Need help deciding where to go (MA)

[strawburrymilk]

Hi guys,

I just got accepted to one BSN program, one ADN program, and one ABSN. However, I don’t know where to go and it’s hard to get advice from people who aren’t going through similar issues.

Salem State BSN- Affordable with federal loans, 4 years, don’t need to take out a private loan, no preceptorship, luck of the draw for rotations in Boston hospitals

North Shore CC ADN- Very affordable, might not need ANY loans at all, 2 year RN but will need to transfer my other 3 college transcripts to finish my BSN somewhere else, was told it’ll possibly take even longer than 2 years because of COVID, no preceptorship, no Boston affiliated hospitals at all

MCPHS ABSN- Dumb expensive since it’s in Boston, will need private loans for the first time, can finish my BSN in 2-3 years, has preceptorship, has rotations in Boston hospitals, might not be the best nursing program in Boston to be dropping money like that

I just turned 25 and I feel like I’m in a rush to finish school before I’m 30. I’ve been a screw up until I turned 23 because of family and depression. Can someone please help me?

[studentbear, CNA]

First of all, I'm 30 and will be 31 when I graduate next year with my BSN. Please try not to put pressure on yourself to hurry up and finish you degree! I definitely sympathize with you, believe me. But I put a ton of pressure on myself to hurry up and get my career going (got accepted to a BSN at 27) and then ended up being forced to take 2 years off due to health issues. You'll get there when you get there and there will probably be plenty of other "non-traditional" students like you and me in your cohort ?

I can't personally speak to the schools you've been accepted to but I am attending a nursing program in Boston. I think you should go with Salem State with the pros/cons you mentioned about each. From what I've heard, plenty of schools don't have preceptorships and some schools (like mine) are beginning to phase them out so IMO it's not a huge deal. Plus, with this covid stuff who knows when we will have face to face clinicals again.

[bitter_betsy, BSN]

So here is what I did... I wrote down all of my options on a whiteboard and placed all my pre-reqs under each. As I completed pre-reqs I crossed them off. I made a list of pros and cons for each school objectively nothing was emotional based (it is difficult to keep a school on the list when you know you will wear white scrubs for the duration of the program - but sadly that is not a valid reason to not go there). Specific rotations are not important. It would be a better experience to get a job as a tech in the hospital / area that you think you want to be an RN in so that you can see first hand if you really like it. Clinicals are clinicals and you get what you get. Your final semester you should have like 180 hours of clinical time which should serve as your preceptorship. Again, normally you don't get to pick so it just doesn't matter. This is where that tech job would really be beneficial.

An ABSN that takes 2-3 years doesn't seem much like an ABSN to me. I just completed an ABSN program and it was like hell on wheels. 16 months in total and I couldn't have a job - super intense. Between the other 2 - which one did you complete pre-reqs for? Which did you get accepted to? For me, I was able to complete the pre-reqs for the ABSN before I was able to complete the pre-reqs for the ADN. It just depends on where you are and what each school wants (this was all on my white board to help me see it at a glance). If you don't have a white board big enough - go to home depot or Lowes and they have 8' x 4' sheets for about $13. That should be plenty big ?

When you write it all down in one place, it will help you make sense of it. I still haven't erased mine. It is right by my light switch so when I would wonder why the heck I did that to myself - the proof was right there in writing on my wall in my own handwriting with all the reasons that I decided to do it. Oddly - it helped.

Financially you will pay off whatever you decide to do. NCLEX pass rates are a good indicator of the school. If you need a job while you are going to school, it would be good to research the schools recommendation on having a job during school. I would also not attend a private school.