Grand Canyon University ABSN

[FutureJ97]

Hey everyone! Has anyone heard of Grand Canyon University's accelerated BSN program? It just launched this year, and was wondering if anyone is applying to it? ABSN - two locations: Sun City and Tuscon.

[Vcorral]

On 5/2/2021 at 5:31 PM, Nurse2b96. said:

Hi! I’m also from San Diego and had the same concerns as you when I was looking into the program. I just finished my first semester and my second semester starts tomorrow. We do get breaks in between semesters! We just had our Spring break which was 2 weeks long. Our fall break is in august which is 3 weeks long. Then I believe our next break is Winter break in conjunction with GCU’s main campus. The program is very rigorous. It’s not 50/50 online and in-person like how it’s described. I would say 90% of the program is online because we only go to campus for labs, sims, and exams. Since it’s hybrid, we don’t have lectures and class interaction except for labs. So for lecture, we basically teach ourselves the material. They do provide us powerpoints, practice quizzes and extra resources to help us. They also provide tutoring if we are struggling. They also hold zoom sessions for concept reviews for upcoming exams. We also have exam reviews to go over the most commonly missed questions and then personal 1 on 1 exam reviews with a faculty member to go over what we individually missed. The teachers also provide online office hours over zoom for extra help or any questions we may have. The first semester you will have anywhere from 1-3 exams per week (there is only 1 week where there are no exams) and 32 discussion posts due per week. Some weeks, you have to complete a case study. Others, they assign you practice quizzes for participation. We only had 1-2 papers to write. It gets difficult when you have exams to study for when you also have clinicals. Time management, learning how to prioritize what to focus on, and being well organized are things that will definitely help because it’s a lot of information condensed into 4 months at a time! I would not recommend working because it is so easy to get behind. There were only 2 people in my cohort out of 15 that managed to work part time last semester.

Hi can I email you I have a few questions regarding the program 

[Christine Pham]

Hi everyone, I'm hoping to start the ABSN program at the Sun City location in Summer 2022. I'll be moving from California and wanted to ask how you guys went about finding housing or roommates?

[ChemistryRN]

On 5/2/2021 at 5:31 PM, Nurse2b96. said:

Hi! I’m also from San Diego and had the same concerns as you when I was looking into the program. I just finished my first semester and my second semester starts tomorrow. We do get breaks in between semesters! We just had our Spring break which was 2 weeks long. Our fall break is in august which is 3 weeks long. Then I believe our next break is Winter break in conjunction with GCU’s main campus. The program is very rigorous. It’s not 50/50 online and in-person like how it’s described. I would say 90% of the program is online because we only go to campus for labs, sims, and exams. Since it’s hybrid, we don’t have lectures and class interaction except for labs. So for lecture, we basically teach ourselves the material. They do provide us powerpoints, practice quizzes and extra resources to help us. They also provide tutoring if we are struggling. They also hold zoom sessions for concept reviews for upcoming exams. We also have exam reviews to go over the most commonly missed questions and then personal 1 on 1 exam reviews with a faculty member to go over what we individually missed. The teachers also provide online office hours over zoom for extra help or any questions we may have. The first semester you will have anywhere from 1-3 exams per week (there is only 1 week where there are no exams) and 32 discussion posts due per week. Some weeks, you have to complete a case study. Others, they assign you practice quizzes for participation. We only had 1-2 papers to write. It gets difficult when you have exams to study for when you also have clinicals. Time management, learning how to prioritize what to focus on, and being well organized are things that will definitely help because it’s a lot of information condensed into 4 months at a time! I would not recommend working because it is so easy to get behind. There were only 2 people in my cohort out of 15 that managed to work part time last semester.

Hi, I was wondering if you could elaborate a little bit about the break schedule! I am planning on starting at the Boswell location in January 2022. I'm also from CA - born and raised in the East Bay, but I went to school in San Diego for my Bachelors! I'm currently trying to plan my wedding and I was hoping I could do it in fall. You said that you got a 3 week break in August; is that the beginning or end of the month? Also, do you know if the break schedule will be similar for incoming classes as well? It's really nice that you get breaks in between each semester, I can't imagine taking a huge courseload non stop!! If anyone else has any information about the break schedule, I would appreciate any information sent my way!! Thank you in advance!

[Nurse2b96.]

