WGU RN to BSN

A colleague of mine, well a few of them, went with WGU for BSN. I was just talking about it with a veteran nurse, a diploma nurse, she said it was really interesting and she did not have any trouble with it. I actually got pretty excited to hear it was all pathophysiology instead of biochemistry!  I should be starting in a few months. 

Thank you so much for your reply!?

Have you started yet? I start on July 1st and have already done patho at another school. How have the classes been so far? 

Hello, actually I enrolled for May 1 start, but I wound up unenrolling because I was not aware of the 100 hours of clinical requirement. I enrolled with another school instead and started May 9th.

What other changes have they made? 

I believe that's it, just alot of misinformation and confusion on the clinical hours. I was told 100, other were told 112 hours, it was too confusing for me, and you do need a preceptor as well.

I am wanting to start the program but WGU is requiring I take both physiology and stats AGAIN.  Did anyone have to retake both and if so were?  Really bummed about this.  I've taken stats twice already.  Might just look into another program and pay more.  I currently need a whambulance I'm so bummed. ?

I only had to take the core nursing classes. I started July 1st and only have 3 classes left. 

Core nursing classes?  Like anatomy prerequisites?  It’s been more than 10 years so WGU wants me refresh on those two courses.  Were your core nursing classes taken with WGU?  I’m a bit confused sorry ?.  Thanks for answering to my post ?

No, just the required 30 credits for the nursing classes. I had all of my prerequisites completed already from another university. They mentioned something about Straighterline, which is supposedly an online website that you can take prerequisites for like $50 a piece or something like that, and they are affiliated with WGU. Maybe you can look into that and knock out your prereqs that way. 

I am currently in the RN to BSN at WGU and started August 1st. I chose this program because it was the cheapest option, I could fit it in with my schedule, and I can finish the program relatively fast. I couldn't really find any current 2022 information from students on the internet so here's a run down. WGU is the cheapest option if you can do it in less than 1 year or 2 terms  (1 term = 6 months). You pay by the term which I believe to be around 3,700. They have multiple scholarship and grant opportunities to help with this and you may qualify for financial aid.  It was also the most convenient since you can work on a class at any time and start a new class once you finish one. You do have 6 weeks to finish a course but you can always complete it faster than that. There is one exception with a class that you take in the beginning where you do attend 6, 2 hour scheduled live sessions with an instructor. Some lecture, group work, and making recorded videos of yourself talking about lecture topics. You can pick your preferred time to attend. There is a paper at the end but they give you a template and rubric of everything to write which makes it easy. Just follow the rubric and you'll pass. You have multiple attempts with papers. If there something wrong with it, they'll return it with a note on what to fix. Fix it and resubmit it. All papers will have a rubric and the multiple attempt system. The graded exams are different and you only get 2 attempts before you have to pay to take it again. The exams are proctored with an external webcam. You have to schedule an exam time to be proctored. There is only a couple of courses that need a webcam. The rest of the courses involve papers, projects, or other activities to be completed to finish the course. The last 2 courses involve "clinical" hours. One course involves 60 hours and the other one 15. I believe one is shadowing any nurse on a communicable disease and the other one involves shadowing a nurse with a BSN. This can be at a SNF, clinic, etc... I think it just can't be at an inpatient setting. If you have friends or even family to help you with this, it will be no problem. There is a paper at the end as well. The papers can be written in a day or two if you just focus on them. Some classes can be completed in a couple of days if you have the free time and motivation for it. There are modules you read through and watch videos. There are some chapters in textbooks to read that are linked but no textbooks are required to purchase. You do have a program mentor that you must  communicate with every week during the first term. They will schedule a call with you or you can email them. You just talk about the goals you want to accomplish or complete in the upcoming week. They're really nice and helpful. I have 11 courses and would like to finish them in 6 months but I'll definitely be OK with finishing them in less than 12 months.

That's great information. There are a lot of great options out there to obtain a higher degree, it's just a matter of finding what's best for you. I switched from WGU to another school and finished in 2 months. I received my degree in the mail last week. So I'm happy I made the change, but many people have a great experience at WGU.