YoAdrienne216 12 Posts Aug 16, 2015 @featherzrn I haven't looked into excelsior. I will do that! I am completely interested in a non-profit, fully online school. I need 100%online, since I am still young and do not want to tie myself to a college campus. I just want something that is recognized as being a respectable and worthy college. I do love how WGU is set up, actually, but I have seen many reviews about the pass/fail being an issue when you go on for your Masters (if you do not stay with WGU ). I am definitely going on for my Masters, so I just want to make sure I am taking the right steps. :)Thank you, so much, for your input. I will definitely be looking at Excelsior, now, to see if maybe it will fit my needs!
OrganizedChaos, LVN 1 Article; 6,883 Posts Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab. Has 10 years experience. Aug 16, 2015 @featherzrn I haven't looked into excelsior. I will do that! I am completely interested in a non-profit, fully online school. I need 100%online, since I am still young and do not want to tie myself to a college campus. I just want something that is recognized as being a respectable and worthy college. I do love how WGU is set up, actually, but I have seen many reviews about the pass/fail being an issue when you go on for your Masters (if you do not stay with WGU ). I am definitely going on for my Masters, so I just want to make sure I am taking the right steps. :)Thank you, so much, for your input. I will definitely be looking at Excelsior, now, to see if maybe it will fit my needs!There are many people who have gone to WGU for their bachelor's then applied to good universities for their master's. The pass/fail is not an issue. I believe TheCommuter is one, correct me if I'm wrong.
emmy27 454 Posts Specializes in ER, Med-surg. Aug 16, 2015 There are many people who have gone to WGU for their bachelor's then applied to good universities for their master's. The pass/fail is not an issue. I believe TheCommuter is one, correct me if I'm wrong.I did my RN-BSN at WGU and contacted several MSN programs beforehand to ask how they handled transcripts from WGU; all said they converted your WGU coursework to a GPA of 3.0 (since you must make a B standard to pass any course at WGU) and then evaluate it like any other application. I haven't decided whether to pursue my MSN yet, but I don't foresee the transcript being an issue. If I was hoping to attend a hyper-competitive program it might be, but not for most.I also know that at my last job, for one of the larger healthcare employers in the country, middle management was *heavily* encouraged by senior management to use their tuition reimbursement benefit to get their BSN/MSN or MBA from WGU- since it's very easy to schedule around work but you do actually have to master the material to pass. So even the MSN option there seems to be valued by employers.
steffimiesha, ADN, RN 63 Posts Specializes in Emergency. Has 2 years experience. Aug 17, 2015 University of Wyoming have a great rn/Bsn program. It's cheap for in-state students but if you live in a qualifying state you get wue tuition at a discount. Look into it!
racingmurse320q 23 Posts Aug 17, 2015 I can vouch for University of Wyoming, just finished my RN-BSN on Friday. I live in Kentucky found that the program was still rather affordable for me compared to other similar programs and the "for profit" programs. Finished in 2 years but probably could've done sooner if I were better with statistics. Check it out and you won't be disappointed.
DowntheRiver 983 Posts Specializes in Urgent Care, Oncology. Has 9 years experience. Aug 17, 2015 University of Texas at Arlington. Another brick and mortar school that has a popular RN to BSN both on campus and online. Tuition is reasonable - not the cheapest I've found but not the most expensive, either.
YoAdrienne216 12 Posts Aug 17, 2015 For those of you who suggest a certain school, how were the classes set up? Were they one class at a time?Were the classes taken in 5 weeks, 8 weeks, or traditional 16 weeks?Is the coursework a lot of papers or tests?I'll take any info you have! It's always good to get info from people who have actually seen the programs in action, rather than just from advisors. :)
TheCommuter, BSN, RN 226 Articles; 27,608 Posts Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych. Has 17 years experience. Aug 17, 2015 I completed my RN-to-BSN degree online through WGU several months ago. It required 34 credits, took 10 months, and cost a whopping $5,800 in tuition and fees. I start an online MSN program through Eastern New Mexico University on August 18th. My WGU degree did not hinder my chances at acceptance because the pass/fail system results in a 3.0 grade point average, which is the minimum GPA that most graduate schools require.Other affordable options:1. Fort Hays State online BSN: $186/credit2. Grantham Univ online BSN: $265/credit3. Eastern New Mexico online BSN: $210/credit
