jumpingbean

I met with a rep at Concorde about a week ago. They don't have a waitlist for the ADN program but it's very competitive and you have to score close to 70% on the NET test to even be considered since there are people scoring in the 90's. That program is 16 months and classes run from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. M-F, although that can vary. The LPN program is a little under 12 months and also runs M-F from 8-5. One thing I didn't like is that clinicals can be anywhere from Colorado Springs to Ft. Collins and sometimes they don't know until the last minute. Also, Concorde is expensive but then so are most of the nursing programs at private institutions. Hope this helps somebody. At this point, I wouldn't consider giong to Concorde because of the hours and the clinicals being literally all over the state. At least at some of the other schools the clinicals are only in Denver.

Hi Melina, I haven't decided to attend Platt, I just wanted to check out all the programs that don't have a waitlist and that was one of them. I think the "edge" that they're referring to is more the capstone at the end of the program where each student does an internship with a nurse in a hospital, rather than the clinicals/labs, which I'm sure are included in all nursing programs. I don't remember the specific length of the internship but that's why they said their students come out "work ready." As with everything, I take it with a grain of salt because, of course, they want people to enroll in THEIR program and fork out the 60K. It may or may not be worth it but I just wanted to pass the info. along to anyone else who'd been wondering about their program. :) I'm going to Concorde today and have a call in to DSON to find out more about their nursing programs as well.

The informational meeting was interesting. The cost is steep--about 60K, which I tend to think is excessive compared to some of the other programs I've looked into. There are a couple of advantages to Platt for me in that classes never start before 9:00 a.m. (clinicals are another story, of course) and the school is literally about a mile from my house. All the instructors have a master's in nursing, which I thought was impressive. The school is approved by the CO Board of Nursing. The BSN program is 32 months long and consists of 201 credit hours. You start your nursing classes right away and the general education classes and science pre-requisites are taken throughout the program. I was a little disappointed with the fact that I couldn't finish the program sooner, given that I already have a bachelor's degree and can have most of my gen-ed classes transfer to Platt. The president of the school said I would still finish in 32 months but that my workload would be lighter along the way. The clinicals are supposedly very intensive and they also have simulation labs at the school. You do clinicals throughout the program and you end with a capstone where you work one-on-one with a nurse in a hospital. They said that they are preparing nurses who are "work ready" and that the program far exceeds the state's minimum competency requirements. This gives students more of an edge when they apply for jobs and also gives them a feeling that they actually know what they're doing instead of learning as they go, although there will always be a learning curve no matter how well prepared you are, in my opinion. Nursing classes are from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. one day a week, clinicals/labs are one day a week, non-nursing classes are one day a week, and any overflow of classes might run an extra day per week but they said that isn't what usually happens. It sounds like 3 days a week would be the schedule most of the time, with an occasional 4 day week. They accept 15 students each new term with the next one starting in January. You have to take the TEAS test and have an interview with the president of the school, fill out the application, and have all your immunizations in process before you start. Federal funding is available as well as the alternative-type loans. I think that about covers it! If anyone has any questions, let me know, because I have an information packet but I haven't gone through all of it yet. I'm still weighing my options and am going to talk to Concorde on Wednesday.

Platt has an informational meeting every Monday at 4:00 p.m. I'm going to the one tonight and will report back for those who are interested. :)

Hi, I'm actually going to Concorde today to speak with a rep about their nursing programs. They told me a little bit on the phone. The RN program is 60 weeks and the hours are 8:00 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. M-F. The cost is 36K but it includes everything and there are no pre-reqs. I'm more interested in the LPN program right now because I would like to see my family once in a while as well as go to school. I can let you know what they say when I get back from my meeting. The wait lists for nursing schools here in Denver are ridiculous; some of the public schools have a 3-5 year wait just to get in! I will probably just get a loan and go to Concorde so I can get done sooner and get a job.

This is my first post on this site, I hope it works! I'm wondering how you all are doing at DSON? I visited the school and got an information packet but I'm still checking out my options. I have an M.A. in elementary ed. but would like to be a nurse. The waitlists for schools here in Denver are unbelievable and it seems like it's either "cheap/long wait" or "expensive/no wait." I really wish that DSON wasn't changing their program because I want to go to school to be an LPN first and then do my RN course work. I'm 31 years-old, married, and I have a six year-old son and I'm worried that the course load for the RN program would take too much time away from my family, especially since I need to work at least part-time.