Pre-Licensure -Application Process Questions

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Hello Everyone!

A little bit of background before a few questions. I'm 35, married to a disabled vet and we have 4 kids. In the past 2 years I've had to become the breadwinner after being a SAHM. I did 5 years of college before the kids in a medical field and currently work in research and data in a neonatal intensive care unit. I started college at 17 and was in an intense sports medicine internship and let some of my grades get pretty low. I appreciate the WGU realizes that D in Greek Mythology when I was 17 does not mean I cannot be a nurse. I have a pretty cool job that allows me to spend some time on the unit (yes, I see the patients at the bedside so I am exposed to the "gore") but mostly data abstraction in my office. I am currently on full scholarship from my hospital to finish a degree in health information management (HIM) with a certificate in coding. I was selected out of 200 applicants for this so I am a serious student despite very demanding life circumstances. My main areas of interest in data collection are hypoxic events in the neonatal period and hypothermia therapy. I use anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, pathophysiology in my work every day. I also hold certificates in electronic health record management, redesign and workflow analysis.

I have contacted WGU and either I am in a brain fog from lack of sleep or the entrance guidelines are not terribly clear. I have a fantastic advisor but it does seem that the entrance requirements are set in stone unless they decide they are not. I would like to retake physiology for a higher grade as I was 19 when I took it and didn't focus so I only had a C but it is not clear if this helps. I will need biochem and micro as well but was told that biochem is a prerequisite but I can apply without having taken it just yet but micro is a must. The printed literature does not reflect this. Straighterline was suggested to me for biochem and math but I am concerned about Straighterline's academics.

Despite not yet meeting the criteria my advisor has told me to go ahead and apply to get my name on the radar of the admission board. I really do not want to waste the time of the people I will be asking for letters of recommendation or my own money on renewing my CPR certification if it is very premature to apply. I was planning to spend next school year (2012-2013) taking the remaining prereqs and then apply but my advisor is encouraging me to do it now. Of course the idea of starting sooner is pretty dang appealing too. I am in a very competitive program at the moment that I complete in August and have to be sensible about how I use my time so spending a day writting an admission essay is probably not wise unless this could actually happen sooner rather than later.

When you applied, did you have everything in order prior to doing so or did you apply early as I have been advised to? How is your cohort scheduling going? Are you finding it terribly difficult to manage your school demands with work and family? I have selected WGU because of the fact the keep working adults' schedules in mind and I need that, although I am aware of the clinical requirements. Have any of you had any negative experiences with WGU nursing application process that might be helpful? Do you see any concerns with applying prior to having met the requirements? That really feels like a waste of time, but if the advisor is right and it would be helpful then I'll do it. I am just hestiant to start the application process when I am lacking several required classes. I'd like to just have faith in my advisor and do it, but my time is so very limited right now and I do not want to waste it (as I write a 5000 word post...lol).

To sum that long-winded mess up, I'd really like to hear your thoughts on starting the application process prior to meeting the reqruiments. I was advised to go ahead and send in my essay, letters of recommendation, resume, and paper work to show work certificates, etc.

Thanks a bunch for any advice you may have!

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My adviser had me apply and I just added things as I got them in. The nursing director did not actually review them until after all my prereqs were complete. They want you to apply early and get your transcripts evaluated to make sure you are not taking things you don't need to or in need of classes you don't think you need. Science courses must be less than 5 years old, but apparently sometimes they will waive that and accept the classes. I had to retake A&P and micro. Biochemistry is not offered through straighterline, A&P is. Math courses are offered through straighterline. My guess would be that straighterline would be difficult to transfer to a college that is not one of their partner colleges, but really not sure on that. I used straighterline because it was inexpensive. If you pay for the subscription plan its $100 a month and $40 a class. If you finish the classes quickly then it's very inexpensive. I also CLEP'd courses that I could. You do not have to have ALL of the prereqs done. From what I understand if you have biochem done you can take nutrition & pharmacology with the program or if you have nutrition and pharmacology done you can take biochem with the program. You must have most of them done and my guess is if there are a lot of people applying that the students who have them all done would have first priority, but honestly that's just my thoughts nothing to base that on. So far WGU has been a very positive experience for me. I am just starting their program so we'll see how this actually goes, but I am very excited about it. I am a mom to 7 (6 still at home). No way I could finish a traditional program. The cost for child care would kill me, but being able to do a lot of this at home just opens up so many opportunities for me.

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Seven children and nursing school! Wow! You are amazing! Good for you! Seriously, that is fantastic. I know how much determination it takes and how much sacrifice from the whole family and that is wonderful that you're making it work.

Have you now been accepted into the pre-licensure program? That is my other point of confusion. The website says once you are in the pre-licensure program you have 90 days to apply to the cohort. So what do you do during the pre-licensure if your pre-reqs are alread met? I don't understand what is going on during that 90 days or so. Is it like phases of acceptance and once you're accepted for the pre-licensure then you just need to apply for a cohort and you're not actually taking classes in between? Maybe I am in La-La Land that my gen ed will all transfer and I'd be doing that stuff during that time or maybe you can actually get in without every pre-req met. My advisor has told me you can but then their literature online and the brochure I was sent says everything must be met.

