Iowa Nursing Students- HELP!!!

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Specializes in CNA at Nursing Home.

Hey, allnurse! This is going to be my first post, and it is a rather important one to me. :confused:

I live in Iowa and am currently applied to Hawkeye Community College, Kirkwood CC, and Kaplan University. Assuming I am accepted into their the programs, as in I will start clinicals in the fall, which one should I attend? I hear conflicting information about the colleges. I first heard that Kirkwood had the worst nursing program in Iowa, then someone told me that Hawkeye's ADN graduation rate was so low that they got invetigated for not teaching the right information. THEN I hear that Kaplan Accrediation doesn't carry from state to state. But once I talk to students who graduated from these programs and get their stories, their experiences appeal to me, although only the one that graduated from Hawkeye disputed the nasty stuff I heard about their program.

I have a great number of gen. eds./ non-ADN classes DONE and as such most of the schools tell me I am at the front of the line to get into their nursing programs.

And I know NICC has one of the best nursing programs, but it's waiting list is up to three years last time I checked.

So can any students/ people in the know about any of the aforementioned programs PLEASE weigh in with their opinions? It would be greatly appreciated!:yeah:

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Where do you live exactly?

I live in the QCA and go to Scott Community College. The RN program is hard, but a great college to go to. The instructors start making you critically think immediately. And the cost of the community college is cheaper then other schools that I looked into.

Another way to decide is go to the hospital and ask RNs where they went to school at. if you find what school is prodominantly hired, you will have a good idea what the community thinks the good new graduates are at. I know around here even though, we have Trinity, Blackhawk, St. Ambrose, Scott, and Kaplan. the main poole of new graduates hired by the hospital I work for are from Scott.

Just a thought. Hope this help you make a decision.

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Specializes in CNA at Nursing Home.

I live in Manchester, IA (it's about 35 minutes west of Dubuque.) Your information did open up the thought for SCC! I have talked to those who work at hospitals I like and they say usually a hospital will throw away an application if they see you graduated at Kirkwood.

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HawkeyeGinger - Choosing the right college for you can be difficult. You pose some very good questions about nursing programs.

I encourage you to visit the schools you are thinking about attending and talk with instructors and students.

I work for Hawkeye and I can give you some basic facts about the Associate Degree Nursing program.

  • The program is accredited by the Iowa Board of Nursing. Hawkeye has not been investigated by the Iowa Board of Nursing for inappropriate curriculum.
  • While our program is challenging, we have a good pass rate for the NCLEX-RN. Our pass rate of 86.67% is above both the Iowa (77.03%) and national (81.74%) averages.

I invite you to contact the Admissions Office to set up a visit to talk with an Admissions Rep and some instructors about the program and to answer your questions.

Good luck in your future and let me know if there is anything we can do to help.

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Specializes in Mother Baby RN.

I took my first 2 years at Hawkeye, not in the nursing program, but I'm in a BSN program now. My mom works there as well, so I'm pretty familiar with Hawkeye. I've had several friends in the program and taken a lot of the same classes...my friends always have good things to say and the teachers are pretty great! I really enjoyed the college as a whole, they have their act together it seems like. I've had friends at Kirkwood and Kaplan as well, and have heard nothing except complains regarding the colleges and the nursing program. Good luck with your decision!

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I know people who have graduated from Hawkeye's nursing program and said that the program was great... I have applied to there for the fall

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I'm currently a year into the ADN program at Kirkwood Community College, and while there have been some frustrating aspects of my time here, I'm really happy with the knowledge that I've gained so far and with the experiences I've had. I'm also a nontraditional student currently enrolled in the Evening/Weekend program.

If you're unsure about where to go, I would encourage you to visit each of the campuses to get a feel for what you'll find there. Meet with faculty if you can, and figure out what kind of financial aid each institution will offer you, as it's going to be different from school to school. Make sure you're making a fully-informed decision, rather than relying on gossip secondhand from people who may have had a stilted experience at the school.

As for Kirkwood students being ruled out without being considered at all, that's obviously not true. I've got friends at several stages of the nursing program who aren't having problems finding jobs. I'd suggest researching placement rates for each of your prospective schools, to get concrete information. All of the admissions offices should have that data available to you.

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I'm a year into Kirkwood's nursing program as well (day student here though). I have met many nurses who have graduated from Kirkwood and who are happy with their education- they are all employed at a variety of places, including hosptials.

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Specializes in ARNP.

Kirkwood is concerned only about their nclex pass rate and not about students. They are very money driven. The dean will tell you this regularly. Consequently, they make it very difficult for students to pass their courses. This is why their wait list us currently non existent. Classes are rarely full. Rather than teach, they filter. They have some good instructors but many are rude and vindictive. It is very sad to watch students brown-nose to get by these thin skinned defensive instructors. The minimum score for passing us an 80 B, whereas Hawkeye's is C. In contrast, the programs outside of nursing at Kirkwood are very excellent. It's too bad the nursing program can't follow that excellence. My clinical instructor told us on day one she was told to be mean. When did good education equal being mean?

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Hawkeye's minimum passing score is 80% in most classes 85% in a few.

Hawkeye has a good nursing problem and a high graduation/NCLEX pass rate.

I attended for the LPN & RN program.

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Hcc's website states in prereqs and Coreqs that the min is C for the nursing core classes. Is their website incorrect?

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Kirkwood is concerned only about their nclex pass rate and not about students. They are very money driven. The dean will tell you this regularly. Consequently, they make it very difficult for students to pass their courses. This is why their wait list us currently non existent. Classes are rarely full. Rather than teach, they filter. They have some good instructors but many are rude and vindictive. It is very sad to watch students brown-nose to get by these thin skinned defensive instructors. The minimum score for passing is an 80 B, whereas Hawkeye's is C. In contrast, the programs outside of nursing at Kirkwood are very excellent. It's too bad the nursing program can't follow that excellence. My clinical instructor told us on day one she was told to be mean. When did good education equal being mean?

I have heard so many complaints from Kirkwood students. They treat students horrible. The program is so stressful people get physically ill with anxiety, etc. Just a very rude program. Arrogant.

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