West Suburban College of Nursing

Published

**FALL 2005**

First off, all colleges/universities will have their faults and students will always have their complaints. Having said that, while I attended West Suburban College of Nursing (WSCN) in Oak Park, IL, I experienced the following: a constant turn-over of faculty and administration, a lack of academic integrity towards grading and policies, faulty information and promises from faculty and administration, ill-prepared faculty in the classroom and clinical setting, unstructured classes/class work, and most importantly, a terrible retention rate of their students.

The specifics of each of the above occurrences are really not important for me to get into. However, I suggest that if you are considering WSCN that you ask questions regarding each of these issues during your visit/call. For example, ask how many professors they have gone through in the past two or three years. Also, ask about administration turn-over. As a student, you are constantly interacting with faculty and administration, so it is imperative that they be helpful and passionate toward students' and their needs. It would be best to talk to a current/graduated student "outside of the college" to get an honest perspective of the college. Since this is not always possible, just be sure to ask pertinent questions to the college officials, administration, and faculty when visiting/calling. Remember, talking to their "token student" at a campus visit will always produce a positive response. Every business will avoid their faults and portray a beautiful picture.

WSCN is a small school that consists of roughly 15-20 total administration/staff members and about 8-12 faculty members. Since I have attended WSCN, I have experienced a total turn-over of faculty. The WSCN administration has followed the same trend. A brief breakdown is: (about 10 professors in 2004 and about 5 more left in 2005, two assistants of student affairs, two registrars, three Deans, a few IT workers, and a few secretaries). All of this may seem unimportant until you try to pay your tuition, find files/records concerning you, send transcripts, etc. When your information has been through several different hands information gets mixed up, misplaced, and lost.

I do not say these things to deter you from WSCN. Just make sure you are aware of the facts before you decide to pay private tuition dollars ($18,100/year).

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OMG, I was about to write an extremely similar note to this one...about the turnover in faculty, the graduating passing rate is low, the passing the NCLEX rate is low (so I hear....that the school is under some sort of surveillance due to low NCLEX rates). When I've seen students applying, and a few have asked, I've said to really think about it.

Came to school today to write that $9,000 check...blech. I can't wait until graduation day.

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PM me if you want info about the school-

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Specializes in Maternal - Child Health.
They are also not advocates for students who have health conditions who fall under the ADA....the school could get in a lot of trouble say, for example, not providing refrigerators for insulin-dependent diabetics, facilitating requests from students who cannot drive to be at clinical sites that are close to where they live if they cannot get to sites due to suspended licenses, etc.

I would NEVER again, if I had ot do it over, go to this school.

:angryfire

I understand that the school is legally obligated to make accomodations for students with disabilities, such as assisting a diabetic student to manage his/her insulin.

But, why should a school cater to someone with a suspended driver's license by providing preferrence at nearby cllinical sites? Shouldn't the student be held responsible for making his/her own travel arrangements? A suspended driver's license is hardly a disability!

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If the student has a disability rendering them unable to drive and have the license revoked because of that, it does fall under the ADA, and that student should be protected, which, unfortunately,:angryfire is the case here.

I understand that the school is legally obligated to make accomodations for students with disabilities, such as assisting a diabetic student to manage his/her insulin.

But, why should a school cater to someone with a suspended driver's license by providing preferrence at nearby cllinical sites? Shouldn't the student be held responsible for making his/her own travel arrangements? A suspended driver's license is hardly a disability!

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Specializes in Maternal - Child Health.
If the student has a disability rendering them unable to drive and have the license revoked because of that, it does fall under the ADA, and that student should be protected, which, unfortunately,:angryfire is the case here.

I'm sorry. I assumed you were referering to someone who lost a license due to excessive numbers of tickets or driving violations.

I does indeed sound as if this school is not adhering to ADA standards.

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No prob....people at our school who have lost thier licenses due to seizures from either diabetes or seizure disorders have not been accomodated to clinical sites that are best convenient for them to be at.....

I'm sorry. I assumed you were referering to someone who lost a license due to excessive numbers of tickets or driving violations.

I does indeed sound as if this school is not adhering to ADA standards.

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Should I completely avoid applying to this school??

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Should I completely avoid applying to this school??

Yes should we? I was going to put the WSCN Fast track program on my list!

Can we get more info???

:eek:

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I was there a few weeks ago at their Open House. Do you know they only accept 10 Fast Track students per semester??

The professors and staff seemed really good. We had a tour. They have a talking mannequin who will tell you his symptoms, etc. Half the hospital is old but they're in the midst of fixing it up. It wasn't bad, but I think for $3,000 I may go to my local CC and then do a RN-BSN program. You can call their admissions office to set up a meeting and they'll go over all your transcripts, their program, etc., for you. That way you can get a feel for the place. I may set something up in May to talk about January admission to see what my chances are.

Good luck!

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I would stay far, far, far away. 7 out of 20 of the graduating class this past Dec. did not pass the NCLEX- and a lot the staff are very, very, very 2-faced. There have been a lot of administrative changes in the past year- firing an admissions counselor bc he backed up a student on an issue that the school should have been suppoprtive of; there's been 2 deans in the past 18 mos....just a nightmare.

The dummy is cool, but I'd, if I were anyone- stay away. (And I wish I'd done the ADN-BSN route. My friends that have graduated with their ADN have come out of programs with 95% passing rates on the NCLEX, and are much more skilled clinically.) Of course, that's an ADN-BSN debate, but, really. The fact that they have a fast track shouldn't sway anyone's thoughts on it. Go to Loyola or Rush. Because of all the construction, people have had to take exams (FINALS) with drilling going on below them.

:angryfire

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Thanks for the info. If I don't get into Rush I'll probably just go to my two year college. I'd hate to spend $30k on a school and be disappointed and unskilled.

Thanks for the info! Sorry about your story. :uhoh21:

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