Samuel Merritt ABSN worth it or not?

[yukitiki]

Hello all,

I have been bouncing back and forth on this question several times a day. As you know, there are many options here in the Bay Area for NS. SMC's 12months program is very attractive for it is short, but is it worth 50K? I'm having a hard time justifying the cost when you can get the same degree for much less elsewhere. Especially now that it is hard to find a job as a new grad, it scares me to death to think about ending up with 50K(tuition alone so prob. more) in debt and without a job.

On the other hand, it takes at least one extra year if I went to another school and there is no guarantee I'd get in. Any recent new grads, any advice? Please help!

[Rianna1]

Books: Don't buy from them school bookstore. I got a barnes and noble membership and saved $ that way. Plus shipping is free and books always came within 2 days. I also purchased thru ebay and amazon.com. You could also email the cohorts before if any of them are willing to sell their books.

You can wear whatever you want to class (theory). For clinicals, all white scrubs and shoes. Shoes they are not so strict about; they just have to be mostly white.

Grades: Some classes are harder than others. For me MCA, III was the most challenging.

[iluvmusak]

Rianna is right . . . the bookstore is a lot higher than buying from half.com, amazon, etc. I didn't buy all my books for the classes like Intro to Nursing and Nursing Research. The library has the current textbooks that you can check out for 2 hours, and if there is an older edition of the book you can check it out for 2 weeks. I bought a few older editions that were 95% the same, and that really saved a lot of $$. I bought my Med Surg book for less than $10, whereas the new book was somewhere around $100. If the book is on the not-required list, I generally do not buy it. I barely have enough time to read the required material.

Some of the classes are harder than others. I think that MCA III has been one of the harder classes too. I have an in-class final next week and my head is spinning. We just had the midterm 2 weeks ago, and now it's time for finals. There's so much info to learn. Rianna - does it get easier the 2nd half of the program?

[Rianna1]

Iluvmusak,

Yes it does get easier, I don't feel as stressed now as I did in Med Surg, esp. MCA III. We are in Maternity now and still are expected to know a lot of information in 5 weeks. That said, we had our first test in Maternity and it was still the same style, NCLEX style and questions that are like What??? For the most part, I have figured that as long as I pay attention in class, that's what she tested on. But our lecture is 6 hours long, so by noon, my attention span has been depleted. So I do have to read the text. NExt week will mark our half way point. Can't wait till Christmas cuz by that point, only 180 days left...

[iluvmusak]

Thanks Rianna - I'm just a little overwhelmed w/ the amount of material that we will be tested on for MCA III. I'm having a hard time trying to retain all the info. Glad to hear that it gets easier. I'm looking forward to maternity - I'm going to be at Alta Bates. Only 2 more rotations left in CCU. Time is just flying by, but I guess that's a good thing!

[ifyouwereme]

I would say no, but I am young so if you were older and really in a rush then maybe, yes. I would rather worry about finding a job with 5000 debt vs 85000 which is what I calculate I have. Sure it's a bsn but you can do that online while you look for a job...in mexico or bangkok lol. From the looks here, it is taking 3 mths to find a job. By the time you graduate, maybe 6mths but again 80k difference. Uuugh why did I do it? There were supposed to be jobs waiting for us and now I hear that even the Kaiser Scholars can't find Kaiser jobs?

You may be very sorry. Is it worth it to you?

[nicksmama]

Hi Ifyouwereme-- Thanks for your insight. I'm curious what program you were in and in what city? Also, did you have trouble getting students loans or other financial aid? --Thank you.

[AmyH]

Update on the SMC Kaiser Scholarship Issue:

Of the five recipient's in my SMC class Kaiser hasn't been able to steer any of them into preceptorships in hospitals with new grad openings (another condition of the scholarship). So even though the recipients are all doing preceptorships in Kaiser hospitals, they may not be offered jobs with a Kaiser hospital. And therefore will be required to repay the $25,000 scholarship. Gotta luv this non-shortage, nursing shortage.

[blkgurlwithwings]

Don't forget the 10% interest rate to boot--other loans are more like 8%. Now I'm glad I didn't bother applying. My friend said the SF campus had the same problem. No Kaiser jobs for the Kaiser Scholars. What a joke.