Interested in Davenport University

HarmsMomma · Sep 18, 2009

Can anyone give their feedback to me? It's a great place, you really are a person not just a number. There's always things going on like "Welcome Back" week (with free food!) and "Stress Relief Week" with massages and other things the week of finals

How competitive? Very!! This year there were only 60 spots. DU requires two letters of rec. and an essay for admission. So its more than just a 4.0 GPA and a good HESI score.

What is the likely hood of getting in? If you've got a god GPA, HESI score, and letters of rec., then good. They are changing the program for next year, so watch out! I don't know what is going on, but I'm sure admissions could tell you more.

Experiences with the faculty and staff? They have been great. They are very encouraging and really want to see you do well. They are also available a lot!! It makes it great when you have a question or concern!

Was Davenport worth it? YES! I got more scholarships and grants than anyplace else, and I enjoy feeling like a person not a money machine!

What type of GPA do you need to get in? Er, it's hard to say because they factor in other things also. I would think it's a 3.5 or higher but I can't say for sure!

What is the application process like? Its pretty easy. Write your essay, get your letters of rec., send it in, and wait!

How is it ranked against other programs? Honestly, I have no idea! I can just tell you that I liked it more than any other place I looked at so I decided to try there. I drive almost 40 minutes to get there despite the fact that there are two other schools that are closer to me.

Why would or wouldn't you go there? I guess I go there because of the over all feeling I get there. I think you need to remember that it's a private university so it may cost more, although there are a lot of scholarships and grants. If it feels right, whatever school right feels like, then go there!

GOOD LUCK!

HarmsMomma · Sep 18, 2009

I just got this email, and thought I would share it with you so that you would know about the program changes. Good luck!!!

Friday, September 18, 2009

Dear *******,

Davenport University School of Health Professions is pleased to announce an exciting change to our nursing program offerings. The Michigan Board of Nursing has approved a new Bachelor of Nursing Pre-Licensure (BSN-PL) program that will be offered at our Midland and Warren campuses starting in the 2010-2011 academic year. The BSN Pre-Licensure program is a four-year professional nursing course of study that trains students for patient care and for providing support across the continuum of care. Graduates of the BSN-PL are eligible to sit for the NCLEX-RN exam, and will obtain licensure as a Registered Nurse (RN) after passing the exam.

There will be no program changes or disruptions to currently enrolled Practical Nursing (PN) or Associates of Applied Science (AAS) RN students.

Students currently enrolled* in the PN program in Fall 2009 will complete three semesters of PN coursework and have the opportunity to progress into the AAS-RN program. PN students who choose to progress to the AAS-RN program* will end their program of study in August 2011 (no new students will be admitted to the AAS-RN program). AAS-RN graduates who wish to continue their nursing studies may apply for admission to the BSN Completion program at any time.

We are very excited to introduce the new Bachelor of Nursing Pre-Licensure (BSN-PL) program to the Midland and Warren campuses. If you have any questions about the nursing program or how these changes may impact you, please contact your advisor (contact information has been provided below, for your convenience). Of course, we will be happy to discuss these changes in the Town Hall meetings scheduled in October.

Expresso07 · Sep 22, 2009

Hello HarmsMomma,

I am also interested in Davenports Nursing program. I would like to know if the nursing instructors are very helpful, encouraging and available for support?

I was in a nursing program else where and the nursing instructors there were not encouraging, made you feel like an idiot, support was scarce and kept you on pins and needles at all times. Believe me I do not want to experience that ever again.

HarmsMomma · Sep 23, 2009

The nursing instructors and the nursing advisor are FANTASTIC!!! There are not a lot of students (60 per year) and there are only 4 full time faculty. So you really get to know them and they really get to know you. The office hours are wonderful, and they are very quick with email.

As the program is changing, contact the admissions office to get update to information. Good luck with your decisions!!!!

mandy1623 · Oct 9, 2009

You should go, i've heard nothing but good things about it and there's no waitlist last i knew. I originally wanted to go there but had problems with travel and housing so i ended up going to a community college. Now I wish i had went because im currently on a waitlist and will just be starting the program around the time i would have been graduating at Davenport.

studentnrse123 · Nov 3, 2009

I have heard from many of my instructors that Davenport's NCLEX passing rate is 25% and they are in the process of losing their accreditation. Something to look into... make sure you ask about their NCLEX pass rate, if you don't pass, your diploma and tuition were worthless.

I go to Everest in Southfield, and although they have a bad reputation sometimes and are pretty expensive.. we have a 94.4% pass rate the FIRST time. That's the main reason I chose to come here. Good luck!

Sante2487 · May 14, 2010

I was accepted in Davenport's BSN program and wanted to know approximately how long is the accelerated course?

