Online nursing program

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How is the application process?? Did everyone get in the first time they applied?

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Wanting to apply but I hear it's very hard and competitive getting in.

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I have never heard of anyone not getting in the program. They take a couple hundred every 5 weeks (at least my first class had about 200, maybe other start times have less). In all honesty, the program isn't that difficult. Assessment and research are hard and time consuming. Follow the rubric and you will be just fine. On a side note, I don't think the program was hard, but I was only taking one class at a time and I don't have kids. I did work full time during the entire program.

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ldawn79... Are you in the RN-BSN bridge program? I'm not sure if the OP was referring to that or maybe the standard BSN program...

Cw2001, if you are asking about the BSN program, or more specifically the AP BSN program, I would recommend contacting the school about the program, but I am graduation (Lord willing) this May from this program. It is extremely competitive and they only have 2 start dates per year for the AP BSN program with approx. 120 students each start. If I remember correctly (this last 13 months have been a total blur) there were something like 7-800 people who applied, but I could be totally wrong about that. I just know if you had the time/patience/will power to go back and read some of the thread here, you'd see that it is not easy to get in, but once again, that is if you are asking about the AP BSN program and not the RN-BSN bridge program.

Good luck,

Don

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Good point Don,

I did the RN-BSN.

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Hi,

I have applied to UTA in the hopes of getting admitted in the AP BSN Program (Spring 2015). I am in the process of gathering materials for my portfolio in the hopes of transferring a few nursing courses.

Could you please shed some light on your experiences within this program. How often and where are the clinicals located? What are the online courses like?

Also, are you employed at a partnership hospital and if so are you able to work full-time and attend the program?

I am in desperate need of answers. I've already asked the AP BSN advisor about the scheduling, but she just stated that it is not highly recommended that students work more than 20 hrs a week.

Also, you stated that the program is extremely competitive, but I don't hear of many students applying to or graduating from this program. lol I reside in the DFW metroplex and most of the students that I meet and even the techs that I work with attend other schools of nursing. If you could please shed some light on the program; I would greatly appreciate it. :wideyed:

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Hey glowbug.

Warning. This is long.

I'll try to provide some insight into my situation, and please take it as only my experience as I don't want to minimize what the school tries to impress upon all the students in this program regarding the no working aspect.

First, remember that the AP stands for Academic Partnership, not accelerated program. This is splitting hairs IMO, because you complete 2 years (4 semesters) in only 15 months and this is extremely intense. This program has been around for several years as I am in Cohort 8 (graduate May 2015).

You want to know about clinicals... well, the short answer is that you could be at any number of partner hospitals. I happen to be at Methodist Mansfield. Others are at Baylor, Longview, etc. Really depends. It does make a difference though if you work at a partner hospital and will improve your odds of being placed in the clinical locations, but I can't speak to that process... When you accept your placement into the program you complete a list of clinical locations in order of preference of where you'd like to be at. That list can, and does, change from one start date to the next. It's all a bit of voodoo to me with how the clinical coordinators (who are extremely awesome might I say) are able to work their magic to place so many individuals with so many different preferences. I got really lucky considering I don't work in healthcare now and certainly not at the partner hospital I was placed at.

My clinical days during Jr1, Jr2, and most of Sr1 were weekend (Sat/Sun) rotations. Each class may have varying number of weeks, but typically count on being in clinicals 11-13 times throughout the 14 week semester. I got lucky (for my situation) and not everyone gets the weekends. I'm sure some would prefer a weekday clinical day, but that didn't fit well for me. I'll explain in a minute.

Online courses... what can I say? They are online. Some classes are not bad being online (Older Adult populations) but others will increase your gray hair count (Nursing Research). Not everyone learns or can manage with online learning. It just isn't for everyone. I'm lucky that it has worked for me. Different strokes for different folks. I will tell you that I would've preferred to have the benefit of recorded lecturers for every class, but that's not the case. Traditional, in seat program does have that benefit of direct immediate interaction with the instructor if you have a question right then.

