St. Kate's worth the cost?

[sejones]

I've been accepted into St. Kate's pre-nursing track and have this question: Is the St. Kate's associate in nursing program really worth the extra tuition money (>$600/credit), or would it be better to take 1+ years of prereqs at comm college and apply to an ASN program at Century or Inver Hills (

Pertinent details: I'm an older student with young kids; BA in philosophy (4.0 GPA); math minor; no bio or chem since high school.

I'd be grateful for any advice. Thanks!

[mandamaeg]

For the people that went to st. kates was their nursing school easy to get into? What was average gpa?

[Zebro2010]

I went to St. Kates - Mpls campus, and graduated December 2012. I am not sure what the average GPA was in our class but I do think it is not as difficult to get into St. Kates vs some of the other Community Colleges. St. Kates entrance process (pre-nursing) acceptance is a different process than other schools. I hope that helps.

Good Luck! :)

[krisiepoo]

I'm currently in my last semester at St. Kates. I know this thread is older now, but thought I'd chime in

It's expensive, but I needed nights and weekends. I have a mortgage, had a car payment and it's just me... I'm my own sugar mama so needed to keep my high(er) paying job.

St. Kates had a low NCLEX pass rate because they had gone back and encouraged older students to take the NCLEX well past their graduation date (not sure why) and it plummeted. They introduced Kaplan into the program and since then the rate has soared to over 90% (not sure exactly where they're at right now).

It's spendy, but for some of us it's our only option if we wanted to go to nursing school.

They've recently completely revamped their nursing program so there won't be anyone able to attest to how good the program is because they just started it less than a year ago

[jenked]

I went to St. Kate's ADN and graduated in May 2012. Honestly, the money wasn't a huge factor to me because I just wanted to be done and get a job. I have hospital job that I love now, and I had no problem getting it when I graduated, partially because St. Kate's still has a good reputation in the field and I maintained really good grades.

However, be warned, my clinical experiences in no way, shape, or form prepared me to be a nurse and the first few months of my new graduate program, I had a LOT of catching up to do to be in line with my other cohort members from other 2 and 4 year programs. When I say a lot, I mean A LOT of catching up to do. St. Kate's ADN program doesn't get good clinical rotations, so I failed to learn what I needed to know to actually be a nurse.

A year and a a half later, I am loving by job and have made up all the deficit. I was, however, lucky to work for a hospital with an extensive new graduate program that helped limp me along when I graduated. I can't imagine the stress I would have had if I had been hired by some of the other hospitals with the eat your young mentality.

No matter where you go, the goal is getting a license, the rest can come later. Good luck!