Published Jul 24, 2013
TexRN, BSN, RN
553 Posts
I finally was able to get a hold of an advisor. They told me my health sciences degree would mean I'd only have a little bit of pre reqs plus the 2 years of BSN and I'd be a transfer student. Well now they are saying that the bulk of my HS degree, since it may or may not be technical vocational that they may not accept those credits. Even though I took them through George Washington University. It was a requirement for my army job as a lab tech. So now I may be even more behind. I already have to do some of the Texas Core Pre reqs. Blah. I'm on pins and needles you guys, I e-mailed my unofficial transcript of the army part of my transcript and they will tell me if those count or not. If they don't, I'll have to retake Chemistry and Micro. Even though I work in that field it's still daunting to know I may have to struggle through that again.
Any words of experience or encouragement? This will not stop me from pursuing the degree, but it was nice to know that it'd only be the 2 years, not 3 or 4.
LoriRNCM, ADN, ASN, RN
1 Article; 1,265 Posts
Those courses should be easy for you though, w/ your background.
Well, I got bad news. They didn't accept any of my health sciences stuff. The only thing they took was my psychology. So that means I have to retake spanish, child development, micro, chemistry, sociology or something. Ugh. This sucks.
ChristineN, BSN, RN
3,465 Posts
Well I got bad news. They didn't accept any of my health sciences stuff. The only thing they took was my psychology. So that means I have to retake spanish, child development, micro, chemistry, sociology or something. Ugh. This sucks.[/quote']Talk to other schools. Have you looked into an accelerated BSN program?
Talk to other schools. Have you looked into an accelerated BSN program?
No I haven't, I don't even know where to begin with that.
7237dallas
295 Posts
I feel your pain and you are not the only one going through this! I just finished my "last" pre-req, or so I thought. I went to put my nursing app in and they added SIX more classes!! So now I have another year before I can even put in my app and its a 2 year wait once your on the list, so I'm looking at 3 years too:( Sucks bc I was SO close! Some of the classes I was going to take while on the wait list but now I might get all the co-req's done and still have free semesters where I guess I'll take classes I can use to transfer for my BSN bc mine is only an ADN. Then I just called again today to see about testing out of the math class they added and she said they are meeting AGAIN to make more changes to the pre-req's! WTH, they just changed them. I asked if they were adding even more pre-req's and she said she didn't think adding but changing so who the heck knows.
stewartfamily2010
159 Posts
I'm with ChristineN, talk to other schools before you commit to this school....and possibly waste even more time.
So I keep getting mixed information on what the actual pre reqs are. Because since it's a Texas school, there are the Texas core classes.
Prerequisite Courses : St. David's School of Nursing: Texas State University : Texas State University
It says the bolded items are the pre reqs, and required for "Second degreed" people. So I thought cool, I have an associtates of health sciences so I don't have to take spanish or any of those texas core classes except for history... Well now the lady just said by "second degreed" they mean bachelors! But I don't know. I'm asking her if she meant to say associates.
HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD
9,051 Posts
Sorry - those accelerated (second degree) programs are pretty much limited to bachelor's & master's degrees - at least in Texas. Check with some other schools for sure to see if they will accept more of your pre-requisites. Were your courses taken under the E-Army-U program? I have come across other vets who feel as they were 'hornswoggled' also... though that the courses were fully transferable & found out that they weren't. Also, have you looked into CLEPing anything? I CLEPed all English courses, Sociology, Psych Intro & a couple of other electives. It's certainly possible and a real time saver. But NOBODY ESCAPES TEXAS HISTORY in any TX university - for any degree.... LOL.
I know that it may be a real let-down for you right now, but taking the generic BSN route will probably result in a much better/stronger outcome for you. Obtaining a very solid understanding of your basic sciences will really pay off when you hit those clinical classes.
Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN
20,908 Posts
So I keep getting mixed information on what the actual pre reqs are. Because since it's a Texas school, there are the Texas core classes. Prerequisite Courses : St. David's School of Nursing: Texas State University : Texas State UniversityIt says the bolded items are the pre reqs, and required for "Second degreed" people. So I thought cool, I have an associtates of health sciences so I don't have to take spanish or any of those texas core classes except for history... Well now the lady just said by "second degreed" they mean bachelors! But I don't know. I'm asking her if she meant to say associates.
Ok....second degree programs are limited to those with a previous bachelors degrees.
There are 3 entry levels in nursing.(excluding LPN to RN)
Diploma.....typically hospital based with college course taken (A%P, pharmacology etc).
Associated degree......typically 2 years excluding "prerequisites" so in total 3 years....usually.
Bachelor of science....BSN.....the preferred degree in most areas of the country for 4 years ....sometimes greater due to prerequisites that are required.
Every program has different requirements....each is individualized to the school...they will vary place to place and very seldom will ANY of your previous courses be accepted at this level of education for they want the financial gain of you having to re take them at their facility...I mean they want to be sure your level of education is in harmony with their expectations.
I hope this helps:)
I've found that to be true after doing some researching of the accelrated BSN programs. It also isn't condusive to maybe needing to hold a job while going to school, taking care of 2 small babies and running a household! So I'm comfortable saying that the accelerated program isn't for me. I am looking into this school... The University of Texas Health Science Center - School of Nursing Texas State said that this school may or may not accept my Microbiology and my Chemistry classes. So I'm waiting on an e-mail once again! I also found out that I don't need to retake much, like I said I had to redo spanish. That's not true, it all counted towards the Texas Core Requirements so it's not a completely bad deal. Also kind of glad that they didn't accept other credits because now I can change my C's to A's. I am unsure of my GPA. I know my GPA for my army school was 3.08 and my core classes at KCKCC are a solid 3.0. So it's only up from here! (hopefully!)
Herrington
173 Posts
Hey! Thought I'd pitch in a few words of encouragement/empathy as my first post, seeing as I'm in a relatively similar situation to you.
I recently had my 2nd liver transplant to re-treat PSC at the UT Health Science Center/University Hostpital this past March, as well as a total proctocolectomy with an ileostomy last October. The stuff I went through over the years made me want to alter my career path to Nursing from Computer Information Systems (got a B.S. in it 2 years ago, 24 yrs. old right now), and I'm looking into the UT Health Science Center here in San Antonio as well! It's going to be a rather long journey to get to that point, however.
I'm heading out to the San Antonio College tomorrow to hand them some of my transcripts to see what credits can transfer, but I have a feeling that very few, if any at all will transfer towards the pre-requisites (went to DeVry for my first B.S., and found out near the end of my degree that going there wasn't the best idea in the world). So it's very possible that I'll be going from 27 hours I have of the 60 pre-requisite hours needed down to maybe 9, almost hard resetting my entire academic career. It'll be at least 2 years, I imagine, until I can apply for Nursing School, but I'm determined to do so and become a nurse (in the transplant area, preferably).
I don't have a family or anything, but I can completely understand where you're coming from about the lack of pre-requisite courses. And like you said, maybe it's not so bad because now you/I can use this chance to get the GPA up again as high as possible.
Hope this helps somehow, and best of luck to you! :)