Unhappy with CSCC...are there any alternatives?

U.S.A. Ohio

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I submitted my application to CSCC at 9:00 am this morning. Later today, I found out that dozens of other people had the same idea. They camped out in the computer lab and all waited to hit the 'enter' key at 9:00 am. The application was supposedly for Spring '11, but only a few people will get in due to the overwhelming number of applicants from the Fall '10 crowd. I'm fairly certain that I will not start until almost a year and a half from now. I find this frustrating, considering I have the same chance of getting in as someone who has much lower grades than mine (I have a 3.9 GPA). Are there any good alternatives to Columbus State out there?

Specializes in Psych/med surg.

I am very happy at Columbus State. I am in the online program so I only have to go to campus for labs and to take exams. First quarter clinical was very good. I did my clinical at Whitehall Manor and I never thought I would say this but I don't think I would mind working in a nursing home. When you first start classes you will feel overwhelmed, especially in the online program. I don't think the traditional students do all the assignments that we had to do but it does seem overwhelming at first. I am so glad I get a break but I can't wait to start clinical next quarter because it will be in a hospital and it will be postpartum. I am hoping I get to witness a baby being born. I am also excited about the pharmacology class I will be taking next quarter. I am a bit scared about taking blood and putting in IV's. I am not sure if we will be learning that next quarter or not. I highly recommend CSCC, it is a good program so far and I really don't think the instructors want to see you fail as I have heard in the rumors.

By the way, in both the traditional and the online you have to do a communication and a teaching/learning paper. The online coordinator substituted at one of our clinical days and she said you have to do that for every quarter. In the nursing 100 class you have to do a head to toe assessment. The online students actually did it on a real patient that we never met before and the traditional students get to do it with their lab partner. I was very nervous but I passed it on the first try. If you have any questions about the program I will be happy to answer them. I know what is like to be anxious to start and be curious about what goes on when you start nursing classes.

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I am very happy with CSCC. It's hard to believe we've made it through the first quarter. It definitely felt like getting thrown into the deep end those first couple of weeks. It took a couple of weeks before any of us felt like we knew which class we were going to next. But, the instuctors were great and we learned a ton. My clinical site was fairly quiet, but we definitely had time to perform all of our assessments.

There was a lot of bonding over exams and crazy assignments. The nursing students are all over that campus all the time and you could always find a few of us in the library or erc.

I don't know what assignments other than the teaching/learning paper and communications paper the online folks had to do, but the traditional people had prep work with written assignments weekly, as well as for clinical. We didn't have discussion boards, but did have 3 hour seminars each week. I enjoyed the contact with the instructors in seminar and lecture. I won't be switching to online - I'm enjoying the in person too much. We did our lab final on a classmate, but we did do H to T assessments on residents as well.

I think that stressed is a pretty good word for a post 1st quarter student. There are a lot of people who are still on the edge of whether they'll be back next quarter - depending on how they did on finals.

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I agree with the above posters. Wait and see what happens, but I would certainly start checking your options. Personally the only other programs in the area I would consider are Mt. Carmel, Otterbein, and Capital. In that order. Chamberlain is ridiculously expensive. :confused: And a lot of the others are treading water on the accreditation front and you want to make sure that the school you go to is respected and hospitals will hire from it. Don't ask recruiters for the 'for-profit' schools and don't ask the current students.... ask the ones that have been out of school for 6 months without placement. Anyway... there are some good ones further afield. Hocking College I've heard good things about, but their clinical sites are the little country hospitals - not bad, just not what everyone is looking for in the way of experience. :)

I believe Good Housekeeping? had an article in June about the importance of choosing a good school and not getting in over your head in debt at a school that won't really stand the test in the job market. - Sorry to be vague, but if I find the magazine/article I'll post again with a firm location on where to find it. :idea:

Good Luck, and just breathe and remember you don't know until you get the letter...there is always so much this and that, wait list this, and scary that... You'll find out soon enough, and if you want a good adviser on where to go from here go to ----. She's the best pre-nursing adviser at CSCC.:D

I'm a huge believer in not going into debt for a nursing degree (well, sometines it can't be helped-- but I do think there is debt, and there is DEBT) so I'll keep writing these posts, but why did you leave OSU off your list of recommeded schools? It is certainly less expensive than Capital, Otterbein, and Mt. Carmel.

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why did you leave OSU off your list of recommeded schools? It is certainly less expensive than Capital, Otterbein, and Mt. Carmel.

It is next to impossible to get into. I have known multiple people that have applied with stellar applications and no luck... 4.0 GPA, all prerequisites completed, 1-1.5 years of volunteer at the OSU Medical Center, great essays, etc. They were told they couldn't do anything to improve... just such a large volume of applicants. I believe they accept about 30% of those who apply.

