need advise ------OKCU NURSING

Prettyladie · Mar 8, 2009

are you talking about oklahoma city university.. like the kramer school of nursing?

MissionBSN2b · Mar 8, 2009

hello pretty......

yes I am talking about Kramer School of Nursing,plz let me know if u know sometning about this school ,

thank you .

Prettyladie · Mar 8, 2009

hello. okay im from texas and me and my friend went up there because we heard it was open admissions basically if you had a 3.0 then you were accepted. and we knew we did. so when we arrived we were really impressed by the building and the graduated in their blue cap and gowns on the wall. when we met with the advisor everything changed. she seemed a tad bit racist. and she was lazy about calculating about gpas. she said we only had a 2.3 and a 2. 4 and we had 3.3 and 3.2.. it turned out she didnt calculate everything right and she wouldnt look it over. i know from a previous student that they will "weed you out" basically if you arent doing well they will personally come and tell you that you should pick another major, thats why their NCLEX is so high, because they push people out. you start out with lets say 60 students you will end up with 25. seriously. but i mean if you know that you will have high grades go for it, if you think you might have a hard time and might need some help.. proceed with caution. i hope this helps.

Prettyladie · Mar 8, 2009

oh about the loan. fill out your fafsa and see if you qualify for grants based on your EFC . if your EFC is zero then you will get grants and financial aid, but if its a on the higher end like 3000, then you wont. getting a stafford loan is easy. you will qualify for it. i dont know about international students and how that works but im sure you will be able to get it with no problems, you will get it and not pay it back until you graduate.

picurn10 · Mar 8, 2009

I'm from OKC and almost went with the accelerated BSN program at OCU.

First, tuition is crazy (as you probably know) but from what they told me and another girl I know who was in the process, they do really work with you to help you get your financial aid in order. They have some private scholarships that they give most students (small ones) to help with the cost. I don't know how to go about getting loans for all the expenses you will have, but I'm sure people do it. Cost of living here is very, very cheap so that will help.

Second, I've heard the program was very, very rigorous. I want to say they told me 2-3 12hr clinicals per week, plus lots of class time. I mean, it makes sense they are cramming 2yrs worth of education into 14mo, right? They definitely said I couldn't work while going to school, and since I have a 4yr old as a single mom I just didn't think I could swing it. Plus, knowing what I know now I think it would have been a huge risk to take on that much debt.

Third, I have heard mostly bad things about this program now that I'm out in clinicals and talking with other nurses and instructors. What I've heard (from many people) is that because their accredidation was in jeapordy a few years back, they have since undertaken a policy of weeding students out before graduation in order to keep their pass rate high. Now, that might not be too horrible if your program costs about $10k like many of the RN programs in town, but if you've taken out loans for $40k, and fail out close to graduation, you'll have nothing to show for it but a huge debt on your shoulders.

Since you are coming from another degree path, are you sure you want a BSN? Honestly until I'd really been digging into nursing a while I didn't really realize the difference between RN and BSN. Basically this is it: when starting you will earn a whopping $1/hr more in most places, and you will have the lucky job of extra responsibilities of leadership, and your hospital will likely be bugging you to take on more because their aren't as many BSN and many people don't want the extra administrative work. I just share that because I honestly didn't know, and I'm glad I figured it out because for me, turns out BSN is not that important to me right now, compared to starting my nursing career.

I personally LOVE bedside nursing, and I really don't want to be pulled away from that. I also know as a student about to graduate, just how little a new grad nurse knows and the idea of even more responsibility added to my plate at graduation is not something I want right now. I want to get my feet wet and really learn to be a good nurse before I move on to more responsibility. I hear a lot in clinicals about certain students from BSN programs in town that just aren't prepared to work bedside nursing (which is what I always thought nursing was) but rather to be in nursing adminstration. Just something to think about.

OCCC in town has an accelerated RN program for those who already have a 4yr degree. Their program is 9mo, and yes you'll just have your associates in nursing, but you'll still be an RN. You can do BSN online or at several of the local universities in one day a week over two semesters once you have your RN. So that's always another good option to look into. I'll probably get my BSN that way (I eventually want to be an NP) because I'll still be able to work full time as an RN, with minimal time committment.

What I've found here in OKC is that there are literally dozens of options and ways to get started as a nurse, you just have to narrow it down to the one that best fits your needs. Good luck to you!!!

Prettyladie · Mar 8, 2009

in my opininon. id do the BSN accelerated program if you are going to do any accelerated program. it just makes more sense to me. but not to look down on april &em's comment.

MissionBSN2b · Mar 10, 2009

HI

Pretty thank you very much.

good luck.

Prettyladie · Mar 10, 2009

N0 pr0blem. Thats what im here f0r :)

MissionBSN2b · Mar 10, 2009

hey pretty,

I could not understand how its possible if they start with 60 and at the end pass out is only 25,they are saying they have no waiting,they are very cooperative on phone and answer to my emails.So u did BSN from okcu or not,where u did BSN,if u have time could you please tell me something about NEWYORK uni BSN program.

thank you

MissionBSN2b · Mar 10, 2009

Thank you very much april$em

good luck

Prettyladie · Mar 10, 2009

lets say that have 60 students.. and some of you are excelling the way they want you to..they will literally tell you to change your major and get out of the program. they are trying to keep their passing rates up as high as possible. i dont know how somebody could make me leave a nursing program. i wouldnt do it. but some how they do. i can tell you when i was up there i didnt like it. and i was there a day just to find out about the program a little more. the advisor seemed racist and she was rude and very uninformative. i dont know anything about new york bsn but i can tell you the cost of living in new york is R I D I C U L O U S.