EveryDayAGift

hi eagertosucceed, i am a current bat. i wanted to send some info your way, but also provide a review of suny binghamton's bat program about halfway through the program. there was a similar post in this thread by a different bat student from last year. we have had very different experiences and i didn't want their experience to be the only public review of the program. first, to answer your questions. gpa's are relatively high here. this is a sharp crowd of motivated students. it's hard to know where the cutoff was, but i'd guess most in the program were higher than a 3.3-3.5. it's also hard to know about extracurriculars, but the more you can distinguish yourself from the crowd, the better. at least 5-10% of our class have master's degrees. it's widely recognized that there has been a large influx of people heading to nursing school. therefore schools have the luxury of taking the best. second, this program is no joke. the content isn't overwhelming, but the pacing is. we've had approximately 10% of our class drop down to the two-year program, i think in large part due to the intensity of things. i would strongly recommend that people think seriously when considering this program or any comparable accelerated program. it's an amazing option for the people that can give away a year to it, but it may be a hard year. if you're a self starter who is motivated, good with time management and has a good study ethic then this is likely a great option. i'd like to share my experience in the program so far. it differs significantly from jujubee's. i agree with them that the amount of information you'll have to learn on your own is significant. the school has developed a large video library of basic nursing skills. it's expected that you'll have a familiarity with every procedure prior to coming to lab. unlike jujubee, i'm glad there's relatively little time spent in the mannequin lab. while it's a good introduction to the field, the clinical rotations are where the real action is. better time be spent out in the hospitals. jujubee's experience of the lab was passive. our experience has been different. we were required to perform everything the instructors demonstrated and more. we had to get signed off on every skill (catheters, iv's, ng tubes, injections) before we could pass various classes. i do agree with jujubee that the lectures and powerpoints can get dry. and i will agree that at times we're tested on minutiae that at this point seems pretty distant from the career. with that said, most is done with the nclex in view. everyone is enrolled in a kaplan review course and forced to start working on nclex-like questions from the start. so i'm not convinced the program bears all the blame for questionable content; much of the curriculum is guided by forces that are out of the school's control. and don't get me wrong - there are a lot of enjoyable lectures and lecturers. i also agree with jujubee that one can purchase the textbooks selectively. probably about 25% will serve as a great reference once in the field; another 25% will help you with school. the other 50% are unnecessary - in part because most of the tested material is taught in lecture and in part because this program can get so busy that it is impossible to read everything. regarding clinicals, it's almost as if jujubee and i were at different schools. i am only about half way through the program and have now completed 5 clinical rotations. i have yet to get to the 'senior' year rotations which will start in january and involve a lot more autonomy. like jujubee, i've had to do my share of nurse's aide-like activities - but then again, nurses do them too. unlike jujubee's stated experience, i've given more injections than i can count. i've given oral meds every shift. i've removed catheters and iv's. i've tested blood glucose and given insulin. i've started a saline lock. i've transfused blood. i've hung iv meds and set pumps. i've changed dressings. i've given an ng tube feeding. i've seen two picc lines placed. i've seen two live births. i've done a maternal admit. i've witnessed a circumcision. i've held countless little babies just one day old. one of them weighed less than 5 pounds. every shift i perform head to toe assessments on my patients and document them. on more than one occasion i've discovered clinically significant changes in my patients that warranted further investigation. i mention all of this to point out the many activities i've already done (just 5 months into this program!!!!) that fall outside the scope of an aide. regarding clinical instructors, i have worked with five amazing people who have each stretched me in different ways. rumor is there are a couple instructors that can be socially difficult, but this is a cross-section of life, right? i don't think this is a perfect program, but it is a good program. like any school experience, it is what you make of it. if you're assertive and display willingness to do anything, it's amazing what the shift nurses and instructors will let you do. if you show them you're not afraid to do some dirty work, they'll often repay the favor by seeking you out for a atypical procedure or a new experience. i think my thoughts will be a bit more valuable once i've taken the nclex and spent some time in the field. so i'll try to remember to offer a final review in a year or so. feel free to ask any more questions. i wish you the best in your application and decision making process! and i hope this info helps.

@jujubee - thanks again for your honesty. Your recent post was chock full of great information. I too wonder if this is a common experience...and if nursing is a profession better caught than taught? Another recent thread on the disconnect between school and practice: https://allnurses.com/general-nursing-student/bs-529891.html I also wonder if accelerated programs only makes the problems you mention worse. I wonder if taking the two year route would be better for skills - even at Binghamton. What do you think? If you could redo things, would you go to a two year program? Thanks again for your thoughts.

Congrats on your acceptance, MotherWisdomDoula! Looking forward to meeting you as well.

@EveB - It came in the same packet. The sheet I'm talking about was generated by Decker, not Admissions, so you probably want to check with them first. Wecome, welcome! We're excited too!

@EveB - Congrats on your acceptance! I just checked my packet. My actual acceptance letter doesn't say anything about the BAT nor does it state Fall 2011. There is a secondary sheet from Decker that states both BAT and Summer 2011. I hope that helps.

Wow... What a depressing thread. As someone approaching nursing school, I hate to think that this is just a $20000+ hurdle. I'm convinced that in higher ed, most degrees are what you make them. Those of you who have posted - do you have any advice about how to make the most of the situation? Either getting the most out of classes or the most out of clinicals? Can nothing be redeemed? Thanks.

cas89, b419 & Rosewater71 - CONGRATS on getting in! Best to you in your decision making process!

