St. Paul's school of nursing 2016

rowrowyourboat · Jul 25, 2015

Why are you going to a school that is not accredited?

TRD4chica · Jul 26, 2015

Im aoplying to spson I was hoping to start in august but i dont know yet... have you taken the Hesi yet?

Rich2012 · Jul 26, 2015

Well I haven't applied yet but I am considering it!! And was wondering what major harm it is going to the school ? they have been around for years and have not been shut down yet and they are on the list at NYS Office of the Professions - State Education Department as an official nursing school.. If I can pass the Hesi and exceed all the other obstacles I'm gonna give it a try.. I have been trying to get in a program for over 2 years. So why notí ½í¸”

Rich2012 · Jul 26, 2015

No I haven't taken it yet I went last week to the info session on Thursday and I took the crazy wonderlic test and passed it so I feel like if this work out with this school I'm gonna try!!! Are you concerned about the school not being accriedted?

rowrowyourboat · Jul 26, 2015

Well I haven't applied yet but I am considering it!! And was wondering what major harm it is going to the school ? they have been around for years and have not been shut down yet and they are on the list at NYS Office of the Professions - State Education Department as an official nursing school.. If I can pass the Hesi and exceed all the other obstacles I'm gonna give it a try.. I have been trying to get in a program for over 2 years. So why notï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½

I think it could be hard finding a job having an education from a school that is not accredited. I would also imagine you would have problems trying to apply to other schools to advance yourself.

Am sorry you have been trying for the past two years, are you willing to move? What are some things you have changed in regards to your pre-reqs? All the best:)

Rich2012 · Jul 27, 2015

No moving is not an option financially and for other family obligations I can't relocate..

TRD4chica · Jul 27, 2015

Good thing with this school they only give you english and math part for the HESI im scheduled for it this Thursday....

pocahontas3 · Jul 27, 2015

One of my friends graduated from St. Pauls.

Even though the school is not accredited he still manage to get a job in the city.

xxMichelleJxx · Jul 27, 2015

Hey new member but very familiar to this site!! Any one applying to SPSON for the Jan 2016 class?? What did you think of the SLE exam? What should I expect from the Hesi exam? Being that this school is not Acen accredited would that make a degree from the school useless? And can you transfer to an accredited BA program once you complete St. Paul's and pass the nclex?? Interested in the program and worried at the same time!!!

I recently graduated from St. Pauls from the Staten Island Campus. If someone were to ask my opinion, I would suggest not attending this school.

When I applied to this school, I was not aware that this school was not NLN/ACEN accredited. Had I known that, never in a million years would I consider this school. I recall even when I called this school and asked about accreditation, I was never given a straightforward answer. But they did claim they are accredited. I guess the are accredited by the NYS Education department or some bs. Point is, they are very shady about it.

This school is a mess. Don't go. Please. Save your time and money.. You can a get better education/use of your money elsewhere. This school is not worth it. More than 12k a semester. (This is how much it was for me. For new students its probably even more) Like honestly. You would be better off going elsewhere where its cheaper and actually accredited. I can't understand why St. Pauls is so highly priced. It has a horrible reputation. Its only a Associates program. Its not even NLN/ACEN accredited. Why its so expensive is beyond me.

When I applied, I was told day classes range from 8am to 4pm. This is a total lie. I had classes that extended up until 7-8pm at times and these were "DAY" classes. This school is pretty much 5 days a week, especially during your first semester. Now they have recently made the school into a 5 semester program rather than 4 semesters. For me it was 4 semesters. We had a lot of classes crammed into a small amount of time. Now that its 5 semesters I anticipate it might work out better, but none-the-less.. this school is a mess. Since classes are every day of the week and the hours are horrible, it makes working very hard. I was a LPN while in school, so usually shifts in LTC facilities are 7-3 and 3-11. But if you have classes that start at 12p/1p and end at 4p/5p - Or classes that start at 3p and end later, you practically can't work day or evening shift. That only leaves 11-7 night shift.. but then you have clinical/class the next morning at 8AM.

