Concordia University - Portland ABSN Program

briannawhite93 · Oct 12, 2017

I am applying as well. I don't know anyone personally that has gone, but I have a great friend who works at providence and said that the Concordia students are always really sharp. So, I'm assuming its a good program! Good luck!

Mermaid.RN · Dec 5, 2017

I've been wondering, too... I wish more people responded on here! While I would LOVE to go to OHSU's or Linfield's accelerated program, I like that CU has 3 different start dates per year, online options, and ability to start ASAP- which means working sooner. It IS expensive- but doesn't look too different from other accelerated programs. I could go the community college route, and then get the BSN from OHSU, but I'm looking at 3 years, versus being in the workforce in 16 months.

Have you applied?

rtvfy751 · Dec 6, 2017

Hey! So I live in portland and am in the process of applying to all the programs here. I've met some of the students who like the program and a few who got accepted. Be warned you will have to take some classes post acceptance and they will do a conditional interview after you get "accepted" according to the people I know who got in. You have a take a couple theology classes and their series of chemistry classes online, which seems annoying. Concordia seems to have a decent reputation from what I hear though. If you are not religious though its a strongly christian geared program with all of the values that go along with that.

Oh! I was told by the admissions team that if you do not have the GPA or grades you are automatically rejected. They do not look at the whole picture as a student.

Overall it seems worth applying to if you are just trying to get into a program. A lot of people here skip on it because it has a TON of hoops to jump through and its super christian. Price wise its (a little) cheaper than Linfield too.

Concordia19 · Sep 27, 2018

Unfortunately, I am in the third term of this program and frankly, it sucks. The program is held together by shoestrings. It is in a constant state of turmoil and chaos. There have been multiple high-level staff changes that have left huge breakdowns in communication and organization at every level. The staff have no idea what's going on and by extension the students. Just this term, my student calendar has been revised 4 times. Were 6 weeks into the semester and we still don't know when we have some of our test days, sims, labs, clinicals, etc. This has also been a consistent issue with the online content. Due dates, assignment instructions, syllabi, rubrics, etc. - it's all routinely incorrect or it just makes no sense. It has taken a group effort from all students in my cohort to figure out how the hell to do some of the homework or figure out what they actually want. Communication with teachers and faculty is also terrible a lot of the time. We email staff about a problem and we might get a response (if we're lucky) in a week. More often we get no responses. We've had multiple didactic teachers who have been plain ignorant of the material they've been teaching - they have straight up told us factually incorrect information before tests. I don't know where they find these "teachers", but this has happened over ALL THREE TERMS.

I've tried to look past all of this, the accelerated program is young and they're still building it. That is, until we got our clinical rotations this term. The rotations were supposed to be community health and pediatrics/OB. They couldn't find a Pediatric/OB rotation for 90% of the class so instead we are getting sent to a DAYCARE!?! At the daycare we are LITERALLY babysitting little kids. We're getting zero nursing experience. Similarly, the community health rotation basically amounts to volunteering in a low-income area. Again, no opportunities to practice nursing skills or interventions. So here I am, spending ~ $16,000 for experiences I could get for free. I mean, my cousin will pay me to babysit her toddlers... Worst yet, the dean and the administrator of the program has not even talked to us about this. They haven't apologized, or offered any form of recompense, or even a discount on tuition.

The best part about all this is the school is trying to double the cohort size. They want more students when they can't even handle what they have now. Stay away from this program, it is terrible.

Feel free to ask any questions.

Mermaid.RN · Sep 27, 2018

Oh my gosh, are you serious?! A DAYCARE??? That is INSANE. I wonder what they would reply if you commented about that on one of there many FB sponsored posts I see pop up all of the time. That is scary. It is also pretty surprising... when my Grandmother was in for surgery a few months ago at a local hospital, she was saying that Concordia students had good reputations. I wonder what the heck is going on??

Summer31 · Oct 5, 2018

@concordia19

Is it that bad? I read this post and my heart sank. I was accepted into their program and now I'm having second thoughts. Can you also speak to the online component of the school? Do you feel like you are learning just as well with their online courses? Any more insight would be very much appreciated. Thanks!

Mermaid.RN · Oct 7, 2018

@Summer31 when do you start? I am still considering applying there, because I want to start an accelerated program asap... and they have multiple start-dates. Have they said anything to you about their clinicals???

Concordia19 · Oct 10, 2018

No, it's not that bad. I had to vent because I was so frustrated with how this term has developed. Since my original post they have made a concerted effort to improve things, especially with our cohort. "Improve" means they have started listening to us and are now at least recognizing our frustrations/grievances. The staff (i.e. on-site clinical instructors/professors) are constantly asking us for feedback or are just there to listen to us *****. The head of the nursing program initiated an open-door policy and the Dean of nursing is now doing a brown bag lunch session to "listen".

