!)

Thanks in advance!!