23 minutes ago, ChemistryRN said:

Hi, I was wondering if you could elaborate a little bit about the break schedule! I am planning on starting at the Boswell location in January 2022. I'm also from CA - born and raised in the East Bay, but I went to school in San Diego for my Bachelors! I'm currently trying to plan my wedding and I was hoping I could do it in fall. You said that you got a 3 week break in August; is that the beginning or end of the month? Also, do you know if the break schedule will be similar for incoming classes as well? It's really nice that you get breaks in between each semester, I can't imagine taking a huge courseload non stop!! If anyone else has any information about the break schedule, I would appreciate any information sent my way!! Thank you in advance!

Hi! I am not sure if the break schedules are definite and consistent each semester since they are always changing things with the program. Our first break from level 1 was only two weeks long toward mid-April, so we started the second semester first week of May. Then our break from level 2 was ~3.5ish weeks starting from the second week of August. We started this current semester second week of September. Our schedule says that we have finals the week of December 13th but your level and cohort determines when you can go home since each level has different classes. I started this program January 4th, so if Spring 2022 semester is scheduled to start around that same time, we will only get about two weeks off for Christmas. The Spring semester schedule won't be posted until the holiday break. Hope that helps!

On 10/3/2021 at 1:54 PM, Christine Pham said:

Hi everyone, I'm hoping to start the ABSN program at the Sun City location in Summer 2022. I'll be moving from California and wanted to ask how you guys went about finding housing or roommates?

Hi, I asked my counselor if she knew anyone in my cohort who were also looking for roommates and she connected me with my current roommate after she asked around!

[Nurse2b96.]

On 9/9/2021 at 4:06 PM, Vcorral said:

Hi can I email you I have a few questions regarding the program 

what is your email?

[Potato13, BSN]

On 8/28/2021 at 12:47 AM, MoonlightSilhouette said:

Hey guys, I was wondering for those who are currently in the program, if you can give an example of what your schedule is typically like? I know you were all mentioning how its a 50/50 learning environment. But I'm more curious about how many days you attend labs/sims/clinicals?

I think this varies by cohort, but I started out having lab one day a week. A few weeks into the semester, I am on the Boswell campus for exams, labs, practice labs (not mandatory), sim lab, etc. on average 3 days a week, sometimes 5. The number of clinical days varies by semester. There are no in-person lectures, but professors hold group office hours once/week to go over material. Hope this helps!

[ChemistryRN]

On 10/7/2021 at 5:45 PM, Nurse2b96. said:

Hi! I am not sure if the break schedules are definite and consistent each semester since they are always changing things with the program. Our first break from level 1 was only two weeks long toward mid-April, so we started the second semester first week of May. Then our break from level 2 was ~3.5ish weeks starting from the second week of August. We started this current semester second week of September. Our schedule says that we have finals the week of December 13th but your level and cohort determines when you can go home since each level has different classes. I started this program January 4th, so if Spring 2022 semester is scheduled to start around that same time, we will only get about two weeks off for Christmas. The Spring semester schedule won't be posted until the holiday break. Hope that helps!

Hi, I asked my counselor if she knew anyone in my cohort who were also looking for roommates and she connected me with my current roommate after she asked around!

Thank you so much for this information! I am trying to plan my wedding, and I really did NOT want to have to do it while school was in session, so these multi-week breaks will be perfect, especially if you said you get around 3.5 weeks off in the fall. I'm shooting for an August wedding, so it really is perfect if the schedule doesn't change too much for my cohort. Thank you again, I really appreciate it!! 

[Mtphan]

Hey everyone,

I'm indecisive in wether or not I should attend ASU or GCU ABSN program. Two totally different learning methods but I'm hoping to get some insight from those that are currently in the GCU program to see how things are going. 

[Potato13, BSN]

11 hours ago, Mtphan said:

Hey everyone,

I'm indecisive in whether or not I should attend ASU or GCU ABSN program. Two totally different learning methods but I'm hoping to get some insight from those that are currently in the GCU program to see how things are going. 

I can only speak to my experience so far in the program, but in general, I love my cohort and most of my instructors are really great.  A couple of the instructors in particular go above and beyond to help us succeed, which is so appreciated in this type of program. 

However, in my opinion, the program at the administrative level is very disorganized, which adds a lot of stress for the students. We have had several instances where they schedule an event or meeting last minute, and we are expected to drop everything or face consequences. They give us incorrect times or dates on our calendars, and have also double booked us for mandatory events. My cohort has expressed frustration to both the administration and a couple of our instructors about the lack of organization from them, and have essentially received a shrug in response.  It is a "self-directed" program, and while we do have to be very organized in order to succeed, we feel the leadership should exemplify the standards they expect us to uphold. 

