Grand Canyon University ABSN

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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.

Specializes in Emergency Pediatric Care.

It’s okay LOL I feel like this format gets confusing ?

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I'm starting at Boswell.    See you there.

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On 10/5/2020 at 7:10 AM, Classof22 said:

I just registered for the program.    Starting pre requisites in November and I'm planning to start in the fall.    

It's my understanding that this is a brand new program for the college so I'd honestly expect a few hiccups.   

If anyone has any advice or suggestions I'm all ears.

How's your experience so far? Planning to apply for the Fall/September start date.

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I start May 3rd.     Pre requisites we're a lot of work, fast paced, and time consuming.      I'm expecting the program to be the same. 

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For those that are starting May 2021, which is next week (how exciting!), can you guys keep us updated of how this program is and how you're doing in it. 

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Specializes in Oncology; Cardiac.

Hey everyone, I'm finishing up the last of my prereqs to start in Phoenix this fall (2021). I've heard some iffy things about the accelerated program, but it's hard to tell if that's the general consensus or not. I would be moving from San Diego, so I'd like to get as much information about this program as I can before it starts. I am very curious as to what their ABSN's NCLEX pass rate will be. 

For students that are currently in the program, do you get any breaks during the program? I know there aren't really any breaks between semesters, but, for example, I know a girl completing an ABSN program here in CA, and they got 6 weeks off for Winter break and a couple of weeks off before their last semester. My academic counselors seem to not have a good clue about what's going on with the program so I'd just like to get a better idea of what to expect. 

Are the faculty supportive? With good time management, is the workload doable? Thanks in advance!

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4 hours ago, Potato13 said:

Hey everyone, I'm finishing up the last of my prereqs to start in Phoenix this fall (2021). I've heard some iffy things about the accelerated program, but it's hard to tell if that's the general consensus or not. I would be moving from San Diego, so I'd like to get as much information about this program as I can before it starts. I am very curious as to what their ABSN's NCLEX pass rate will be. 

For students that are currently in the program, do you get any breaks during the program? I know there aren't really any breaks between semesters, but, for example, I know a girl completing an ABSN program here in CA, and they got 6 weeks off for Winter break and a couple of weeks off before their last semester. My academic counselors seem to not have a good clue about what's going on with the program so I'd just like to get a better idea of what to expect. 

Are the faculty supportive? With good time management, is the workload doable? Thanks in advance!

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.

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Specializes in Oncology; Cardiac.

Thanks so much for this information! This is so helpful!

Would you say the workload is doable with proper time management? I’m prepared to devote almost all of my time to studying, but would still like to be able to have at least a little bit of time to take care of myself (I.e., squeeze in a couple of short workouts, maintain a decent enough sleep schedule, maintain the important relationships in my life). I’ve heard all the horror stories about ABSN programs, so I’m hoping it’s not as bad as some people say it is haha. 

Also, I’ve heard of some schools requiring at least an 80% in classes/ on exams to be considered passing. What is GCU’s requirement on this? 
 

Thanks again! Good luck this semester! 

 

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12 minutes ago, Potato13 said:

Thanks so much for this information! This is so helpful!

Would you say the workload is doable with proper time management? I’m prepared to devote almost all of my time to studying, but would still like to be able to have at least a little bit of time to take care of myself (I.e., squeeze in a couple of short workouts, maintain a decent enough sleep schedule, maintain the important relationships in my life). I’ve heard all the horror stories about ABSN programs, so I’m hoping it’s not as bad as some people say it is haha. 

Also, I’ve heard of some schools requiring at least an 80% in classes/ on exams to be considered passing. What is GCU’s requirement on this? 
 

Thanks again! Good luck this semester! 

 

Yes, I’d say it’s definitely doable! The faculty wants to see us succeed and they do provide us with so many resources. It is honestly up to you in how you want to utilize them, but they want us to do well. For example, if we want to practice lab skills they also offer open labs ~3 days/week for all the nursing students in the program no matter what level you are. They also accommodate you in re-scheduling an exam if something comes up in your personal life. Self-care is super important!! It’s actually something I struggled a lot with last semester, so I’m learning to make more time for myself. They encourage us to take breaks from studying because they understand the stress and what we are going through. 
 

GCU’s requirement to pass is a 76% overall exam average and 76% overall class grade. Keep in mind that a large bulk of our class points mainly come directly from the exams! The rest of the points come from discussion boards, which aren’t a lot, but they can act as cushion points if you don’t score too well on an exam. The final exams are also cumulative.

Thanks so much! Good luck to you also!

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Hi! 
 

im also from southern CA, and nursing programs here are severely compacted. I’ve tried to apply for years. And came across GCU. I start my first semester tomorrow, and will moving out there the next day to make it to my first in person lab.

 

the program requires that you maintain at least 76% in all your classes. 
 

keep in mind that since it is accelerated, it will be highly rigorous since you’re technically doing a 4 year course in 16 months.

 

goodluck!

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2 minutes ago, Nurse2b96. said:

Yes, I’d say it’s definitely doable! The faculty wants to see us succeed and they do provide us with so many resources. It is honestly up to you in how you want to utilize them, but they want us to do well. For example, if we want to practice lab skills they also offer open labs ~3 days/week for all the nursing students in the program no matter what level you are. They also accommodate you in re-scheduling an exam if something comes up in your personal life. Self-care is super important!! It’s actually something I struggled a lot with last semester, so I’m learning to make more time for myself. They encourage us to take breaks from studying because they understand the stress and what we are going through. 
 

GCU’s requirement to pass is a 76% overall exam average and 76% overall class grade. Keep in mind that a large bulk of our class points mainly come directly from the exams! The rest of the points come from discussion boards, which aren’t a lot, but they can act as cushion points if you don’t score too well on an exam. The final exams are also cumulative.

Thanks so much! Good luck to you also!

Hi hi fellow lopes!

May I ask how was level 1? I glanced at all my classes, and I’m already overwhelmed ?

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2 minutes ago, Czarissa Galera said:

Hi hi fellow lopes!

May I ask how was level 1? I glanced at all my classes, and I’m already overwhelmed ?

Hi! I’m not going to lie, level 1 was really hard! Prior to going into the program, I was mainly scared for pharmacology, but NSG 300 was what I struggled with the most! Pharmacology is easier because it is just straight memorization of the drugs & what they do, so you either know it or you don’t. NSG 300 requires you to critically think and is scenario-based because each patient is different and requires different needs. I would recommend for you to get ahead on your discussion board questions first to get them out of the way. They are extremely time-consuming & take time away from your studying so try to get them done the weekend before it’s due, instead of waiting until the day of! You need to have really good time management skills and prioritize what is important. And do not procrastinate! I will admit I was guilty of this several times and it’s honestly the most stressful thing ever to study for multiple exams at a time! It is okay if you do not read everything from the book. The first week I was behind because I didn’t know my studying habits for this program yet & because the chapters are so long! If anything, focus on all the tables/charts in the book. Definitely use the powerpoints & the speaker notes because exam questions are taken directly from these. Get to know your cohort and form study groups! You guys are going through it together! You will do great!

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