Need Help Pretty Please; Stony Brook or Farmingdale

PacoUSA, BSN, RN · Mar 23, 2015

I suggest you bite the bullet and take A&P in the summer and get it over with. If you really want something bad enough you just have to make sacrifices. I took a whole year of A&P over the summer in another state and got A's in both sessions. Yes it's hard but not impossible. Afraid of a little hard work? You might not be ready for SBU then because I'm also a graduate of their nursing program and it's tough but worth it. I'm already a nurse for several years and I wouldn't be worried about competing with other nurses in California right now. Once you have experience the school you went to matters very little, and Stony Brook has a great rep anyway.

Stony Brook clinicals take place at their hospital mostly, and also Good Sam, St. Charles, St. Catherine's, Pilgrim State, the Northport VA and North Shore or LIJ. Note that not every clinical is offered at every location, like the VA is only for psych, etc. There might be others now but not sure since I have been gone a few years and things may have changed.

tokidoki247 · Mar 23, 2015

I suggest you bite the bullet and take A&P in the summer and get it over with. If you really want something bad enough you just have to make sacrifices. I took a whole year of A&P over the summer in another state and got A's in both sessions. Yes it's hard but not impossible. Afraid of a little hard work? You might not be ready for SBU then because I'm also a graduate of their nursing program and it's tough but worth it. I'm already a nurse for several years and I wouldn't be worried about competing with other nurses in California right now. Once you have experience the school you went to matters very little, and Stony Brook has a great rep anyway.
Stony Brook clinicals take place at their hospital mostly, and also Good Sam, St. Charles, St. Catherine's, Pilgrim State, the Northport VA and North Shore or LIJ. Note that not every clinical is offered at every location, like the VA is only for psych, etc. There might be others now but not sure since I have been gone a few years and things may have changed.

The problem is by the time I'm ready to transfer to SBU, I might move to queens. That would be 4-5 hours of commute in total. If that happens farmingdale will be my only choice since hunter won't take me. Why do you think I should take A&P in the summer? Financially my family's struggling, I thought of going to some local classes over the summer to become a HHA to earn some money. What would you suggest?

PacoUSA, BSN, RN · Mar 23, 2015

You are better off becoming a CNA than a HHA, because the pay is much better and your clinical exposure would be more relevant for nursing school. I was in a hurry to get my prereqs done which is why I did A&P over the summer. It's not that bad if you get into the right mindset, you just have to. Besides, getting A's was my priority in those courses too because my professor became one of my recommendations when I applied to nursing school, so with 2 A's in his classes I knew it would be a good one.

By the way, I had a few classmates commuting from Queens to attend Stony Brook. It can be done. That wasnt for me but others did it.

tokidoki247 · Mar 23, 2015

You are better off becoming a CNA than a HHA, because the pay is much better and your clinical exposure would be more relevant for nursing school. I was in a hurry to get my prereqs done which is why I did A&P over the summer. It's not that bad if you get into the right mindset, you just have to. Besides, getting A's was my priority in those courses too because my professor became one of my recommendations when I applied to nursing school, so with 2 A's in his classes I knew it would be a good one.
By the way, I had a few classmates commuting from Queens to attend Stony Brook. It can be done. That wasnt for me but others did it.

I have to thank you a million times over. Why didn't I think of taking A&P in the summer before? Lol. With costs and commutes altogether, its not practical for me to try to get into Stony Brook, to me supporting my fam right now is just as important as school. So I'll compromise on Farmingdale. I think I'll start a thread on how to get to farmingdale by the coming January. I'll have 12 credits by the end of spring, A&P 1 in the summer, and the other pre reqs in the fall and hopefully I'll be in the program coming Januray. Do you think its an ok plan?

Again, thank you so much. Thanks to you things look a bit clearer to me.

