Carolinas College of Health Sciences

Buyer beware, BSN · Jul 10, 2016

I'm assuming when you say an "unexpected turn of events" you may mean for the worse. For this I offer my support in the following words.

I have done a little research on the school you cited. Apparently they have an acceptance rate of 16%. That number is suspicious in that it rivals the acceptance rate of many Ivy League schools. But that metric is only one component of its overall evaluation. You should look at graduation and retention rates and tuition cost. Becoming a nurse is not a one way ticket to life employment with good pay these days so you need to be careful with the cost of school.

Go to collegescorecard.edu.gov. While this site is not perfect, it is a good starting point to help you look at any school's overall performance. You have to ask yourself, is a school functioning to help students graduate or just "in business" to take your loan money?

Whatever you do, do not contemplate any for-profit schools. They prey on the desperate, make it too easy to enroll and have a dreadful history of standing students without a degree and in tons of debt. You can look them up too. Feel free to IM me if you wish with specific questions but be careful with schools. So many will try to entrap you with a lot of empty promises. I have thirty years in nursing and not on anyone's payroll. Tread carefully.

alamode · Jul 11, 2016

OP, I would've loved to know the same things when I was applying, but there doesn't seem to be a lot of active alumni on this site, and it's not public knowledge how the admissions criteria are weighed.

I was offered a spot from the waitlist. My GPA was below competitive, 3.2, so I assume they considered that I had brought it up from a 1.something that I earned (ha!) many years ago during my first attempt at college.

I'm sure you're already aware that they are a reputable college that's directly affiliated with the CMC hospitals, so the above concerns about a for profit school are moot.

I ended up declining the spot, but the admissions person was extremely helpful with my questions while I decided. If you are still working on your pre-reqs, you should look into their pre-nursing program.

charnurse17 · Aug 8, 2016

Hey!

I was offered a spot for the 2017 Spring Nursing class and recently accepted my spot. I did not have a great college GPA by any means (below 3.0 from UNC) but had a very competitive high school GPA of 4.8 and did well on the SAT.

I have heard nothing but great things about the program and they have great financial aid resources.

Good luck!!

RunnerRN2015, ASN, RN · Aug 15, 2016

I graduated from CCHS in 2014 so my experiences are still fairly current. Yes, the acceptance rate is low. That's because they get hundreds and hundreds of applications but only start 60-70 students in NUR 101 twice a year, and that's including those who earned guaranteed admission by doing their pre-nursing program. (I did their pre-nursing program, earned a 4.0 and guaranteed admission to the nursing program.) There may only be 30 spots open for direct nursing admission if there is a large number of pre-nursing students who earned a spot. There's a reason why it's difficult to gain admission -- the school is small, the program is extremely rigorous, and graduates are highly sought after, even before they graduate. It's affiliated with Carolinas HealthCare System, which is a HUGE bonus. We get the best clinical hours and the best clinical sites. Class size is small, clinical groups are no more than 8 per instructor, and every single faculty and staff member are there to make sure you succeed. When it comes time to find a job, we have our own HR rep and our students are always placed before any other school, including the BSN programs in the area.

PM me or post here if you have more questions!

futurenurse/vettech · Sep 7, 2016

I graduated from CCHS in 2014 so my experiences are still fairly current. Yes, the acceptance rate is low. That's because they get hundreds and hundreds of applications but only start 60-70 students in NUR 101 twice a year, and that's including those who earned guaranteed admission by doing their pre-nursing program. (I did their pre-nursing program, earned a 4.0 and guaranteed admission to the nursing program.) There may only be 30 spots open for direct nursing admission if there is a large number of pre-nursing students who earned a spot. There's a reason why it's difficult to gain admission -- the school is small, the program is extremely rigorous, and graduates are highly sought after, even before they graduate. It's affiliated with Carolinas HealthCare System, which is a HUGE bonus. We get the best clinical hours and the best clinical sites. Class size is small, clinical groups are no more than 8 per instructor, and every single faculty and staff member are there to make sure you succeed. When it comes time to find a job, we have our own HR rep and our students are always placed before any other school, including the BSN programs in the area.
PM me or post here if you have more questions!

Hello again!