@jujubee1 - Thanks for sharing your experience - certainly different from the school's recruiting info. :) It makes sense to me that a BSN program is more theoretical than applied - this is a criticism applied nearly across the board when discussing the virtues of ASN vs BSN. So the Community College comparison rings true. Two questions: Could you let me know where you've done your clinicals so I can either avoid them or at the very least know what to expect? Also have you or any of your classmates raised these questions with the administration of the program? What was the administration's response? Finally, I too would love to hear from other Binghamton BAT students or graduates! Does jujubee1's experience reflect yours? Was yours better? or worse? How has your transition into the workforce gone? Thanks!

@spiritedkidd - I wish you the best on your journey into the BAT! I would agree with Mahanabay that overall strength of application is important from what Binghamton told us. You'll need two letters...one academic and one either professional or personal. Since you'll need a professor make sure you make connections now - while you're still in school. Go to office hours...stand out if you can. I wouldn't worry too much about not having all of the pre-reqs done. I had quite a few to do when I applied. The website mentions that health care experience is desirable but not necessary. And I agree with your observation...from what Decker told me, most students don't come directly from undergrad. But doesn't mean that you can't! @Mahanabay - Did you actually do both the older supplemental application as well as the newer online version? The transition confused me as well but admissions ended up allowing me to go with the older supplemental form.

Hi Mahanabay - Congrats on getting in! I'm looking forward to connecting with you in May. You're right - it's not far away. With that said, I'm ready for the transition. Currently I live a few hours away - I'll be moving into the Binghamton area in April. I grew up in central NY...Syracuse is still home base for my family. I'm hoping to plant somewhat near campus to minimize the commute, but another part of me wants to move a bit more out into the country...I've lived in big cities for the past decade. I'm tired of the traffic and commercial sprawl. We'll see.

Hi Hong - I had the initial components of my application in by mid-September and the last few pieces were sent in by early October. I wish you the best and hope you get in!

Hi All - I got my acceptance letter last week as well! I'm pretty excited. Hong, I just checked my BUBrain site - even though I've been accepted, my status still reads 'not entered' as well. So I guess ignore that...

No prob! Based on your response, I don't want to totally dissuade you from Drexel. I'm pretty sure that the hospitals in Philly are higher profile than Binghamton, so if you're really looking to climb the career ladder it might be the best pick of the three. Also, like I said, University City is fairly insulated. Here's a crime map from a few years ago: http://inquirer.philly.com/graphics/homicide_map_2007/ You can see that Drexel and Penn have had no murders, but there's a ring right around the campuses that's pretty rough. But I'm figuring since you're from LI and have probably spent some time in NYC, you know that if you keep to yourself you're usually ok. A lot of the Philly violent crimes are drug, gang or domestic related...pretty rare that it's random violence. So you could stay safe... As far as weather goes, Philly is a lot sunnier and a lot less snowy than Bing. I get the whole winter-blues thing...even the summers in upstate NY can be pretty cloudy. I've heard about the budget cuts - I'd assume that all of SUNY, including SB, was affected? Maybe not, but I recently worked in higher ed and the recession seems to be impacting most everyone. I worked for a private university and my last year there all salaries and hiring were frozen. It wouldn't shock me if most schools are hurting. Check out the tuition hike at Drexel in a single semester...might just be normal, but might be a sign of our less-than-rosy financial times: http://www.drexel.edu/undergrad/financing/break-down/hs-tuition/ If I were in your shoes, I'd check out hospital rankings. Pehaps the clinical opportunities in Philly are significantly better and warrant the additional $25,000 of Drexel over in-state SUNY? If you gather any info, please let us know what you find out! Once again, just my $.02. I wish you the best!

Hey All! Another 2011 SUNY Binghamton BAT applicant here as well. From everything I've read, it appears that they'll be making decisions from now until February, with the majority of invitations sent out in Jan/Feb. If you read the older threads on the forum, it looks like they used to make their decisions earlier. I'm looking forward to the program. It appears to be a lot of work, but from what others have said it isn't so much that it kills you. Best to everyone!

Hey cas89 - I considered all three programs and in the end Binghamton is the most appealing to me. My reasons... I've lived in both Philly and NY. I've spent time near the Drexel campus and you couldn't pay me enough money to live there or anywhere near it. I know many people that love Philly, but I don't. The traffic is horrible and the public transit pales in comparison to other big cities. Even though the campus is somewhat insulated, there are areas close to the Drexel campus that have *very* high murder rates. The energy of the city isn't really happy - the cultural tension is palpable. Some bad things happened there only a generation ago that are still a part of the collective memory. As someone else mentioned, Drexel will set you back a lot more than the other two. IMO, the only big plus that it has going for it over Bing and SB is sunny days and temperate winters. The other plus is that Philly is more of a cultural center - there's some great galleries and concert halls practically on the campus (although I wonder how much extra time we'll have in programs this condensed...). When I compared SB and Bing, they appeared practically equal in terms of quality of program. I ended up ruling out SB due to a few personal reasons and also the fact that I don't really want to live downstate. If you check out the nursing forums, it appears virtually impossible to get a job as a new grad downstate. The city is shut down. That isn't the case upstate. I visited Binghamton - the staff/faculty are friendly and the facility looked like it had received some good money in the recent past. The only obvious downside of Binghamton is the weather, but that isn't their fault. :) Just my opinion. I wish you the best in your decision making process!