RUSH university in Chicago?

dacryocystitis · Oct 20, 2006

Rush is an excellent school for both undergrad and grad school!! Most of the professors have doctorates (either PhD's, DNSc's, DNPs many of them are fellows of the american academy of nurses as well. Some of the prof's don't have doctorates, but they are working towards them.

I did not attend Rush but I did attend another BSN program in Chicago. Three of my professors actually left and went to Rush and seem to be happy there. One is a Adult nsg faculty, another is in Community and Mental Health and the other is in Maternal-Child Health.

If you are looking at other BSN programs in Chicago with presitigous academia, Loyola and UIC are also notorious.

Jolie, BSN · Oct 20, 2006

I did not attend Rush, but worked there, and observed students in clinicals on our unit. They seemed to be well-prepared, conducted themselves in a professional manner, and had excellent clinical instructors, most of whom held joint positions as staff nurses, and clinical instructors. They were called Practitioner/Teachers, and had to put in a certain number of hours working on the units where they suprvised students. This was an excellent arrangement that helped to foster trust and confidence among the staff, faculty and students.

It is a competitive and expensive program, but very high quality, in my opinion.

gfokkerRN · Oct 20, 2006

thanks guys, i appreciate the input...

Jilaweez, BSN, MSN, RN · Oct 20, 2006

I didn't attend Rush either, but I did research their program because I thought applying there. It is an excellent school and one of my first choices but it would have meant a commute. When I was younger I wouldn't have minded taking the train but now that I am older I am more fearful. I think you will be pleased if you do decide to attend there. Best of luck to you.

Kathyz · Oct 20, 2006

If you apply to Rush, make sure you are in the first "wave". They have three rolling admission dates, but be sure to be in the first!

Also, attend one of their Wednesday monthly meetings. Extremely informative. The TEAS is pretty easy. You do it there (free of charge) in their computer lab and get your results ASAP.

(I applied but unfortunately didn't get in. I waited until the third admission deadline.)

Great school. Awesome facilities! Good luck.

neuroillini · Dec 7, 2006

Hey fokker,

I will be starting the accelerated BSN program this Jan. (applied in the last 'wave' of applicants). I have been working at Rush as a Research Associate for the past four years. Each year, Rush is getting better and better. They have been awarded Magnet status for the second time (one of only 50 medical centers nationally). Some departments are better than others, but overall, the hospital is among the top in Illinois/Chicago. They just secured $300 million to reconstruct Rush...including more state-of-the-art OR's and ICU's, and more advanced bedside computers/technologies. This won't mean much to us as students (construction won't even begin until 2008) but if you plan on staying at Rush, it's worth noting. Since Rush is HUGE, you will see a great diversity of patients during clinicals (same as UIC).

About the University...it is a great graduate school and good undergrad (UIC's undergrad may be better). The teachers are well respected within the entire medical center and are well qualified in both clinical and academic areas. Many hold prestigious positions among nursing societies. Graduates come out of Rush well prepared. My wife graduated from Rush and basically was offered any position she interviewed for. They also have a 100% NCLEX pass rate. Financial Aid is sufficient (being married, already having a BS, I received a substantial amount of loans and grants). They also have a pretty big computer lab and an okay library.

Negatives: small and underfunded ER,

older buildings/facilities;

bad cafeteria food;

students have to wear awful clinical outfits (green polos with white see-thru scrubs and white shoes);

not really a university-type atmosphere like UIC (but that doesn't matter since you want the full hospital experience anyways);

and they are strict about pre-reqs (I majored in physiology and took a graduate level course in human anatomy using primate cadavers--yet I still had to take A&P1..but not A&P2 ??)

--hope this helps a bit

gfokkerRN · Dec 7, 2006

thanks! i am just starting pre reqs in january, so i am a little ways off from even applying. this forum is great for keeping a person pumped up when they start questioning themselves... thanks again.