Mount St. Mary's ADN program. Need info asap!

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Hello, my name is Matt. Long time lurker of the forums, but first time posting. I'm really in need of some help at the moment. I just received my acceptance packet from Mount St. Mary's for the Associate's Degree in Nursing, however I'm a bit worried. After looking further into the matter, the program is in fact BON certified and graduates are allowed to sit for the NCLEX, however the ADN program itself is not NLNCA accredited. I've been sifting through vast amounts of information on the site regarding accreditation vs certification, and at this point I have no idea if I should accept my offer or not. Currently I'm at a community college trying to pursue my pre-requisite courses. The Pre-Nursing option that I was admitted to is first year pre-requisites followed by the two year RN program.

Reading through all the situations that have arisen from others who have completed non-NLNCA accredited programs in furthering education or finding employment, I'm wondering if declining and sticking it out for a community college program that is NLNCA accredited would be the better choice. I made numerous phone calls to local hospitals today (USC, UCLA, Harbor, Children's, Kaiser, Providence, etc) to speak with their nurse staffing departments, but was only able to get a hold of a recruiter at Harbor-UCLA since it was late in the evening. I plan on making more calls tomorrow to the hospitals that I was not able to get a hold of. When I mentioned that the program I'm considering is the ADN program at Mount St. Mary's, the recruiter at Harbor-UCLA went on to speak about how well know and renowned the nursing programs at Mount St. Mary's are and said that it would be unlikely that finding local employment at southern California hospitals would be problematic.

Does anyone have any first hand experience with finding employment after graduating from Mount St. Mary's at local hospitals? On a slightly separate note but possibly related, I spoke to the assistant director of the nursing for the ADN program and she stated that clinicals for the program occur at a wide range of hospitals in the area. Does it make sense for many of the previously mentioned hospitals to allow Mount St. Mary's ADN nurses clinicals, but then to deny them the possibility of employment after graduation based on the school's lack of NLNCA accreditation? (I know obtaining a license does not guarantee employment anywhere)

Thanks for reading through this wall of text. I find myself quite anxious as I have to respond to Mount St. Mary's by the 18th of this month (Only received my acceptance packet today) and I don't want to make a decision that will hurt me in the long run.

Regards, Matt.

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is it a private school in LA?

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is it a private school in LA?

Indeed, it is Mount St. Mary's ADN program in Los Angeles, CA.

-Matt

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Specializes in TCU, Post-surgical, Infection Prevention.

You are overthinking this. Mount St. Mary's is an excellent school, with an excellent reputation and although no alumni has responded ~ rest assured they do obtain employment. I would be more concerned with a program's inability to secure clinical sites; that says alot more about the program's strength or any reservations you would have regarding its accreditation.

The time to worry is if your school is on this list: http://www.rn.ca.gov/pdfs/schools/unaccredited.pdf.

Accept the invitation, as a self described lurker you are well aware of how hard it is to get in Nursing School; in SoCal in Los Angeles.

Good luck in whatever you decide.

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You are overthinking this. Mount St. Mary's is an excellent school, with an excellent reputation and although no alumni has responded ~ rest assured they do obtain employment. I would be more concerned with a program's inability to secure clinical sites; that says alot more about the program's strength or any reservations you would have regarding its accreditation.

The time to worry is if your school is on this list: http://www.rn.ca.gov/pdfs/schools/unaccredited.pdf.

Accept the invitation, as a self described lurker you are well aware of how hard it is to get in Nursing School; in SoCal in Los Angeles.

Good luck in whatever you decide.

Anie10: Thanks for the reply. I definitely do feel that a part of me is over thinking the situation as you stated. I'm going to be making some calls today to all the local hospital's nursing recruiters to speak directly with them on the matter. Hopefully any and all doubts will be put to rest. Thanks!

Regards, Matt.

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Specializes in TCU, Post-surgical, Infection Prevention.

All the best to you, Matt!

I am super excited for you!

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Thanks! I'm planning on going over to the school on Monday to look over the nursing department a bit more and see if I can get a look at the classrooms and equipment as well before attending.

Regards, Matt.

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Matt - I'm curious to know what information you found out after you called the local hospitals. Also, did you accept the invitation to MSMC? Let me know and Good luck!

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Hello there!

I am applying to the pre-nursing ADN program at Mount, as I still have my science courses to finish up. I am transferring over 90 credits (came from a university), but I don't have a previous license in nursing... no LVN, CNA, etc. Does Mount recommend that you have a license at the time of application? I noticed that several students are applying into the same program with previous licenses in nursing. I wonder if this will put me at a disadvantage.

Also, can anyone got accepted into either the ADN or pre nursing post their GPA? Thx in advance!!

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Can i still apply before the deadline if i am currently taking pre-reqs? and i will have most of the pre-reqs done but still would have to take 3-4.. would i still be able to take them at MSMC?

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