Hi, I'm not a nursing student yet, but I have applied to my community college for an ADN. I DO plan on transferring afterward to get my BSN. Originally I had a college in mind because I was told that this was a good program. However I noticed their average in the licensing test for RN was in the 60's as a percent, which I don't feel is good enough. I was looking at another school that was affordable to me & their test percent average was in the mid 80's which leaves me to feel much more secure.
However, this school if I went to it I would have to dorm. For those of you that dorm, do you feel that it is better for you that you do? Does it provide you a better opportunity to form a study group with others since you all live relatively very close maybe even in the same tower as your classmates? Do you feel it's easier to get in touch with your teachers and what not?
Basically what are your opinions on dorming helping you academically or not helping.
& another side note, I searched for this but couldn't find it. If you get your ADN like I'm planning to and then take the NCLEX-RN and get your RN license, when you continue on to get your BSN, do you have to take the NCLEX-RN again after you graduate with your bachelors?
Having lived in a dorm room in a former life (and former degree) I can wholeheartedly agree with emmy27 that the whole "roomates become best friends," idea rarely happens. The risk you take at getting a room on campus is that you may have a roomate. Single dorms are challenging to get (apply super early!) and they're often claimed by upper classmen or RAs that live on campus. If that's the case and you don't sign up with a friend, you're going to get someone random you've never met before.
Its scary and let me be the first to say my roomate and I did not get along. Ironically though she was a big party girl...the handy part about that was when the big sorority rushes came in the spring semesters she was never around so I got plenty of sleep. And while I really disliked her I knew I could trust her (I wasn't going to wake up and find half my stuff missing) because she disliked me just as much :chuckle
You make it through though. With the party life you do learn to tune things out as you go along. Be wary though if you make friends on campus (which you should anyways!) your single room may become the party place because there's no other roomie to deal with. And that can become just as distracting. Quiet halls are sometimes a clever disguise for those who just want to party as well, I know the health conscious dorms at my old school were the place where people went to smoke and drink...don't always believe the titles.
I'd talk to someone that lives on campus if I were you. Usually there's at least one RA that can't afford to go off campus and they can give you the scoop on the high and low points of campus life. Good luck with it all!
Specializes in Peds Cardiology,Peds Neuro,Pedi ER,PICU, IV Jedi.
My roommates and I were lucky. Our dorm room consisted of a bedrooom, a living room, bathroom and a kitchen. Matter of fact, my dorm room was bigger than my first apartment. I had two roommates, one I still talk to quite frequently. The other was a bonehead, and I'm sure still is. It does help, however, if you have roommates who are in the same program you are. The three of us were, and it helped because we were all in the same boat at the same time.
There was an occasional party atmosphere, and we did partake of the opportunity, but this is a small, private college. If you wanted study time there were many opportunities and many places for you to go. Oh, and on the weekend? Not a soul around, the campus was literally yours alone.
Also, as mentioned in my first post I was looking at the school because of the fact that the original one I planned to go to didn't have a good percentage for the passing rate of the NCLEX-RN. But if I'll be going for my BSN, I guess it wouldn't matter then.. right?
I'm not sure what you mean... you still have to take the NCLEX-RN if you get a BSN, unless you're an RN--> BSN student. If you finish your ADN, pass your NCLEX, and then finish your BSN, no you don't have to take it again. But straight-to-BSN students do have to take the NCLEX like everybody else.
But even if that's what you're going to do, bear in mind that a low NCLEX pass rate for straight-to-BSN students in that program suggests that there's something suboptimal going on there. Maybe their admission standards are too low and there's a culture of unprepared or unfocused students, maybe the instructors suck, maybe they're not focusing the curriculum correctly to prepare their students for entry-level nursing. Whatever it is, you should consider it as a red flag regarding the quality of their program. It may still be worth attending, but it's something you should look into.
Particularly talk to administrators and see how they're addressing the low pass rate. They should be doing SOMETHING- if not it suggests a poor attitude, and also may mean their reputation may be on the decline. It would suck to get a degree there and THEN find out they're notorious for producing unprepared grads. The licensing question won't affect you if you're already a licensed nurse when you start there, but the quality of the program still will.
"If you finish your ADN, pass your NCLEX, and then finish your BSN, no you don't have to take it again."
Yes that's what I meant .. going into an RN to BSN program. But you're right, I don't think I'd even want to go to a school even if it's to continue my ADN to a BSN if they've got a low pass rate. The statistics I looked at only go from 2007-2008 and THIS year (2008) They've just hired a new chair director or something of very high importance to the school to change their program, so I guess that's really good and since I won't be going there for another year to 2 years (if I were to end up going there) I'll be able to see if their rates go up or not.
You alll have given me really good ideas, I will definitely talk to as many people as possible in order to get an idea of how things REALLY are. I hope that I will also be able to sit in some classes, maybe do an overnight stay. I have quite a bit of time so I think that is in my favor. And I don't know if I could afford a small private college, but that does sound REALLY nice.
