Central Arizona College vs. Maricopa County System?

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I've read through the past year archives in this forum and haven't come across anything on CAC. Do they run a good nursing program? Where could I find info on their pass rate?

CAC would be convenient for me but I'm leary that they only accept for the nursing program Fall of each year, which could mean me being stuck waiting it out a full year. Plus I've had trouble getting some of my questions answered by their advisors; everyone's telling me something different or the website conflicts with what they tell me.....so that's got me hesitant.

I also checked out Mesa CC and Rio Salado. Mesa's courses are full for Fall plus it would be semi-inconvenient for me to attend there, so I'm left with RS if I want to start right away. I'm a self-learner (is that a word?), so not too worried about the online course setup. Am worried about going such an untraditional route though.....that I might not learn the right types of things or retain the knowledge and it'll hurt me later on.

Any recommendations?

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Rio has an awesome pass rate and a good reputation.

Not sure about CAC, haven't heard or know of anyone that has went there. You could apply to both places and see which takes you in first???

Go to www.azbn.org and look up all the schools in the state and there should be a place that shows the nclex pass rates.

Rebecca

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Rio Salado is good for those that are self learners. Because you do assignments and quizzes online and see your classmates every other weekend for clinicals. In the class I was in students were from all over even some from payson. I completed the LPN portion and I am waiting for next May to start the last 2 blocks for my RN. Good luck!

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Specializes in Acute Care Psych, DNP Student.
Rio Salado is good for those that are self learners. Because you do assignments and quizzes online and see your classmates every other weekend for clinicals. In the class I was in students were from all over even some from payson. I completed the LPN portion and I am waiting for next May to start the last 2 blocks for my RN. Good luck!

You know, Rio Salado would be my first choice. I love internet classes. I prefer self-learning. I would love to stay in Tucson instead of moving to Phoenix like I am planning to do, to attend the first Maricopa CC I can get into with the shortest wait. Isn't the wait for Rio Salado insane? Do you know about Rio's wait? I see on the placement papers for Rio that they only have 5 seats. I don't know if those 5 seats are for Maricopa county, or the total Rio seats? That wouldn't make sense because I know they have students in Tucson and a few other locations. I asked an advisor, but he was clueless and I just haven't followed up with trying to get to talk with another advisor.

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Specializes in Cardiac.

My mom went to CAC! That was 20 years ago though. She's a great nurse.

multicollinarity-have you thought of Pima's 18 month accelerated program? It goes through the summer. I think it's at TMC. I also heard that Carondelet has their own program. If you can get in to any of those then they usually have you work 6 months and then you get into the program. Tucson Heart is also now a part of the Carondelet system, so you would have 3 of their hospitals to choose from, in addition to TMC's program.

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Specializes in Acute Care Psych, DNP Student.
My mom went to CAC! That was 20 years ago though. She's a great nurse.

multicollinarity-have you thought of Pima's 18 month accelerated program? It goes through the summer. I think it's at TMC. I also heard that Carondelet has their own program. If you can get in to any of those then they usually have you work 6 months and then you get into the program. Tucson Heart is also now a part of the Carondelet system, so you would have 3 of their hospitals to choose from, in addition to TMC's program.

Hi there Cardiac! I'm trying to avoid going thru one of the hospital programs like TMC or Carondelet. I guess at this point, unless I learn something new, I'm thinking it's better to move to Phx and go thru one of the Maricopa CC programs. I'd rather not work at a hospital during nursing school. I work a non-healthcare job part-time now with more $$s and I'm loathe to be tied with a commitment to an employer. I'm not 100% closed to the idea though.

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You know, Rio Salado would be my first choice. I love internet classes. I prefer self-learning. I would love to stay in Tucson instead of moving to Phoenix like I am planning to do, to attend the first Maricopa CC I can get into with the shortest wait. Isn't the wait for Rio Salado insane? Do you know about Rio's wait? I see on the placement papers for Rio that they only have 5 seats. I don't know if those 5 seats are for Maricopa county, or the total Rio seats? That wouldn't make sense because I know they have students in Tucson and a few other locations. I asked an advisor, but he was clueless and I just haven't followed up with trying to get to talk with another advisor.

I would call Rio and speak to Anne McNamara (director of nursing). She is very helpful and busy so you may have to try a few times. Don't give up!

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Specializes in Acute Care Psych, DNP Student.
I would call Rio and speak to Anne McNamara (director of nursing). She is very helpful and busy so you may have to try a few times. Don't give up!

Thank you for the tip! I looked into this very early on in my nursing school search. I called probably 15 schools in 2 states. I didn't realize that each Maricopa CC nursing program has a nursing advisor separate from the regular advisors. Many of the programs don't. So the clueless Rio advisor I talked to wasn't a nursing advisor and he didn't tell me to call a nursing advisor. Anyway, I have the contact list for the nursing advisors now. Checking into it again.

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Thank you everyone! I did look up pass rates. CAC had 100% this last year. Maricopa's weren't too bad either; I just wish the rates were broken down per college rather than grouped all under one.

I think I've decided on RS. Husband may be starting a new job with odd hours, so RS would work better. Plus I just didn't get a good vibe off of CAC -- too many discrepancies which causes me to wonder what's going on with them?

I'm not needing to go untraditional or accelerated once I complete my prereq's, and as I understand it I could apply to the nursing program through any of the MCCs. That is correct, isn't it?

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