How sound is this plan? Hunter college

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I have a BS degree in an unrelated field already. I need to take a bunch of prerequisite courses for pretty much all the nursing programs. I'm guessing I can fit them into a year of full-time study. I looked at Hunter program and it looks like you have to be enrolled in their general program before advancing into nursing one. I'm guessing the first 2 years (ie, general program) are the liberal arts and non-clinical science courses that are required. If I were to enroll, some of my courses would roll over from my prior degree, others would not. I'm not sure how much time my transfer credits would shave off those 2 first years, but I'm hoping a year or so. So the bottom line is I can potentially enroll in this program and then have all the required courses fulfilled and then apply to the Hunter for the final 2 years AND apply to the other nursing programs (like accelerated 1.5yr programs at NYU and SUNY Donwstate). It doesn't really matter to me where to take the prereq science courses, so may as well be at Hunter, since it's their requirement to be enrolled at their school to continue on with the nursing program there.

Does anyone have any experience with Hunter and this setup? Obviously I want to spend the least amount of time in school to get my BSN. Also, my GPA now is 3.4 (I have a finance degree and those darn finance courses are GPA killers). If I take science courses that I need and do very well, will that bring my GPA up or do they not count as part of the GPA?

Thanks

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Hunter is great, I took prereqs there, but if you already have a bachelors, I would look at the accelerated degree programs. Hunter does not have one. You'll have to fulfill general ed requirements that may require several non-science/non-nursing courses:

http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/studentservices/advising/graduation-sub/graduation-requirements-general-education#foreign-language-requirement

That is one of the reasons I decided not to apply to Hunter's nursing program. Great for prereqs though-but you have to be VERY persistent during registration to get your classes. It is an extremely crowded school and fills up fast.

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Thanks. The reason I thought of Hunter is because I can technically be enrolled in a degree-fulfilling program and qualify for financial aid and loans. Otherwise I would just be taking random courses at a school and will also get the last pick of the courses as a non-degree granting student. In order for me to get into an accelerated program, I need a year worth of courses (I have no science courses at all, aside from psych) I also need the English comp (I already have Statistics and Social Sciences fulfilled). I'm thinking that if I need this coursework anyway, might as well enroll in Hunter full time and take them all. I'm guessing many of my courses will transfer over to fulfill all the other liberal arts components, I just need the science ones. Then the only difference will be is that once I have my prereqs (at Hunter or any other school), I will go into an accelerated program, which is 1.5 years (at places like NYU or SUNY Downstate) or will go into a 2yr Hunter nursing program. I guess I'm just hedging my bets. If I don't get into places like NYU or SUNY, I will then have a better shot at Hunter because there's a much smaller pool of candidates they pick from (only their current students).

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Just a word of warning - as a second degree student you also have low priority. I am a second degree student, and could not get 2 of the classes I wanted this semester at Hunter. I was able to get into them elsewhere through epermits, which means running around to other campuses. Second degree students get to register after all the first degree students. It's very easy to apply for second degree status, and you can be p/t or f/t. You won't get any grants (or not many) as a 2nd degree student, but will be eligible for loans. If you are already working, I'd try to keep working and maybe do the classes p/t & minimize loans.

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Hmm, thanks. My main issue was loan eligibility. Are you saying that I can be a non-degree student and still apply for loans? I'm also wondering if it's an option to do online courses...

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I'm pretty sure you have ot be 2nd degree to get loans. Hunter has very few online courses, and the nursing prereqs are not online.

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oh man, we're in almost exactly the same situation! except i have a BA in art history, which is of course equally useless in terms of prerequisites.

IMPORTANT - if you haven't taken any of the science prereqs, you cannot do them all in one year at hunter! this was my mistake. i actually chose hunter over another program i would have preferred, because i thought it would be faster, but it's not. it turned out to be two full years of prerequisites, even though i only needed five classes. this is because they only offer certain classes certain semesters, and the chem classes are prereqs for the bio classes.

like you, i wanted to put myself in a position where i could apply to hunter's nursing program as well as various accelerated options. however now i'm concerned about being able to register for bio (apparently the hardest department to get classes in) in the fall, as i almost didn't get in chem this semester. the advisors will make it sound like it's not a big deal, you'll be fine registering, but i've talked to other students who have had problems getting their classes even with e-permit (the system mentioned by the poster above). so...just know that registration is really difficult.

my gpa (from NYU) was a 3.4, and my current hunter gpa is a 4.0, which puts me on the edge in terms of acceptance to the nursing program because they do average them together. i think last year the average gpa accepted was 3.5. i believe it would be easier to get accepted to NYU's program, based on personal experience and what other NYU nursing students have said, so i'm also considering that in case i get rejected (though i cringe at the thought of giving them more of my money).