emmy27 454 Posts Specializes in ER, Med-surg. Aug 17, 2015 For those of you who suggest a certain school, how were the classes set up? Were they one class at a time?Were the classes taken in 5 weeks, 8 weeks, or traditional 16 weeks?Is the coursework a lot of papers or tests?I'll take any info you have! It's always good to get info from people who have actually seen the programs in action, rather than just from advisors. :)At WGU you start each six-month semester with a 12-credit course load that you and your mentor decide on ahead of time. Generally they open one class at a time and encourage you to complete one at a time, but if you demonstrate a solid work ethic and request it, mentors will usually agree to open them all. If you complete all those original 12 CU before your semester is up, you can pull additional courses forward at no additional cost. You can take as long or as short a time for each course as you like. There are suggested timelines for each course, but you take the test/submit the paper whenever you're ready- the only true deadline is the end of the semester. I've known people who completed 30+ credits in one semester (although that sounds absolutely horrible to me and I did not approach that speed, I do see how it could be done by someone with a lot of drive and discipline). The materials are thorough although not always exciting, and if you have questions there are course mentors for each course with doctoral degrees in that area to help you, but you do have to schedule time with them actively- they take a very minimal instructional role unless you need it- mostly just organizing information on the course and producing videos or hosting webinars covering common areas of concern. If you have no questions, you can get through each class with no more interaction with the mentor than the welcome and "congratulations, you passed" emails. Which I liked- when I did need help, they were there for me to answer questions in depth, because they weren't spending time lecturing people who didn't need help.The shortest courses for me were nutrition (which I had taken previously but didn't get transfer credit for due to slightly different course descriptions) which took me one day to review and pass the test and Care of the Older Adult (I had years of geriatric nursing experience already and challenged the exam without studying and passed). The longest were biochem, evidence-based practice, and community health- all of which had labor-intensive projects and took between 5-8 weeks each. Most classes were more like 1-4 weeks of study before I could pass the test or complete the paper. I took long breaks between classes to move/get married/start a new job etc and still easily completed the full 12 CU each semester without stressing about school basically ever. Each course requires either an exam (proctored via webcam from your house 24/7) or paper/project(s). One or two have both. If you fail an exam, the mentors for that course send you a revision plan to complete before you try it again. If a paper doesn't pass, they tell you what areas were deficient and you correct it and resubmit. As long as you complete the course by the end of the semester in which you began it, you pass, but if you can't, you get an incomplete which doesn't go away even when you finish the course later.There's no busywork (no required forum posts, no "reflection journals," no weekly quizzes, etc) but there's also no relying on being a diligent student to scrounge points for classes you find challenging- you really do have to learn the material and prove it.It wasn't exactly fun but I did feel like it was a much more efficient educational experience than any of my previous undergrad classes. They eliminate most of the timewasting and nonsense of many of the online courses I'd taken from my brick and mortar schools (I attended university for a different major before I went nursing and took a number of online classes that were not nearly as well-designed because they were still mimicking the brick-and-mortar structure out of habit). If you're self-motivated and don't need a lot of hand-holding, it's a great option. And you REALLY can't beat the price.
meanmaryjean, DNP, RN 7,899 Posts Specializes in NICU, ICU, PICU, Academia. Has 46 years experience. Aug 17, 2015 @featherzrn I haven't looked into excelsior. I will do that! I am completely interested in a non-profit, fully online school. I need 100%online, since I am still young and do not want to tie myself to a college campus. I just want something that is recognized as being a respectable and worthy college. I do love how WGU is set up, actually, but I have seen many reviews about the pass/fail being an issue when you go on for your Masters (if you do not stay with WGU ). I am definitely going on for my Masters, so I just want to make sure I am taking the right steps. :)Thank you, so much, for your input. I will definitely be looking at Excelsior, now, to see if maybe it will fit my needs!I have my BSN and MSN from WGU and was accepted into two DNP programs and a post-master's NP at well-respected universities. . No problem- and it's not pass/fail. It is competency based, and was just awarded the NLN Center of Excellence award.
DowntheRiver 983 Posts Specializes in Urgent Care, Oncology. Has 9 years experience. Aug 17, 2015 University of Texas at Arlington has 5-week, 8-week, and 16-week options. I top loaded my semester this semester and am taking two classes now that end in September, another two classes that begin in the middle of September and end in lat October and two classes that start November 2nd and end December 2nd. Tuition for me will be about $10,500 out the door due to me having to take Art and two silly Texas politics classes. So far I like it. I'm taking Technical Writing and Intro to Nursing at the moment. Mostly busy work and applying theory to the current job and implementing evidenced-based practice. This comes in the form of weekly quizzes, discussion boards, a module that has to be completed, and then a paper that is due at the end of the course. I chose UTA because of it's reputation and CCNE accreditation. If all goes well I will probably do my Master's degree there as well.
athomas2244 108 Posts Specializes in Oncology. Has 4 years experience. Aug 19, 2015 I will be finishing the MSN FNP program at Chamberlain in June. I work in the Texas Medical Center at a very well known and prestigious hospital...they have an academic agreement with Chamberlain and love those that graduate from there. The only issue I've had with Chamberlain is the financial aid...other than that I am pleased with the program.