I'm going to go check out the school's website now to see how the dorming situation is. & I don't think no scratch that I KNOW that I can't afford off-campus housing.[/quote']
Definitely get the real low-down because speculating can only get you so far. Schools and their dorms can be very different from each other and so you really need to find out what's the case for where you're thinking of going.
Where I went to school, they didn't have any singles for undergrads and it was generally cheaper to live off-campus than on-campus. The convenience of the dorm was the cafeteria downstairs and not having to deal with things like looking at apartments and splitting utilities with roommates. Also, when it's your first year and you don't know the area or know any other students, it's the often the easiest housing to set up from a distance. Most students at my school dorms moved out to an apartment with their new friends and acquaintances after the first year. It was common to have four students sharing a 2-BR apartment.
Living off-campus wasn't inconvenient where I went to school either. Some apartments were actually closer to where most classes were held than the dorms - which for some reason had ended up being built about as far away from the heart of campus as possible. We also had an off-campus co-op like the one someone else mentioned. It was a great deal for the price, though the quarters were cramped and you had to live there years to get the seniority to qualify for a single.
And my school dorms emptied out on the weekends... it was the weekdays when obnoxious neighbors would play loud music all day and night.
Thank you for mentioning that. I will check into off-campus housing as well. I'm just afraid with that because I just don't understand how I would find a roommate off-campus when I don't know anyone to begin with. And also, in the summer I won't be living there or what if someone moves out and then I'm left with higher rent or all by myself and I can't afford it and basically .. all my fears are money driven.
First of all, could you increase the size of the font in your posts? It's really hard to read.
Most schools should have some sort of housing office that can give you some info about on and off campus housing options. For your first year, going with on-campus housing (dorms) might well be the best option, just for the ease of it. As you note, less expensive options can quickly become more expensive if not well planned.
Will you be starting as a first-year student? Will you be taking pre-reqs as opposed to core nursing coursework? If you don't have clinicals and you'd like to experience dorm life and have "the college experience", I'd see no reason not to go with the dorms. Enjoy it while you can! Just make sure to keep classwork a priority.
Once you start in with full-time nursing studies (clinicals, nursing care plans, massive reading assignments), you likely wouldn't have much time to participate in on-campus student activities. Nursing students often live in a different sphere than other undergrads. At my school, the nursing program was housed by the school's affiliated medical center and not anywhere close to the heart of student campus life.
But again, not all schools are the same, so try to get more info about your school. Is there any way to connect with current nursing students there to ask them about their experience and for their advice? Get the info you can and plan for what you can and then leave the rest to figure out as you go.
No, I will not be a first year student, I would be a transfer, but I'd be going into the RN-BSN program. & that's what I'm going to try and do next, I'm going to try and talk to some of the students that are currently going to school there (dorming and not) and see what their opinions are.
Eh, I don't really care too much about student activities, I'm mainly concerned about having my classes closer, being closer to the school library, being around other students with the same major. Basically having resources that are closer and I will have easier access to =)
Also check to see if you school has specially dorming options for nursing students. Where my son is going, they offer it. Not only are you surrounded by other nursing students, there is a nursing library and computers with nursing software. The dorm is the closest to the nursing classes also.
Where my son is going, they offer it. Not only are you surrounded by other nursing students, there is a nursing library and computers with nursing software. The dorm is the closest to the nursing classes also.
That sounds awesome! I don't think any of my nursing classmates lived in on-campus housing. Most shared an apartment near campus or commuted from home. But mine was a big commuter school and as I noted, the dorms were NOT convenient in terms of location. The above situation sounds ideal!!
I lived in a dorm my freshman year when I went to college the first time. I hated it so much. I had terrible girls on my floor and I didn't get along with them, and I really did NOT get along with my roommate. You couldn't pay me to go back.
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Blueorchid, ASN, RN
133 Posts
Having lived in a dorm room in a former life (and former degree) I can wholeheartedly agree with emmy27 that the whole "roomates become best friends," idea rarely happens. The risk you take at getting a room on campus is that you may have a roomate. Single dorms are challenging to get (apply super early!) and they're often claimed by upper classmen or RAs that live on campus. If that's the case and you don't sign up with a friend, you're going to get someone random you've never met before.
Its scary and let me be the first to say my roomate and I did not get along. Ironically though she was a big party girl...the handy part about that was when the big sorority rushes came in the spring semesters she was never around so I got plenty of sleep. And while I really disliked her I knew I could trust her (I wasn't going to wake up and find half my stuff missing) because she disliked me just as much :chuckle
You make it through though. With the party life you do learn to tune things out as you go along. Be wary though if you make friends on campus (which you should anyways!) your single room may become the party place because there's no other roomie to deal with. And that can become just as distracting. Quiet halls are sometimes a clever disguise for those who just want to party as well, I know the health conscious dorms at my old school were the place where people went to smoke and drink...don't always believe the titles.
I'd talk to someone that lives on campus if I were you. Usually there's at least one RA that can't afford to go off campus and they can give you the scoop on the high and low points of campus life. Good luck with it all!