Oakland University Accelerated BSN fall 2011 Cohort

[MelBell2005]

Hi! I was wondering if anybody out there has interviewed for Oakland University's ABSN program for the FAll of 2011 cohort. I think it will be 3 to 4 weeks before we find out if we will get accepted or not. I wish everyone good luck and hopefully receive good news!

[kvisintine, BSN, RN]

Hey prettygirl5,

When I spoke to an advisor last year, she mentioned that you need to be careful, when applying for student loans... there is a max amount that you can borrow per year, and depending on what semester you enroll in, you may only be eligible for enough to only pay for part of your schooling... I cannot remember whether the critical enrollment semeseter was fall or winter.

For example, if student loans become available every fall for an assumed max amount of 12K,then you would not be eligible to apply for a second 12K loan until the following fall (hence only getting enough to pay for part of school if you started in the fall semester)... but if you were to start in the winter semester, then you would actually be enrolled throughout 2 loan periods, and be eligible for 24K. I know these numbers are not exact, and I am sorry, I can't remember which is the critical semester... but you definately want check with your financial aid advisor, if you are planning on using student loans to finance your degree!!!

[SASlong]

Hey prettygirl5,

I had the same concern/question about financial aid as I start in May. I contacted financial aid yesterday. Fall is the start of the financial aid year with a max of $12,000 for each year. So you would get $6K for fall and $6K for winter. Being that I am starting in May and did not take any classes this past fall or winter, I am still eligible for funds for this May. I don't know your start date, but you need to plan carefully if you are depending on loans to pay tuition.

[evansmom]

Hey guys,

Does anyone have a recommendation for a specific advisor? I need to make an appointment asap. Please PM me if you have a suggestion.

Thanks!

[mary28]

i cant private message yet because of the limited number of posts

[BJSgirl]

Does anyone know which accelerated program is better University of detroit mercy or Oakland university? I was accepted to both but I can't decide which one to go to... if I go to OU it will start 4 months later than u of d... is it worth the wait?

[ejcl68]

Hi, I can't comment on U of D's program but I am in Oakland's accelerated nursing right now. If you read many of my posts, you will see how much I love the program. I am not one to sugar coat anything and I will tell you that Oakland is awesome. Is there a few minor glitches, yes. The professors I have had so far are outstanding. The clinical rotations are second to none with great hospitals. I also know that the NCLEX pass rate is well above 90 %. The one thing I have heard about UofD is they have not had good NCLEX pass rates (in the 70's) for a number of years - not sure why but to me this is indicative of the students not being prepared. Also, I can't see spending 50 K on a nursing program when Oakland is well over half the price. Oakland also does all their courses at a hospital (old St. John Riverview) and the labs are awesome. To me, that's important. I would give Oakland a 9.5 out of 10 thus far and would highly recommend this program. It's very fast but very doable. Drop me a PM if you have any other questions. I wish you best of luck in your decision.

[BJSgirl]

Thank you that is helpful! two more questions if you dont mind... (im not sure how to pm sorry) What happens when your in the program and you fail 1 course? also what is a passing grade?

Thank you

[ejcl68]

If you fail a course, you cannot move on to the next semester with your cohort. But the nice thing about Oakland is you do not get kicked out - they just place into a another open semester and you retake the course. But if you fail two courses you are out . Also, there are validations and you can only fail one per course(there's two courses = clinical skills and fundamentals). A few people did fail but unless you do not prepare, get super nervous or break sterile field, you will pass. I found the validations to be nerve racking but not difficult to pass. You cannot pm until you have a certain number of posts(believe it's 12-15. Good luck!! I don't think you can wrong with either program but I am biased since I am in a great one right now.

Oh, I forgot = passing grade is 70 % or better on exams; fundamentals skills you need an 80 % or better on each of the validations. Clinical skills are pass / fail. If you pass, you get a 100 % in that portion.