RN to BSN: So many choices, and just need some experiences!

chuckster, ADN, BSN, RN, EMT-B · Apr 2, 2012

Trying to finally get my BSN degree. I have all this motivation and no school to apply it to! I would love to hear of anyones experiences at different schools, online programs. I am in California so if you are here also that would be awesome!

I assume you are inquiring about RN-BSN on-line programs and if that is the case, location should not really be much of a factor. If you go to the "Colleges" section on this board, you will see that there are several separate sub-sections for a number of schools. There's quite a bit of good information on more than a few colleges and programs.

I narrowed my selection down to two prgrams, based on two factors: Accreditation and cost. I wanted both national and regional accreditation at the lowest possible tuition. I applied to two schools that met my criteria (there are probably a dozen other fully-accredited programs with reasonable tuition however) but wound up chosing the program at Ohio University because their evaluation process was much more equitable than was the case for the other school. The OU thread here on AN is very lengthy but it does give you a very good picture of the school, the admission/evaluation process and how students feel about things.

Good luck to you.

cuteinpinkNS, ASN, RN · Apr 4, 2012

I'm doing Walden University for RN - BSN. It is affordable and all online. Works with our type of schedule.

UVA Grad Nursing · Apr 9, 2012

One more thing to consider is if you want to pursue a graduate degree afterward, and what sort of degree. If you are thinking or pursuing an advanced practice program (CNM, CRNA, CNS, or NP), most of those programs are competitive and have more applications than spaces. They will ask for a letter of recommendation from a faculty member in your BSN program.

While the online programs are convenient to the student, you do not get to know your faculty members well over the course of a 6-week online class. The letters of recommendation I have seen from teachers in online classes are unfortunately less helpful to an admissions committee than letters from faculty who have worked with a student over the course of 1-2 semesters. This is a case where those in brick-and-mortar schools (with weekly classes, discussions/debates, and papers) may have an advantage over their counterparts in online programs.

I have seem many cases in my 20+ years in college admissions where a strong academic Letter of Rec makes the difference in admissions to a competitive program. Keep in mind that those who make the admissions decisions are nursing faculty, and they really do look at a letter of recommendation from another nursing faculty member.

If you are applying for a non-competitive MSN then this will not matter. This is not to say that graduates of online RN-BSNs cannot get into CRNA or NP programs --- they do. But it my experience, the academic letters of rec I see from online faculty are less specific and more generic in nature; this is too often a detrimental factor in the evaluation of graduate applications.