WGU RN to BSN

I'm planning to enroll in WGU (Western Governors University). Can anyone provide pros and cons to the program? Interesting in hearing from current students, but welcome others to chime in for learning purposes.

On 2/27/2019 at 12:35 PM, beekee said:

WGU was awesome for me. I finished in one term (less than $3500 total cost). Pro’s are cost, accessibility (online program) and speed. Con’s are GPA (only matters really if you plan to do more education, and it may not matter much even if you do).

I would recommend.

Beekee can you elaborate on the GPA issue? I plan to go for NP, so how migh this effect me? Is your GPA a pass/fail 3.0?

21 minutes ago, Aliens05 said:

Beekee can you elaborate on the GPA issue? I plan to go for NP, so how migh this effect me? Is your GPA a pass/fail 3.0?

Yes, the GPA at WGU will be 3.0 because the courses are pass/fail. Plenty of people have been able to go to NP school with WGU, so I don’t think it holds people back.

Some graduate programs require a 3.5 or 4.0 GPA for admittance but many don't. I did my BSN in 3.5 months and I had 43 credits I needed through WGU. You decide how fast to go. I work part time but I also have kids and help with my husband's business. It's so doable but you have to be self motivated and self directed.

I finished 40 credits in 4 months at WGU (RN to BSN with a prior bachelor of science degree) but I work part time. Since it's a competency-based program, you get credit for what you already know. If you think you can pass an assessment, you just review, schedule the exam and take it (I finished a couple of courses in 2 days). All content was review from my ADN program, just a little more in depth. Overall, I found the program to be very easy. It included some assessments and multiple papers. I really don't care about GPA at this point since "C's get degrees" is a nursing school mantra and most hiring managers care more about your CNA experience than your GPA. I completed the program to make myself more marketable when job hunting.

Specializes in NICU, ICU, PICU, Academia.

The whole GPA thing is rapidly becoming a non-issue. I was accepted to three different DNP programs with my WGU MSN.

Is it correct that you must be employed while you attend? I am a RN with a bachelor's in another field. We adopted two sisters and I am home with them and would like to use this time complete a RN to BSN program.

I am interested in this program too. I read that you have to work 20 hrs a week. I am prn and don't always get 20 hours a week so I'm wondering if this will be a problem. Do they just verify employment or do they verify hours worked each week?

I just applied for the BSN to MSN Informatics. I agree with what most have posted. The GPA is not much of an issue. Most programs want at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale anyway. However, if you plan to continue and get your DNP, it never hurts to ask around. So far I have not seen anyone with issues.

I believe you do have to be employed at least 20 hrs/week but their requirements may have changed since I finished the program. I would call them and discuss!

I actually called and they have changed their requirements. You do not have to work a certain amount of hours but have to be "actively employed as a RN" .

On 2/27/2019 at 11:53 PM, NICUismylife said:

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I had some classes towards my BSN already. For example, I'd already taken stats. I also had some working knowledge of nutrition, lifespan development, etc. so I was able to finish those courses quickly.

So, they don't take transfers for those classes? You still have to "test out"?

I already have a Bachelor's in another area with many prereqs also. I was considering taking classes that would be needed down the road for the BSN while waiting on nursing school acceptance. If I still have to test, maybe I'll just watch youtube crash courses. haha.

I do realize I'm putting the cart before the horse a little. Also, I probably need to be studying more and researching future schooling less.

They will review your transcripts. It depends on the length of time since you took the course. I had to retake because it had been so many years since I had nutrition, even though it was a semester long, hard course. The WGU nutrition course is a piece of cake. You will be able to complete it in 2 days. It was nothing like the hard university course I took several years ago.

WGU stats is nursing stats, not calculus based. Lots of graph reading.

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