kdowns07

To be fair, just because you have 30 seconds more per question doesn't necessarily mean it's easier. You either know the answer or you don't. Having that additional 30 seconds isn't going to change that. The only situation this would make it easier is for those who ran out of time on the previous NCLEX. Unless you're one of those individuals, this time difference really isn't an "advantage". If you only got 75 questions and took 3 hours to answer them, you took way longer than the 1.5 minutes you should have per question. You just didn't run out of time because the exam cut you off at 75 and didn't make you continue through all the questions. The same applies here. I took 1 hour to answer 60 questions. That's a minute per question. My exam cut off at 60. I wouldn't say I was disadvantaged because I worked through faster than the alloted 1.5 minutes just as I wouldn't have said I was at an advantage by having 2 minutes per question. I don't know if I passed yet, but the extra time doesn't make the exam any easier unless anxiety over being timed affects your testing abilities to a point where you consistently do poorly on tests but then you can apply for an exemption and get more time to take the NCLEX anyways.

Oh and for direct entry master's programs, they also don't have to worry about it because even if they offer a combined accelerated RN with NP, you still will have to pass the NCLEX and become a licensed nurse before you can become an NP. You'll either succeed or you won't but I can guarantee you won't be moving on to the NP portion without proving your competency in some way so it's still irrelevant.

I know this is an old post, but this reply seriously annoys me. When premed students have to earn a nursing degree and pass the NCLEX in order to continue onto graduate school (med school) then we can talk. Premed students have a basic understanding of math and science, know very little about pharmacology (if anything at all), and some aren't even required to take anatomy and physiology for their prerequisites. When comparing NP school to med school requirements, the least you can do is research it. As someone who actually completed premed, prepared for the MCAT, and ultimately chose nursing for the direct patient care and love of the profession, I can tell you I learned more in nursing school than I ever did as just a premed student studying for the MCAT. You can't compare acceptance to Med school to NP school. Med school accepts anyone who takes a few classes, makes a good score on the MCAT, and has solid references. NP school doesn't need to have all that smoke and mirrors because they're only looking at an application pool of individuals that are already healthcare professionals, are doing mathmatical calculations where an error could kill someone, and are clearly dedicated to the field because they wouldn't be an RN who is applying to grad school otherwise. The GRE and added paperwork is pointless. You can't be a nurse without passing the NCLEX, passing a background check, passing a drug test, and maintaining good standing with the regulatory body. You can however at some universities get into med school without a bachelors degree even.

Thank you and I definitely will! I am very excited to begin classes. Thank you so much for making this post and replying. I was really torn between the two schools and your post helped me focus on what's important to me.

I did just want to add that Bellarmine does require 1 year of full time work experience, but they build that into their MSN program and let you earn it while in school. That would be well over the 1000 hours other programs require.

I ended up deciding on Bellarmine! Yay! LOL. I feel the same about MSN vs DNP and wanting to start working as an NP as soon as possible. It's been my goal from the start so this really makes sense. I, too, liked their preceptor placement. I have never lived in Kentucky so I have no idea how I would like it, but I see sooo many people posting about preceptor issues and I don't want to risk being in that boat and struggling. I've had good and bad experiences here in Charleston with reliable preceptors and the last thing I want is to feel stranded trying to navigate finding a new preceptor mid way through a semester to finish hours with. Overall, I'm really excited about it! I can't wait to start as crazy as that sounds LOL. I'm finishing up my BSN right now this May. I'm 30 so continuing to wait to get where I want to be just doesn't make sense. Life is too short and I waited long enough to start this path.

I was so hoping someone would post on here! I received my acceptance here little over a week ago and have been sooo torn between this program and MUSC's DNP program. I haven't heard much about Bellarmine, but speaking with the staff it seems like a good school with built in support. I just haven't known anyone who's also interested in this school and/or knows a lot about the MSN program! I'm leaning towards Bellarmine, for a big reason: they help with preceptor placement if you live in Kentucky (I currently don't but I'd be willing to move in my second year) and I like the timeline to becoming an NP. MUSC is great for the area (South Carolina), but is expensive (more than Bellarmine) and they only accepted me into their part time program even though I applied to their full time program so I won't graduate until Summer of 2024 and that's taking classes Fall, Spring, and Summer for all 4 years. My end goal is to be a DNP so it would save me on applying to another school for my DNP and I am in the area already (it's online so that doesn't really matter to MUSC). They offer no guarantee of preceptor placement. I haven't been able to really find out information on if they really do help their students with placement or if we're left to fend for ourselves. I haven't seen any complaints. I apologize for the long message, but I was wondering what made you decide on Bellarmine (if you don't mind sharing)? Looking for any help in making this decision since my instinct is Bellarmine, I'm just so hesitant because I haven't heard much about the school and can't really find anything online.