So, I have been accepted into TCU's nursing program and into El centro college of nursing in Dallas tx. I am having a hard time deciding which route will be better for me. TCU has been the school of my choice since day 1, i believe that it is a very competitive school and i was accepted as a transfer student ( which is really hard to get in nowadays since they first take their own students). I will earn a BSN with them and it will open me a lot of other doors. What i am not really looking for is the high private tuition they carry ( 14,000 per semester) i really have my heart in to this school, but im scared of the debt. On the other side i also got into el centro's program which leads to a ADN and its much cheaper. I've been doing some research that will give me strong conclusions and will help me decide which way to go, since I don't have that much time and i came across a lot of articles stating how many hospitals where switching to a magnet status, where they no longer hire new ADN, this makes me wonder if really there is such a shortage of nurses how is it that they are switching to this new reform, i mean if the shortage is real, they would hire an ADN without experience and train them their way. This leads me to think.. How real is this information? will ADN nurses really have a tough time finding a job, and if so, should that make an impact in my college decision, because i don't want to have to spend 4 semester and be unemployed for a while , while i go back for my BSN, while in TCU in 5 semesters i can graduate with my BSN and have absolutely no problem. Tough decision, please help me with your suggestions and opinions! it is greatly appreciated!!!
This is true!!! I graduated from El Centro in May and can't find a job. No one told us anything about the Magnet status problem until our final day of class when someone from UTA came to talk to us about there RN-BSN program(how nice).The only people in my class that I know of that have found jobs already worked in the hospital and got hired on to their unit after graduating. El Centro it also the most disorganized & un-professional institution I have ever been a part of. This is not just my opinion, I don't know anyone in my class that would not agree with me. I would recommend going anywhere but El Centro (and Northlake which is the same program). I am now an RN with no job.
Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.
This is true!!! I graduated from El Centro in May and can't find a job. No one told us anything about the Magnet status problem .
*** There is no Magnet status problem, well except that Magnet hospitals are fast gaining a reputation as not being good places to work.
Hospitals may have decided to have a preference for BSN but their Magnet certification has nothing to do with it. Nothing about Magnet requires that it hire only BSN staff nurses.
Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.
Just wanted to say I am a New Grad with no experience in an area very limited on jobs. My first job is acute care in a Magnet status hospital. I have an associates and got the job right away. Interview was a week from graduation. (they won't look at you until you have a lic. here.)
Really? Omg! Ive Been accepted to TCU and el centro for nursing school, and I'm really scared about not falling in your situation! So, why do you think you aren't fonfing a job?
If you were able to go back and do it again, would you have considered a more expensive institution ( like TCU. 15,000 semester) despite the huge economic difference? Would you at this pulping have thought it was worth it, and you think that a BSN would have helped you obtain a job quicker??
i understand hospitals are now preferring more bsns then adn but how is it related to magnet status.
*** it's not related in any way.
i thought magnet status was the meant to use more evidenced based practice.
*** it is supposed to mean excellence in nursing. what it really means is something else. however magnet hospitals are earning a well deserved reputation for not being good places to work.
*** there is no magnet status problem, well except that magnet hospitals are fast gaining a reputation as not being good places to work.
hospitals may have decided to have a preference for bsn but their magnet certification has nothing to do with it. nothing about magnet requires that it hire only bsn staff nurses.
actually, they are related. the hospital i worked at while in ns was undergoing the "journey to magnet" (oh brother) and all the staff had access to the magnet document. the ancc prefers a higher percentage of bsn nurses in magnet hospitals. depending on the strength of the facility's application, some might get in with a lower percentage, but having a higher percentage (>50%) looks really good. in 2008, only 36% of all rns were bsns (iom the future of nursing- http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=12956&page=167). the institute of medicine is also calling for an increase in bsn- educated nurses, but their suggestion doesn't translate into monetary motivation for hospitals like magnet does.
Specializes in Psych, Corrections, Med-Surg, Ambulatory.
Anyone else take offense to the post that stated that an ADN is the equivelent of a high school diploma?!
Yes, but didn't the poster say he/she had yet to get into nursing school? I see a very steep learning curve ahead and possibly a few servings of crow...
Specializes in Critical Care; Cardiac; Professional Development.
I think the OP stated he/she had been accepted to both programs.
There is a heavy push for BSN in DFW at the acute care level. That being said, the kind of tuition required to go to TCU for a BSN is purely ridiculous and taking on that kind of debt is, well, to be very frank....foolish. I graduate with my ADN in December. Just got offered a fantastic position yesterday at a facility that prefers BSNs for internship after graduation. It is a position that will fulfill requirements if I wish to go on to CRNA or Care Flight or PACU. The hospital will pay for my bridge to BSN, which will cost around $5K. They also paid my tuition for ADN. So....basically a free education, plus that all important first job in acute care and in a specialty that will open doors for me down the road.
If you want a BSN, go for it. At UTA. Or TWU. Or Texas Tech. Or any number of universities in the area that are not fleecing their students. Heck, Texas Tech is ranked as one of the top 10 nursing schools in the nation. And they are cheaper than TCU, who doesn't rank at all. There is nothing wrong with wanting to go to TCU the same way there is nothing wrong with really wishing you could buy a Porsche. Some things just don't make sense even if you CAN get the financing for it. Buy the Porsche and in the end you can brag you got a Porsche but each night you are pulling up to your run down apartment, eating ramen because all your money goes to the car and nobody is really thinking you are fancy or smart for having bought it. Find your self identity in ways that make sense.
