Cal State Northridge CSUN Accelerated BSN Fall 2008

labelledame · Mar 30, 2009

I think the 9 units upper level division can be waved in certain conditions, for example if you have more than a BA/BS. I will have to double check with the advisers... By the way, those who start in the fall semester can take those classes this summer like softballgirl09 said.

To cshallen: I was accepted at MSMC, but I will go with CSUN because of the tuition... they are way cheaper, about $10,000. That about a $40,000 saving. :bow: Moreover, Fafsa will not give you the whole amount needeed for your training. You will have to deal with private loans which is not funny to me...

Does anyone take the upper division writing proficiency exam already? How is it, what happens if you don't pass... I 'm really poor in writing:down:

levoila · Mar 30, 2009

leviola: if you had to choose between msmc and csun, which would you ultimately choose?

my greatest concern is minimizing the debt i add on to my current student loan debt.

my initial response would be csun because of the cost, but this 9-unit thing might mean an extra semester. i would also have to move closer to csun, which would increase how much it would cost me. the summer cohort is barely the 4th to go through the program, so it's only been a few years (even though the rn-bsn program has been around longer). i love the idea of being done in one year and being able to start getting the experience i'd need to progress to the next stage of my goal.

with msmc, i would be able to commute from home (15 min w/o traffic maybe 30-35 min with traffic). the campus is small and beautiful. their program has been around longer, but you also have to take an upper division ethics class during an otherwise intense semester.

msmc program schedule semester #1

20 units

mon. & tues. 7am to 3:30pm

theory courses

wed., thurs, & fri. 6:30am to 3:30pm

clinical rotations at the hospital

semester #2

18 units of nursing & 3 units of bioethics= 21 units!

tuesday- 7am to 2pm- theory

thursday- 7am to 4pm- theory

mon., wed., fri., sat., sun.

clinical days (2 days each week)

semester #3

18 units

mon & wed. theory classes

mon. 7am to noon; wed. 7am to 5pm

tues., thurs., fri., sat., sun.

clinicals (2 days a week)

another thing that concerns me is the forgivable loans--from the info sessions i got the impression that most of the students got one, but someone told me recently that only 17 were given out for the last cohort. that makes a huge difference.

i know that investing in a rewarding career is worthwhile, but if i can get the needed education for nearly 1/5 of what it would cost at msmc by going to a public university, i find it hard to imagine choosing otherwise.

i need to find out tomorrow about the 9-unit requirement at csun and also about the likelihood of getting one of those forgivable loans at msmc. if they make it seem like everyone can get one, when in fact, that's not the case, i would hate to have end up taking out private loans to cover that considerable, additional cost.

if we can get the forgivable loan from msmc, it would cost either $22,442 or $23,442 (based on the $47,442 estimate for tuition and fees minus the $25k or $24k forgivable loan--but dalia did mention that these fees would likely go up for this year). according to the powerpoint from the info session, we can only get $21,000 in stafford loans, so we might need a private loan to make up the difference.

whereas the fees (not including books/housing/etc) at csun would be $8920

according to the msmc info session powerpoint, they estimate room/board to cost around $12,720-13,540 (i'm guessing private loans/scholarships???)

so if i had to choose, i think it makes more sense to go with csun. it is a big difference in cost. this bsn is just going to be the first part of a longer plan for me, so saving money where i can is important to me.

levoila · Mar 30, 2009

I think the 9 units upper level division can be waved in certain conditions, for example if you have more than a BA/BS. I will have to double check with the advisers... By the way, those who start in the fall semester can take those classes this summer like softballgirl09 said.
To cshallen: I was accepted at MSMC, but I will go with CSUN because of the tuition... they are way cheaper, about $10,000. That about a $40,000 saving. Moreover, Fafsa will not give you the whole amount needeed for your training. You will have to deal with private loans which is not funny to me...
Does anyone take the upper division writing proficiency exam already? How is it, what happens if you don't pass... I 'm really poor in writing:down:

I haven't taken it, but I remember from the info session that you would be given a something to read and then asked to write about it. I don't know anything about how picky they might be. Do we have any CSU grads that have taken it already?

cshallen · Mar 30, 2009

levoila: thanks so much for taking the time to answer my question so thoroughly. It will help in my decision process. I feel the same way you do about loving everything -- the location, campus, 12 mo. -- about msmc, but the cost. CSUN is a tremendous commute (and I dont want to move) and will take longer, especially with the 9 unit thing. If it were not for the cost, I would choose msmc. However, I too have long term plans to become an np, so i want to save where I can. What is comes down to is that my heart wants to go to msmc, but my brain says go to csun for the cost...

