need help on choosing an accelerated BSN

Quickbeam, BSN, RN · Jul 5, 2006

Hi there! I graduated from an accelerated BSN program 20 years ago (when there were only 5 in the US!). I can tell you they were far more interested in my 4.0 pre-req GPA than what I had gotten in Philosophy or Geology 10 years earlier.

I'd recommend that you call the school and see if there is someone you can talk to about what they are looking for. When I had your concern, that's what I did. They generally are looking for highly motivated, disciplined adult learners. These programs are intense and they see quite a few people wash out who can't take the intensity or have other things going on in their lives.

sunnyjohn · Jul 5, 2006

Some program will take into consideration your last 20-30 credit hours. A 3.0 in those hours will often be the clincer. Some accelerated programs also take into consideration your scores on the GRE.

I know you said you wanted an Accelerated BSN, but ahve you considered an ADN program? If you ahve a 4.0 in the pre-reqs from a US school in the last five eyars, you may have an EXCELLENT chance at getting into an ADN/ASN program. They will look at your past degree, but your current pre-reqs may be all that matters.

You really are going to have to go through the schools one-by-one, check otu there website adn contact them to find what you are looking for.

One more thing, have you re-calculated your GPA including the classes you recently took?

orientalgirl · Jul 5, 2006

Thank you guys. :-) I did check ADN/ASN programs but just found out they need 2 years. Just like the school where I'm taking the pre-reqs, they only have 37 credits for the ADN but you have to spend 2 years. Crazy!! I checked with some nursing schools. One school in NYC told me that my chance was nearly zero. I ever didn't mention my GPA of the previous bachelor's. I was really dumbfouned. I'm just wondering if it's just because I'm a foreigner. Maybe all the schools consider local people first. Frustrated.

Anyway, seems I have to take the GRE, make a decent score and this way make me more competitive.

suzanne4, RN · Jul 5, 2006

You are going to find it harder to find a program. First, you have completed only six months of pre-reqs, there are more than than that. Next, your degree was from out of the country, and not sure what it was in, but many programs have over one year of pre-reqs to take before they will even look at your application.

And yes, programs will go to the American in most cases first, taxes are funding the college programs.

It is probably going to take you at least another year and a half to find a program, only chance ear;ier would be a private school where you will be paying $30,000 plus per year, and most of those are not accelerated.

orientalgirl · Jul 5, 2006

Yes, taxes are funding the college programs. but I paid 3-4 times of your tuition without any finacial aid. I pay for it. I do need to find out a private school. I'm sure they would be more fond of me than public shools because they can make more money. Yes, it's hard for me. But when you really want to get something, you will ultimately. I always believe that. Really I don't think I have to spend 2 years on pre-reqs. That's for people without a previous degree though.

smile123 · Jul 7, 2006

Yes, taxes are funding the college programs. but I paid 3-4 times of your tuition without any finacial aid. I pay for it. I do need to find out a private school. I'm sure they would be more fond of me than public shools because they can make more money. Yes, it's hard for me. But when you really want to get something, you will ultimately. I always believe that. Really I don't think I have to spend 2 years on pre-reqs. That's for people without a previous degree though.

Actually, it may take you at least a year of pre-reqs if you went full time even if you have a degree already. You didn't say what your bachelor's degree was in. If it was a non-science degree, you may find you need more time to do all the pre-reqs. Since you received your degree outside the US, chances are if you took some of the pre-reqs at your previous school, they will not be accepted. This is true for classes like anatomy, physiology, and microbiology. How long ago did you get your bachelor's degree? If it was more than 5 years, and you did take some pre-reqs, they would be expired by most schools' standards. You do have a challenging road ahead of you.

smilin_gp · Jul 7, 2006

I had a previous music degree with all the premedical coursework done. On top of that, I STILL had a full year of nursing prereqs. They want specific prerequisites regardless of degree. The only place that my previous degree really helped was once I was in the BSN program, I only took nursing classes,didn't need the corequisite liberal arts courses.

chickapin · Jul 16, 2006

I am not sure how my school selects people other than GPA, but I got into an ABSN program in FL (USF) with a "low" GPA of 3.43 and good grades in my pre-reqs...Just not sure if they really look at individual grades or just overall GPA. I had one pre-nursing advisor tell me that generally the ABSN applicants for my school have a 3.2 GPA on average. That is low considering they tell upper-division undergrads to not even bother applying if their GPA is less than 3.6. I'm not sure how many total applicants there were for the accelerated program this year but overall there were over 600 applicants and 72 were accepted for fall with 24 of them being accelerated. If you're not opposed to moving, my advice is to inquire at different schools around the country, try and find out about their acceptance rates and admission criteria, and narrow it down to a handful of programs that best fit what you're looking for. Then make sure you complete ALL the prereqs with good grades before applying. Some schools won't even admit people on a provisional basis waiting for prereqs to be completed - they need to be done and on your transcripts they get w/ your application. If you can afford it, take a few classes over again to bring up your GPA. I think the main deciding factor for many, many schools is GPA. And it seems that at least some schools would rather you get an A in Underwater Basket Weaving than a C in Calculus and Physics (this is from my experience), so do whatever you can to bring your GPA up and get your prereqs completed (ie, take supereasy guaranteed-A classes and study hard in your prereqs). Good luck!

malik786 · Aug 2, 2006

HELP!!!

I am a senior at Stockton COllege in NJ and I need help finding a good accelerated program. Does anyone have any suggestions on to how to find the right school for the accelerated program? also , I have a 3.2 in my bachelor of Public Health Administration courses and I have taken all the pre-req's .... some please help...

thanx