I would not go to TCU or Baylor or any of the other high cost schools no matter how much one wants to brag about where they go or incorporate religious doctrine or cheer at football games or whatever that motivation might be. The tuition costs are high to the point of being robbery. Their nursing graduates don't earn any more getting out of school than any other new grad. It is great you are willing/able to put in the time for BSN. Do it. But do it smart.
I don't know if this will affect your decision, but I have a friend who is an instructor at El Centro and she has told me that all graduates are automatically accepted/enrolled in an RN-BSN program at UTA on graduation. So basically it's a seamless transition into BSN with no worry about being accepted or whether your credits will transfer. I think that's a really nice bonus to El Centro over Collin County where I went.
Specializes in Critical Care; Cardiac; Professional Development.
I don't know if this will affect your decision, but I have a friend who is an instructor at El Centro and she has told me that all graduates are automatically accepted/enrolled in an RN-BSN program at UTA on graduation. So basically it's a seamless transition into BSN with no worry about being accepted or whether your credits will transfer. I think that's a really nice bonus to El Centro over Collin County where I went.
Collin has this kind of bridge with TWU and is arranging with Texas Tech to make the Collin program a BSN degree in the very near future. Exciting days at Collin right now. :)
I think the OP stated he/she had been accepted to both programs.
There is a heavy push for BSN in DFW at the acute care level. That being said, the kind of tuition required to go to TCU for a BSN is purely ridiculous and taking on that kind of debt is, well, to be very frank....foolish. I graduate with my ADN in December. Just got offered a fantastic position yesterday at a facility that prefers BSNs for internship after graduation. It is a position that will fulfill requirements if I wish to go on to CRNA or Care Flight or PACU. The hospital will pay for my bridge to BSN, which will cost around $5K. They also paid my tuition for ADN. So....basically a free education, plus that all important first job in acute care and in a specialty that will open doors for me down the road.
If you want a BSN, go for it. At UTA. Or TWU. Or Texas Tech. Or any number of universities in the area that are not fleecing their students. Heck, Texas Tech is ranked as one of the top 10 nursing schools in the nation. And they are cheaper than TCU, who doesn't rank at all. There is nothing wrong with wanting to go to TCU the same way there is nothing wrong with really wishing you could buy a Porsche. Some things just don't make sense even if you CAN get the financing for it. Buy the Porsche and in the end you can brag you got a Porsche but each night you are pulling up to your run down apartment, eating ramen because all your money goes to the car and nobody is really thinking you are fancy or smart for having bought it. Find your self identity in ways that make sense.
I would not go to TCU or Baylor or any of the other high cost schools no matter how much one wants to brag about where they go or incorporate religious doctrine or cheer at football games or whatever that motivation might be. The tuition costs are high to the point of being robbery. Their nursing graduates don't earn any more getting out of school than any other new grad. It is great you are willing/able to put in the time for BSN. Do it. But do it smart.
I agree with most of this. When people ask me about going to an expensive private school for a nursing degree, this is what I say: "X University is a great school. If you or your parents want to have that particular college experience and you have the money available NOW to get that experience, go for it. However, if you will have to go into debt in order to attend this university, my advice is to walk away. This university will not get you into the door of a hospital any faster or better than anyone else with a BSN from another university. Your salary will not justify the debt you will incur and will quickly become a huge monkey on your back. TWU, Texas Tech, University of Texas, or several top ADN programs which help you bridge to the BSN afterward will get you to the same place at a fraction of the cost."
I agree with horseshoe. Nursing is not an "upper-tier" profession. What you put into it education-wise (BSN/ADN and/or choice of college) does not translate to the job in financial return. Remember, no matter where you work as a nurse, you are just another nurse. And these days, there are thousands more where you came from, and overseas.
Going into tremendous debt just to become a nurse is probably one of the most foolheardy things a person could do.
i understand everyones point of view about TCU being so expensive, and i respect everyones decision, although i dont know how many of you remember at the beginning of some of my threads i was very concerned for the same fact, but after a while i thought you know there is really not a price for the education that i may get, taking in consideration all the other schools that are way cheaper, and still really good, but after thinking about it i went ahead and just went there because after all the financial aid that i got from them i am literally paying the same thing as i would if i was going to tech or texas womans, and i thought why not? also they gave me a transfer scholarship that helped me a lot, from 18k my tuition went down to just over 7k, which is not bad for TCU. also i chose this program because they have the anesthesia program i want to go to. I am very happy here, the program is extremely challenging and they literally throw you in the water since day one.
i am just happy that i am gonna be able to get my BSN right away, but im sure all the other programs also have their pros!
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hannahklips
1 Post
This is true!!! I graduated from El Centro in May and can't find a job. No one told us anything about the Magnet status problem until our final day of class when someone from UTA came to talk to us about there RN-BSN program(how nice).The only people in my class that I know of that have found jobs already worked in the hospital and got hired on to their unit after graduating. El Centro it also the most disorganized & un-professional institution I have ever been a part of. This is not just my opinion, I don't know anyone in my class that would not agree with me. I would recommend going anywhere but El Centro (and Northlake which is the same program). I am now an RN with no job.