Tutoring is limited and on a first-come, first-serve basis. Exam reviews are not helpful as you are not allowed to see the questions you missed and the answers you chose--however, I don't think this is specific to GCU. If you learn best in-person, I would suggest a program that offers in-person lectures. Labs and clinicals are in person, but the rest of the didactic is not. Professors are supposed to hold weekly zoom meetings to go over the material. You will be spending a LOT of your very valuable study time completing discussion questions and replies--32/week (for level 1). Some of us that are using loans or scholarships to help pay for tuition have had a really hard time working with the university. Many of us weren't notified of our acceptance to the program (even though we'd had a provisional acceptance for months) until we had to force it out of our admissions counselors. Additionally, make sure you ask about orientation if you're moving out of state. They didn't tell us about it until the week before, which cost me quite a bit of money since I had to scramble and rearrange my move. 

I am really not trying to be a Debbie Downer here. I think GCU prepares students well for nursing, and they aren't actively trying to fail you or anything like that. Every program has its pros and cons, but there are programs out there that have their act together. It is a new program, so it's expected that there's a few bumps in the road. I would try to speak to some students at ASU and see what they have to say about how organized their program is. I really do think it makes all the difference. 

This is just my/my cohort's experience. If I had known what I know now, I would have gone to a different program. We're at the Phoenix campus, but I had spoken to a student at the Tuscon location and they liked it. Wherever you decide to go, nursing school is a lot of work. But it'll all be worth it in the end.? Best of luck in your decision!

[Nurse2b96.]

12 hours ago, Mtphan said:

Hey everyone,

I'm indecisive in wether or not I should attend ASU or GCU ABSN program. Two totally different learning methods but I'm hoping to get some insight from those that are currently in the GCU program to see how things are going. 

I would have to agree with everything that Potato13 said in their post. If I had known how disorganized this program would have been, I definitely would have gone to another program and would not recommend anyone applying to this program. It is difficult already as a nursing student because nursing in general is tough. But it is even more stressful when you try to advocate for yourself/cohort for things we should have (that we are paying a lot of money for) only to feel ignored. Last semester, we fought to have tutoring available to us and was not provided tutoring until the last few weeks of the semester before the final. Another issue was them scheduling tutoring on days where half of us had 12 hour clinical. It is also unfair because individual tutoring is only offered for those who are under 80%, when I feel like this should be an equal opportunity for everyone. The biggest complaint I have are the last minute schedule changes, especially when clinical rotations are cancelled with or without notice because they were unable to find a staff replacement. This happened to my clinical group last week, and unfortunately, will most likely have to make it up during finals week as this happened to my classmates last semester as well. Beyond that, I absolutely love my cohort and I could not have imagined going through nursing school with anyone else. I know not everyone has this experience, but I think I got lucky with mine because we are basically a family.

[RunwildRN]

Do NOT go to GCU ABSN program. Overpriced for what material they provide. Very little guidance. Read these 15 chapters and take an exam. It is disorganized and leadership doesn't communicate with students. You will wait 5 days or more to hear back from them for pressing matters. Their policy is they will respond within 24 hours, it rarely happens. They gave PowerPoint and then took them away. The provided a tutor and took that away. They had a success coach and took that away. Faculty is spread thin and overworked. There is no Christianity in the classroom or from leadership. The assistant dean and site director in Sun City are no help. They have made it clear they don't care if students are successful or pass the course, hence why they are a for profit school. They will tear you down. There's no empathy from either one and they are nurses. They don't respect students' time, they reschedule exams and cancel clinicals when you are already at where you need to be and never email you or post an announcement. These are not the nurses you want leading you or be learning from. 

They got rid of all the great professors that want to help students succeed and become great nurses. 

Literally, we had 2 hours left of simulation and the professor left. We never made it up which I am sure we didn't miss much. The simulations compared to what I have heard at other universities are awful. The professor in Sim records and will tell you how awful you are and make you cry. They cut labs over 1 hour short and tell you to go study. They don't have enough equipment for students, literally one mannequin in lab for 24 students to practice on. Students could use the hands on practice in lab because they give the bare minimum hours alloted in clinicals. 

[RunwildRN]

On 10/13/2021 at 10:10 PM, Mtphan said:

Hey everyone,

I'm indecisive in wether or not I should attend ASU or GCU ABSN program. Two totally different learning methods but I'm hoping to get some insight from those that are currently in the GCU program to see how things are going. 

Pick ASU. I definitely don't recommend GCU. It went down hill fast.