CSUDH vs OU RN-BSN

RNDude2012 · Jul 25, 2015

I live in California and I was on the exact same boat as you. I ended up choosing OU because it was slightly cheaper and the only extra classes I needed were nutrition and business communication. Also, since I live close to CSUDH, people would always ask if the school was in Compton, and I didn't want to deal with that for my whole career. My buddy did CSUDH and he said it was all based on group assignments. OU was all essays, but the nursing courses were pretty simple. With OU I doubled up on courses and finished fairly quickly.

colochita27 · Jul 25, 2015

@RNDude2012

Yes, I live in California as well. I spoke to CSUDH rep and she said because I have a bachelor's in another field I qualify for their MSN pathway program which is you work on your BSN classes first and then attain your MSN. They eliminate 2 courses from the BSN program if I want this route. I asked for price, but she asked me to come to a workshop and that they need my transcripts to see how many courses I have left and go from there. She also mentioned I would be getting my Public Health nurse certification. This sounds good, but I don't know the price. Now OU i do have to take 2 classes aside from the nursing classes nutrition and chemistry, but they said I can take this at my JC, but to let them know first before I apply for the classes to see if they accept them. I took chemistry in high school do you think that would suffice?

colochita27 · Jul 25, 2015

@RNDude2012

How long did it take you to attain your BSN with OU? How many classes were you taking and were you working full-time? Did you like your experience with them? Thank you for your feedback I really appreciate it!

RNDude2012 · Jul 26, 2015

As far as chemistry goes, you need some type of college level chemistry I'm sure. Intro level is sufficient. Did you take this for your ADN? My experience was okay. If you can master APA format, you will be fine at OU. They give you the APA guidelines and it becomes easy after a couple of courses. I worked full time nights + OT and I got A's in most of the nursing courses. Aside from the health assessment course, nothing is clinical. It's all essays. It took me like 3 semesters to finish. I think business communication is the only class I got a C in and that's because I didn't take the final because I was going on vacation.

colochita27 · Jul 26, 2015

@rndude2012,BSN,RN

Thank you so much for your feedback. I really do appreciate it! I have a few more questions. 1. For the health assessment portion i asked the rep if i could use my current employer for the clinical hours they require and she said no. I was wondering where did you perform your clinical hours? 2. What are the course length? 3. If you want to pursue your masters would it be a problem since the degree is out of state? 4. Do the teachers respond to your questions in a timely manner? Are they supportive? Do you mind emailing me at [email protected]? :) im sorry if im bombarding you with all these questions lol is just that i have not found an OU alumni from California :)

RNDude2012 · Jul 27, 2015

email sent!

applesxoranges, BSN, RN · Jul 29, 2015

I liked Ohio University and I have my BSN from there. However, they did limit their BSN program to like five states and I don't know if they have opened it up again. I am not familiar with your other school so I do not know if you are in the area. OU did not have a bunch of fluff classes and were very liberal with what they accepted although I did choose extra classes based on the list they provided me such as Dance History. I really liked the class.

I recommend purchasing Perral or whatever it is called for APA formatting. I had no issues and my coworker found out about it at the last minute from me. It helps with formatting and works with Microsoft Word. OU does give free copies of MS Word out.

If California is accepted, I imagine it would work as it did in my state. I had no issues with assignments or the capstone project.

colochita27 · Aug 2, 2015

@applesxoranges: thank u so much for the tidbit! I will purchase it hopefully its cheap hehehe....i applied to OU since california is one of the 5 states! :) hopefully they accept me!

applesxoranges, BSN, RN · Aug 7, 2015

I really enjoyed OU. I was able to rent all textbooks. The hardest class to be honest was the very first writing class. I wouldn't take the first nursing class with anything else. I took it with health assessment. I do think they changed health assessment a little bit too since I had to find my own subjects and have them sign waivers. Now I think they do virtual patients which would make it a little bit nicer.

DrAres · Apr 13, 2016

Actually the MSN Pathway program cuts out about half of the BSN courses (not just 2) but a BSN degree is not conferred. The BSN level courses required are: patho., research, health assessment with lab, community health, and leadership/management. Students with previous patho or research methods can be granted exemptions for those courses. The Workshop purpose is to look at admission eligibility since all of the CSU schools have 8 required pre-requisites for nursing students that do not have a BSN and also to look at which courses can be waived based on previous work.

NurseaudraC · Jun 10, 2016

What a great thread! I too am struggling to decide which school would be best for me. I have heard that OU will keep you busy and also that the classes are straight forward. I have been told that Dominguez is not time consuming and since I really need to start working that aspect is appealing but OU allows you to take less classes and is cheaper then Dominguez in order to attain your BSN. I eventually think I want to be a CRNA and I want to be able to maintain or increase my GPA score so although I want to make sure I am learning I don't want to study constantly in order to get an A like I had to during my ADN program...I do have to start working as soon as possible because I wasn't able to work during my ADN program due to its rigorous nature. It's important that I am in a BSN program that isn't as demanding. With all this said is there anyone taking classes at OU or DH that can tell me how many hours they work along with how they have been able to manage the classes from either program... I want to be able to compare the level of stress each program would cause me if working full time and want to be in a program that provides the best chance of increasing my GPA. I also need Stats, and another English and I dont think DH will accept your application until completed...