Program drop-out rates

[adriennenicoll]

I would like to know what your BSN program (Linfield, Concordia, UP, OHSU and Walla Walla) drop-out rates are, if anyone out there knows any data regarding this.

The reason for my question is this: I'm in a nursing program in the Midwest right now and our family may be getting the opportunity to move back to Portland in 2006, which means I need to switch programs. My grades are great. The way I see it, I can choose to compete with all the other applicants to these schools on two levels:

1. Compete for entry at the prerequisite level by having all my prereq's done

OR

2. Compete for entry to a program by taking the place of someone who has dropped out because I already have taken nursing courses and their corresponding clinicals.

The information you give me will help me to figure out if this is a viable avenue for entry, albeit somewhat alternative to the normal avenues of entry to a program. Edcampbe, you usually have some good input - what do you say? I know I could query the specific programs myself, but I'm not sure most programs like to discuss their drop-out rates. I welcome your thoughts and suggestions - thanks in advance!

[edcampbe]

I know that at least one student has dropped out of my cohort (there are two cohorts of 50 students each in the University of Portland - School of Nursing for Fall entry) so far. I'm not sure how your nursing classes would cross over, but he are the classes I have taken so far, and the classes I will take next semester:

Fall 2005:

Introduction to Professional Nursing (Fundamentals) + lab

Communication in Nursing

Introduction to Community Health

Nursing Theory

Pharmacotherapeutics

Spring 2006:

Multicultural Nursing

Pathophysiology

Phsychiatric / Mental Health Nursing + clinical

Physiological Nursing + clinical

Here is the contact information for my nursing school:

School of Nursing

University of Portland

5000 N. Willamette Blvd.

Portland, OR 97203

Phone: [phone]

Toll-Free: [phone]

Fax: [phone]

Email: [email protected]

I'd recommend contacting them and seeing what would possibly work out. We have 2 entries every year (Fall and Spring semester). The program is 5 semesters (including 1 summer). Good luck, maybe I'll see you around.

- Evan

[adriennenicoll]

Thanks, Evan, for your reply (since I called you out personally within my first post!!!). Sorry its taken so long for me to post a reply - you know how school work gets in the way. I'm applying to Linfield, Concordia and UP and have already gotten letters of reference from my Dean of Nursing, my clinical instructor and my A&P professor sent to those schools. I love being in the nursing program where I'm at and have decided to continue on with next semester, which has a med-surg focus, as well as pathology and pharmacology. I'm going to let the chips fall where they may and hope someone accepts me and all the nursing classes I've experienced. I only need Nutrition anyway AND I'm a post-bacc student, which in some programs gives me a better position in my application. Too bad I can't take it this semester - its too much on top of Path, Pharm, Theory and Clinical when I have a family to be responsible to and a home to sell so we can move. When I get notification from the programs themselves, I'll post an update in the event someone else finds themselves in my very same shoes. :)

[smilin_gp]

Here's a very late reply, but out of my cohort at Linfield (now going into my last semester), we have only lost 2 due to program drops. Several have failed courses and have fallen behind, but stayed with the school. I'm actually not sure how large my starting group actually was, because Linfield starts several times a year and at Sophomore, Junior and post-bacc levels, and we end up merging with earlier starters. People seem satisfied, and dropping out seems to be rare. Hope that this helps!

[bowkerj]

Hi, I attend Linfield College and I think there are no more than 1 or 2 drops per class, usually related to family/medical issues. It's a great program!!!

J

[RNin2007]

I am at OHSU (junior) and we only lost one student, and that was the first week of class...so does that really count? lol

So far I love it....great program, great professors.

~J

[jwilson2]

Hey,

I'm in the Linfield second-degree accelerated program (which I love and highly recommend), and so far we've had 1 student fail a class and is falling back to the cohort behind us. No one has dropped out. However, I am fairly certain that for all of the BSN programs in Oregon, none of them accept students into a program/cohort that has already began-at least they don't for OHSU, UP, or Linfield. All students must apply as transfer students and even if you have taken some nursing courses, I believe you will still have to take most of them at the program you are accepted to. Of course, since you have taken some nursing courses already, and have recommendations from your professors, that will definately give you an edge to getting in, which is good because admission to the top three BSN programs in Oregon-OHSU, UP, and Linfield, is VERY competitive. FYI, since you are a post-bacc, you can probably get into a program similar to mine, which is only 18 months long, and will save you some time. Honestly, you'll probably graduate soonest if you just finish the program you're in right now. Good luck.

[adriennenicoll]

Thanks for everyone's replies...Its looking like we are not getting the opportunity to move back as soon as we had hoped, so I'm staying put and finishing my current BSN program. However, for anyone who's been following this thread, it seems that I've been pre-accepted to Concordia's program. They've invited me for ATI testing, which is something I already take part in through my current BSN program, so I consider it just a preliminary acceptance given the fact that I test well on that stuff. Still waiting to hear from Linfield, the other program I applied to. It would be nice to have a back-up plan if for some reason we do move on spur-of-the-moment. Either way, I'll probably be working along side some of you by 2008, because after I get that degree and pass the NCLEX, we are leaving Wisconsin. And thanks to smilingp, I now know that OHSU has a CRNA program, so that's extra reason to move. Thanks again for all your responses, everyone!