I'm currently completing prereqs and plan to apply to DSN later this year for the summer/fall 2016 cohort. However, I'm reading a lot of discouraging reviews, as well as reviews that are polar opposites (e.g. "the teachers suck" vs. "the teachers are very educated and willing to help").
Can anyone elaborate on their experiences, please? Classes, teachers, workload, clinicals, expenses, culture, etc. I'm trying to discern if the school really is that bad, or if the people bashing it maybe weren't prepared for the intensity of nursing school and/or performed poorly. This is one of the longer programs that I'm apply to (20 months vs. 12-16 month ABSN programs) and I can't imagine it being any more difficult than most accelerated programs.
I'd be coming from the East coast and Denver is a place I've considered moving to in the past, so I've been getting excited about applying to DNS, but now my balloon is deflating a bit. Any information that you can share would be much appreciated!
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Thank you for the feedback. I'm also going to apply to Duke, MUSC, and University of Florida, all of which seem to be reputable schools with good NCLEX pass rates. I'll continue to do additional research. You've made some great points.
Yes, I have considered UNC Chapel Hill, but I'd prefer to do the ABSN program. I'd need to wait longer to apply to schools in that case. Or put all my eggs in one basket and hope I get into UNC Chapel Hill and potentially begin school in Jan. 2017.
*Also, OP, just checked out your profile. Have you considered applying to UNC Chapel Hill, since you're from NC? Sounds like CU would currently be out of state for you (as would UF). I'd strongly recommend considering your applications based on cost, as well as quality--many of those schools are going to be astronomically priced for you, either because they are private or out of state. Anything above $50,000 (total, including cost of living) is not worth it, in my opinion/experience.
I've also accepted that I'm just going to have to live off of loans and be in debt for a while. I don't think it will take more than a few years to pay it off given my personal circumstances.
The MAIN job of a nursing school is to prepare students to pass the NCLEX. If you don't pass, you don't get to be a nurse. I would be VERY put off by the pass rates.
I would also check to see where their clinical sites are. You want to make sure that they are affiliated with enough of the major hospitals that you would get good sites. Some schools do more clinics and nursing homes, and that is not the way you want to spend all of your clinicals.
Thank you for pointing this out. I'm learning a lot in this forum...
Regarding clinical sites....I work in a facility that hosts a lot of DSN students for their senior practicum. None of them chose this area of nursing, they just got stuck here because the school has a reputation for having a bad relationship with many of the "good" clinical sites across the city. At the school I attended, we all got our first or second choice of areas and all of us worked in high acuity settings. I worry about these students because there isn't a whole lot to learn here and this kind of senior practicum isn't going to look very good on a resume. As a matter of fact, I see them doing things like making copies for the nurse manager. I'd try to find something else.
It's actually $90,000+ for the BSN program. But it appears that the OP is talking about an aBSN program. Which, I checked... CU is about half the price of DSoN's aBSN tuition.
OP will pay out of state tuition at CU, so price will actually be about the same.
As for CU and Regis, many of those students applying to those nursing programs have above a 3.8. They absolutely freak if they get a B. Regis has you take 6 hours of religious classes from them and that is just to apply to the program. Regis has a policy if you go your undergrad with them and have a 3.5 and above you get into nursing school. Just your classes at Regis for the undergrad nursing study program only can cost well over $100,000. Classes look like they are smaller at DSN and truly school is what you put into it. As for the NCLEX, the overall GPA for entering students at DSN is probably lower than 3.8. Therefore the test scores would possibly be lower. What is important is THAT YOU PASS...80% pass is not the worst rate ever.... however Heritage College has about a 32% passing rate which shows there are probably issues with the program
There are many great FOR PROFIT universities who provide terrific education and turn out students well prepared for their career... Harvard, Stanford and Yale come to mind off the top of my head... I think you are basically saying if someone doesn't get straight As and can't get into the CU nursing school (and folks it is close to straight As) they are going to be a bad nurse? I think you are selling people short
Statistics is a pre requisite for me because I already have a BA... I got a B in statistics from CCConline. Most people didn't pass the class and dropped out... I am a statistics survivor
I know the class sizes are really large at CU nursing... I met someone who taught there and she taught a class that had over 70 students in an overcrowded room... everyone was freaking if they didn't get an A
I agree with you about they don't put the effort into classes. Some of those who give bad reviews are angry because a teacher wanted them to redo an assignment to get a better grade. How can you be mad about that? I guess they think they should get all As all the time with no effort and the school should be free. I don't think they should be at DSN because they really are not ready.
purplepixie
31 Posts
To PHhopeful:
Thank you for the feedback. I'm also going to apply to Duke, MUSC, and University of Florida, all of which seem to be reputable schools with good NCLEX pass rates. I'll continue to do additional research. You've made some great points.
Yes, I have considered UNC Chapel Hill, but I'd prefer to do the ABSN program. I'd need to wait longer to apply to schools in that case. Or put all my eggs in one basket and hope I get into UNC Chapel Hill and potentially begin school in Jan. 2017.