PacoUSA, BSN, RN · Mar 23, 2015

Sounds good to me. Glad I could help :)

tokidoki247 · Mar 23, 2015

Aaand I got lost again could you tell me more about your friends who commuted from queens? Did they commute by bus or car? Were they in the nursing program? Going to stony brook was the dream I made after reality hit me I could never afford nyu. Going to a 'good college' was so important to me, cuz of family pressure I eventually adopted that as my goal. I hear SBU is beautiful, and it's the kind of place I'd imagine you'd get the whole 'college experience' you know? It's arrogant of me to say so, but I wonder if I can get that experience at farmingdale. I'm worried if I can get a job after graduating farmingdale even in ny, competing against SBU, NYU, Colombia and Hunter. My fam is struggling, I need to support them as well. Farmingdale would let me juggle school and them easier, but SBU was my dream. I just can't make the decision, and I need to do it fast so I can register for the appropriate classes. I know you can't make this decision for me, but you're in the position I want to be in years from now. Could you please give me some advice?

Kelseyannemcd · Jun 30, 2015

I'm in Farmingdale's program now and it definitely should not be looked at as if you're settling or compromising your dreams. They have a highly competitive program where thousands apply and nobly 50 get in and after our first semester we lost 6 people due to lack of appropriate grades because you're held to such a high standard. We also have the highest NCLEX passing rate in the state. So I would definitely reconsider your thoughts on Farmingdale. I too wanted to go to Stony Brook but with timing I'm glad I ends up at Farmingdale. I hope this helped!

frenchtoastwaffles, BSN, RN · Jul 1, 2015

Take A&P and get it over with. Keep in mind that SBU is incredibly competitive. Having a high GPA is absolutely no guarantee, I think they had over 800 applications and there were only 75 seats. I had a 3.54 when I applied and was rejected after picking myself up from academic probation at my last school. Farmingdale is also very competitive.

If I were you, I'd cast a wider net than just those schools. Honestly, I think your best bet is to finish at NCC and earn your ADN there, then apply for an RN to BSN. NCC is a great program so why cross it off your list? If it comes down to the SUNY schools rejecting you, you'll be happy to have NCC has an option by applying. Being that you're struggling for money, NCC is probably the most economically feasible as well.

And regarding NCLEX pass rates, last year NCC had 80% (110 out of 130 passed), SBU had 85.9% (122 out of 142 passed), Farmingdale had 90% (9 out of 10 passed). If it's an option, Queensborough had 90.9% with 80 out of 88 students passing. Utica, Pace and NYUs accelerated programs, and Rochester had the highest in the state with over 91% passing, not counting Excelsior because I think it's online

frenchtoastwaffles, BSN, RN · Jul 1, 2015

And just for the record, SBU was my dream too. I applied twice and was rejected twice. I wasted a lot of time trying to find my place there, but sometimes you just have to swallow your pride and find another route if nursing is your dream - not the name of the college issuing your degree. My advice to you is to not put all of your eggs in that basket being that it's SO competitive.

Dollface4k6 · Jul 17, 2015

I attended Farmingdale's program, graduated in 2014 (ADN) and got hired the week after I took my boards. Graduating from an ADN program will reduce your chances of getting a job because a lot of hospitals are looking for BSN students, a lot of the people I graduated with are still not hospital employed. I have not heard of any of the BSN Farmingdale graduates being unemployed. I am finishing my BSN at Farmingdale and graduate in Dec. I had a BA in psych before going to nursing school. Farmingdale has inactivated their ADN program because they found many of their grads were having hard times finding jobs and to keep up with the market for new grads, they expanded their BSN program with the staff that used to teach in the ADN program. I really loved Farmingdale. The classes weren't too big, and the clinicals were from Winthrop, NUMC, Good Sam, Southside, Stonybrook, St Catherines, the VA in Northport and Cohen's Children's hospital (I am sure I am forgetting some!)

flyawaybudgi · Nov 24, 2017

Hi,

How is your experience at farmingdale? I'm considering advanced standing spring.