2 year waiting list 4 nursing program....

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Hi everyone,

My name is Michele and I am currently taking my prerequisites before being accepted into the nursing program at Salt Lake Community College, in Salt Lake City Utah.

I am so shocked, by the rumors I have heard from fellow nursing students. I have been told numerous times, by other pre-nursing students, that there is a 2 year or more wait to begin the Nursing program. I know that there are not enough class seats (60 - 90 seats per nursing course, per semester) to fill the demand of students wanting to become nurses.

Has anyone heard of such a "waiting list"?

If this is all true, then I will be waiting for 2 years before I can come back to school and start nursing school to earn my A.A.S. degree in nursing.

Is a waiting list a common practice in all schools or just mine?

Any insite or information will be greatly appreciated and helpful.

Thanks.

(Feeling very frustrated.)

:confused:

sincerely

Michele

IMHO, the nursing shortage is what's causing the hold up in admission of new nursing students. Not enough nursing instructors!! Also, in California, humongous budget cuts have further reduced number of classes as well as increased costs at the community college level, as well as the bachelors.

Originally posted by sierranic

You might want to be careful with those voc schools that advertise their LPN courses. I looked into one in my local area and just for the LPN diploma it would cost 16,000 .... my local CC would have only cost about 4k. Also the credits wouldn't transfer to my CC college so if I decided to go for the RN degree I would have to retake all the basic courses :( A&P, Micro, so on and so on, so there would be more money I would have to dish out!! So if you consider those schools look really hard into it before deciding you want to take that route.

I have also heard that the education level is not as high as the local CC was, alot of failures on the state exams! But there was one good thing that I liked, the LPN program started every 10 weeks, so no matter what you would be accepted in a very short time, no 2 year + wait. My thought was, I'll just spend those 2 years on the wait list and get all the non-nursing courses done even through the BN degree, so when I do get in, all I will need to worry about is the Nursing courses!!

But that's just my opinion! No offense to any voc school students :) It's just the rumors I have heard about the school in my area!

I agree with you.....there are 2 LPN programs here (private) that cost $14K and $17K. I have also heard that some of these private schools are not accredited and that after you finish you CAN'T EVEN TAKE THE EXAM TO BE A LPN. I would be so furious!!!! Yeah..you might have to wait a little while....but why spend ALOT more $$$ and then have to retake classes because they won't transfer???

Specializes in Med/Surg, Tele, Peds, LDRP.
Originally posted by amyindallas

I agree with you.....there are 2 LPN programs here (private) that cost $14K and $17K. I have also heard that some of these private schools are not accredited and that after you finish you CAN'T EVEN TAKE THE EXAM TO BE A LPN. I would be so furious!!!! Yeah..you might have to wait a little while....but why spend ALOT more $$$ and then have to retake classes because they won't transfer???

Yes, you do have to be careful about this....one program I found was at a place called Concorde Career Institute and they have them all over the place....it costs 16,000 bucks!!! Luckily I found a program at a vocational/tech school that only costs a little over 3 thousand and that included books and uniforms and everything. I think places like Concorde target out those who are really desperate to get in somewhere(which many are, as well as those who have more money than sense!) because it makes no sense to pay that much for 1 year of school!! That costs more than all 4 years of undergrad at many colleges!!

People just have to be smart and do their research and not get suckered into anything. Of course money is an important factor and of course you should always make sure the program is accredited. Anyone who would pay all that money and not even check everything out lacks common sense. For the most part, you will find that vocational/tech schools LPN programs are very similar in price to community colleges and most are less of a hassle because they arent widely known of, as I mentioned earlier. I think its a great option and one more people should look into who are frustrated about waiting over and over to get into a nursing program at their school of choice. A nurse is a nurse is a nurse, right? Its very easy to bridge over to RN later, and if u already have college credit, thats just less classes you will have to take when u go back.

Besides, its the same issue with credits not transferring even if you go to a community college. You dont receive college credit for LPN courses, its vocational credits(at least its that way at every community college whose program I looked at). You get a diploma/certificate, not a degree. Thats why they tell you to go ahead and take the college level of Anatomy and Physiology instead of the basic(vocational) if you think you will want to go to RN school later. It is wise to get some of those classes out of the way because it will make the transition easier. At most colleges they have a bridge program for LPNs so it is shorter than the traditiona RN degree. You are getting advanced placement in the program.

My local CC doesn't do a waiting list. They accept applications until May 1st every year, then admit all the students that they can based on their ranking procedures. Everyone that doesn't get admitted has to reapply for the next year. Whether or not you are accepted is going to depend on the quality of applicants they receive each year. If they, say, accept 60 students, and you are ranked 65 this year, you could be ranked 100 next year. You just never know.

:rolleyes: Hi....Michele, you are just a little too far north! I'm down here in Las Vegas and we don't have that same problem. I am going into my last semester in January but when I applied, I got in a semester EARLY!

From what I hear, it's still not too bad getting in. In fact, the Nevada Legislature has mandated that nursing schools accept more people in 2004. You should try for it. Lots of people come from Utah to go to school down here.

We're not all wicked:chuckle

Karen

Originally posted by Forevermomof5

:rolleyes: Hi....Michele, you are just a little too far north! I'm down here in Las Vegas and we don't have that same problem. I am going into my last semester in January but when I applied, I got in a semester EARLY!

From what I hear, it's still not too bad getting in. In fact, the Nevada Legislature has mandated that nursing schools accept more people in 2004. You should try for it. Lots of people come from Utah to go to school down here.

We're not all wicked:chuckle

Karen

hi there forevermomof5!!!!

I'm at the same school and as of last semester they only turned away 4 ppl. That was the first time in 4 years that they had to turn away anyone!

With 3 programs in the area, you really have your pick.

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