I REALLY need some advice on where to attend ASN/BSN school. Please help :(

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  1. ASN vs BSN

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      ASN
    • 1
      BSN

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Hello everyone!

I am really needing some advice and thought this would be the perfect place to get some. I had applied to the University of South Florida's BSN program for Fall 2015 but did not get in due to not having a high enough GPA.

So I am trying to decide where to attend nursing school and I have completed all pre-reqs for all three programs that I am looking into (I have already applied to St. Petersburg College and I will most likely apply to the other two as well, so I don't have all of my eggs in one basket again!).

The schools that I am trying to decide between are St. Petersburg College/State College of Florida to obtain my ASN degree or Keiser University.

- SPC/SCF are both community colleges and around 13k each. They are both 2 year ASN programs. I would begin the nursing core in Spring 2016.

- Keiser University is a for-profit school, very expensive, but fully accredited. I spoke with an advisor today and she informed me that they have JUST been cleared for an accelerated BSN program. This program would start in Spring 2016 and it would be 16 months long, but the downside is obviously the cost of around ~$36k. The upside would be that I would be done with the program 8 months sooner than if I were to attend the ASN programs, and that I would have a BSN.

The problem is that I already have student debt.

So I'm trying to decide if getting a BSN 8 months sooner, rather than the ASN, is worth the cost difference of around ~$23k. My career goals are NP or CRNA.

Does anyone have any advice or what they would do if they were in my shoes? I am 30 years old, single and no kids and I feel like I am behind in life :( So I am beyond ready to get into a nursing program and to have a career.

Any advice is GREATLY appreciated! :)

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Specializes in Oncology.

What was your GPA of you don't mind me asking? I'm looking into usf nursing after I get my bs in exercise science

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

OMG - don't fall for the sales pitch of a "if you've got the money, we've got the degree" commercial school. Most are more concerned with selling tuition than student performance or graduation/employment rates. They spend far more on marketing and recruitment than on faculty salaries. As a consequence, they cannot attract highly qualified faculty - which means that the quality of instruction is mediocre at best. Get more information - what is their attrition rate? NCLEX passing rate? Loan default rate? Are they eligible for Federal loan programs?... if their default rate is too high, they won't be. Check on opinions/ratings of previous students. Students loans can mortgage your future.

There is a reason for the GPA requirement. Nursing education is a cumulative curriculum. Each course builds upon those that sent before. If you aren't doing well on the basics, you'll fall farther and farther behind as you move on.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Oncology.

At least around here, Keiser University does not have a great reputation. A lot of "pay to play" nursing programs don't. I recommend the ASN.

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Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.

If you already have student loan debt I wouldn't pile a lot more on top of it by going the commercial school route. If it's cheaper go the ADN route or whatever adds the least amount of loan debt.

Your screen name says RN, do you already have your RN license? If not it is against the TOS.

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Specializes in Oncology.
If you already have student loan debt I wouldn't pile a lot more on top of it by going the commercial school route. If it's cheaper go the ADN route or whatever adds the least amount of loan debt.

Your screen name says RN, do you already have your RN license? If not it is against the TOS.

May not be rn could be initials

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Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.
May not be rn could be initials

Then she can ignore me but if they aren't initials then it is still against the TOS.

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Then she can ignore me but if they aren't initials then it is still against the TOS.

Um... my name is Rachael Nicole, but thanks for the concern.

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OMG - don't fall for the sales pitch of a "if you've got the money, we've got the degree" commercial school. Most are more concerned with selling tuition than student performance or graduation/employment rates. They spend far more on marketing and recruitment than on faculty salaries. As a consequence, they cannot attract highly qualified faculty - which means that the quality of instruction is mediocre at best. Get more information - what is their attrition rate? NCLEX passing rate? Loan default rate? Are they eligible for Federal loan programs?... if their default rate is too high, they won't be. Check on opinions/ratings of previous students. Students loans can mortgage your future.

There is a reason for the GPA requirement. Nursing education is a cumulative curriculum. Each course builds upon those that sent before. If you aren't doing well on the basics, you'll fall farther and farther behind as you move on.

I have over 100 credit hours and an overall GPA of 3.65. I don't think that would be considered 'not doing well' in the basics. I have all A's in the pre-reqs, minus a B in A&P II. I will most likely get into SCF and SPC, I just didn't get into USF's BSN program. Perhaps because my essay wasn't good enough.

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