After a week delay I finally found out I was accepted into the pre-nursing program. I have a few questions for you if you do not mind me asking:

1.) How much trouble did you have finding a job after graduation? I am leaving a BSN program to do a ASN program and wondering if this will make a difference. I still plan on doing a RN to BSN program but I have no idea if having an ASN vs. a BSN will make an impact when finding a job as there are a lot of varying opinions on the subject.

2.) Is it possible to do the pre-nursing classes in 2 semesters and then start nursing school in the 3rd semester? I know most students take the 3rd semester to take their CNA/other classes but I already have my CNA and have taken all of the english, soc, psych etc. classes. I just want to start nursing classes as soon as possible.

Thank you so much for all of your help!

futurenurse/vettech · Sep 8, 2016

Congratulations on getting in!

RunnerRN2015, ASN, RN · Sep 8, 2016

Hello again!
After a week delay I finally found out I was accepted into the pre-nursing program. I have a few questions for you if you do not mind me asking:
1.) How much trouble did you have finding a job after graduation? I am leaving a BSN program to do a ASN program and wondering if this will make a difference. I still plan on doing a RN to BSN program but I have no idea if having an ASN vs. a BSN will make an impact when finding a job as there are a lot of varying opinions on the subject.
2.) Is it possible to do the pre-nursing classes in 2 semesters and then start nursing school in the 3rd semester? I know most students take the 3rd semester to take their CNA/other classes but I already have my CNA and have taken all of the english, soc, psych etc. classes. I just want to start nursing classes as soon as possible.
Thank you so much for all of your help!

Congratulations! As far as getting hired after graduation, if you want to work within the CHS system, you won't have a problem getting hired. Most of us had jobs lined up (including hard to get into departments like ED, STICU, MICU, NICU, L & D, peds, etc) a couple of months before graduation.

No, you can't skip that 3rd semester, unfortunately, even if you already have all the other classes done. I already had my CNA so I took micro and got it out of the way. If you don't have any other needed classes, you basically have to sit out that semester. It has to do with the timing of the schedule for admissions, etc.

ajones116 · Sep 18, 2016

RunnerRN2015, I have been reading your posts about CCHS and it has helped. I wanted to know, are all the Pre-Nursing classes during the day and how long are the semesters. I feel exactly like futurenurse/vettech. I have my CNA as well as Eng, Psy, and Soc classes. Is there anything that can be done as far as waiting or speeding up getting into the nursing program? I must admit, I am inpatient and I don't want to have to sit out/wait during the third semester since I have taking all the necessary classes.

I was waitlisted for FAll 2016 and ultimately did not get accepted, so I applied for Summer 2017 Pre-Nursing. Now I am patiently waiting to see if I get in!

RunnerRN2015, ASN, RN · Sep 18, 2016

RunnerRN2015, I have been reading your posts about CCHS and it has helped. I wanted to know, are all the Pre-Nursing classes during the day and how long are the semesters. I feel exactly like futurenurse/vettech. I have my CNA as well as Eng, Psy, and Soc classes. Is there anything that can be done as far as waiting or speeding up getting into the nursing program? I must admit, I am inpatient and I don't want to have to sit out/wait during the third semester since I have taking all the necessary classes.
I was waitlisted for FAll 2016 and ultimately did not get accepted, so I applied for Summer 2017 Pre-Nursing. Now I am patiently waiting to see if I get in!

Unless they've changed, all classes are during the day. The semesters are regular 16 week semesters. All of us in pre-nursing who earned our spot in the nursing program had to sit out that semester. I don't know of any way around that. Sorry!

ajones116 · Sep 19, 2016

Ok, thanks for your help!

RNbarbie · Oct 31, 2016

Hi! I am currently in 151, didn't do well in 152 last semester. Can you give me any suggestions on how to study for CCHS? I did okay in 101 and did well in 155 but I've been struggling since. I record lectures and always listen to it at least once if not more. I read and underline the topics covered in the lecture. I rewrite lecture notes and book notes combined in a notebook. I don't know why I'm doing so poorly. Can you tell me how you study and also what kinds of questions you ask yourself when looking at the material? We just got tested on Periop and Musculo injuries. I also use the Lewis study guide question book and online quizzes. I got a 70% on the first exam and there are only 3 total plus the final. Please any detailed tips would be greatly appreciated! :)