No clinical sites appreciate students from St. Pauls. We are looked down upon. We are all crammed onto 1 unit together. I can complain because prior to St. Paul's I went to nursing school. I have something to compare St. Pauls to. I did my PN program while I was in high school I felt that my high school PN program generates more respect from the clinical sites and staff members than St. Pauls. Its really sad. In my PN program I saw probably 6-7 surgeries. At St. Pauls I got to see 1. In my PN program I went everywhere from the ER to CCU/CTU NUMEROUS times. I think at St. Pauls I went twice. And my high school PN program was FREE.. and 10000x better than St. Pauls which is ~44K. In my PN program, we never were all on 1 floor. We always got separated - 2 students to a floor/unit. This way we were assigned a specific nurse to shadow. At St. Pauls.. you have 10 students to 1 floor. No nurse to shadow. Your instructor just goes and gets patients and gives them to you. The instructor is around to supervise and such.. but in my opinion being able to be assigned to a nurse and shadow her is so much more helpful.

I know someone who is a manager in a hospital located in SI and she flat out said she would never hire students from St. Pauls.

Oh and regarding clinical.. You pretty can't do anything. You stand and look. The only thing you can do it bed baths/AM care; give meds with your clinical instructor..Maybe a foley if you're lucky.

I'm going to share my experience with you and why I feel prospective students should NOT attend St. Pauls.

1) The instructors are very shady. First semester everything was nice. The instructors were great. I actually liked the school. After 1st semester, everything goes downhill from there. Some instructors are very partial. Some instructors (of course I won't say names) give certain students answers. I swear, theres this one instructor that gets rides home from students. These same students would bring her coffee, etc. I can say for a fact that she gave some students answers because these students brag about it. Like I'm sorry, but how stupid can you get. Bragging about getting answers.. Ridiculous.

2) St. Pauls doesn't like students to succeed. During my course at St. Pauls, 3 instructors have been fired. Why? Because students were doing well and getting high grades. St. Pauls is a money making business. They rather have you fail and take the course over again so they can get money out of you. Seriously... instructors were told they are passing too many students. On the other hand, nothing is said to instructors that go about and fail practically every student in their class. This has happened where maybe 3 students passed a class. The Dean of Nursing doesn't care. Any other NORMAL school would investigate. Probably look into the instructor. If there is a class where all the students are failing, administrative staff takes a look at the instructor. Audits are performed. Content that was taught in class is compared to the course syllabi. Instructors are usually asked to indicate how content covered in class correlates with examinations. But in St. Pauls, none of this happens. The students are always at fault. There are certain instructors that get away with failing practically all of their class. It seems like this doesn't arise as a concern to the administrative staff at St. Pauls. These RECURRENT issues are never investigated. They just don't care.

3) This school is great at acknowledging that problems are present and doing absolutely nothing about it. Literally..the Dean of Nursing always goes about saying that she is "there for us" and "always available." However when we go to her for advice/help..shes nowhere to be found. Wont answer emails, won't answer phone calls. Even if you make a appointment with her.. she never shows up. Once I came for my scheduled meeting, waited for 2 hours and was told she was still in a meeting. And its not just the Dean of Nursing.. A lot of people never answer their emails.. Like the clinical coordinator, to instructors, etc. Students always went to the Dean with concerns and she did nothing about it. Theres been a situation on more than 1 occasion where practically everyone was failing a class. We students reached out to our Dean of Nursing. She stated theres a problem and she will look into the matter. Nothing ever ended up being done. Many students ended up withdrawing from the class, while many others fail. And there were many other problems that she would acknowledge are present, and do absolutely nothing about.

4) Everything is last minute. I can't even express how many times we were given last minute emails (literally 12 midnight, 1 am) concerning our 8AM clinicals. Sometimes clinical was cancelled and we were never made aware. Sometimes the instructors just never showed up. I recall on more than 1 occasion where it snowed and we were not told about any cancellations. The instructor didn't show. We sat in the hospital cafeteria for about 2 hours looking like total morons and our instructor never came. We were then told that clinical is cancelled.