I mentioned earlier that I did not work in the partner hospital and how weekend clinicals worked in my situation. That's because I work a Monday thru Friday full time job. I also have an incredible support structure (my amazing wife) in my household with kids who are teenagers (more or less prefer for me not to hover over them anyways). Since I started this program in January 2013 and until winter break this past December, I worked Monday thru Friday, drove 2 hours up to my clinical site Saturday morning (I live south of Waco in Temple and would hit the road at 4am) and did my clinical rotation that weekend, and drove back home Sunday night after my shift. Wash, rinse, repeat. Almost every week. With the exception of a few weeks, this was my life. I did not have time for myself or my family like I would have wanted. I did not get the time I wanted to have to study. I did not sleep the amount I wanted. All these wants and I didn't get them... Luckily for me, these were wants and not needs. I have survived and at times thrived. If I could have had my way, I'd be independently rich and would not need to work to provide for my family. Not the case. The reason the College of Nursing (CON) does not recommend working while in this program or if you have to work no more than 20 hours per week is because they KNOW what works for most people given the challenges of an accelerated course load of such intensity. I don't recommend working, but I did it.

I can't speak to why you have or haven't heard of people graduating from UTA's AP-BSN Program. I know Cohort 8 started out with 120 people but it will graduate with less than that. I don't know how many less, but like in any program, you have people who discover the online method doesn't work for them so they try the traditional, or some decide to pursue other things, or any number of other reasons for attrition. No matter what the reason, most of us who do graduate from this program have a tremendous sense of pride because it is hard to get into, hard to complete, and hard to not be stressed the entire time.

There are a number of other schools of nursing. Some harder. Some easier. Some cheaper. Some more expensive (OMG West Coast University... $105,000? Seriously). For me, a BSN was what I wanted and this program has a very high NCLEX pass rate while also being online. It was the right program for me.

Once again, these are all of my experiences. I love the program (even though I can get frustrated with the classes or myself at times), I love the faculty (they are all seriously interested in your success), and I am extremely proud to say I attend the UTA CON AP-BSN program. I am not receiving scholarships or grants. I'm not a paid spokesman (haha). I have had to take out loans and pay out of pocket with no tuition reimbursement from my work because this doesn't help them, and I am not trying to sound like a cheerleader for UTA and if you ask any number of other students, they may tell you differently or express discontent with this program. I can only share my experiences and opinion. Take it for what it's worth; two cents.

Sorry for the mini-novel. Good luck,

Don

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Hello everyone,

I have been lurking here for quite some time, but this is my first post. Anyway, I applied to the AP program for the fall, and like Don I will have to work my regular job with the wife and kids at home so I'm not looking forward to that aspect. I am changing careers so this is my only option in my situation. My stats are a 3.51 overall GPA, 4.0 Science, and 96 HESI, I have a previous degree and took 3 of my 4 sciences at UTA so I should have 2 considerations...we'll see what happens. Good luck to everyone.

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Good luck Kp2000... I hope you're selected. If you get a notification of being waitlisted, don't lose hope. That majority of the people I've met in the program are waitlisted at first and then issued an acceptance letter. When I first received that waitlist notification, I was literally sick to my stomach, thinking I wasn't going to make it, thinking the worst. Not everyone who gets waitlisted gets accepted, but just don't lose hope if you do.

Don

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Thank you for providing me with some insight into this program. I have applied and I hope to begin Spring 2015.

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Dlwoodjr, I also applied for spring 2015,were there any students in your class from different cities like Houston? because they telling me there is only one partner hospital in Houston so they don't accept lot of students from there unless they want to move to Dallas area.

Also Do you know any students from your class that were accepted just for having high gpa without any considerations or being partner with hospital?

I think they weigh those considerations/partner more than gpa. Can u answer those 2 questions for me please. Thanks

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From my understanding, and during my cohort that graduated in May, there was only 1 Houston hospital at that time. I am not privy to whether it will remain this way or if the program grows to include more at a later time.

As far as people being accepted exclusively for having a high GPA, I don't know. I can only tell you that I had a 3.72 GPA when I applied, was not partnered, and the only consideration I had were the number of semester hours I took at UTA (prerequisites).

Don

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