Some positives - the lab instructors are amazing. They are friendly, really smart, actually know their ****, and are doing everything they can to improve the program and give us an amazing experience. They're working really hard on fleshing out our on-site experience. They have developed some good sims/labs. The school has also hired at least another 4. During my 2nd term there were only 2 and they were stretched realllllly thin. The program also really does want us to succeed. It's doing everything it can to right any perceived wrongs and fix things. My cohort probably won't really be seeing the benefits of this (hopefully yours will). Also, there are some good online didactic professors (I LOVE Professor Inguilli and so will you ).

An online program will never be able to replace the classroom experience, but you probably know this. The content is definitely there, it's just going to be on you to learn it. If you're a self-motivated, independent learner then you will have no problem. Still, there are issues with the online component. As I mentioned, things can be confusing and disorganized. I think homework can be too easy and you aren't really pushed enough. I think the teachers grade too easily. Sometimes I question if my papers are even being read. Also, I do not feel like the content is structured appropriately, but this is harder to explain.

Clinically, were still getting screwed - there have been no changes here. People would rather have no clinicals at all then have to go to the clinicals they've given us because they have zero value.

theoryofmice · May 17, 2019

Okay, so I'm not yet a student at CU, but I can give my two-cents on their application/admissions process. First, let me just say, I applied to many of the other popular nursing programs in Portland, Oregon (OCNE schools (CCC, PCC, MHCC), U of P, OHSU, to name a few). Ultimately, I got rejections from all of them because PCC messed up my transcripts - but that's another story. I called CU as a sort of 'last resort' to see if I could still start nursing school this year and not have to wait another ten months for applications to open up again.

I expected to be met with the same bored admissions counselors who are of no help and simply advise me to re-read the application guidelines (looking at you, CCC). Instead, my first phone call was a 3 hour long interview with a lovely admissions counselor named Jenny who took an unbelievable amount of time out of her day simply to get to know me. I had been warned that CU doesn't even look at your application until they've interviewed you twice - once on the phone, and afterwards in person. However, this 'interview' felt like gaining a new friend. Jenny asked me about my passions, my family, my dreams, my interest in nursing, and even shared stories of her childhood and her experience at Concordia. She made sure I was a good candidate before laying out the program, which I appreciate, because nobody has time to be flooded with information about a school that they won't even qualify for. Not once during any of our interactions did she push or offer a biased opinion about CU. I even confronted the issue of having clinicals at a daycare and she connected me with their clinicals opperator for Concordia, as well as several others from surrounding programs who confirmed that, actually, many schools set up their pediatric clinicals at daycares because competition for hospital pediatric wards are so tough. There is plenty to learn and they make sure wherever you go, everyone is given adequate training and experience.

For the next two weeks, Jenny called and emailed me numerous times to check in, encourage me, offer up helpful advice, and support me through the admissions process. She worked so hard to schedule me for an interview date only two weeks from our first phone call because she wanted to be able to meet me in person and hold my hand for the interviews/exams/tours. I took my KAPLAN exam yesterday and observed their labs, as well as met the rest of the oncoming cohort. The whole day was filled with jokes, laughter, and so many hugs. I have never felt this accepted and cared for by any other school. Concordia has my full support

theoryofmice · May 17, 2019

That being said, here are some things to know if you are considering applying to CU's ABSN program:

If you call the advising/admission office, be prepared for an interview. They make sure you are up to their standards before releasing any information to you. So take some time to compose yourself, outline your conversation to include: why nursing, experience in healthcare, grades and GPA, why Concordia, spirituality, experience with online learning, financial status, etc. They especially appreciate sincerity, self-motivation, leadership and communication skills.
Do some research beforehand about the ABSN program. Some key points to know:

CU is a christian college
program is 16 months
mostly online
CU's ABSN is the ONLY accelerated bachelor's program in Portland that does not require applicants to have a bachelor's degree beforehand
3 start dates: JAN, MAY, AUG
AAOT/bachelor's degree is preferred
must have current CNA license
KAPLAN is required for those w/out bachelor's degree
some additional classes are required (humanities, religion, etc.)

3. Keep up on communications. Treat every interaction with them as a continual interview.

4. Ask questions! If you are not comfortable with online learning then this might not be the program for you. It's an expensive program and not for the faint of heart.

Good luck! I'll keep you all updated after my in-person interview and (hopefully) go into my first semester come August!

Mermaid.RN · Jun 10, 2019

On 5/17/2019 at 3:40 PM, theoryofmice said:
Good luck! I'll keep you all updated after my in-person interview and (hopefully) go into my first semester come August!

Have you interviewed yet? If so, how did it go?