NYU or Stony Brook Accelerated Nursing?

PacoUSA, BSN, RN · Aug 14, 2014

You say you live on Long Island ... but it would take you 2 hours to commute to Stony Brook? How is that possible? I assume you're talking public transportation, because nothing on Long Island is 2 hours from Stony Brook by car, probably not even Montauk and I assume you're not from there if you are considering commuting to NYU.

Anyway, my take is attend the cheaper accelerated BSN and then pursue your MSN at a more prestigious school. But before that, you should consider WHERE you would ideally like to work after graduation. If you think you would want to work in NYC, I say NYU only because your clinicals will be in NYC and you have a better chance of getting a job because of those contacts. That is not to say that you wont get a job in NYC with a Stony Brook degree, because several of my classmates did (oh, did I forget to mention I went there lol). They did however have to do more groundwork and networking on their own but they were successful. NY Pres, Lenox Hill, Mount Sinai, Beth Israel to name some I know. Stony Brook is highly regarded on the Island and in NYC, so no worries there, as is NYU. Most Stony Brook grads get jobs at most Long Island hospitals with relative ease (Stony Brook and North Shore-LIJ mostly) and again that is because of their strong presence at clinicals on Long Island.

Where you do clinicals often matters. These places like to hire people they know and have observed at work. That is how I got my job. So keep that in mind.

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estrellaCR, BSN, RN · Aug 14, 2014

I would advise go with Stony Brook. Their ABSN has a good reputation and their program admits a reasonable amount of students. NYU admits way too many per semester (almost 300!) and they do not have a preceptorship component due to this...too many students and not enough clinic sites. I know this because I had Nyu students doing clinicals at my workplace and they told me. You can try Hunter college or Lehman they are both CUNYs, quite affordable and their ABSN programs have a good reputation.

Fyi where u do clinicals does Not matter. Hospitals are not new grad friendly so they do not care if u did your clinical with them. I haven't heard anyone getting hired bc they had a clinical at a hospital bc hundreds of students have clinicals at one hospital and managers are not interested in students at clinicals howver they do have an eye on externship students as they are already preselected by application. What matters though is if u do an externship with them. ....this is different from a clinical in that u have to apply for it and it takes place in the summer. So try to get an externship...if go to school in stony brook u can try for an externship in long isl or in NYC. Many times student get offers from hospital where they did their externship at...bc here u are one of few as opposed to one of hundreds.

Ps. I went to Hunter and the ABSN program was challenging but we had good clinicals including a preceptorship In last semester in which we were assigned to a hospital nurse and worked 1:1 with him or her...and we got to do a lot more than in regular clinical. our program was only 25 students for ABSN and even the regular BSN only has 80 students so it's easier to place us with good clinical practice.

foodie3921 · Aug 14, 2014

I live in western part of long island...closer to Queens/Bayside. If I take the LIRR, it takes me about an hour to get to Penn Station. Then I would have to take the subway from 34th to NYU campus, which takes about 10 to 15 minutes.

Ideally, I would want to work as a nurse in NYC as well! I'm still torn between NYU and Stony Brook....but I'll have to wait and see what happens.

Thank you for your input! :cat:

foodie3921 · Aug 14, 2014

Does anyone know how long NYU's BS/MS dual program is and how much tuition would be? I know the 15-month accelerated program would cost about ~90K....but what if you extend your stay at NYU for the MS degree?

estrellaCR, BSN, RN · Aug 14, 2014

Keep in mind that going to NYU you will be in debt and just because its a big private university does not mean it is the best program. Like I said you will be in huge classes (they admit a lot of students for tuition) and of course, the expense. I would think their website will say how much it costs for BS/MS. Theres also no financial aid except loans for students who have a bachelors in something else. I went to a CUNY, and so paid for my BSN program out of pocket as I did not want to take a loan and i was also working and with CUNY, the tuition was a lot lower ($2,500 a semester).

