Charity or LSU-CARE? (and their Holiday schedules)

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Hello everyone,

I have been lurking for a while, but this is my first post. Just for a little background, I'm 28 with multiple degrees, but I've been slowly working to get my prereqs done for the past few years to be able to apply for nursing. I've worked full time while taking classes, so it's been a slow process. I have submitted my application to Charity for Fall '10, and I'll be submitting an application to LSU-CARE by the deadline in February. I have so many questions, I don't know where to start...but the main 2 questions are below:

1) For people who applied to both programs, how did you pick one over the other, and are you happy with that decision?

and

2) What is the schedule like for holidays? (I can't find an academic calendar for either school showing if the program follows the typical academic calendar). I ask because I'm going to be planning a wedding soon, and I was going to try and schedule it during a break from school. But without knowing what the academic calendar is like, that makes it really hard. So, if anyone at Charity or in the CARE program could tell me what your semester/Christmas break looks like, I would appreciate it!

Thanks in advance for the input!

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I just started the CARE program. I picked it over Charity (I was accepted there also) because I intend to continue on to nurse practitioner. This means that I would need a BSN or at least do a bridge program (RN to BSN or RN to MSN). Either way, CARE seems to be a shorter route to my eventual goal.

As for holiday breaks, we have 2 weeks for Christmas. And first day back is an exam. Counting the weekends, we are off from Dec. 19 to Jan. 3.

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I'm in the same boat with beejaycee with my reasoning for choosing CARE over Charity. You can also go the traditional student route at LSU if you want normal academic breaks - there are many non-traditional students with previous bachelors degrees in that program. They just didn't care to have the demands of the accelerated program.

The holiday break above is correct and Thanksgiving is the week before finals so that will involve studying. We also have no traditional summer break. A girl in our class did manage to plan and have her wedding at the end of October right in the middle of everything (not on a break, just on a weekend) so it's possible. As beejaycee said, we have a big exam the first day we return so Christmas break will also involve very little down time.

We are finding that we don't know our actual schedules until about a week before things start up so keep that in mind but organization could be better once your class comes in (you'll only be the tenth class of CARE to come through). We did have a rough idea of what Christmas break would be at the beginning of the semester but nothing was given to us in stone until last week (and it's longer than we were originally told - yippee!!).

Either school is a good choice. I would've had no problem going to Charity had I not been accepted to LSU; however, this was the easiest route for me (personally) to get a BSN.

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I'm finishing up my 1st year at Charity. As far as Christmas break we are done the 1st week of December and start back up mid-January.

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I applied to both and got into Charity and am waiting to hear back from CARE. I'd def take CARE over Charity because:

1. CARE is a shorter program by a few months (its 5 16-wk blocks)

2. CARE gives you a BSN which is the bachelor's and Charity gives you an associate's. If you want to move up later, you'll have to go back and do the bachelor's before the master's. CARE covers a lot more so you get a better education.

3. The Delgado system is a mess. I have so many horror stories that I don't even know where to start so I'll just give you one. They lost my application for the Spring '10 semester and found it a few months later when it was too late. Now I have to wait until next fall to start. I know at least one other person this happened to as well.

4. If you move out of state, everyone knows what LSU is but almost no one will have heard of Delgado Community College.

To be fair, here are some downers:

1. It's WAY harder. You're taking 123 credits in less than two years. I took 120 credits in three years to finish my undergrad. It's notorious for drop outs and failures. If you get below a C in a class, you're kicked out of the program because there's no time to make it up.

2. It's a lot more expensive. But then again, you'll be done sooner so you'll hopefully be making money sooner.

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I was accepted to both CARE and Charity. I chose CARE (just finished my first semester) and would be graduating at the same time as if I would've gone to Charity. The thing with CARE is that the first semester is a traditional one. The acceleration starts in block 2, which starts for us on Monday (thus, beginning the actual 18 months). We will graduate in May 2011. I would've graduated May 2011 with Charity also.

I agree with the rest of your points. Delgado is incredibly difficult to deal with, however, once you get around the loopholes you're set to go. I went there for my pre-reqs so I think that helped me out with their disorganization.

CARE only covers alot more because it's a BSN program. We have to go in depth with things like nursing theory, history, and managment classes - these are all things required for a Baccalaureate program. I wouldn't say you get a better education at LSU, you just get a different kind of education. In the end, we're all nurses.

Both schools let students go if you get less than a 77% in a class. The saying "C = RN" applies to many nursing schools. The current CARE class has not lost many but the selection process for my class was way different than for past classes. We have yet to get into the "meat" of nursing (meaning we haven't been in skills lab or clinical setting yet), so that could change. I know several CARE classes have had a significant amount of drop outs.

Good luck! If CARE is still doing things the same way they were last year, you should hear from them about an interview sometime in February if your application packet meets all of their criteria. I received my acceptance letter at the beginning of May 2009.

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Thanks for all the responses. Wedding is tentatively planned for January 1, 2011, which would (hopefully) be on a break for either school.

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I choice Charity for the simple fact that I will graduate with no loans owed because my grant covers the cost. Secondly, LSU's BSN program takes three years not two like charity, unless LSU have an accelerated program that I am not aware of.

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Secondly, LSU's BSN program takes three years not two like charity, unless LSU have an accelerated program that I am not aware of.

LSU's CARE program is a 20 month program for students who already have a degree. It is 4 months of regular classes followed by 16 months of accelerated (but I understand that the last 4 months of the accelerated goes back to regular classes).

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I choice Charity for the simple fact that I will graduate with no loans owed because my grant covers the cost. Secondly, LSU's BSN program takes three years not two like charity, unless LSU have an accelerated program that I am not aware of.

Charity is a two-year program, but you earn an ASN (associate science in nursing).

If you don't plan to attend graduate nursing school to earn a masters or doctorate, then an ASN is sufficient enough to be a licensed RN.

LSUHSC is a three-year program, and you earn a BSN (bachelor science in nursing). LSU has an accelerated program that's approximately 1.5 yrs for those who already earned a previous bachelors degree in another field. In both traditional and accelerated, students upon completion earn a BSN. A BSN is required for most graduate nursing programs so LSUHSC would be an ideal choice for those that want to advance in their career.

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I'm sure you've already chosen one of the schools to attend and know they are both great schools, but as a recent grad of Charity, the reason if I did it all over again I would still choose Charity is b/c although you only earn an ADN it is a 2 yr program. Since you would already have an ADN you can work as a nurse and still do the RN to BSN program at LSU which is what I'm doing. It only requires one Saturday attendance a month at the actual school. Another reason for choosing Charity is b/c of the reputation Charity RN's have and the experiences we get in clinical. You start clinicals after about only a month of skill labs and it's b/c the best experience comes from a hospital. I think LSU is a great school as well, which is why I chose it over others for the RN to BSN.

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Again, the thread has been about LSU CARE not traditional. CARE is a 22-month accelerated BSN for people with previous bachelors degrees. I will graduate the exact same time from LSU as I would have had I chosen Charity. Yes, traditional BSN is 3 years = 6 full semesters. We run in 6 week blocks, non-stop. I started last August, I'll finish in May 2011.

Sorry, not yelling at anyone. I just hate the misconceptions surrounding the CARE program. People hear "LSU BSN" and immediately think "3 years." So many people don't know the option exists at go accelerated at LSU. Comparing CARE to the 3 year traditional BSN is like comparing the bag of Doritos I have in front of me with the stethoscope on my shelf :p. HAHA!

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