South Dakota State University Aberdeen ABSN Spring 2019

Editorial Team / Admin · Jul 23, 2018

Welcome, whistlebeats, to allnurses.com

Good luck with your acceptance!

DZ6071 · Aug 19, 2020

Did you wind up liking the program, if you attended?

whistlebeats · Aug 19, 2020

I did end up attending this program! I loved the program. I graduated and have been working as an RN for just over 6 months now. I highly recommend it to everyone looking for an ABSN program. I cannot say enough good things about the professors in this program and the structure of the program. If you have any questions or just want general info about the program, let me know!

DZ6071 · Aug 19, 2020

Thats awesome to hear - congratulations! I'm from Oregon, applying to a handful of programs across the country and applied to SDSU based on what I was reading about their reputation. I know it doesn't truly matter where you go for a program as long as you pass the NCLEX, but I would like to go somewhere where I will come out confident and ready to hit the ground running. I just got a conditional offer this morning, currently finishing a refresher from an expired A&P course and nutrition (I'm 30). The structure seems very fleshed out and balanced - did you have much say in your clinicals, in terms of rotation? And did you wind up staying in SD to work as an RN? Frankly, on paper, everything looks great. It's mostly convincing my wife to want to move to Aberdeen for a year LOL. Appreciate your insight

whistlebeats · Aug 20, 2020

Okay sorry in advance that this is so long:

We had 2 students in my class from Oregon! We had a lot of people in the program from out of state. There were 4 people in my class from California. It's an appeal because it's such a short program and much cheaper than other options.

I felt super confident coming out of the program! I did my capstone at a hospital in Minneapolis since I'm from that area. There was a group doing their clinical there too that was also graduating that semester. My preceptor told me that I was more advanced than them. Maybe she was just trying to build me up and be nice but I heard other nurses complaining about those students not being very competent a few times. Everyone does the same rotations: 3 med surg clinicals, peds, psych, OB, 2 communit rotations, geriatrics (nursing home), and capstone. Within the medsurg clinicals we did a day in OR, ER, and outpatient areas. We didn't get too much say in where we we got placed for clinicals. There's 2 hospitals in Aberdeen - Avera and Sanford. There was 1 clinical group in both first and second semester that went 90 minutes away. Semester 1 this group was made up of students who had no or minimal healthcare experience. And second semester, everyone who went in my class volunteered to go. There were a few random clinicals that were up to an hour away like community clinicals, but these were usually only a day. For these far away clinicals, everyone carpools in a car or 2. During semester 3(Summer), there were 2 clinicals where we were put up in housing for a week for a clinical rotation. One was for mental health at HSC in Yankton. We were in a hotel for a week, and you shared a room with 1 person. For our peds rotation, we went to camps. 3 out of 4 of the clinical groups went to sleep away camps where we got to stay for a week. I was dreading this, but the place I went to had housing similar to a hotel and was.super nice. One clinical group went to a day camp in Aberdeen and didn't go out of town that week. For your final capstone experience, you get somewhat of a say in where you go. They only really place people in MN, SD, and ND. I went to Minnesota, so I could live at home during that time.

The big plus about clinicals in Aberdeen, is the experience you get. When I did my capstone in Minneapolis, students weren't allowed to do IVs or put in catheters. This wasn't the case in SD. We could do anything, which was super cool. There were some cons: the hospitals were smaller and so there were literally days where there weren't enough patients in the hospital for each student to have 1 student. On these days, we would "float" students to L&D or ER. So that was cool if you wanted extra experience in those areas.

I didn't stay in SD to work. I had no intentions of staying in SD. The professors understand that most people aren't staying in South Dakota after graduation. I'm now an RN at Mayo Clinic in MN.

And Aberdeen is super doable for a year! A lot of people in my class did weekend trips out to the black hills in SD or to the Twin Cities, so it's a good way to see different areas at least. The cost of living is ridiculously cheap. My rent was $1100 for a 2 bedroom 2 bath apartment with washer and dryer in the unit, and the building was only like 2 years old.

Seriously though, I can't recommend the program enough. There's 4 main professors. I came from a large University with 400-person lectures. It's crazy getting to know your professors really well all year. They're super understanding and extremely supportive throughout the year.

DZ6071 · Aug 20, 2020

Thats great to hear that the rotation gives quite a bit of variety, and also all the hands on experience in SD vs MN. Yea it looks like for a year its absolutely doable, especially looking at cost of living. A quick look at the area I was finding Studios and 1 bdr places for a heck of a lot cheaper than Oregon. I appreciate all of your input, you've definitely helped make it seem more approachable!

tickatickatata · Aug 4, 2021

Following up with attending the ABSN program at South Dakota's Aberdeen campus, can anyone give more insight to this program? There's really not much out there from students post-program which makes me worry a bit. Any input would be great! Thank you!

MissBreAnna · Sep 24, 2022

Hi,

I was just accepted into the ABSN Spring 2023 program at Aberdeen. I was wondering if anyone had any information on ordering scrubs through the school or if you are able to get your own separately. I tried finding the ordering form online and was unsuccessful. Any tips or info about the program in covid times would be super helpful. I'm coming to Aberdeen from Portland Oregon so a very different environment but I'm excited to begin the year!

kyoung88 · Jan 12, 2023

@MissBreAnna

I hope you figured out the scrubs situation! I just graduated from SDSU Aberdeen and I'm also from PDX!

I left my scrubs in the classroom for someone to pick up for free, a few students left extra scrubs as well.

just survive the Winter and the rest is manageable. The professors are awesome!
I joined the YMCA while I lived there and it was a great outlet away from school. The schedule is jam packed but you'll find time to explore neighboring cities that are worth the drive.

are you planning to return to PDX once graduated? Best of luck to you!

MissBreAnna · Jan 12, 2023

@kyoung88

Yes, I was able to figure it all out with the scrubs! I did snag an extra pair of pants.
So far all of the teachers are really nice! I actually bough a table and chairs from a couple girls who had also just finished the program here so I chatted with them a while.
Yes, I will be going back to Portland after. I currently work at the VA as a secretary and am on contract to work there as an RN for three years after school.

Tikkunolam · Jan 22, 2023

Hi all, also from Oregon! I'm extremely interested in the SDSU ABSN and I was wondering what the admissions process was like from a students point of view. Did the admissions committee prioritize Nursing GPA over cumulative? I have a BA from 2012 but I was a different person then. While my GPA will meet the minimum qualification my PreNursing GPA is 3.85. What was the admissions process like? Any pointers I can maximize on before I apply? Also, what were the average ages of your fellow students? THANK You!