St. Paul's School of Nursing Fall 2016

Dressed2Empress · Jun 20, 2016

Hi nycstudent22, I have applied to St. Paul's SON for the Fall '16 semester. I passed the entrance exam with a score of 26, passed the HESI with a cumulative 91 and had my interview with the school president.

I, too, was wary of the accreditation status of the school, but found solstace in the fact that there are a decent amount of schools out there that do accept the credits from St. Paul's for RN-BSN programs (some only the nursing classes, so be careful!). I also happen to know a few people who were employed out of St. Paul's and work for a great hospital in my area, they are also pursuing their BSN. I plan on continuing on to graduate studies right out of my BSN, so I had to ensure that the graduate programs I was interested in would accept credits from St. Paul's, but from what I understand of bridge programs - my BSN is going to be through the school that I choose to complete it from so that should not be an issue. I will be completing my BSN at one of the NLN-accredited schools that accept all or the majority of credits from St. Paul's.

Like you, I had completed a decent amount of classes at another school, so I will be transferring in credits to lower the cost of attendance. I have completed english I, general psych, developmental psych, A&P I, sociology and plan on taking a CLEP for english II.

My decision to apply to St. Paul's was largely due to the fact that there is no waiting list and that they offer night classes. Nursing would be my second career and I want to get started as soon as possible since I have a long way to go before I am completely finished. I have heard the mixed reviews, but I am not deterred. I feel like I am a strong enough student that I will be able to stay afloat in the program regardless of any potential disorganization. I see this as more of an opportunity than anything, so I am willing to accept the bad with the good as long as I graduate as a competent nurse.

I hope this helps!

nycstudent22 · Jun 20, 2016

Thanks for the reply, Dressed. It's good to know that someone else has the same concerns about the NLN accreditation of the school and how it affects their educational prospects in the long-term. I've also had my interview with the President of the school and I brought this issue up and he actually gave me examples of schools that St. Paul's has articulation agreements with that are CCNE accredited for the RN-BSN bridge so that shouldn't be an issue if I decide I want to become an Advanced Practiced Nurse at a later time. As a side note, he's a very nice and smart guy and it's easy to open up to him so I wouldn't stress too much. The only real issue is that he wants to see you dress and conduct yourself professionally.

I've read every thread on this forum about this school going back to 2009 and while I'll proceed with caution given a lot of the bad reviews, it does seem to me that those complaining about the school have a bit of sour grapes going on. There were people in my HESI review classes that did not seem to take any of this seriously and who lacked the critical thinking skills I think it's necessary to finish the nursing program. Not to mention the fact that the student who sat next to me while I was taking the HESI entrance exam was trying to cheat by taking his cellphone out. The sad thing is that entrance exam is incredibly easy, it doesn' even include Chemisry and A&P. If you can't pass that then maybe you're not ready to be in the program yet and should brush up on you reading and math.

Sorry for the small rant, but it annoys me that people think that just cause they're going to pay a shitload of money for this school that they're paying for the RN license, basically.

Dressed2Empress · Jun 20, 2016

Yes, I completely agree that a lot of the ranks about the school seemed to come from students who either were not doing well or were dismissed from the program for not keeping up. Regardless of a waiting list, nursing programs are no joke and being able to get it does not mean being able to stay in - regardless of the tuition paid!

I have a friend who goes there, she did express some frustrations in regards to the organization of the clinical sites for this semester, but as long as my graduation isn't delayed due to any issues, I am fine.

And yes, the president was a pleasure to meet with! I was so nervous, but he definitely made the experience a breeze!

I wish you the best of luck, we may be classmates in the Fall

Jtwe87 · Jun 20, 2016

Hey, y'all.

I was recently accepted to St. Paul's and will be starting in September. I returned to college after a long break 18 months ago, and completed most of my pre-, and co-requistes at QCC. St Paul's was not my first choice. I would have preferred any of the CUNY colleges as they cost a fraction of what St. Paul's does , or one the more established Nln accredited private schools. Unfortunately I was an immature underachiever during my first attempt at college, and my transcripts reflect this. I was not accepted on my first try to the other programs I applied to. I'm still young but not young enough to spend another year(or more) trying to gradually raise my g.p.a. to the 3.5 that seems to be the minimum standard for acceptance at most schools, despite what they officially state.

The lack of nln accredidation is obviously less than ideal, but considering that the school is recognized by the Ny board of regents, and graduates are allowed to sit for the NCLEX just as graduates from the other more established schools are I feel confident that I am making a rationally self interested choice by pursuing my degree at Sp. I plan on immediately enrolling in a rn to bsn program upon graduating from Sp, and several of the online schools that they have articulation agreements with are very well regarded, and have all the necessary accreditation. I have friends, and family who work in various hostipals, and clinics around the city and most, if not all of them have had rn colleagues who graduated from Sp.

