Considering Illinois State University Accelerated BSN Program! Any advice or info?

5 Posts

Hi everyone!

I'm looking into the Summer 2012 Accelerated Nursing Program at Illinois State University. Applications are due this coming January 15th, 2011! So I'm on a bit of a time crunch...

ISU appeals to me because of location (near my hometown) and cost (can't find the exact figures on their website, but I have heard figures between $20,000 to $30,000 for in-state students).

A little about me:

Education:

B.S. in Psychology University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign December 2007

Urbana High School Graduate May 2005

Scores:

ACT - 34 Total, 36 English, 34 Reading, 34 Science, 32 Math

GPA at UIUC - 3.87

Nursing-related Background:

EMT-B certified March 2009

6 months (Jan. 2010 - June 2010) as Transport in Surgery Day Care

1 1/2 years (Jan. 2009 - June 2010) as In-home caregiver for Quadriplegic Woman

3 months (April 2010 - June 2010) as Live-In caregiver for Leukemia patient after Bone Marrow Transplant

Questions:

1) How competitive is the Accelerated BSN Program at Illinois State?

2) I didn't find any mention of the need for recommendations or patient care experience in the application. However, it seems like many second degree BSN candidates have a medicine-related background. Will my application still be competitive with my main experience being in-home caregiving?

3) What other options do I have? (After considering Med school, PA school, Direct Entry Masters Programs, RN Programs, etc., the Accelerated BSN sounds like the best option since I have NO nursing qualifications - RN, ADN, CNA, LPN, etc. - and if I'm going to put in the time becoming an RN, I might as well get the BSN too. Direct entry Masters Programs seem to be too much of a jump, since I don't know what I want to specialize in, and also want to experience working as a nurse before considering grad school in nursing.)

4) I took my pre-reqs at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, except for Medical Terminology, which I would have to take (community college?) before classes started at ISU. I'm pretty sure they will transfer to ISU, but does anyone have more info about that? Another Pre-req issue is that my first semester at UIUC was Fall 2005 - will they still accept those credits since they are over 5 years old?

5) Is there a supplementary application for the Accelerated BSN program, or is there just the ISU Undergrad Application? (I assume I would also need to send in my UIUC transcript and other paperwork...)

Okay, that's all I've got for now! Thanks in advance for any comments, suggestions, information or advice!