HACC or Pa College of Health Sciences RN program

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I an still waiting for a response from Pa College but I have heard so many mixed reviews about both schools I just don't know how to make a decision. Does anyone want to share their experiences?

I'm kind of drawn towards Pa College because of their affiliation with LGH. I like that HACC is cheaper than Pa College, I already have student loan debt. I have heard though that HACC is extremely hard to get into clinical phase.

Again, any personal experiences to help with my decision

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Specializes in Hospice, Palliative Care.

Good day, mommyrntobe92:

I suggest joining the following Facebook groups to ask questions:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/404556799646624/ - Pennsylvania College of Health and Nursing Sciences FB group

https://www.facebook.com/groups/4928341309/ - HACC Students group

https://www.facebook.com/groups/245013375611918/ - HACC Pre-nursing and nursing group

https://www.facebook.com/groups/386770764753626/ - Simple Nursing for Nursing Students (mainly to ask the opening questions you asked here in that forum for both sides to answer) group. Please note this group has regular requests to join Simple Nursing, but typically has a lot (90+%) of posts with students helping students from various schools.

Please note the latter two HACC FB groups may require you to have a hawkmail (HACC) email address.

I do hope you get more answers than myself, but let me share some pros and cons for both. Please be aware I am biased towards HACC based on my experiences with PA College of Health and Nursing Sciences (which I was accepted by, then changed my mind to go to HACC after doing more digging).

LGH Pros

* Association with LGH, largest healthcare employer in Lancaster County

* Prior to the name change, the college had a good name recognition in Lancaster County

* The prerequisites and clinicals are tied together into one program

* If you are a younger person, it is often easier to get into their program vs. alternatives.

LGH Cons

* Extremely expensive (for profit, not sure; if for profit, do see the allnurses.com various and numerous posts about why to avoid for profit schools at all costs)

* The most common complaint I hear from existing and former students is the administration does not care about students.

* All clinicals are at LGH facilities. Most common complaint if hired by non LGH is that the person has no clue whatsoever on different systems, protocols, etc. due to lack of diversity.

* Association with largest employer does not mean hiring preference.

* After the name change, there's confusion as to the reputation of the college

* Numerous sources continue to confirm teachers can show favoritism, and if you are not a favorite, be prepared to push and be pushed back.

* If you want to get your BSN, it is extremely unclear what alternatives you have to get our BSN where your credits will be accepted. Millersville University, for example, has a dual enrollment agreement with HACC, not with PA College of Health and Nursing Sciences.

* Continual complaint from existing students on pushing more and more students into the program giving less and less attention per student. In the past, they started out like HACC with the 8 students per instructor in actual clinical. Now…. Yikes.

HACC Pros

* Extremely inexpensive compared many alternatives

* First community college in Pennsylvania

* Diversified clinicals provide experience with different hospital protocols, settings, requirements, etc.

* Small sizes compared to other alternatives. 68 students per semester in a cohort; 32 students in lectures; 16 students in labs; 8 students per instructor in actual clinical.

* Extremely tough academic deficiency policy forces students to shape up or ship out; if shaped up, then prepared all along for employment in terms of what healthcare employers expect

* Higher NCLEX pass rate compared to others in the geographic area. Remember, pass nursing school and cannot pass the NCLEX mean wasted time and money.

HACC Cons

* Extremely tough academic deficiency policy (once in clinicals) doesn't fit anyone who thinks it is ok to be late, forget to follow dress code, etc.

* While students have gotten into clinicals with the minimum 2.65 GPA, if you have less than a 3.00 GPA you might be gambling on getting into clinicals.

* Tied to the above, the point system puts a lot of pressure on students to perform well in every class (as the GPA counts towards points as well) in addition to doing fantastic in the core science classes.

* Possibly more travel time to clinicals.

HACC Mixed Pro and Con

* The pre-nursing program is separate from the nursing program. This is a pro if you want to do your pre-nursing classes cheaper and then transfer to another school; this can be a con in that passing all prerequisites does not guarantee you a place in clinicals.

* No matter when you apply for clinicals, if accepted you have two semesters (summer, fall or spring, summer) free prior to the actual clinicals. This can be good if you want to take other classes to prepare you for clinicals or need a break; bad, because it adds at least six months to the overall graduation time line. As for me, I used the time to complete a graduation requirement and to take (finishing up early next month) two highly recommend optional classes to better prepare me for clinicals.

HACC OTHER

* I've been told by numerous sources including advisors that applying in the spring semester (typically May) has a higher acceptance into clinical rate than applying in the fall semester (typically December, January). Meaning, you can typically get in with less points if you apply in May vs. January.

Thank you.

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Thank you for your very detailed response. I definitely like that I will in a sense be challenged more at HACC, I want to be pushed and know that I'm getting the best education that I can to prepare myself for my career. I will definitely be looking into those groups for more advice. I'm 22 with 2 kids and want to make sure I make the right decision for my family and I.

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I went to PA college before the name change and feel I got a very good base of knowledge to start my nursing career. LGH is not required to hire you but employers like that you have been using their system for two years and have a better understanding of policies and protocols. I liked that I didn't face to stress about getting into clinical and started clinical in the first semester.

I have a friend who is going to HACC right now. She is a smart student and studies a lot, her grades are low As or high B's. She has not gotten into clinical for two semesters now because so many people applied. If you choose HACC every single class and every single point counts.

Good luck!

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Thats my biggest fear with HACC I don't want to have to wait and wait to be accepted into clinicals.

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Specializes in Hospice, Palliative Care.

Good day, smile_through_it:

What campus is your friend going to as some campuses do have it harder than others? At the Lancaster campus, everyone I know from along the prerequisite journey got into clinicals their very first application (this was recent); while I do know of other campuses, it is not the same.

Low or high doesn't matter as HACC uses a GPA system where a high A and low A are still 4.0, and low B and high B 3.0 where there is no + or - for grades (this can be good or bad depending on point of view).

Thank you.

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Thats good to know as I would be attending the Lancaster Campus!

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Here are 2 links that might help with your decision. Pass rates for all PA RN programs and stats on student who applied and were accepted into HACC clinicals. I personally chose HACC for the cost and their reputation.

http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/document/770539/nclex-performancern_pdf

http://www.hacc.edu/NewStudents/Apply/HowtoApplyandRegister/upload/Profile.pdf

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Thank you :) I'm almost 95% sure I'm going to go with HACC. Their program seems best for me, and financially its better for me and my daily. I'm considering dual admission for Millersville RN-BSN program! I'm excited and can't wait to actually start.

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Specializes in Hospice, Palliative Care.

Good day, mommyrntobe92:

On Tuesday, November 11th in East 203 from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM there should be a Millersville rep during the transfer event at the HACC Lancaster campus if you wanted to talk to someone in person.

Thank you.

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I wish I could make it but i have to work at that time. Hopefully I can make another one cause I would love to have the opportunity to talk to someone about it and my goals

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Specializes in Hospice, Palliative Care.

Good day, mommyrntobe92:

I'm dual enrolled with Millersville (HACC also has dual enrollment agreements with EMU and other universities), and Millersville has been always good with phone calls if in-person meetings do not work out.

Thank you.

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