Frustrated by unhelpful advisors :(

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Specializes in geriatrics, med surg.

So right now I am finishing up my AA degree and plan to transfer to a university. This fall is my last semester of classes that I need for my AA. I was going to stay at the CC that I'm at and get my LPN, then apply and wait to get accepted to the RN program... I just recently realized that I can go to a university and it will take me 2 and 1/2 years total and I'll have my BSN!! So... I have been calling the university and emailed three different people there... absolutely no reply to my voicemails or my emails. So frustrated. All I wanted to know was how many credits minimum through the university would put me as a U student rather than a transfer student. That's it. I know they only let 40 students into the nursing program each semester (fall and spring) and only a fraction of them are transfer students. So I figured that I might have a better shot at getting in if I am a U student... know what I mean? Anyways, I had an appointment with the transfer counselor at my current CC and she acted as if I was completely wasting her time because I was trying to get help figuring out what classes I have left to take. I'm so frustrated. Why won't they call me back or email me back??? Gosh!!! I just want to be in nursing school already :crying2: I thought counselors and advisors and registration workers were supposed to "help" students...

Thanks for listening/reading.

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Specializes in geriatrics, med surg.

Oops!!! Meant to post this in pre-nursing student section!! Sorry!

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I don't have any advice for you, but what you are experiencing is sadly not unique. I try not to send to many questions to my advisor - I think I've emailed her 3 times in the past year. Not one response. I'd bet money she doesn't even know my name.

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I've never heard of a university giving preference to students that did their prerequites at the university vs. Any where else. I could be wrong of course. In my experience programs either run a merit based system where they have certain requirements to get a seat in upper division classes or they let everyone in based on when they apply ( wait until your number is up). You can find out tons of info usually on the nursing homepage for the university. I would start there and also check the nursing contacts to confirm your messages have gone to the right place. I don't know where you're applying but around here schools are in the thick of accepting applications/ making notifications for fall so if you don't have prerecs done/ aren't ready to apply you might be low priority for them right now. Hang in there and read everything you can on the nursing homepage.

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Specializes in Gerontology, nursing education.

Moved this to the Pre-Nursing forum for you, LovingThis.

I am sorry to hear about your frustrations. Unfortunately, as other posters have said, this sort of thing is not uncommon at any level of program. Not to defend this practice, but sometimes advisors are so swamped with other work, including teaching duties, that they just don't have the chance to get back to students in a reasonable amount of time. One colleague at a school at which I taught was the pre-nursing advisor and she had over 600 advisees! The program only admitted 150 students per year and yet she was responsible for 600 pre-nursing students. It was impossible for her to keep up with all of them.

Unfortunately, the school at which I taught also did give preference to the students who completed their prerequisites at that university. I saw many would-be transfer students get jerked around and told they needed to re-take courses because the course wasn't exactly like what was required for the nursing program. In one case, a transfer student who had been pre-med at her previous college had to retake several science courses because they weren't the "same" sciences as required for the nursing program. The student had achieved an A or a B in all of her previous science courses; certainly a science course required for a pre-med program would be adequate for a nursing program.

Be assertive and keep calling. Or---look into a different program at a school where they do have more time for you. I wish you the best in this!

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I've never heard of a university giving preference to students that did their prerequites at the university vs. Any where else. I could be wrong of course. In my experience programs either run a merit based system where they have certain requirements to get a seat in upper division classes or they let everyone in based on when they apply ( wait until your number is up). You can find out tons of info usually on the nursing homepage for the university. I would start there and also check the nursing contacts to confirm your messages have gone to the right place. I don't know where you're applying but around here schools are in the thick of accepting applications/ making notifications for fall so if you don't have prerecs done/ aren't ready to apply you might be low priority for them right now. Hang in there and read everything you can on the nursing homepage.

Texas Woman's University will give your GPA a .4 bump if you complete 16 or more prerequisite hours there. That's how some of their BSN applicants end up with higher than 4.0 averages.

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The university you wish to apply to should have something called a "Transcript Evaluation". At least all the ones I've looked at do. Basically you send them your transcripts and in a couple weeks they tell you what credits you still need to satisfy to be considered to the BSN program -- even if you aren't currently a student there. Try to google "XXX University BSN transcript evaluation"

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