Saint Luke's vs. KUMC (KU's Medical Center) BSN Programs

[messi1]

Hello! I was recently accepted to Saint Luke's College of Health Sciences in Kansas City and will be finding out my admission status at KUMC in just a couple weeks. I have visited both schools and think both are wonderful programs, but I would like to hear about the experiences of other students. Any information you could provide me with regarding general experiences, clinical sites, environment, schedule, quality of preparation/how prepared you feel, professors, class size, amount of online material, etcetera.

Thank you so much for any information you can provide!

[KSRNBSN]

Hey so I answered your question on your other post, but I thought I'd add a few things.

Our class size and last year's class size was 104.

First semester's clinical sites are all at KU Hospital.

Second semester - you're either at Children's Mercy or KU Hospital

Third semester - Choose 2: critical care, OB/GYN, or psych (at Lansing Correctional Facility)

Fourth semester - capstone - here, you choose like your top 5 places/units, then based on your GPA and ATI test scores, you will get your top choice as long it has not already been filled

[messi1]

Firstly, I'd just like to thank you so much for taking the time to write both of your posts! I love that you mentioned you feel the student body is cared about! I am curious about a few additional things if you don't mind. How large are your individual classes/lectures (student to teacher ratio)? Do you feel that KU's nursing school program is primarily difficult because the material itself is difficult or because there is such a large quantity of it (or a mixture of both)? Did you prepare yourself in any way before entering the program (read textbooks beforehand, etc) or feel that it would have benefited you? How about the rooming situation - any good apartment complexes near the hospital, finding other nursing students to room with, etc? Did you have a favorite clinical site that you chose? The amount of online material/classwork? Do you feel that KU has done an excellent job preparing you for entry-level nursing and not just for "climbing the ladder"? Does the grading scale change in nursing school (80% still = B, 90% = A, etc)? Any merit-based scholarships available? For your capstone, is it largely research paper-based or real-world preceptor-based, or both? Are most of the books you need to purchase available online (read: slightly less costly)? Any specific advice you would give prior to or during nursing school? Also, last but not least, do you feel that your courses are 100% attainable given the study hours are put in? I am nervous about beginning nursing school but am trying to trust that if the proper time is put into it, that I too can succeed (I am initially nervous about what I've heard about pharmacology in particular). Again, thank you so much for any help you can give about these million questions! It is so nice hearing from a nursing student at KU.