I am new to this forum so first I will introduce myself. I am a mom to 3 kids and live in Columbia, MD. I decided to go back to school after taking a long time off from working to raise my kids. My kids are 7, 5 and 3. I am taking classes at night at Howard Community College and I am hoping to start a BSN program or possibly the accelerated RN program at Howard next year. I have a BS in Dietetics from UMCP and all of the prerequisites were satisfied from that, but I had to repeat the sciences since it had been over 10 years. I am finding that school this time around is much easier. I don't know if it is the school or just that I am more focused and determined! I applied to Stevenson University for the BSN second degree option and was accepted for this fall. I am confused about what to do. I went on Monday and talked to the nursing department and saw the campus and the nursing lab, etc and I did like it. It is a small private school (formerly Villa Julie College) and is expensive. I am planning on applying for scholarships and if I can get any/enough I will most likely go. Howard Community College is very close to me (5 miles away) so that program is very appealing. I just don't like that I will have to wait until next May to start and won't get the BSN. I am applying to UM BSN program for Spring 2010 as well (unless I end up getting scholarship $ and go to Stevenson). If I was able to apply to UM for fall I would have, and if I had been accepted I would have chosen UM for sure. I am nervous to turn Stevenson down, with the chance that I don't get in to UM. I am leaning toward a BSN program because I want to eventually apply to the nurse anesthesia program at UMAB.
I'm sorry if this is so confusing! I am just trying to sort through the options and figure out what is best. I know only I can figure that out, but any input would be helpful! I have heard rumors about Stevenson not being strong in the past (lower NCLEX passing rate) but I am confident I will do fine if I do go there. I like that UM is a top nursing school and I am a terp, so I am partial If anyone here is going to Stevenson or is considering it, please let me know so we can chat about it. I don't want to make a decision I will regret later.
I applied to Stevenson University for the BSN second degree option and was accepted for this fall. I am confused about what to do. I went on Monday and talked to the nursing department and saw the campus and the nursing lab, etc and I did like it. It is a small private school (formerly Villa Julie College) and is expensive. I am planning on applying for scholarships and if I can get any/enough I will most likely go. Howard Community College is very close to me (5 miles away) so that program is very appealing. I just don't like that I will have to wait until next May to start and won't get the BSN. I am applying to UM BSN program for Spring 2010 as well (unless I end up getting scholarship $ and go to Stevenson). If I was able to apply to UM for fall I would have, and if I had been accepted I would have chosen UM for sure. I am nervous to turn Stevenson down, with the chance that I don't get in to UM. I am leaning toward a BSN program because I want to eventually apply to the nurse anesthesia program at UMAB.
If anyone here is going to Stevenson or is considering it, please let me know so we can chat about it. I don't want to make a decision I will regret later.