Don't choose a school until you ask these questions!

[norlns24]

The scary part is, those who fail the NCLEX coming out of these horrible, scam programs can still pass on a subsequent attempt if they do some review courses and apply themselves in some serious self-study. The NCLEX is not that difficult to pass in actuality. It's not an easy test, but it's definitely doable with some review courses and going over practice questions/ rationales. The fact is, the NCLEX is not going to weed out graduates from these for-profit scam programs by any means. Which means, as others have rightly pointed out, that the entire profession will be "dumbed down" and wages will stagnate, as has happened in so many other professions.

[amygarside]

There are probably a lot of things you should consider in choosing a school and that depends on your situation.

[hopefull1n30188]

Thanks so much for this post. It really cleared things up for me. I was trying to rush into something just to earn the right to place those prestigious two letters behind my name. Being 32 and realizing that I should have had a degree a decade ago has had me trying to find the quick way out. This post has literally changed my life.

[Bornfornursing]

Thanks so much for this post. It really cleared things up for me. I was trying to rush into something just to earn the right to place those prestigious two letters behind my name. Being 32 and realizing that I should have had a degree a decade ago has had me trying to find the quick way out. This post has literally changed my life.

That's EXACTLY what I was trying to do rush to get the letters behind my name because I am 27 and most of the people I know already have their BSN

[hopefull1n30188]

That's EXACTLY what I was trying to do rush to get the letters behind my name because I am 27 and most of the people I know already have their BSN

Ikr. I have even considered going into a LPN program just to say that I am a nurse and bridge ASAP. It's extra frustrating because I am so close to being able to apply to almost any Bachelors program that I want. I have a 3.8 GPA, and would only need to take 1 chemistry course, micro, and Statistics. But that would put me at a Fall 2015 start. I could have my LPN come June next year . At this point ,I just want to feel that I have accomplished something.

[hopefull1n30188]

I am not sure. I worked with two women who were RNs in their countries. When speaking with them I believe they were allowed to test here in the US as long as they could submit documentation of licensure and education. Neither of them passed the NCLEX, however, and were told they would have to attend school here. For the most accurate response, you should contact the Texas Board of Nursing directly. Rules and laws change daily, and are usually dependant upon each particular state's BON.

The TX BON can be contacted at:

333 Guadalupe, Suite 3-460 Austin, TX 78701-3944 | P: [phone]

[jgord2015]

You should apply to both. If you get accepted to both then you can choose.

[SeattleJess]

Wow! These are good tips! I just applied to my first choice school for the Fall 2014 Nursing program and I wont find out if I got in until the end of next month. Honestly, it was my first choice because of location and I never even considered these tips before applying. When I looked on the Board of Nursing site it says so far this year the school I applied to has a 77% NCLEX pass rate and another school that is not too far away from me has a 95% NCLEX pass rate. If I dont make it into this school, then I will def be applying to the other one next semester. Thanks!

Why not apply to several schools at the same time so you have fallback options? I couldn't see putting all my eggs into one basket. Of course, you may have different considerations in regard to delays. I'm older and delays are very significant to me. I applied to three schools, any of which I would have felt good about attending.

[ixchel]

Ikr. I have even considered going into a LPN program just to say that I am a nurse and bridge ASAP. It's extra frustrating because I am so close to being able to apply to almost any Bachelors program that I want. I have a 3.8 GPA, and would only need to take 1 chemistry course, micro, and Statistics. But that would put me at a Fall 2015 start. I could have my LPN come June next year . At this point ,I just want to feel that I have accomplished something.

I think a lot of people here sink into that thought process as well. If our local CC is turning out 50-100 new grad LPNs, and the hospital said no more LPNs (this area is fairly rural), where are all of these new nurses going to go? Sure you have LTC and home health, but again, you're all fighting for the very few job openings out there. Not only that, but if RN was your goal, you have to apply to THAT program, hope to get in against the other applicants, spend another year in school, and then find out that people are still fighting for jobs, only they all want grads from the university before they'll look at the ADNs. So now you have to go back and do all the gen eds for 3 semesters, then apply and hope you get accepted against the other applicants and then spend another year in school. Essentially, that route here makes that whole journey take one year longer than if you'd started with BSN from the beginning.

However - again, I say this is about knowing your area. Everything I have said is based on MY area and my own research, if you walk into a hospital and ask to speak with HR, you might ask them what school has the best new grads and they might say the CC you're looking at now for your LPN. Maybe then it would be worth it to start with that, and then go straight to RN afterward. You have to know your area. Everywhere is different, and everywhere has different best ways to gain an advantage above your competition.

[monilove42]

Excellent OP and subsequent posts thereto...as I stated previously, I am considering a BSN Second Degree. Reading the posts on this site are really helpful.

[14Nurse]

I am so glad you posted this...I believe you have helped me in my decision. Thank you!

[chuckster, ADN, BSN, RN, EMT-B]

The original and subsequent posts provide an excellent outline of what to consider when selecting a nursing school but I would add a caveat to the advice regarding NCLEX pass rates: The rate alone may not be a good indicator of the quality of the education and the level of preparedness of that school's grads. Schools have become aware that their pass rate is a big discriminator for prospective students and some have gone to great lengths to boost that rate, even to the point of what I would consider artificially inflating it.

While in general, a high NCLEX pass rate indicates a superior nursing program, there are ways to manipulate the rate. The first is of course in the admissions process - highly selective schools admit primarily high-quality students who of course tend to do better on all standardized tests like the NCLEX. You know this going in though and so would not expect that the first-time NCLEX pass rate for nursing grads from your local CC program would be the same as that of very selective programs such as Johns Hopkins or U Penn.

A more subtle way to ensure high NCLEX pass rates is to control who is allowed to take the test in the first place. This is done by allowing only some of the nursing grads to take the NCLEX and is simple to do: The school refuses to send the credentials required by the state BoN forward unless the grad also achieves what the school considers a satisfactory score on nursing review tests (e. g., HESI). In my view, schools that do this should highlight it when then they tout their high NCLEX pass rates. Since not all (and perhaps most) nursing programs don't follow the same post-graduate weeding out process and allow all of their grads to sit for the test, simply comparing the NCLEX pass rates may be misleading. In fairness, I should add that I do not know how widespread the practice is and am aware of only two colleges that do this. I should also add that this may not be a deal killer, since to a great extent the student is in control of her/his own destiny, but it is something prospective students should be aware of but is also something that schools generally don't highlight when they tout their excellent pass rates.

A small, ironic factoid: It is often the case that the highest overall NCLEX pass rates are achieved by grads from diploma, not degree-granting programs. As far as I'm aware, the diploma programs achieve this simply by providing excellent nursing training and not by manipulating who can take the NCLEX.