in general, hunter's administration is pretty terrible, so be prepared to figure out exactly what you need and be really on top of your stuff if you decide to go this route. and don't always believe that people know what they're talking about -- i've had face-to-face conversations with people where they've given me inaccurate information.

anyway, let me know what you decide! i've been agonizing over these decisions for a while now (my friends are tired of hearing about it), and it's nice to know someone out there is in a similar position. :)

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Wow, it took you 2 years? That's definitely something I want to avoid. I'm not 18 anymore to spend 4 more years in college. I ended up applying as a transfer student to 6 schools (NYU, LIU, Adelphi, Hunter, LaGuardia and BMCC) and will see where I get in and will go from there. My plan B is just to start taking my prereqs in the fall and apply to accelerated programs afterwards. Which other schools did you apply to? I wonder which schools have the same deal as Hunter. I can't imagine they even have Chem as a pre-reqs to Bio. They seem fairly unrelated. I have no science prereqs at all, so need to take the bio, chem and anatomy/physiology.

I'm just so lost with this whole thing. Thanks for the warning about Hunter. If you have any info on any other schools I mentioned, feel free to chime in.

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yeah, it might not be the best plan. i got accepted to the nursing program at mcgill (in montreal) and was leaning toward that, especially since once you're in the program you're really in it, no pre-nursing portion, but i decided against it based on cost (i'm from ny so hunter's much cheaper for me), and because it was four full years. i went to an orientation at hunter and they assured me i could start the nursing program sooner because i had so many credits, but then later i learned the sequence of courses is:

essentials of gen chem -> essentials of organic chem -> a&p i -> a&p ii -> microbiology

all are prereqs for each other, except micro which is coreq with a&p ii. AND they only offer the bio classes during the spring semester! i agree, chem before bio is strange, but it might be the same for the other CUNY schools, i'm not sure.

so i'm currently in my second semester taking organic chem, but i'm really worried about 1) getting a&p next year, and 2) getting into hunter's program in general, even if i successfully complete my prereqs. which led me to consider transferring to a SUNY school upstate (buffalo, binghamton, stony brook) for the rest of my prereqs (also for the cheaper cost of living) and then either staying there for their accelerated program, or transferring yet again to an accelerated program at a private school. but i really don't want to leave nyc, so, BAH!

however, i have a friend who went through NYU's program (traditional 4-year) and she said the only reason she got the job she did was because she had time to do an externship in between her junior and senior year, whereas the accelerated students had to take classes in the summer and didn't have any experience when they graduated so some hospitals wouldn't consider them. needless to say, that freaked me out a bit and i'm now considering other traditional programs just in case.

i'm equally lost, so unfortunately i can't offer any advice...but at least we can commiserate? : /

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Hi! I know you posted to the board a long time about, but I'm in the same boat now. I am so curious about how it all turned out, are you a nurse yet? How was Hunter? Getting my pre-reqs done in NYC as a non-degree seeking student has turned into a nightmare and makes me reconsider the whole accelerated program option. Thanks in advance for your reply!:D

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Hi! I know you posted to the board a long time about, but I'm in the same boat now. I am so curious about how it all turned out, are you a nurse yet? How was Hunter? Getting my pre-reqs done in NYC as a non-degree seeking student has turned into a nightmare and makes me reconsider the whole accelerated program option. Thanks in advance for your reply!:D

Yeah, it's been a while since I posted that. In the end I applied to NYU and I went there for my prereqs and just started their core nursing program this semester (I took a semester off in between for personal reasons). I liked the fact that you can go to NYU and do all the prereqs you need right there in one semester and not have to worry about getting into the nursing portion. I also liked how responsive and helpful the administration there is. I got answers to all my questions and concerns right away and with no problems. In contrast, it was like pulling teeth at Hunter. The big downside for NYU is obviously the cost. It's not a cheap program (about 20k per semester with all the fees). As a second degree student you can't get any grants, but between scholarships (I applied for everything I could) and gov-t loans I was able to cover about 70% of tuition, the rest I just paid myself (but most people take out private loans).

I really like NYU, great professors, great administration, great student body. For me this was the best route to go and if it wasn't for the cost, I think it's a no-brainer. I really feel like they are making it their mission to get you to become an RN and the whole program is made so it will accomplish this in the most efficient manner. I didn't need to jump through hoops to get my prereqs done and then feel like they are doing me a favor by taking my money (like with some other schools I came into contact with). Anyway, best of luck to you whatever you decide. I am set to graduate next fall and I'm sure it will all be a blur.

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