5) Its pretty much a self learn. With the exception of a small handful of instructors, most of the instructors don't really teach well. You pretty much end up going to class just to get the attendance credit. A lot of it you need to go home and try to teach yourself. If I wanted to do that.. I wouldve just taken a online course. Seriously.

6) Theres alot of cheating going on. There are some classes where there is more than 1 session. And then theres also the evening classes. Students end up getting answers from people that were in the class 2 hours before them. I was a day student and in the first session of everything so it didn't apply to me. Although it was frustrating to see students get by with little to no effort simply because they are cheating.

7) Their course withdrawal and failure policy is not applicable to some students. St. Pauls has a rule where students are only allowed 1 nursing course failure and 2 course withdrawals. After withdrawing from 2 courses, you are no longer allowed to withdraw from a class. After failing a class, you are no longer allowed to fail another class. If you do, it results in a dismissal from the program. However, they bend the rules for certain students that they feel like doing it for. Theres been people in my classes that exceeded the course failures/withdrawals but were still allowed to withdraw and fail a class without and disciplinary action. They were not dismissed from the program. But then there were other students where they were not given a second chance and they wouldn't bend the rules for them. They were dismissed from the program. Its a pick and choose pretty much. If they like you, maybe they will help you out. Rumor has it that if you pay the semester's tuition in full with cash, then they bend the rules. Thats a rumor I heard. The fact that they only help certain students out is a fact. Again, my point is that they are shady. This school seriously lacks professionalism and honesty - two principles that are vital to the nursing profession.

I can go on and on and complain. I can probably make 10 more reasons why you shouldn't attend St. Pauls but this post is already long enough.

As far as what bachelors programs you can attend.. you are extremely limited. When I first applied to St. Pauls, I spoke with a Admissions Representative (LOL she also got fired) who sent me a list of schools they have.. I mean HAD articulation agreements with. I saved the list with me. These are the schools that were stated on that list:

1) Aspen University

2) Chamberlain College

3) Excelsior College

4) Walden University

5) SUNY Empire State College

6) American Sentinel University

7) Kaplan University

Now after I graduated, I was given a list. This is the updated list with whom they have articulation agreements with:

1) American Sentinel University

2) Aspen University

3) Chamberlain College of Nursing

4) Kaplan University

5) Western Governors University

As you can see, Excelsior and SUNY Empire State are no longer on the list. They didn't even see a need to address why they are no longer on the list. But seriously.. in the span of 2 years .. they no longer have articulation agreements with 2 schools. Its crazy.

Articulation agreements mean that pretty much these schools will take all of St. Paul's credits. All of the schools listed above are online. They may have a campus, but the RN to BSN program is online. If you're interested in that, then maybe it won't bother you.

As for me, I never attended a "real college". I went to St. Pauls right out of high school. So I do want to attend an actual college/university so I am not looking into any of the schools they have articulation agreements with.

If you are like me, its going to be a problem. A lot of CUNYs and SUNYs do not accept most of the credits from St. Paul's. There will be a lot of courses that you will have to re-take. Which is seriously a waste of time and money. I just graduated in May/June. I'm currently looking for jobs. The deadline to apply for Fall 2015 semester was in March so regardless I can't start a BSN program until January 2016. So I will begin my search and start applying next month. I can update you guys as to what the CUNYs and SUNYs i speak with say.

Alright I'm going to stop typing now. I just wrote a novel. Sorry.

If you have anymore questions, let me know.

TLDR: Don't go to St. Pauls

BTW This only applies to the Staten Island Campus. I can't say anything on behalf of the Queens one because I never attended that one.

Rich2012 · Jul 27, 2015

Well that's a lot to digest it's so sad that all the post are all negative regarding this school It's sad.. Mean while all the other schools make it close to impossible to get into here in NYC!!!í ½í¸« thanks for your insight tho..

TRD4chica · Jul 27, 2015

I actually have 2 coworkers that went to the school and i have spoken to a few current students who are current students at st paul in queens and they love it but is best to do your own research