How far would you drive?

CardinalFanRN · Feb 17, 2016

Your commute will be less than an hour. I went to GCC for my nursing program and loved it. My professors were really great! The convenience of having the program the really fits your schedule will outweigh the commute.

alliesweetie14 · Feb 17, 2016

And i work at banner good sam so its actually closer if I'm going to school right after work. Thanks for the advice! I just am getting close to applying and want to make the right decisions.

KittenEars · Feb 17, 2016

OH HELL NO! I live in Ahwatukee too! I would not apply to GCC personally it is just too far and there is really no good way to get there in my option without fighting traffic. I feel like we have a lot of good options based on our location.

Is a weekend or evening program your only option?

I chose Mesa both day and evening, Gateway accelerated and day, and Scottsdale. And the only reason I considered Scottsdale is because it is in between home and work (Ahwatukee and HonorHealth Shea Campus).

You really just need to base your choices off what will fit best into your daily life, our situations all differ.

alliesweetie14 · Feb 17, 2016

OH HELL NO! I live in Ahwatukee too! I would not apply to GCC personally it is just too far and there is really no good way to get there in my option without fighting traffic. I feel like we have a lot of good options based on our location.
Is a weekend or evening program your only option?
I chose Mesa both day and evening, Gateway accelerated and day, and Scottsdale. And the only reason I considered Scottsdale is because it is in between home and work (Ahwatukee and HonorHealth Shea Campus).
You really just need to base your choices off what will fit best into your daily life, our situations all differ.

I did not know mesa had an evening. She told me today they didn't, advisors suck haha. I just know that day programs with my work schedule may not work... i really want the gateway accelerated but I'm not sure if ill get it

rac1, ASN, BSN, RN · Feb 17, 2016

She's really not going to be fighting traffic all that much. I think the weekend classes start at 7am - there is not going to be traffic when she leaves at 5:30-5:45am each Friday. Friday afternoon she'll fight a little traffic, but then Saturday there isn't going to be traffic issues, and when clinicals are sometimes on Sunday - same - no traffic. I wouldn't worry about traffic. I think driving 2x/week for classes/clinicals is not that big of a deal at all. Can you go to closer labs if you want practice? I bet you can - during open lab hours..? I think that if weekend is what you're looking for then this is perfect for you! Some people drive an hour or hour and a half every single day for their job. My husband is a PhD student at ASU, and right now it takes him an hour and a half to get home every night. Morning traffic is a little better and it usually only takes him about an hour, or a little more. He does that 5x/week! I think your commute isn't that big of a deal if you really want the weekend schedule. The only other thing I would think about is studying with other people in your class. If your class or a group of you wants to get together for studying - you will probably have to go to them, and that isn't all that convenient for you. Doable still, but not as convenient as if you lived 10-15 minutes away. =) p.s. I applied for weekends too, so maybe we'll be in the same class!

bethanphetamine · Feb 17, 2016

I had classmates that drove from the far west valley and the far southeast valley for Scottsdale CC. When I applied originally, I applied to CGCC and MCC because I lived in San Tan Valley at that time and was placed at SCC. I'm not sure if the program is as full as it was when I applied, but we took whatever we could get!

rachaelofcourse · Feb 17, 2016

I'm in Litchfield Park (not even a quarter mile from EMCC) and I go to Gateway. There's a girl in my class who lives in Tonopah and comes to Gateway. Honestly, if you're willing to drive a little, then go where you choose!

alliesweetie14 · Feb 17, 2016

I feel like if i could just put on my application "which ever one takes me" haha that would be amazing! I think my choices will be

Gateway accelerated

mesa evening

gateway evening

glendale evening

glendale weekend

AZBlueBell · Feb 17, 2016

Depends on your situation. I, personally, cannot make a long commute work with my family schedule for the nursing blocks. Classes start as early as 7, I can't drop my son off at extended day before 6am and I also have to drop my daughter off at daycare as well. So doing that, plus driving across the valley in rush hour traffic is not something that would work with my schedule. If it works for you AND you're willing to make the drive, then sure go ahead and do it. But make sure it's worth it to you! A long commute 4x a week would make me crazy.

mrsboots87 · Feb 19, 2016

I used to live in Maricopa and drove to SCC. I had Scottsdale Shea for clinical. It took me over an hour every day. After I moved during third block, I still had to go to Mayo as my furthest clinical site and that would take me 45 minutes in the early AM with no traffic and over an hour to get home with traffic. I found it worth it because SCC is a great program with a pretty new building. I started there the semester after the new building was done.

I have kids, but my husband would take them to school/daycare in the morning. Not everybody has that luxury though. I had classmates from cave creek, one from Prescott who didnt get past block one, and people from all over the valley. This was when the wait was 2-3 years. We all took the first option that would take us.

Since you need nights/weekends, then your choices are sound. Someone correct me if im wrong, but I believe that the Mesa PM actually starts as early as lunch time during the weekdays.

stephatron289 · Feb 20, 2016

I live in the Peoria/Glendale split and I go to SCC right now. It takes about an hour in the morning to get to school, but there's no traffic coming home so it's about a 35 minute drive. I don't mind, as I really enjoy the program at SCC.