Job placement Concordia University Irvine vs. Samuel Merritt University

stnurse2016 · Aug 1, 2016

Hello nurse friends,

I am currently trying to decide between two similar ABSN programs- Samuel Merritt University in the SF bay area and Concordia University Irvine.

One of the most important aspects I am still researching between these two schools is job placement, not only the rate, which I have found to be about 95% within a year for Samuel Merritt, and 85% within 6-9 months of graduating for Concordia, but I want to know more specifics like:

1. how many grads find jobs within the first 3 months? (this would be ideal of course)

2. how many of these jobs found, that are included in the school's job placement rates, are in acute care hospital settings?

3. if you aren't going to look for jobs near the area you went to school, does it really matter what school you went to? Are there any Samuel Merritt or Concordia Irvine grads out there that found jobs right after school either somewhere else in California or out of state?

My situation is: I will be finishing either of these programs by December 2017. My husband is in grad school in Berkeley until May 2018. We do not want to live in the bay area after he graduates. So basically, I finish school, then hopefully take the NCLEX and pass by early February. We are hoping that my husband has job prospects in his last spring semester, and if he gets a job offer before he graduates I will immediately start looking for jobs where he got a job. But it's possible he could take longer to find a job, maybe not until August 2018. Either way I need to find a job to try and make ends meet until we know where we are going to be, he wants to be a Catholic high school teacher... so really his job is going to determine our location. I really want to try to get into a new grad rn program at a hospital but they only accept nurses with minimal or no experience.

4. Would it look bad to start a new grad rn program in say March in the bay area and then have to move in August and look for a new job? Should I just get any nursing job in the mean time and look for new grad programs when I know where my husband is getting a job?

5. I currently work as a CNA for a home health company, BrightStar, I have really enjoyed working for them, and they hire RN's, it's possible I could work for them for those 6-8 months before moving somewhere else- would home health nursing be considered too much experience for new grad hospital programs?

6. Am I getting my hopes up too high for getting into a new grad hospital program?

Any advice or ideas for my situation would be greatly appreciated. It would also be great to hear from any Samuel Merritt or Concordia Irvine grads out there. Thanks so so much!