Native NYer going out of state for school?

U.S.A. New York

Published

Specializes in CSICU/CTICU.

Hello all,

After not getting in to NYU, I decided to cast a wider net and applied to other schools in New York and also in other states. I was recently accepted to the 16 month accelerated BSN program at Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences in Worcester, Mass.

They cost half the price of NYU, have a 100% NCLEX pass rate, and their alumni have some great things to say about the quality of education, quality of clinicals (MGH, UMass Medical to name a few), supportive faculty (they don't fail you out on a whim like many others), and the modernity of the campus, labs, and classrooms. This school only educates those in the health professions (with their other programs being PharmD, MS in PA, MS in NP).

I am starting to think it might be worth the move to Worcester for 16 months to do this program. My only worries are that if I go out of state, I may have a hard time coming back to New York considering I will not be making any clinical connections because I will be in Mass hospitals. That being said, who knows if I'll want to come back.

Do you think I'm better off going to another school like LIU (Brooklyn), PACE (Pleasantville), DOMINICAN (Rockland) because of their NY based clinicals? Thanks for your opinions!

BTW --> I have never lived outside of New York so obviously I am nervous about moving. I am visiting this Worcester this week.

E

Are you planning to just go and come straight back? What if you go ot there and get offered a job before graduation? As long as you have a year experience under your belt you will be fine coming back to the city. I would say go for it and even if you do come back you still might get lucky, even without the connections. Right now I go to LIU Brooklyn and hopefully I will make connections in clinicals but I might not either. Who knows you might have better luck going to a school that's health profession only, I wish LIU was lol.

Specializes in CSICU/CTICU.

Guilty - thanks so much for your response! Sometimes responses are like pulling teeth on here :p I visited the school today and I have to say..I was SO impressed. Beautiful, modern, technologically advanced facility..the whole school is devoted to the health care professions...they seem so supportive and really have an academic approach to nursing...Plus they are located across the street from a hospital, 5 minutes away from UMass Memorial Hospital and UMass Med School..and the area of Worcester is a science/biotech/healthcare hub..That being said, the area sucks. I could never see myself living there. It's the type of place where people only live because they have to for job/school..While it is near Boston and Providence, which is a good thing, there is no way I would settle in Worcester proper and at this point I'm apprehensive about going there for 16 months as it is...So yes, I would probably come back.

Do you think I will be at a disadvantage because I dont have clinical connections here? Some other good things about the school are affiliations with nursing associations and honor societies, nursing without borders (volunteer trip to South America!), 100% nclex pass rate, good regional reputation, and the opportunity to get published! These things could bolster my resume, but in the long run the lack of local networking is weighing on me. How do you like LIU? I have heard really, really bad things and I'm not sure it would be the "right" decision to chose LIU over MCPHS based on location alone... Thanks again :-)

PS...in downtown, by the school..lots and lots of junkies wandering around (rehab facility in the area)...kind of left a bad taste in my mouth lol

El

Are you planning to just go and come straight back? What if you go ot there and get offered a job before graduation? As long as you have a year experience under your belt you will be fine coming back to the city. I would say go for it and even if you do come back you still might get lucky, even without the connections. Right now I go to LIU Brooklyn and hopefully I will make connections in clinicals but I might not either. Who knows you might have better luck going to a school that's health profession only, I wish LIU was lol.
Specializes in Tele, Dialysis, Med-Surg, ICU,GI.

Go for it!!! It sounds like a fantastic program and place to study. The job market is so tricky in NY, a lot of places are not hiring new grads, so I don't know how many connections you will make during clinicals.

Guilty - thanks so much for your response! Sometimes responses are like pulling teeth on here :p I visited the school today and I have to say..I was SO impressed. Beautiful, modern, technologically advanced facility..the whole school is devoted to the health care professions...they seem so supportive and really have an academic approach to nursing...Plus they are located across the street from a hospital, 5 minutes away from UMass Memorial Hospital and UMass Med School..and the area of Worcester is a science/biotech/healthcare hub..That being said, the area sucks. I could never see myself living there. It's the type of place where people only live because they have to for job/school..While it is near Boston and Providence, which is a good thing, there is no way I would settle in Worcester proper and at this point I'm apprehensive about going there for 16 months as it is...So yes, I would probably come back.