Anoetos, BSN, RN · May 14, 2010

I was accepted to it as well. My understanding is that it's not an "accelerated course" in the sense that the expression is usually used; i.e. it is not necessarily for students already holding a baccalaureate. As I understand it, there is a fast track which should take about two years to finish (probably including summers) and a traditional track which is of normal length (3-4 years?).

I do not know what criteria will be used for determining placement in either the fast track or the traditional programs. My best guess is that it will have a lot to do with how much of the requisite science and math credits one has completed, but I could be completely wrong.

KatieMI, BSN, MSN, RN · May 14, 2010

Davenport has LPN or BSN programs only in Midland and Warren; this BSN is brand new and therefore has provisionary accreditation (in plain English - if they don't show within next few years that the program is working, it will be closed and the accreditation withdrawn).

For BSN, they want 2 letters (which, by my conclusion, have little importance, for they accept ones written by some good folks who have nothing to do with health care at all and nursing in particular), essay and TEAS or HESI. TEAS cutoff is defined for every particular class, but from the paper I saw that their standarts are not too high. I don't know about HESI. The program they're going to get moving is all-inclusive, no pre-requisites needed. There's no wait list (so far). They told that all clinicals are arranged in "local" hospitals, but refused to give list of their clinical places.

Their admitting department's staff is very warm and sweet, but the trouble is that they sometimes give confusing information. I tried but couldn't get a straight answer about their students' NCLEX performance from anybody from Nursing department. They also may suddenly start to call and email you DAILY, pushing you to enroll in some course well before your application is considered.

I found these two pieces of information, and both look like a bit concerning, especially now when I've benn admitted for BSN: (DAC is the code for Davenport University in the link below)

http://www.studentsreview.com/MI/DAC.html

(for honesty's sake, there is one brilliant review about Nursing there, but it is written by a person studying for LPN program entrance and HESI, so it's talking about high school level of education. That might be just fine, but I expect something better for BSN students).

Also, here:

http://www.american-school-search.com/review/davenport-university

The graduation rate all-over is very low with average retention rate (so, where all those guys eventually go, and why?); also, they have S/P ratio which is the way higher than average for schools of this type.

Anoetos, BSN, RN · May 14, 2010

Davenport maintains a single large campus in Grand Rapids and several satellite campuses throughout the state. The statistics from both sites you referenced appear to be general. My guess is that the graduation rate has more to do with transient students than with anything else.

I am not sure why you would want to come to this thread and, basically, take a giant crap all over our hopes and aspirations by making discouraging remarks and citing websites which have very little bearing on our specific program.

What happened? Were you or someone you care about rejected? What "paper" did you see? I've been attending since the fall and have never been pressured to register for classes prior to acceptance

KatieMI, BSN, MSN, RN · May 15, 2010

Davenport maintains a single large campus in Grand Rapids and several satellite campuses throughout the state. The statistics from both sites you referenced appear to be general. My guess is that the graduation rate has more to do with transient students than with anything else.
I am not sure why you would want to come to this thread and, basically, take a giant crap all over our hopes and aspirations by making discouraging remarks and citing websites which have very little bearing on our specific program.
What happened? Were you or someone you care about rejected? What "paper" did you see? I've been attending since the fall and have never been pressured to register for classes prior to acceptance

Well, I am actually admitted. But I had through some VERY rough experiences in my life, so I made one rule for myself: if possible, get the facts before, and not after, getting exited and then rushing headlong into somewhere.

The OP wanted facts, so here they are, as "general" as I found them. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to find real stats for nursing schools from independent sources (US News is not one of them), including attrition rate, NCLEX passing rate, etc. I think that at least the fact of program "provisional accreditation" and meaning of it must be made open and clear for applicants. Yes, that's the "worst case scenario" but we still should know and be prepared, at least morally.

The "paper" I mentioned is the one printed right after TEAS. It has the taker's score, the median for the university for which the exam was taken, and national median for colleges of similar level. If I were one of ATI guys, I would have never published it like this, for it gives a picture of one's standing as well as one about applicants' quality in this place. Question about "pressing" I cannot explain. I was surprised myself and have no idea why they did it, but that was what happened and it added quite a bit to the strain of the last two weeks. Maybe it was only this particular satellite campus' activity.

I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings in any way, and wish you a lot of good luck! But, again, we're going to be FIRST BSN CLASS in there. It's exiting, it offers some big positives. They just got to take a very, very good care about us - their future, jobs, money and everything else depends highly on our performance. It also offers some negatives, for to make this brand-new mashine running nice and solid, it needs time and some oil and maybe some spare parts. I hope professors in Davenport understand that teaching ADN students and then making them BSN after they worked for a while is not exactly same thing as teaching BSN level from start to finish.