Mount St. Mary's College Traditional BSN program?

Silverdragon102, BSN · May 13, 2012

Moved to the CA nursing program forum

jesusgal1023 · May 24, 2012

I just graduated from their traditional BSN program. If you have any questions I'd be happy to asnwer them. Are you a transfer or did you do prenursing there?

TPLPRN, BSN · Jun 8, 2012

I just graduated from their traditional BSN program. If you have any questions I'd be happy to asnwer them. Are you a transfer or did you do prenursing there?

Congrats!!! And thank you so much :) I'm transferring in from Pierce College where I did my prereqs. I can't think of any questions in particular, but overall, what was the experience like for you? Did you transfer or were you there all 4 years? And congratulations again, that's really exciting!

irisktan · Jun 10, 2012

Hey! I was just admitted into the TBSN program at Mount St. Mary's as a transfer student as well! So glad to finally find a post from someone on the same boat!

jesusgal1023 · Jun 15, 2012

Congratulations on being accepted as a transfer! I'm sure you have heard that they don't take many transfer students, so the competition is pretty fierce. You should feel very proud that they selected you! I was a transfer student as well, which was a little difficult in the very beginning, but the nursing class was very welcoming, including the instructors.

Nursing school at the Mount was one of the most challenging things I have ever done. Be prepared to begin right away and to make a lot of sacrifices. There are a lot of things to do; if you procrastinate, you might not be able to catch up. With that being said, I also loved nursing school. I loved the Mount (even though they can be very last minute with things). I loved the people I met, and had some amazing experiences. The three years went by quickly, and I will definitely miss it. The faculty is very understanding, though they may seem intimidating at first. Always check your Mount email and Angel accounts. Always call your instructor if you are going to miss clinical. Always look for learning experiences. If you don't have a car, you should try to get one. You will end up going all around the LA area during your 3 years there and a car is really essential.

remember to have fun! Each year is challenging in its own way, but by the end of it, I'm sure you will see that all your hard work has paid off :)

ashley_victoria · Jun 30, 2012

Hi Jesusgal1023,

My name is Ashley. I just got accepted into the associates degree of Nursing program at Mount Saint Mary's College. I'm really curious to know what your experience were like going through their traditional nursing program. I also want to ask what it was like for you to get your first job being a graduate of the mount. I've heard from friends recently who are in the Associates program for Nursing at the mount that their school is lacking the NLN accreditation which will make it harder for me or others in that program to transfer our units/ course work to public institutions to pursue RN-BSN or even a Master's program. Now, as a graduate of the mount...will your units transfer somewhere else if you decided to pursue higher education in Nursing at a public institution? Let me know. It would really help me a lot.

-Ashley Victoria-

jesusgal1023 · Jul 5, 2012

Ashley,

As a graduate of the traditional program, I am in a different situation than you. I do not have any limitations with my transcripts and can apply to any masters program. The probelem that arises for you, i believe, is that you will be planning on "bridging" to a BSN degree. The Bridging is what complicates things because of the way the Mount sets up their transcripts. The same problem would occur if you failed out of the Mount's program, and wanted to attend another nursing program. From my understanding, Westcoast University is the only school with a nursing program that will accept our transcripts for a person who fails out. I am unaware of whether they have an RN-BSN program though, so you may want to check that out.

Fortunately, you can apply to bridge from an RN to BSN at the mount. In that case, you would complete your ADN at the Doheny campus and then you would complete a final year at the Chalon campus with the traditional BSN senior class for that year. At that point, you should have no difficulty in obtaining a Master's degree at another institute such as UCLA or Azuza Pacific, etc. I would recommend looking into the RN to BSN program at the Mount.

As for your other question about jobs, well that is complicated. We've been told that there is a nursing shortage, but due to the economy, there aren't many new grad programs since it is expensive to train us. As a BSN you would have an easier time finding employment. Certain hospitals will not hire ADNs due to their magnet status, ie UCLA, Cedar-Sinai, Children's Hospital, Veteran's Administration. That being said, the 3 RN to BSNs that were in my section at the Mount all had jobs witht their ADN only. White's memorial, northridge hospital, and torrence memorial will hire ADN nurses and have a preference for mount students. I was fortunate to get hired at my #1 choice, UCLA. While nursing school is challenging and time consuming, it is important to be involved in your community (help at church, join a nursing society at the mount, feed teh homeless). This looks great on resumes and shows that you are well rounded.

I hope i answered all your questions. Let me know if i need to explain anything further

TPLPRN, BSN · Jul 9, 2012

Hey! I was just admitted into the TBSN program at Mount St. Mary's as a transfer student as well! So glad to finally find a post from someone on the same boat!

Congrats!!! And yeah, I've been wondering if there were any other transfer students here!! Where are you transferring in from? My name is Tali btw. Will you be there on the 17th?

:)

TPLPRN, BSN · Jul 9, 2012

@jesusgal,

Thanks so much for your feedback! I did hear that there were about 600 transfer applicants and only 13 of us were chosen... It still seems unreal to me. Something worth mentioning... I actually did part of my first semester @ Pierce's ADN program... Unfortunately, the nursing dept was nothing like the rest of the school, so I decided to withdraw and resume my original plan of applying to the Mount. So glad I did. I'm so excited to start - I miss clinicals the most.

Also, congrats on your new job! That's pretty amazing - you must be proud :)

Have you taken the nclex yet?

How's everything falling into place for you?

Thank you again for your posts, it's really good to hear from someone who's just been through the program.

:)

Crodp · Jul 10, 2012

@jesusgal,
Thanks so much for your feedback! I did hear that there were about 600 transfer applicants and only 13 of us were chosen... It still seems unreal to me. Something worth mentioning... I actually did part of my first semester @ Pierce's ADN program... Unfortunately, the nursing dept was nothing like the rest of the school, so I decided to withdraw and resume my original plan of applying to the Mount. So glad I did. I'm so excited to start - I miss clinicals the most.
Also, congrats on your new job! That's pretty amazing - you must be proud :)
Have you taken the nclex yet?
How's everything falling into place for you?
Thank you again for your posts, it's really good to hear from someone who's just been through the program.
:)

Can I ask why you dropped out of Pierce? Was it a terrible experience? Thanks

TPLPRN, BSN · Jul 10, 2012

Can I ask why you dropped out of Pierce? Was it a terrible experience? Thanks

Honestly, it just wasn't for me. Initially, I was disheartened by the fact that I was accepted based on a lottery number - pure luck - and nothing else. Felt like all my hard work and my passion for the profession were meaningless, which was only confirmed in the classroom environment. Basically, I was just a number. And I love nursing too much to be immersed in that sort of environment. I hope this doesn't dishearten anyone - I definitely don't mean for it to. It simply wasn't for me. I need to be surrounded by people who work just as hard as I do and whose passion lies as deep as mine... And in an environment where there's support. Unfortunately, the nursing department is the polar opposite of the rest of the life science department (and the rest of the school, really). Once I left, I spoke to my former prereq professors who then told me that they're actually aware of the issue and they've seen quite a few others leave for the same reasons I did. Needless to say, they weren't able to tell me any of this before I began the program. Lesson learned, though! I hope this helps. I'd be more than happy to answer anymore questions :)