University of Pheonix vs Grand Canyon

Flames9_RN, BSN, RN, EMT-B · Oct 31, 2013

I'm in the first class at Grand Canyon (GCU) and I think the total cost including books is around $16000 thats with the 10% off if u join ANA. If you search for my threads, you will find my comments on GCU--summary--so far so good

tokmom, BSN, RN · Nov 5, 2013

I'm in spirituality now (the only religious class) and other than being paper heavy (ugh) it is interesting and insightful. The latter half is talking about grief and compassion fatigue.

Personally for me, I went with GCU. U of P doesn't have a brick and mortar element to it and that was important for me. U of P isn't highly regarded in my neck of the woods and if I ever wanted to change jobs, I needed something more credible.

NewestRN_OnTheBlock · Nov 12, 2013

I'm interested to know what the GCU program is like as a whole. I recently went to a nursing conference that had different schools giving information about their programs. the GCU representative only stressed 3 points to me before I hesitated and backed away:

1) there's an online progrm

2) there aren't any clinicals

3) it's "really easy"

IDK... if the main point she tried to use to make me sign up was that its an easy program, that seemed like a red flag to me. I'd like to hear what the students think of it before I seriously consider a school like this... I want to earn my degree... not buy it.

No offense to any students from this school. They just need a better representative that can highlight some better points of the program!

Anyone in either one of these programs RN to BSN know the difference in cost and completion.
I'm trying to decide between the two since Dignity Health will assist with tuition costs. I can't quite figure out what the total cost would be since they might seem pretty close in comparison.
I'm not too crazy about the Religious classes Grand Canyon requires.
Would love some input :)

Flames9_RN, BSN, RN, EMT-B · Nov 13, 2013

I'm only in the 2nd class at GCU, so can't really say how easy it is! I think there may be some profs that mark a bit easier. Each week we have 2 Discussion questions and man I was struggling with this weeks 1st one! 1 pretty much has a paper to write each week s well and then there is at least 1, if not 2 group projects on the majority of the classes! if paper writing is easy for ya, then that is to your benefit. I know some of my fellow students (and myself) feel like we are earning it. But do agree item #3 that she stated was very poor on her part.

tokmom, BSN, RN · Nov 13, 2013

I'm interested to know what the GCU program is like as a whole. I recently went to a nursing conference that had different schools giving information about their programs. the GCU representative only stressed 3 points to me before I hesitated and backed away:
1) there's an online progrm
2) there aren't any clinicals
3) it's "really easy"
IDK... if the main point she tried to use to make me sign up was that its an easy program, that seemed like a red flag to me. I'd like to hear what the students think of it before I seriously consider a school like this... I want to earn my degree... not buy it.
No offense to any students from this school. They just need a better representative that can highlight some better points of the program!

Believe me, you will earn your degree. I'm currently in spirituality, so this is class number eight for me? Somewhere in there, lol. I graduate next May.

Why a person would say "it's really easy" is beyond me. Is it rocket science? No. It's nursing theory and a lot of it. You write papers, and do power points and group projects and you write, and write and write. The person that came to my hospital didn't say it was easy, but did mention it was doable. Yeah, she was right. It's doable, but it's labor intensive. I don't know how many hours Flames spends on homework a week, but I easily spend 15 hrs a week and even more if there is editing on a group project. The homework picks up intensity right after stats, when you head into the meatier subjects like research when your references have to be research based articles less than 5 yrs old. There are two other nurses on AN that attend GCU. One of them is my 'twin.' We met on AN and struck up a friendship, so all of our classes are together. It's nice, because we have each other for support, and we get to spend all day on a Saturday editing group papers. It's a nice way to bond for 8 hours. Another person here started and is in her third class? She actually took time between classes to have some sort of life outside of work and school. I wanted you to know this so you don't think I don't manage my time, lol. I'm a mom with a bucket load of kids and I work full time and do committee work. I can squeeze it in, but it's crazy.

I have two friends that are in local brick and mortar schools and my assignments and work flow resembles theirs. Pretty much the same classes and in the same order. Two interesting thoughts though. GCU requires one to use turn it in for papers, which is a plagiarism program. My friends in state schools don't require it, go figure. You could totally copy a paper and get away with it. Not at GCU.

Secondly, a co-worker who is in a NP program in a very well thought of local college uses the same Pathophysiology book that I will be using in a few weeks.

So easy?? Not thinking so. Doable...yes. Just don't expect to have much of a life for 18 months, lol.

damon.h.bell · Nov 15, 2013

I did my BSN with GCU I agree with what has been said. If you are not comfortable at writing papers you better learn. Overall I really enjoyed the program. Just be prepared to write 5-10 page paper each week. I would say on average I spent 5-10 hours a week doing research and writing papers. the program was not easy, but it wasn't overly difficult.