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Oh OK. I see. I was just wondering because I was happy enough with the program. I looked at Capital and Mt. Carmel, but they were too expensive for me. CSCC would have required too much waiting.

I have to add, I'm sure its gotten harder to get into. When I went I had a prior bachelor's degree with a 3.5 (but all A's on my science + ananotomy prerequs). Perhaps I would not be accepted now.

Actually, I guess I had a 4.0 in all my prerequisites, so that was helpful.

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I applied to CSCC in July 2010 and start March 2011. That isn't that much of a wait and they have less prerequistes than most. Like I said previously, they can be done in one full busy 20 credit hour quarter. Plus, CSCC is like is 4+ times less than anywhere else. The big difference in debt would be worth a little longer wait, IMO. One year in the grand scheme of your career isn't much.

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I applied to CSCC in July 2010 and start March 2011. That isn't that much of a wait and they have less prerequistes than most. Like I said previously, they can be done in one full busy 20 credit hour quarter. Plus, CSCC is like is 4+ times less than anywhere else. The big difference in debt would be worth a little longer wait, IMO. One year in the grand scheme of your career isn't much.

So true! Some of us will keep hammering this point home!

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I applied to CSCC in July 2010 and start March 2011. That isn't that much of a wait and they have less prerequistes than most. Like I said previously, they can be done in one full busy 20 credit hour quarter. Plus, CSCC is like is 4+ times less than anywhere else. The big difference in debt would be worth a little longer wait, IMO. One year in the grand scheme of your career isn't much.

While I generally agree with this, there is a flip side to waiting a year with less debt. People should also consider the difference in earning from say today until they finish their program. If they can finish an entire year earlier, what is the realistic difference in earning potential between finishing in 2012 or 2013? Taking myself for example, I am a SAH parent. I had to weigh how much I would make in that extra year of work versus the lower tuition and an extra year before employment.

For some people, this may be a big factor. I was looking at the difference between 2 years of no income or 3 years of no income. In that extra year of working I could realistically make from $20k-$50k depending on how much I work, where I work and what I earn. For some people taking on $10k-$20k in extra debt is worth that extra income.

Now, for my family, we decided that it wasn't worth it for a whole bunch of reasons. But, we also made the decision that an ADN program versus a BSN program was worth it because it got me out into the work force sooner and for less money.

Anyway, while I do agree that taking on larges amounts of debt is not usually in a person's best interest, the debt isn't the only factor to weigh when deciding on a program.

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Msteeleart and Shortnorthstudent thanks for the reply. I really appreciated that insight.

I have done a graph of what my quarters will be like for the 2 year program and am wondering how and where to stick the clinical time in. Looking at past quarters, or even next quarter, rarely are the clinical times listed. Could you please tell me the amount of time per week that you are in clinical assignments each week? Also, is there ever a choice that you can make on which clinical site that you prefer - like your next clinical rotation in labor and delivery sounds really interesting. Did you pick it?

How many hours per week did you both study for your first quarter? It sounds like you did well, and were satisfied with your efforts. I'm very happy for you to have this first quarter under your belt. Good job! = )

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Specializes in Psych/med surg.

As an online student at CSCC we had to do case studies, discussion boards and the 2 big papers but they gave us points for all these assignments. In both the nursing 110 and 100 class we had 50 points extra in each class that was given to us if we completed the assignments properly. I love the online option because I work a 3rd shift job and have a son in kindergarten so there is no way I could sit in class all day long. I already did the bachelors degree thing where I had to sit in class for 5 hours a day and just can't do it again. I am tired enough doing the online program so I could imagine how tired I would be if I had to go to class and deal with the crowded parking lot everyday. If you do online you still get to bond with your classmates during clinical and lab so you won't miss out, I have met many people so far in my time at CSCC.

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How many hours per week were you practicing in clinicals? Are clinicals equal in amount of time for traditional and online students?

On average how many hours per week did you study as an online student? Sounds like you are pretty busy with your child as well as a 3rd shift job, wow! Amazing.

Thanks for your comments. : )

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In the traditional program, first quarter you can pick your clinical day - either a Monday or Tuesday. After that, you are assigned days/times. You can certainly send a note to the coordinator explaining why XYZ day or time is better for you, but there's no guarantee. Flexibility. They stress flexibility over and over again. You cannot pick your site at all as far as I know - maybe if you get a preceptorship 7th quarter, but otherwise, they assign you.

I am still waiting on final grades, but I am sure I passed. I studied a lot. Did all the reading - which was plenty as well as tons of NCLEX questions. Spent 20+ hours each week, and closer to 40+ in the week before each exam studying.

One benefit to the nursing program is our classes start early. The parking lot was never a problem for me. First term I either had to be there for an 8 am class or got there around 12:30 after clinicals. Those are both good times in terms of parking.

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