If you end up attending this fall we will probably run in to one another. My name is Jason. I'm 6'4 so I'm pretty hard to miss. Good luck to you all whatever you end up deciding.

Dressed2Empress · Jun 21, 2016

Hi Jtwe87,

I just finished the Spring semester at NCC and was fully interested in their RN program (completely affordable and perfect location), but the waitlist is SUCH a turn off. I can't say I'm trying to rush, but I certainly don't want to spend an additional year gaining the rest of the co/pre reqs to possibly not even get into a program. I have good grades, but I only pushed myself to apply to nursing school in February/ March of this year, so I ended up missing out on a lot of deadlines for other ASN schools that offer evening classes.

I'm hoping I get in in order to get the ball rolling. I do have some minor concerns, but I have done a lot of research and found graduates of St. Paul's earning their BSN and MSN at some great schools. I am far more concerned about where I earn my BSN and have reached out to a few to find out if they accept the credits before possibly attending.

I have not received a decision yet, so I will see what happens.. I may see you in the Fall!

CPRNnyc · Jun 21, 2016

People worry about NLN, and it's all BS. I graduated from st Paul's in 2014 got my BSN online at chamberlain college and got a job in the ER at a very prestigious hospital in Manhattan. Just do it if it's your only option. I chose st Paul's BC I didn't want to wait 3 years for a Cuny college and although st Paul's is pricey, it's a better chance of passing nursing school there than cuny .

Dressed2Empress · Jun 21, 2016

Thanks for sharing CPRNnyc! The issue with the school seems to be people making it through the program, not the progression after completion. I am confident that upon completing the program, if I am admitted, the professional progression opportunities will be the exact same as graduating from another ASN program. As far as the cost, I see it as my income will increase by at least 20/25k at entry level without a BSN and it will happen a lot soon with St. Paul's than being wait-listed at another school. I plan on paying what I can while I am in school and, as previously mentioned, have a decent amount of credits that are eligible to transfer in to lower the cost.

How was it taking Microbiology and A&P II at St. Paul's CPRNnyc?

Dressed2Empress · Jun 21, 2016

How were you contacted about your acceptance and how soon after you turned in all of you documents?

I was only able to get my official transcript from last semester to the school about two/three weeks ago, so I just want an idea.

nyc-BSN · Jun 21, 2016

I went to St. Paul's School of Nursing. Finished off my BSN at Adelphi University, which is NLN accredited (I don't really care) with zero, zilch, nada issues. Now, I'm working for a top private hospital at about $90K/year. What is your issue, exactly? Can't quite understand why one is making a big deal as long as you can take the N-CLEX at the end. Care about what you're learning and what kind of nurse you're going to be to our sickest of patients. Are you going to bring value to the nursing profession by protecting our patients utilizing evidence based practice? No idea about evidence based practice and can't make the connection between advancing nursing education and nursing professional power? Don't even bother becoming a nurse. This profession will challenge you to the core. You may not have the experience, but you'd better be ready to have a discourse with medical professionals and why your role is necessary to patient care while simultaneously understanding that we are providing a service that is subject to regulation organizational and statutory.

Jtwe87 · Jun 21, 2016

-dressed2empress

I received my acceptance notification by phone. Ms. Lopez called me about 6 weeks after I had my interview with the school president. My documents were all submitted 2 weeks prior to my interview.

Jtwe87 · Jun 21, 2016

@nyc-BSN

I can't speak for others but my concerns about the lack of NLN accreditation were raised by reading threads on this forum. Most threads dedicated to discussion about Saint Paul's have posts by people who purport themselves to be nurses ,and advise others not to attend Spson specifically because of its lack of NLn accreditation. Many of them claim that this lack of accreditation makes a degree less valueable, and can lead to issues with employment, and credit transfer. As a neophyte I felt it was unwise to simply dismiss multiple claims of this nature from those who likely had more knowledge on the subject than I did.No one wants to waste 18 months, and 40k on a degree that will not allow them to acquire gainful employment in the field.

For every post like yours there are 10 posts that harshly criticize SPSON and put a little bit of anxiety in the minds of many prospective students. Ultimately I took the posts by the "experts" , and miscellaneous haters with a grain of salt, did my research, and came to the conclusion that SPSON is a worthwhile program that will allow me to reach my goal of becoming an RN (after a tremendous amount of effort on my part ,of course), and continue on to a bsn without losing a significant amount of credits. This message board needs more posts like yours, and the one from @CPrnnyc and far fewer from students who did not make the cut at SPSON (and bash it out of bitterness), or those who place an undue amount of importance on NLN accreditation.