crw1313

I was accepted as a transfer student into the spring 2015 semester. I will be entering into the second semester!

I agree with the above comment. Most schools will require HS transcripts, but if you complete all your pre reqs with B's or higher, your high school GPA most likely will not matter that much. Good luck!

I completely agree with this post. I made the mistake of attending Harcum- luckily only for the first semester of the nursing program. The Dean of the program explained they will most likely lose accreditation by April (due to NCLEX scores continuously being low). I dropped the second semester immediately after I heard the news, and was lucky enough to be able to transfer into the second semester at another college. I suggest anyone who plans to attend Harcum to rethink their decision, or at least proceed with caution. It is almost impossible to find a job after graduating from an unaccredited program, and even more difficult to transfer into an RN-BSN program. Good luck everyone!

Hello, I would suggest anyone looking into Harcum's nursing program to reconsider their decision. They are losing their accreditation and there are no guarantees they will get it back (it relies on previous years NCLEX scores). I completed the first semester and dropped the second semester immediately when I heard the news. I was lucky enough to be able to transfer into the second semester of another nursing program. Graduating from a program without accreditation looks terrible to prospective employers, and also prohibits you from transferring to most RN-BSN programs. If anyone has any questions you can email me at [email protected]

Congrats to you both!! I am waiting for a letter for the Spring 2015 semester. I am a transfer student from another program so I would be transitioning into the second semester. Have you taken the first semester at OCC or would you be starting from fundamentals?

That's awesome! Congrats! I love hearing success stories :)

Have you completed all the requirements on certified background yet? I completed everything, but I am still waiting for my fingerprint results to arrive in the mail. It's been over a month since I mailed them.

I appreciate your concern/warning, but for some of us, this is our only option in pursing a degree in nursing. The accreditation issue has been a huge concern of mine since the beginning- of course I do not want to waste my time and money and ultimately end up with nothing. I've emailed the director countless times in order to acquire some information regarding this issue. She was very confident in her explanations, took the time to send me very lengthy emails, and continuously reassured me that the issues have all been addressed. Do you happen to have inside information that these issues have not or will not be corrected before the upcoming site visit?

Did you complete CPR? I found a place in Cherry Hill that offers classes through American Heart Association. You can find location and times on the American Heart Associations website. I had the class last night- it was only me and one other person in the entire class. It was great! If you haven't gone yet, I definitely recommend this place. My name is Whitney BTW.

So the woman wrote back regarding fingerprints for students out of state. "I have clarified with Certified Background that you can get your prints done in either your state of residence or in PA. All of it will get sent to the DPW anyway, so please do what it most convenient. They did say that rolled prints are best, but we don't specify at this point." I looked online to see where the PA ones are located- all are VERY far, or have strange hours. I am just going to go to a local police station and have them done then mail them.

BTW, the woman in charge of certified background at the school emailed me back stating that she placed a call to figure out how we would need to have fingerprinting performed since we live out of state. She said she will contact me when she has more information. So I wouldn't pay the fee just yet. Once she contacts me, I will let you know what she says.

I am in group 6 as well. & yes, according to the instructions on that pa cogent website, if you are out of state, you have to get prints from your local police and mail them to the address listed. I go to the quest in voorhees on Friday so I will let you know if we need to pay.

It was incredibly long, but informative. Question for you unique2. Since you are from NJ, what are you doing about fingerprints? I went to sign up to do them and I was reading the instructions on the FBI website and they said if you are out of state you have to go to your local police station to have fingerprint cards done, then mail them. Have you done fingerrprints yet? Did you have to do them this way? I will be contacting the woman who is in charge of the certified background at Harcum to make sure

See everyone at the info session on March 27!

Sorry, I actually just saw this now. I also plan to do the Rowan online RN to BSN program

I have a littman as well. Definitely the best

I will be paying the deposit online tonight. & on Harcum's website, for CPR we need either Basic Life Support for Healthcare Providers with AED or Basic Life Support for the Professional Rescuer. I had the basic life support for the professional rescuer in the past (I let it expire) and I had it done at the red cross in Washington Township. I will probably have it done there again.

Yeah that is pretty far. I saw in another thread that you live in Cherry Hill. I live in Mullica Hill and work in Voorhees. Nice to see another Jersey person will be attending!

Yes. Unfortunately I don't have any other options. I need evenings, plus my science courses were taken about 7 years ago. Most schools expire after 5 years. What about you?

So, I called the board and the ACEN to ask questions about the warning and provisional status. The board of nursing said they have 2 years to improve their NCLEX scores. If they do not improve them in 2 years, they will close and not accept new students. The woman said it does not affect the enrolled students because they have to complete the program before the school will close. The ACEN said they were not in compliance after a site check in 2012. They have a site check in Fall 2014 and, if for some reason they failed to fix what they were warned about, they can lose accreditation. I emailed the woman in charge of the program at Harcum and she told me they are now in compliance with all regulations required by the ACEN.

Did you send in your deposit?

I am also very concerned. I haven't sent in my deposit yet- I was planning to call the state board of nursing before I made the commitment.

Sorry if this is long- just need a little advice. I applied to a nursing school roughly 6 months ago. Recently, they emailed me to inform me of their current accreditation status. Copied from the email, this is what they wrote to me, "Due to a recent decline in the NCLEX Pass Rate, the Nursing Program has been placed on provisional approval status in November, 2013, by the State Board of Nursing, and was placed on warning status by the ACEN Board of Commissions based on the program's onsite accreditation review in the Spring, 2012." At first, I was unsure what that even meant. I asked what it meant to the students, and if it was possible to lose accreditation while enrolled in the program. I did not receive a response until after I received an acceptance letter in the mail. The email I received stated, "Since the last ACEN site visit in February 2012, many changes in the program and personnel have been implemented. The Nursing Program is in compliance with all the required regulations for the State Board and The Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN). The Nursing Program was just recently placed on provisional status in November due to a decrease in State Board examination results. The level of difficulty of the licensure exam has just recently increased and the national passing average that all programs must maintain is 80%. All programs across the United States had a decline in their State Board results. We have anticipated an increase in our current scores & have current results of 100%. Due to the multiple strategies that have been implemented, we anticipate that our board scores will meet the national pass rate." Since I was accepted, I am concerned. I have one month to decide before I lose my spot. What additional questions do you recommend I ask? Should I contact the state board of nursing? What happens if a school loses accreditation while in the middle of the program? Unfortunately, this school is one of my only options if I intend to pursue nursing while working full time (evening, part time program).

Anyone else on here get accepted to Harcum College's evening nursing program? If so, anyone else concerned with the current accreditation status, site warning status, etc?

Anyone else on here get accepted to Harcum College's evening nursing program? If so, anyone else concerned with the current accreditation status, site warning status, etc?