Do you think I will be at a disadvantage because I dont have clinical connections here? Some other good things about the school are affiliations with nursing associations and honor societies, nursing without borders (volunteer trip to South America!), 100% nclex pass rate, good regional reputation, and the opportunity to get published! These things could bolster my resume, but in the long run the lack of local networking is weighing on me. How do you like LIU? I have heard really, really bad things and I'm not sure it would be the "right" decision to chose LIU over MCPHS based on location alone... Thanks again :-)

PS...in downtown, by the school..lots and lots of junkies wandering around (rehab facility in the area)...kind of left a bad taste in my mouth lol

El

I don't think you'll have any problems, I mean good recommendations sometimes go much further than connections. I like LIU, aside from the tuition I don't have too many complaints, sometimes it's disorganized but if you are patient they will work for you, well it always worked for me anyway. I don't know if I have an overly friendly personality or what. I just plan to work hard and get through it. I took what I got offered. The nursing program is rigorous, we had the highest BSN NCLEX pass rate for the state in 09 but graduation rate is only about 50%. I believe we have to pass 10 exit hesi's in these two years of nursing so we'll see. Haha ask me in 2012!

Specializes in CSICU/CTICU.

Thanks again for your insight. I got accepted to the professional phase at LIU for a January start. If I went there it would take 8 months longer to finish, would be slightly more expensive, and it has only a 50% grad rate (scary). That being said, one might argue LIU's high NCLEX rate is due to the fact that they fail everyone out who can't pass the multiple HESI's..so the remaining students are only the ones who can pass the NCLEX on the first try with a certainty. That being said, it sounds like you will be successful guiltysins - you have a great attitude! I don't know if, in my personal situation, it warrants going to LIU for the sole reason that it's located in NY. Do you agree/disagree? It sounds like you're starting the program this fall, please keep me updated with your progress and your opinion about the school. Have you visiting the nursing dept/facilities? Care to describe them? Thanks :-)

Specializes in acute care.

My opinion- Go to Massachusetts College. The fact that alumni speak highly of the College would be enough of a reason for me to go. You can always come back to NYC.

Specializes in PCU, LTAC, Corrections.

I would attend MCPHS. It is not like you are doing clinicals at terrible places. Clinicals are at some of the top hospitals in the country. You can always come back to NY. I am applying to ABSN programs for Fall 2011. My first choice is Concordia College ( in Bronxville). My next choice is and then I might apply to NYU. If I have to move out to Philly I plan on still applying to jobs in NY after I graduate. However, if I have to stay in Philly for a year then I will bite the bullet.

The point is you got into a program. I would go if I were you. Unless you want to not go and then apply to NYU again and some of the other ABSN programs in NY but there is no guarantee for admission.

Attend the school in MA you never know it might open doors you never dreamed of.

Go for it... go to school in MA. I went to the NYU accelerated program and it was great. Over many years now I have known nurses from all over and the truth is that once you start working you learn on the job. I looked into LIU at the time and I never met anyone in the NY hospitals from there, that may have changed by now. That was 15 years ago. In any event, the accelerated program is the way to go. One of the reasons I did not go to LIU was b/c they didn't have one at the time and I already had one bachelors degree. I figured that four years at a college would cost as much as the accelerated program at NYU and I would not be able to start working and paying it back for 4 years! Just my 2 cents, but had I not gotten into NYU I would have looked for another accelerated program somewhere else. Good luck!

they are located across the street from a hospital, 5 minutes away from UMass Memorial Hospital and UMass Med School..and the area of Worcester is a science/biotech/healthcare hub..That being said, the area sucks. I could never see myself living there. It's the type of place where people only live because they have to for job/school..While it is near Boston and Providence, which is a good thing, there is no way I would settle in Worcester proper and at this point I'm apprehensive about going there for 16 months as it is...So yes, I would probably come back.

Hi, I'm from nearby area, so Know Worcester to some extent. Ya, not a place I would want to live forever....but actually, there are some areas of Worcester that are very nice.....but not the area the school is in. You have to look at it this way....your there for school, not a lifetime. #1 focus should be getting the best education you can, not living in a beautiful, fun place. Your social life will be on the back burner until school is out. There are many schools in Worcester, the students must find some fun places/times. On the positive side...less distractions/temptations ( - : Be open to exploring and finding new interests that fit the area, When in Rome, do as the Romans...you can return to "city life" after school. I'm thinking with some work experience, you will be on level playing ground anywhere you go. Good luck

Specializes in taking a break from inpatient psychiatric nursing.

I spent a weekend in Worcester a few years ago, and it is very, very quiet there. And maybe that's a good thing as a setting for nursing school, especially an accelerated program. After all, you need a quiet place to study, right!

Just make sure you set up a nice kitchen and cook for yourself because there isn't much in the way of great places to eat there.

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