Chamberlain or Maricopa CC

U.S.A. Arizona

Published

Hi everyone! I have been floating around this site for a while and decided to create an account finally :x3:

I just graduated high school this year and don't have a stellar GPA - I didn't care about school until senior year and by then it was too little too late. My options are limited now and I am torn between two pathways - Chamberlain or the CEP program at the Maricopa Community Colleges.

Chamberlain is so expensive but I love the community feel, the fact that it's a school only focused on nursing and everyone in the program seems to love it. There's also a lot of information about the program and a lot of their students post about their experiences online. Because the degree is so expensive if I decided to go there I would take all the classes possible at community college and the total cost would go from about $85,000 for a BSN to $50,000. It's still a lot of money. Everyone that goes there loves it but I've read some not so great things about the school on this site, like how employers don't want to hire graduates from the program but I've also heard the opposite. Their job placement rate is 95% which seems pretty good.

I'm also considering the Maricopa nursing program but I don't feel the same excitement that I feel thinking about Chamberlain. Students don't seem to post about their experience and information is hard to find. I read bad things about CGCC's program from years ago but nothing recent and because of the lack of information I feel unsettled. I also don't like that the CEP is online because I don't think I would focus as well as I would in a classroom. Any advice would be super, super appreciated and sorry for the long post! :)

Haven't seen you on here in awhile Mrs. B! Hope all is well :)

Thanks Rachael! Ya just trying to survive that what we call nursing school :D lol getting anxious for Block 4 to start. Can't believe it's almost over í ½í¹Œ

Getting a little bored waiting for the semester to start though I would come here and offer any help I could.

Hope all is well with you and congratulations on being able to get in to the summer block 4 class!

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No, the older the time stamp, the more preference is given. If you are applying and your time stamp is May of this year for example, and it's between you and someone with a time stamp of May of last year, they will go with the older time stamp.

OK - so just so I'm clear on this - your application into the nursing pool stays with the time stamp. If I don't get into the CEP this time round, I re-apply to the CEP, but don't need to re-apply to the nursing pool...is that correct? Then, when selection takes place next time round, they will look at the time stamp. Am I understanding that correctly?? :scrying:

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Yes, I'm just unsure about having to re apply to CEP if you don't make it. I don't see why you would have to re apply if you have already been accepted by a university unless you wanted to change your university.

There is a Facebook group called Maricopa Nursing that you may be able to find some answers too from other students that have gone through it.

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Thanks Rachael! Ya just trying to survive that what we call nursing school :D lol getting anxious for Block 4 to start. Can't believe it's almost over ������

Getting a little bored waiting for the semester to start though I would come here and offer any help I could.

Hope all is well with you and congratulations on being able to get in to the summer block 4 class!

Thanks! It's been a little crazy, but worth it! I hope you're enjoying your break! :)

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OK - so just so I'm clear on this - your application into the nursing pool stays with the time stamp. If I don't get into the CEP this time round, I re-apply to the CEP, but don't need to re-apply to the nursing pool...is that correct? Then, when selection takes place next time round, they will look at the time stamp. Am I understanding that correctly?? :scrying:

Yep. You got it right as far as I can tell. Eventually, you'll get in, even if it's not CEP.

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Yep. You got it right as far as I can tell. Eventually, you'll get in, even if it's not CEP.

I'm going to keep shooting for the CEP. Not to sound elitist, but, as you know, most AZ hospitals are looking for BSN's, and it's much harder to get a job with an ADN entering nursing. Not to mention the pay-scale differences as you progress.

Fingers crossed.....:nailbiting:

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I'm going to keep shooting for the CEP. Not to sound elitist, but, as you know, most AZ hospitals are looking for BSN's, and it's much harder to get a job with an ADN entering nursing. Not to mention the pay-scale differences as you progress.

Fingers crossed.....:nailbiting:

I work for Banner, and as long as your BSN is in progress, they'll hire you. Don't stress too much.

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I work for Banner, and as long as your BSN is in progress, they'll hire you. Don't stress too much.

wooooooop! I got my acceptance email today for the CEP! I'm thrilled!! :woot:

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Thanks for replying - I was thinking of both doing the ASU CEP or taking prerequisite classes and then transferring to their BSN program which I heard was hard to get into as a transfer, not the CEP route which doesn't limit you as much. And I recently looked up the cost and it was crazy the amount they wanted at ASU - especially when I'm just taking their classes online. My friends that are going to live in the dorms will be paying $28,000 a year which I will do over my dead body, as I'm mostly relying on loans as well as help from my parents. I was looking into doing the UIU route, I felt they had a lot of information available and I emailed the advisor and she was very sweet and quick to reply. The cost is pretty affordable for what college is these days. The only concern I had about that route was that I felt ASU would look better on a resume than UIU - just because people in AZ are pretty passionate about that university.

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Thanks for the comment! :)

Sadly I don't think scholarships are an option at the moment due to my GPA and my family has a relatively high income so FAFSA won't help out either. Of course not all our money can go to my education but that's apparently what the government thinks! Are you able to apply for scholarships after raising your GPA in college or is it only for incoming students from high school? I am honestly pretty clueless! And the suggestion for the Facebook group was awesome I never thought of that!

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I go to ASU and I was a transfer! It's not impossible. You just have to have a pretty high prequisite GPA!

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Thanks for the comment! :)

Sadly I don't think scholarships are an option at the moment due to my GPA and my family has a relatively high income so FAFSA won't help out either. Of course not all our money can go to my education but that's apparently what the government thinks! Are you able to apply for scholarships after raising your GPA in college or is it only for incoming students from high school? I am honestly pretty clueless! And the suggestion for the Facebook group was awesome I never thought of that!

If you decide on the CEP route, my suggestion would be to look at UIU, NAU, or Ottawa in terms of costs. However, NAU has quite a few more pre-requisites than the other two. Ottawa asks for HCR240. UIU has no additional pre-reqs over what Maricopa ask for. UIU averages $12-$18.5K, Ottawa averages $10-$14K (prices as of 2017) It depends on how many credits you are able to transfer in.

I would suggest applying for FAFSA even if you don't think you'll qualify - because my understanding is that it is a sliding scale of what they will pay and what they expect your family contribution to be. Hence, you may not get a full grant, but everything helps. Additionally it is where you can apply for Government subsidized loans, meaning that if you do qualify for a loan it will be at a reduced interest rate.

Regarding scholarships - there are loads of scholarships out there. You just have to wade through them to work out which ones you're eligible for. Some are open to everyone, some are specific (such as females in engineering, or first-generation college students, or those with a GPA over 3.75, for example). It will require work, sometimes something as simple as filling in a form to apply, sometimes they will request an essay or a short video or something. I wouldn't let your GPA put you off. With the potential of receiving $1000s in aid towards your degree, I believe the effort is worth it. I do have a friend who was able to graduate University debt free and with money put aside, purely on scholarship funding, and he paid for everything (housing, food, book, classes, etc.) while he was in school.

By all means, follow the ASU route if that's where your passion is; ASU is a great University, and there are a ton of students on here that are enrolled with ASU and love it. I'm just suggesting there are (cheaper) alternatives. I personally wouldn't put too much emphasis on the name (IMO). A degree is a degree, and all the Universities that have partnered with Maricopa have been thoroughly vetted and are exemplary schools.

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