Please help me decide where to go to school!!

[codi1226]

Hi Everyone!

To give you a little background about myself, I am 24 years old (turn 25 on Dec. 26th), recently married, and have a bachelor's degree in Education. I decided to go back to nursing school after searching for a job, subbing for two years and realizing Education isn't all I thought it would be. My mom is a nurse and I have always looked up to her, and am so excited to pursue this career...however, I am having a problem deciding which school to attend!! Here are my options. ANY input would be extremely helpful (my husband just tells me to pick a good program and go for it...not very much help, as much as I appreciate his total support in my going back to school).

DCCC Nursing Program (with Chester County Hospital)

-Associate Program

-Went to a meeting last night, and was told the fall 2008 program has been filled , so I will need to apply for fall 2009

-Affiliated with Chester County Hospital, which is a great hospital

-I've heard all good things about this program

-I've also heard getting a job as a new grad at this hospital is competitive

-Will need to take Anatomy and Physiology before the program starts (because I need to work and want to focus on just the nsg classes)

-Able to work part time during nursing school (being married and owning a house, we need all the $$ we can bring in right now)

-Finish the program in 2 years

Brandywine SON

-Diploma Program

-I really haven't heard anything about this hospital's nursing program

-The Hospital pays for school for new grads who sign a 2 year contract (this is a biggie for me)

-Need Anatomy, Physiology, and Chem before I start

-Would be able to start in fall 2008, but it would be tough

-Finish the program in 2 years

-Would probably be able to get a job out of nursing school right away

-Would probably not be my first pick of hospital in which to work

WCU Accelerated BSN

-Bachelor's program

-Went to a meeting last night, and was told that a lot of hospitals are trying to phase out diploma and ASN programs, and make the base hire a BSN...however, I know all RN's make the same pay

-I've heard it's a great program, but VERY intense

-Won't be able to work during school (we would be eating PB&J for dinner every night...haha)

-I've heard it's not as hands-on as the hospital-based programs

-Need Chem, Micro, Anatomy and Physiology as prereqs.

-Would be able to start May 2009

-Finish program in 16 months

-No guarantee of a job right out of nursing school

-No guarantee the hospital will help pay back school loans

I have been stressing about this for a good couple of months now. As I said, ANY advice would be a huge help!!! Thanks so much in advance. I am so thankful for this site and having a support group who knows what I am going through!

[Mommycakers]

Your welcome and good luck on your NET test.

[Arievilo]

I applied to the WCU program starting May 2008. I recently had my interview last week, and I have to say that I was very impressed with the program. It seemed organized, structured, and not too condensed (its a 17 month program). This was the only second degree program that they said it would be possilbe to work part time during it (Drexel, Jefferson, and Villanova don't encourage it at all). Also, it was one of the cheapest second degree BSN programs. (~$14000 in state for the program vs. $35000 for Drexel)

On the downside, they did give the impression that they were ONLY looking at people who finished their preqs and had their degree already (I just completed my first degree a week ago - with a 3.2 GPA). Also, when I was at the interview they noted that they were only accepting 20-24 people for the next cohort (they had over 200 applications!) Plus, the program is brand new, the first cohort of student will graduate December 2008 - so you don't know if the graduates get good job placement.

I felt very confident about my interview and hope to receive an acceptance letter within the next month. If not, I plan on attending Drexel's ACE program (I was accepted for Spring 2008) but I would prefer not to becasue of the high price and disorganization I've heard about their program.

I hoped this gave some decent information on WCU's 2nd Degree BSN program!