west suburban college of nursing... again :)

Jolie, BSN · Oct 22, 2008

How about calling the school and asking for an appointment to tour the campus, meet with current students and attend a day of on-campus classes.

That might help you to see first-hand just how well-organized things are and speak candidly with current students. If they are dissatisfied, they'll let you know.

If the school won't allow this, then you probably have your answer.

megc629 · Oct 28, 2008

I went to their open house this past Saturday. A friend of mine who graduated from WSCN is 2006 told me it was a very disorganized program with a high staff turnover rate. But I wanted to check it out anyway, as I don't have that many options for school.

At the open house, I found out they are short staffed in their admissions department, so it would take nearly 2 months to get an appointment with an adviser to have my transcripts evaluated. Also, their current dean just started this past summer.

It seemed like a lot of the people at the open house were interested in the night/weekend option, which is much harder to get into than the generic bsn program. Their NCLEX pass rate is only 87%.

I still plan on applying, because I am confident I can get into the program. And they don't require Organic Chemistry!!!

I would suggest checking out their open house for more info. I think they have one each month.

bansplt2 · Oct 28, 2008

thanks so much for your input! I don't have a lot of options for schools either... I was planning on going to the last open house but something came up last minute.

Have you looked into Chamberlain (in Addison) at all?

megc629 · Oct 29, 2008

I don't plan on applying to Chamberlin. I am looking for an accelerated BSN program because I already have a Bachelor's degree in a different field. I plan on applying to Loyola and West Suburban.

TheSquire, DNP, APRN, NP · Oct 29, 2008

Have you looked at DePaul's Master's Entry to Nursing Program or Rush's Graduate-Entry Master's? Both are geared towards students with a Bachelor's in another field.

bansplt2 · Oct 29, 2008

I have looked into both of those, thanks- I feel like I could give a summary of every accelerated program within two hours of Chicago :) I'm not really interested in a Master's level program- I already have a Bachelors as well....

It'll happen eventually :)

sn216 · Nov 4, 2008

bansplt2,

Hi, I am currently finishing up my BSN at West Suburban in their Evening/Weekend program. I will be completing the program in August, 2009.

My opinion is nursing school is what you make of it. School can be tough and it's up to you to make the best of your education. Your instructors will teach you, but you are the one that needs to do the actual learning. :nuke: Sometimes students complain about instructors and schools because they don't apply themselves and blame the instructors or the school for not doing well. I don't believe in making excuses.

Since there is a shortage of nurse educators, sometimes getting instructors for classes can be a challenge which leads to some disorganization. But this is everywhere. The new Dean, and Assistant Dean for that matter, are EXCELLENT! They are really making a difference within the school.

Since I am in the first cohort of evening/weekend students, I came in knowing problems could be expected. This can occur with any new program. Currently, the program is evolving into a much more manageable one. When I started, we had lecture 4 days per week, and clinicals 2 dyas per week, for a total of 6 days per week. However, this is now down to 4 days per week. Currently, clinicals are one day per week, either sat or sun, and lecture is 3 days per week. Each semester is broken down into 2 blocks (A and B) which are each 7 weeks long in length with the exception of summer which is 6. There are 2 lecture classes every 6 weeks and then the clinical component.

I'm not sure which program you are interetsed in, either the accelerated or evening/weekend, but we have many students with previous Bachelor's degrees in our evening/weekend class.

All in all, I can only really speak for the evening/weekend session since that is the program I'm taking. My class is very small, less than 20 students, which has been great since you get more individualized attention. All the instructors I've had have been great, very knowledgeable in the area of expertise, and always helpful.

Like Jolie said, you should really visit the school and see things for your self. Try attending one of the "Open Houses."

This is more than a couple of sentences, lol. Feel free to message me if you have any additional questions. :wink2:

sy33 · Nov 12, 2008

I'm starting fast track program in January... and I noticed you mentioned that you had lectures 3x's a week and a clinical during the weekend... I was wondering if you knew how the scheduling of the classes/clinicals are like for us generic/fast track students are like?

your post totally made me feel better about attending this school... i've heard such mixed reviews!

sn216 · Nov 12, 2008

Hi again sy33,

Looks like our posts are crossing! :wink2: The generic is 4 semesters. The fast track is 4 semesters but I believe they go through the summer. The evening/weekend program is 5 semesters but we do the summer semester. Generic can be done part-time according to the brochure. I'll include the links for the programs since they give you a sample of what your schedule may look like.

Here are the links:

Generic:

http://www.wscn.edu/files/BSNGenericOption.pdf

Fast Track:

http://www.wscn.edu/files/17201BachSciFastTrackOpt.pdf

Evening/Weekend:

http://www.wscn.edu/files/WSCN_EveningWeekendBrochure%20final.pdf

Let me know if you need any additional info. I'm always happy to help! :nuke:

PS

I'm glad to hear I eased your mind. I understand what you mean about mixed reviews. I read the previous reviews before enrolling so I can relate. I went in expecting the worse but realized it wasn't that bad.

My advice is to do your best in the begining of each course since the material gets harder as the course moves along and you'll have more leeway in the end.

Also, be prepared to take the ATI for your clinical courses. You'll need to pass the ATI around 70% or remediate. Remediate means to pass the second time (I believe a 95% or better, but I "think" it's open book. I can check.). Most instructors will not teach "to the ATI" so it's pretty much self study. Most instructors will list ATI chapters that correspond with your regular text so keep up with the reading (ATI) and take the practice exam that is offered. One of my fellow students and I have passed ATI everytime with out remediating so it CAN be done.

sy33 · Nov 12, 2008

Oh wow, thanks a lot!

the curriculum is intense it seems... i'm getting nervous now.

A second question... how flexible is it to make our schedule there? I'm hoping to work on fridays and possibly thursdays if i end classes at noon...I was wondering if that was at all possible at this school, or would I have classes 5 days a week?

sn216 · Nov 12, 2008

i'm sorry i don't know all the specifics about how the day classes are set up. i'm sure there are other west sub students on here that may be able to better answer your questions.

otherwise, you can try emailing jon harrington. he is an admission counselor at west sub:

[email protected]

he should be able to better answer your questions. if i run into any of the day students tomorrow, i'll ask them and let you know. :wink2: