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Well it is official as of today I have been accepted to two different accelerated nursing programs which both start January 2016. My dilemma is I do not know which one to choose . The first school is in Portland Maine The University of New England and the second is the University of Miami. I'm excited to even have the opportunity to have this decision . The University of New England is a 16 month program and is one of the top ABSN programs. They are also offering me an $18,000 scholarship . In total, the school only excepts 40 students . The downside is that I am from California and this is very far for me as well as the winter months will be very cold . The tuition for both schools is about $40,000. The University of Miami is 12 months. The University of Miami is also very far for me and they except 70 students. From what I can tell there are no scholarships. I think I would do better in the warmer climate but that's not a dealbreaker for me. There are also some very important factors that I do not know the answers to and I would appreciate if anybody has any knowledge to share . I am not sure what the NCLEX pass rates are at both schools! In addition, I would like to go on to become a nurse practitioner and I am curious which school will be easier to matriculate into a graduate program?

My final dilemma is that I also applied to the University of San Diego entry-level masters program and I definitely have the grades as well as an awesome application for this particular school . However, they do not start interviewing until January and acceptance is in March. I would like to go to this program since it is a masters and is close to home. It is also considered a top ranking school by US news. Does anyone have any suggestions ?

Again, by no means am I complaining I feel very blessed that I have decisions to make and would appreciate any feedback or knowledge. Thank you!

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Specializes in Cardiac, Home Health, Primary Care.

You can always buy an extra coat with $18k....

Where you relocate for school doesn't have to be permanent. If you're willing to go that far from home and if the two schools are pretty comparable I'd go where the scholarship is....

Unless you're well off or your parents are paying. Then I'd probably go to Florida because, well, it's Florida.

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Specializes in Prior military RN/current ICU RN..

Cost of living in Maine is going to be higher. I have lived all over the east coast. NCLEX pass rates are going to be good at both. What I don't understand is if you are concerned about leaving cali why are you applying to schools that are literally as far away as possible?

There are tons of schools all over the west coast. Or even the midwest if you want to be closer.

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Yes I would love to go to Florida but the scholarship as in me and fortunately I don't have super wealthy parents

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Well as far as moving I'm OK with it if it's just for a year. I would like to stay close to family and I will most likely move back. Unfortunate most of the schools here are very impacted. I am sure if I tried long enough I would get in, however, I'm an older student 35 years old with a career change so I'm trying to speed things up. I have applied to some California schools they start later and have already been excepted to these other schools. If I turn the schools down and do not get into any other schools in California then I'm left with nothing.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

Be VERY cautious about entry level Masters programs. No one is hiring these grads in my part of the country. The grads are no more qualified for entry-level jobs than the new BSNs & ADNs with whom they are competing. As for entry-level NPs??? C'mon - this is very off-the-wall because NP jobs are characterized by a very high level of autonomy.... as in no direct supervision. My organization employs a lot of NPs - all positions require significant levels of experience.

Wishing you the very best of luck & hope you can find a program closer to home that is affordable as well.

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Thank you HouTx. Solid advice! You think a better route is to finish the second-degree BSN get experience and then proceed to get my DNP perhaps online while I'm working, instead of going the first path that I had stated? I noticed on nursingCas there are plenty of BSN to DNP programs. I also believe that most nurse practitioner positions are now requiring a doctorate . For now there are very few dual master/DNP programs. However in the future I think the Masters degree will die off and dual degree programs will take over. Nurses with masters degrees will probably be grandfathered . What is your take? I would like to have a clear cut path. You know that saying "Shoot for the stars and land in the clouds"?í ½í¸ƒ

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Specializes in Cardiac, Home Health, Primary Care.

NOWHERE IS REQUIRING DNP FOR ENTRY NP PRACTICE

NOWHERE

It is getting more to this for CRNA from my understanding but there are ZERO ZIP NADA plans in ANY state to make DNP required for entry level NP in any near future. If they DID announce such a plan in sure they'd be announcing 5-10 years in ADVANCE of their deadline so I think it's safe to say MSN's are completely safe degree options for NP practice for the foreseeable future.

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Specializes in Cardiac, Home Health, Primary Care.

Oh.

Jobs can ask for whatever they want but doesn't mean they will get it if they want someone qualified in the position.

I haven't seen any job postings even mentioning DNP. I just see ones that want you to be able to see patients, diagnose and write scripts.

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Good luck on whatever path you choose. I am not in an accelerated program, I am in my third semester, no scholarships all loans and out of pocket. What I will tell you is this, get far away from home and stay away from ANYTHING that will distract you from your studies. I live with my partner at home and I have family obligations. I think it would have benefitted me more to have lived away from everyone without distractions of any sorts. Congrats! I study or try to at least 4 or 5 hrs a day and that's still not enough. I am 43 yrs old (44 next month) it takes alot for me to retain the information.

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