My advisor said that it is very likely my science classes will be accepted because they evaluate if you're using that knowledge on a continuing basis. I am guessing that if you're working in a role that uses it, for example, they're likely to accept it. I have no idea how likely that is to be the case for me, but we will see. I have all of my general education done other than math and I am confident that will transfer based on other students experiences I've read. I didn't have to take an English 101 in college because of my ACT scores and only have a 200-level English class and 400-level technical writing class. For science I have nutrition done and A&P but I had a B in Anatomy and a C- in physiology (young and dumb!) so I know I'll need to phys again. I'm fine with just repeating those through Straighterline for As but was advised to just wait until they review my transcripts. I'm really hoping my nutrition is okay because that was such a boring class. If they accept nutrition and anatomy then all I really have to do is math, biochem and phys through Straighterline and hope to hell they accept me taking micro through Weber State. I have had pharmaco before and am in an advanced pharmaco right now, but that isn't a prereq for sciences anyway.

For micro she told me to not take it until I apply for a review of the course and see if they will take it because a lot of students take it then find out it won't transfer. I am hoping Weber State's (the college I am already attending) micro will be accepted as I am already there and have financial aid and a scholarship anyway and they offer micro online with proctored tests locally. Fingers crossed.

Straighterline only makes me nervous because it is basically putting all of my eggs in the WGU basket; however, like you, I don't think I can make a traditional program work at this phase in our lives. My youngest is only 6 and my oldest only 13. School with work and kids is very very hard as it is and a traditional program would make it impossible.

Thanks for your reply! It is a pleasure to "talk" to another busy mama making it work!

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Okay, I haven't officially set up my plan so I'm not totally sure how all of this works. I have a meeting tomorrow to set my schedule. You will be taking intro to nursing the first class I believe and if you have any prereqs left you will take that. I think you will be taking the math calculations as well, but can confirm most of this tomorrow for you. You will also have a clinical boot camp the first month of school. These things will all need to be passed to officially be entered into the program. They do annoy me that you can't ever get a straight answer from them as to whether a school will transfer or not before you sign up for it. I will let you know what classes for sure that I will be taking when I get my schedule (which I think should be tomorrow).

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I was told by my first advisor that I could take Pharm and Statistics through Straighterline and have been all set to do that for a couple of months but I just found out yesterday from my new advisor (thank god) that the only science classes that WGU excepts from Straighterline is A&P. Needless to say I was very disappointed that I would be trying to enter the program without Pharm and Biochem!!! At least I will be able to take Statistics. Straighterline makes me nervous as well!

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I just found out yesterday from my new advisor (thank god) that the only science classes that WGU excepts from Straighterline is A&P. Needless to say I was very disappointed that I would be trying to enter the program without Pharm...QUOTE]

Really? I was all set to take Pharmology through them as well. Grr, I'm going to discuss this with my counselor when she calls me next month. I wasn't planning on signing up with Straighterline until the end of May anyway.

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I am currently applying to wgu for their nursing program. I took my pre-reqs at United States University (USU) I know it sounds like a hoax type school, but I did my research and they are WASC accredited! So I could care less what the name of the school is. I completed all of my pre-reqs in about a year. This school has two campuses one it San Diego and one in Cypress. I like the fact that people really don't know about this school because my class size for most of my science classes averaged 8 people. Classes are 8 weeks long too. Oh and the best part they are only $250 per unit which is way cheaper than other universities and with no wait time better than the community college. Back to wgu...my experience so far is great. My admission adviser lets me know exactly what classes I needed. I forgot to say when I was done with about more than half my pre-reqs I had wgu look at my transcripts and they all transferred over. So now I need to take my teas test and then apply in the beginning of next year. I am pretty confident I will get in.

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Specializes in Student :-).

lildiptalia, I had never heard of USU, sounds like it might be of interest to me, which program did you apply to there and did you use financial aid?

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I applied for the Bachelor of Health Science, but I knew I would just take my pre-reqs and then transfer. I don't qualify for financial aid so I took out loans, but they do offer financial aid. They also have scholarships. I wrote a one page letter and I get $150 off per class which is great seeing that each unit is $250. Like I said I did my research and found out it was WASC accredited. Turned out to be a great school. You are not treated as a number, but as a student. Good luck.

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Specializes in Student :-).

Thank you, I really love that it is WASC accredited. That is a huge deal, with that accreditation most places will accept the transfer credit. I need to get my pre-reqs done and I'm pretty close to the cypress location. I'm checking it out, thank you so much!

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Hello lildiptalia,

I just found your comment and I would love to get a little more information from you in regards to USU. I am trying to find a way to complete the prereqs for WGU whilst working a full time job so i was intrigued by your comment. I am not located in California but I noticed that they have an online option. Did you start from scratch to complete your prereqs? I am have college behind me but they are international classes so most will not transfer over. What classes did you have to take through USU? How long did it take? How intensive were the classes? Etc. I am sorry to bombard you but I think you may be the solution to my long standing issue on “how to complete nursing school” while supporting my family! YAY!!!

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Good lord I know its late response. lol. I haven't been on this site for a loooong time! any how to aswer your question USU was a great school. As with all schools you have some problems, but overall I don't have anything bad to say about them. Their online classes are very easy to navigate and the professors help you out if you need it. I looked at nursing schools I wanted to go to and based on their pre reqs I took those courses at USU. I did start all over with my pre reqs. It took me a year and 2 months to finish all of my pre reqs to get into a bachelors program for nursing. I took a heavy course load so I dedicated my life outside of my full time job to going to school. So basically I had no life for a year and 2 months. At the end of the day it was well worth it. I don't do well in a 16 week class. I will lose focus and end up dropping the class. So the 8 week class was just for me. Kept me in check. Again sorry for the late reply. If you have any questions just email me at [email protected].

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