When applying to nursing schools...Do your reasearch

To all of those getting your applications ready to apply to nursing programs listen up:

Do your reasearch. Visit the campuses, talk to the students and teachers, look at their facilities, sit in on a class or two (if they'll let you), and most importantly find out how many students graduate/year from their program and what their NCLEX pass rates are. It doesnt help getting into a nursing program that boasts a low NCLEX pass rate because if/when you graduate you may not pass the NCLEX if your school didnt give you the information or the tools to pass. It's also not good if a program starts with 100 students and only 20 people make it out. Take it from me. I started out at a bad school...transfered to another program and I graduate this May and couldnt be happier. Before you dedicate your time and money...please please reasearch the schools your interested in.

From what I have found in my research, a lot of nursing schools are kind of secret about certain aspects of their programs. Some of them will tell you what they want you to hear, not always the truth of the matter.

Oohh *nods* thing is...

I tried to research local programs or the colleges in general and I could not find anywhere that published any sort of ranking or statistics. I just wanted to ensure that they have a decent reputation! I mean, it's so subjective to call local hospitals and ask them, the person I talk to may be utterly bias or uninformed.

Maybe since my CC is private they don't have to even publish their info... *ponder* but it's a state University I'm applying to for the BSN program so I'd figure somewhere they'd have to report something? :uhoh21:

Where's a web site of college "rankings" when you need one!

J-9

Try checking out your state's board of nursing website.....I know CA has the NCLEX pass rates for all accredited schools, as well as how many students took it each year.

When researching the NCLEX pass rate, keep in mind that many schools had poor pass rates until they started requiring a pretest. A lot of schools require that you take the pretest and pass it before even sitting for the NCLEX. For example, lets say you start with 60 students. 30 drop out for various reasons, so you are left with 30. 30 students take the pretest and 29 fail. So one student takes the NCLEX. Voila, you have 100% pass rate. Fuzzy math if you ask me.

I tried to find out how many fail the pretest. I was told that they do not keep this information. This school previously had a low pass rate, was put on probation until they came up with the pretest idea. Now they can brag about the pass rate.

There are lies, bald faced lies and then there are statistics...

Other variables to consider - which stats don't - how much of a given schools populatioin speaks english as their second language? This can affect pass rates too. Some schools do better with people who are less proficient in English than others too.

Even someone who speaks great english and normally does very well with it, may revert to their primary language in times of stress and have difficulty thinking and interpreting in English.

Numbers are just numbers - ultimately, you have to interview the school just as they interview you. If you have a choice among schools, grill them a bit and get a feel for how much of a fit that school is for you, then choose the one you feel best abuot. This kind of thing applies to every career path out there, not just nursing.

Oh thanks for the tip on the NCLEX pass rates, I found some at Texas's BON site

Unfortunately there is not much choice around here. I personally will get my in whichever lets my foot in the door. As long as it is an approved program I honestly will give it a shot no matter how difficult ppl say it may be. :)