Question about diploma schools vs ADN?

Nursing Students General Students

Published

Specializes in Med/Surg, Dialysis.

Hi,

I have a question about diploma schools vs. ADN??

I have just applied to 2 programs for Fall 2005, one is through a local hospital to get a diploma in Nursing and an RN, the other is the ADN program at my community college, to get my RN and an associates in Applied Science.

I am planning to pursue my BSN later after receiving my RN? Are there any drawbacks to going to the diploma school vs. getting an associates. From looking at the material for both schools I don't see any problems, but I was wondering if anyone has had any problems bridging the RN to BSN with a diploma in Nursing. Are there any drawbacks to the diploma?

Thanks! :)

Specializes in Rural Health.

Traditionally speaking, ADN programs are designed to transfer to a 4 year school with little to no problems. You may have to take a couple of additional classes to apply....but those are generally pre-reqs for 4 year schools and you are not able to take those at an ADN program - like for me, we can't take patho or pharm with our ADN program but both are required to apply for the BSN program. Most 4 year schools work jointly with ADN programs on coursework to make the transition easy.

When I was doing my research I was told that a diploma did not transfer anywhere and at best you might be given credit for part of your program but it was difficult to apply for a BSN program with *just a diploma*. When I checked into the only diploma program in the area, that wasn't the case AT ALL. In fact the coursework was the same for the ADN as the diploma program and at the end of the diploma program you could petition the college that the hospital works jointly with and get your ADN, which I thought was very cool.

I would call the school in which you want to get your BSN at and double check to make sure they'll take the diploma program and see what additional classes you'll have to take to apply for the BSN program either way.

Good luck!!!

Specializes in Emergency & Trauma/Adult ICU.

I'm a diploma student graduating this spring, and I've also already researched RN-BSN programs because I plan to start that within the next year. (and also because I'm a glutton for punishment ... :D )

At my school the non-nursing courses (A&P, micro, nutrition, etc.) are offered through another local university, taught by that school's faculty, and credit for those courses is actually granted from that university, so there's no question about those credits (total = 30) transferring to a BSN program.

The 3 RN-BSN programs I'm considering will all grant somewhere in the neighborhood of 36 credits for my nursing courses. So I would end up transferring in approx. 66 credits towards my BSN. The ADN program at my local community college is also a total of 66 credits.

Check specifically with the school you plan to attend and with 1 or 2 RN-BSN programs in your area and see what they have to say. It really shouldn't be a problem. Good luck to you. :)

I attended a diploma schoool and later completed an RN-BSN program with no difficulties at all. However, I had a couple years of college prior to nursing school, and my diploma school offered many of its courses through a local college so that the credits were easily transferred. And my BSN completion program was v. "user-friendly."

This is one of the things you need to discuss with the folks at the diploma school before making a decision on which school to attend (assuming you get accepted to both :) ). What steps have they taken to make it possible for their graduates to continue their education after graduation? How many of their graduates have done that (that they know of ...) and what difficulties did they encounter? Can you be put in touch with a graduate (or more than one) who has completed a BSN and would be willing to talk to you about her/his experience?

Also, as mom2michael noted, if you have an idea of where you may be going to complete a BSN later, you could contact them and ask about their experiences with graduates of the diploma school.

Initially attending a diploma school is not necessarily a problem, but you need to get as much info as you can up front so you can make the best decision for you. Best wishes.

+ Add a Comment