What helps in getting a job fast is externship experience or having worked as PCA/CNA and being persistent in applying. Like I said if you do an externship you have a big chance of being hired anywhere regardless of what school to attend as the externship is hands on experience that you wont get in regular clinical unless its a preceptorship. Also, having a master's does not help if you have no experience. Many have been complaining about having a masters and still no job bc they have no experience. Its all about hands on work...which also goes is you are CNA at a hospital while in school then once u get RN license they can easily promote you to RN.

Two options for you that are affordable and reputable (highly regarded by hiring and nurse managers) are : SUNY Downstate in Brooklyn and Hunter College. Both are state or city universities, closer to you, and have Master's programs. For SUNY Downstate (close to Winthrop St 2 and 5 trains) you take LIRR to Atlantic Barclays then a 10minute subway ride to school. Hunter (25th st and 1st ave) take LIRR to 34th st and then a 10min bus ride to school. I left out Lehman College just b/c its in the Bronx and it may be far for you.

Another BS/MS program is NYC is Columbia but that is just as expensive as NYU. So i would not advise it price wise. I would say if you want affordable, go with the two i mentioned above.

PacoUSA, BSN, RN · Aug 15, 2014

Considering you will be commuting by LIRR, Stony Brook indeed will not be a viable option. The train schedule is very sporadic and does not coincide well with the program's demand. Case in point: no trains arrive on campus between @ 330am and 730am. That's already problematic for someone who needs to be at clinical by 7am. And there is also the issue of clinicals at other sites on Long Island. Suffolk County is not public transportation friendly.

estrellaCR has provided some good options however in light of your situation. You're better off considering those schools closer to you. Doesn't matter if you attend Downstate or Hunter or Columbia. Just do well in school and network and pass NCLEX and you will have just as good a stab at jobs as anyone else. Nursing is not like law, where unfortunately it DOES matter where you go to law school (just browse the profiles of the partners and associates of any top NYC law firm. I sincerely doubt you will find anyone that attended CUNY Law School). But I digress ...

I did forget that NYU does graduate so many students in their class, but I had no idea that they don't provide a final precepted course (my school calls it a capstone). That's a disservice, a capstone or practicum is important, so definitely make sure your prospective program offers one. BTW, I should correct myself, I was hired on as a result of my capstone participation, but it was also an extension of my med-surg clinical (the school has a program where your clinical and capstone are all with your own preceptor and not in a traditional group). So I simply call it clinical for convenience. Only done for fundamentals and med-surg -- all other clinicals are traditional.

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kmichellex · Nov 20, 2014

this was helpful. im finding my self stuck between these two schools. nyu and stony are about the same distance from me, but stony is a few mins further. stony brook is also a looot cheaper but nyu is in a great area for learning and clinical.

estrellaCR, BSN, RN · Nov 20, 2014

You can also try traditional BSN programs, they will admit you as a student even if you have a BA. The only difference is you will graduate a semester later than Accelerated. Stony Brook is excellent from what I heard. NYU clinicals from what students doing clinicals at my workplace...are often in simulation lab due to large volume of students that most hospitals cannot accomodate. I would advise you to try the cheaper schools b/c just b/c they are less costly does not mean the experience is any less, in fact smaller classes make it easier to learn and of course, you are guaranteed spot in clinicals in hospitals and facilities through out the city/NYC area. You can apply to both ABSN and regular BSN (admission is easier), I did that when I applied to the CUNYs and SUNYs. I got accepted to all (fyi first BA GPA was 3.2 and pre-req GPA 3.5...so no 3.9/4.0 needed!) and ended up doing ABSN but having traditional BSN as a backup incase not accepted to ABSN is a great idea!

MissJessRN · Nov 21, 2014

I have heard only good things about Stony Brook. However NYU seems overrated...very expensive, students are not guaranteed clinicals, and they admit way too many students (so not helpful to graduate massive numbers of new RNs during this lack of a nursing shortage). Fyi where you do your clinicals does not matter...my first and current hospital job is at a hospital in a total different borough than where I did clinicals. Also as a floor RN, I notice nurse managers totally uninterested in recruiting nursing students that do their clinicals on our floor.

soydelmonte · Oct 12, 2017

It's been three years, where did you end up going?

Jayba · Dec 2, 2017

I was wondering too!