UCF students/grads, opinion please?

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Hello all,

I'm a non-traditional student w/ 3.9 gpa, contemplating applying to UCF's BSN program in the fall, vs. Lake Sumter Community College's ASN program, then doing UCF's online RN to BSN program. I just transferred to area from Maryland. (I have essentially all pre-reqs complete, except chem w/ lab, statistics all will be completed by 2010.

I live in Leesburg, so drive to Orlando campus would be approx.1 hour, vs. an eight minute ride to LSCC campus. I'd be ahead by approx. 18 mo. if I get into UCF program, but am hesitant because of intense 1st semester and distance of campus.

Any opinions r.e quality of schools/professors/ student to professor ratios/ ANYYTHING would be much appreciated- thank you!!!

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Wow. That would be a drive!

I might talk to the councilor at LSCC and see if they have a concurrent program with UCF. At some schools, UCF offers the concurrent program for nursing if you already have your AA and then you maybe have to go to UCF for only a short amount of time.

Good luck!

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Thanks Dune181, LSCC does have a RN to BSN program, all done on line. I'm going to apply to both the 2-year ASN and the BSN program this fall....I guess because I'm older, "saving" 18 months is tempting, even if it's a long drive...

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You should apply to the SCC/UCF concurrent program for the Spring. I'm starting it in August. First, I would be shocked to see you make it to UCF in an hour. You have to factor in finding parking and walking a good distance to classes. I live in College Park (near Downtown), and it took me 45+ minutes to get over to an information session. I couldn't believe it! Do a test drive. Could

be worth it.

SCC's Altamonte campus might take you 45 minutes or so. The campus is tiny, so it's just the drive time for you. It takes 7 semesters to get your BSN. Get those classes done, so that you can have some options :D

UCF is reallly hard to get into, even with your GPA. They allow all their FTIC students in first, then the Directconnect (AA completed in 6 semesters) students, and then the let in some transfer students (if there's any room left).

Good luck in whatever you decide! :D

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Thanks Jill, I'll look at Seminole's website...I only have fall/spring 2010/2011, summer 2011 and fall/spring 2011/2012 to do- I'll have all pre-reqs done for LSCC and UCF at end of spring 2010 semester- I was accepted into AACC nursing program (in Maryland) and then we moved back to Florida (husband's job)

That's super helpful information....and though I'm ecstatic to be back in Florida, I'm still "licking my wounds" over the additional wait time & extra classes to be able to apply to the fall '10 programs....thank you!

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Your GPA makes me sick :bluecry1:

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Well, my hard-earned GPA is for all nursing pre-reqs....that's how they did it at AACC in Maryland...here, I've unhappily discovered they look at total GPA

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i'm a current student in UCFs accelerated 2nd bachelor's degree program. In addition, I live in Lakeland, so I have about an hour to an hour & a half commute each way.

I can comment about the quality of the program at UCF and its professors. There are a lot of unique clinical experiences that I'm not sure you would get at a community college, but to be fair, i'm not at all familiar with the program you're considering. The BSN programs at UCF are competitive, but at least for the accelerated program, the overall GPA isn't as high as some might think. Most of my classmates are in the 3.5+ (overall) category, but we have students that barely made a 3.0 and they've been quite successful. That being said, I do think that most all of us have a near 4.0 in our pre-requisite courses. Something that we learned about UCF after we started the program is the NCLEX pass rate. UCF has the highest in the state for any school/program, near 98%. And to me, that speaks volume about the quality of the program and the investment they make to ensure that we're prepared.

As to your question about the commute, I can say that it's bearable but certainly adds a lot of time to your day. After a 12 hour clinical, you'll be exhausted, but I haven't felt like it's impossible to do. Just consider how you handle stress and lack of sleep and whether or not this is an additional stressor that you'd be willing to add to an already BUSY/DIFFICULT day.

My last bit of info is to consider what it is that you ultimately want to do in nursing. If you want to be an RN and that's it, then you might consider the community college route. The pay differential for AS vs. BSN students is really minimal, so it won't "cost" you much in the long run. However, if you want to pursue a terminal degree (ARNP, PhD) or go the anesthesia route, then you might be better served to go ahead and get your BSN. It will save you a lot of time and money :)

Hope this helps...feel free to send me a message offline if you have more specific questions about the UCF program.

Good luck!

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mollyann78920, thanks for providing such good information about your program and the experience so far. I wish more people would provide similar information about the program that they're in so those of us who are getting ready to apply can be prepared for what we're getting into. I imagine that once you start a program, there isn't much time to come back to Allnurses and write about it.

It sounds like you're working hard but enjoying a good experience. Keep up the good work!

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