softballgirl09 · Mar 30, 2009

The UDWE is not very hard. They just give you a scenario like "Talk about something you did this summer." They just want to see that you know how to write a coherent paragraph. 3 paragraphs will suffice. Nothing fancy. If you are concerned with passing just take it early so that you can re-take it before you graduate. There is no cap on how many times you can attempt it but it is only offered like 3-4 times per semester.

levoila · Mar 30, 2009

levoila: thanks so much for taking the time to answer my question so thoroughly. It will help in my decision process. I feel the same way you do about loving everything -- the location, campus, 12 mo. -- about msmc, but the cost. CSUN is a tremendous commute (and I dont want to move) and will take longer, especially with the 9 unit thing. If it were not for the cost, I would choose msmc. However, I too have long term plans to become an np, so i want to save where I can. What is comes down to is that my heart wants to go to msmc, but my brain says go to csun for the cost...

You're welcome, cshallen. It actually helped me as well. It forced me to really think about it. We could always study in the library until the traffic dies down

I really don't want to move, but having to commit the 70-80 hrs a week that they mentioned during the interview made me think that it would make more sense to live close-by. They mentioned that one student is currently commuting from Ventura--I'm not familiar with how the traffic would be in that direction, but my sister assures me that it would be worse than what I would have to deal with. I really hate traffic though!

cshallen · Mar 30, 2009

So levoila, does this mean you have decided to do csun and fight the traffic?

levoila · Mar 30, 2009

So levoila, does this mean you have decided to do csun and fight the traffic?

I haven't decided yet, but after thinking about it so much, it does seem that CSUN would be the best choice.

What about you, cshallen?

levoila · Mar 30, 2009

cshallen: were you admitted to the summer cohort or fall?

cshallen · Mar 30, 2009

I was admitted to both csun and msmc for the summer cohorts. were you admitted to both for this summer too?

Also, as I said, I want my fnp ultimately -- and the sooner the better. But if i apply for fall '10 np programs, the app's will be due feb'10 when i am still working on a bsn and not offically an rn. Would programs consider an app like this? it seems not likely, so it looks like the earliest we could apply for np programs would be feb'11 for fall'11!!!!!I guess that is why entry level programs are so conveinant...how do you feel about this? do you think programs would consider someone for an msn-np if they are still in "rn" school at the time they filed the application???

levoila · Mar 30, 2009

I was admitted to both csun and msmc for the summer cohorts. were you admitted to both for this summer too?
Also, as I said, I want my fnp ultimately -- and the sooner the better. But if i apply for fall '10 np programs, the app's will be due feb'10 when i am still working on a bsn and not offically an rn. Would programs consider an app like this? it seems not likely, so it looks like the earliest we could apply for np programs would be feb'11 for fall'11!!!!!I guess that is why entry level programs are so conveinant...how do you feel about this? do you think programs would consider someone for an msn-np if they are still in "rn" school at the time they filed the application???

I really don't know. All I know is that you need a minimum amount of hours of clinical experience. When Kathy Hinoki told me that the graduates of the ELMN program usually work as RNs to get more experience because of the competition and they didn't feel ready to practice as NPs, it made me think that working for at least two years after becoming an RN made more sense. I don't want to go to all the trouble of studying something and then not even be able to use it. Then, at what point would you transition to being a NP? I think I would feel better about getting hired directly as a NP without having to go through an "I'm not ready yet phase."

When I read posts on the thread from Columbia's ETP program, I got the impression that they are able to get jobs working as NPs after graduating--if that were the case here, then I wouldn't hesitate. I was really disappointed when she said that wasn't the case. All this time I was sure that CSULA was my first choice--until that moment. Then, I thought that getting the BSN first might be better, because then I could get into an MSN program that had a better reputation/higher ranking (just in case that would make getting hired as a NP easier). I want to be a FNP--I'm sure, but I don't want to jump through all of the hoops and either not feel ready or be treated as if I'm not ready--does that make sense? I mean, there is something to be said about the reputation of the program that you go through opening doors for you. Once you're there, you have to prove yourself, but if it might give you some kind of edge getting the interview or something, why not go for it? That said, I've heard really good things about CSULA's BSN/MSN programs and also about CSULB--I haven't met anyone who has gone through the CSUN program. My feeling is that it should be fine, though. I like the idea of being done in a year without a whole lot of extra debt. I could pay down my loans while I get RN experience, then I can continue onto the next chapter with a clean slate (hopefully).

levoila · Mar 30, 2009

I was admitted to CSUN for the Summer and I applied to MSMC for the Fall (no decisions yet).