pexx84

pssst...For those who didn't get into UMass with a crazy low acceptance ratio. It's not you. It's just because everyone assumes UMass is cheap, so they draw the bulk of the 2nd degree candidates. Zillions apply. Consider the Curry College Accel program. Admission deadline is June 1. The tuition (last I checked) is similar to UMass. They are quite selective, but with less applicants, you have a better shot. When I graduated, my sense was that they wanted to increase the diversity of the program. We were a pretty white bunch. Simply, you have a better % shot at Curry than UMass. So this is a personal tip for you. Use it. Aren't you glad nobody reads messages near the end of a long thread?

You "passed" on a New Grad hospital position with formal training, for a whisper of a hope for Spaulding? Nastrovia/Na zdoróvye!

CGS Nursing Admin = Caritas Good Samaritan Nursing Department. I'd be interested if anyone else knows anything about this new New Grad program.

I graduated from an ABSN program last year. Males made up exactly 1/3 of our starting class.

One small correction: Curry College total costs for the entire ABSN program are pretty much the same as UMass. The last time I checked Curry was about $1500 more--$38K. Folks understandably assume UMass will be the cheapest which probably explains the crazy number of applications UMass receives. I can't compare the merits of the programs since I have only attended one of them (I had no complaints with Curry), but just wanted to clarify this point.

A few random thoughts, none of which directly answer your question: Be sure you research all the Accelerated and Direct Entry programs in the area. There are many. Get A's on all your prerequisites. Competition is intense. The UMass Boston Second Bachelors program had 700 applications for 40 seats. Other schools generally have about ten applications for every opening. Consider burnout in a 18 month vs 36 month program. Many find nursing school extremely challenging. Others find it not particularly challenging, but still workload intensive. But I've never heard anyone refer to it as fun. Counterintuitively, Direct Entry Masters programs seem easier to get into than the Accelerated Bachelors programs. My guess is that older students are less able to make a three year time commitment. Anecdotally, at least, New Grad Nurse Practitioner jobs seem easier to come by than BSN positions. However, it's impossible to project 4 or 5 years down the road. Research tuition. Some schools charge nearly twice as much as others for a similar 1 1/2 year Accelerated program. UMass seems to be the cheapest in the local area, but not by much. Good luck!

I know this is an old thread, but it touches upon the question that all NCLEX test-takers really want to know: when am I ready? I answered probably a couple of thousand practice questions split between the leading NCLEX study guides Saunders, Hogan (The Red Book), and Mosby. I was frustrated that I never seemed to consistently get above 60-70% in either the book or associated CD questions. I kept pushing back my NCLEX date, because I thought I should be doing better on the practice questions. Still, NCLEX shut down at 75 questions with a "pass." I wasn't comfortable with the answers I left on those 75 questions, but apparently I answered enough difficult questions correctly. At least in my experience, if you can average 70% or so on the big-name NCLEX practice books questions, you'll probably pass easily. YMMV

3 - You can play stupid when one of the women is trying to reel you into the drama zone, and be really, really convincing. 4 - You'll always be somewhat of a novelty. You'll be needed for things based on nothing other than your gender.

11/32 in our accelerated class in another Massachusetts program were male. Not sure about the sexuality thing--my assumption was that everyone was heterosexual. But I really don't spend much time wondering about these things. From what I've read on these boards over the years, there seems to be a significantly higher percentage of males in the accelerated programs. I'm not totally sure what that is, other than accelerated students are older, and presumedly less concerned about the "stigma" of entering nursing? Dunno.

If you have a Bachelors Degree already, why wouldn't an accelerated program be right for you? 14 - 18 months after pre-reqs rather than possibly a 3 - 5 year slog to eventually get to the same place? Just sayin'....

Thanks. Sorry for giving out bad information.

By the way, unless I got bad 411, very few people seem to know about the UMass Lowell program. It's still not advertised on their website. It might be a good choice for those who are able to do a little bit of homework and want to beat the daunting 1/10 odds for accelerated programs in Boston.

When I was researching schools as well at acceptance rates, the Boston area schools were generally accepting 1 out of every 10 applications. UMass Boston this year was crazy--something like 1/40 (check out the thread). Anyone I talked to at Curry got pretty close to straight A's in their pre-reqs. Besides the schools you mention, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Allied Health Sciences, UMass Boston and Lowell offer accelerated programs. UMass and Curry are the best deals--high $30K for the entire program. As I recall, MCPHS and MGH were close to $60K. Good luck!

Did mine in 16 months in an accelerated BSN program, plus the pre-requisites. Pre-reqs can be done in one year if you really stay on top of them. Pre-reqs were actually more stressful (and truth be told, difficult) than most nursing courses because there was always the pressure to get an "A" so you could make it into nursing school. In nursing school, I finally let myself relax and told myself that B's weren't all that bad. Good luck.

Sure, I hadn't completed all of my prerequisites when I applied. I suspect most applicants haven't. If you have a 4.0 average, you'll most certainly make the first cut! For what it's worth, Curry received over 300 applications this year.