2nd bachelors accelerated BSN programs..

[FairyFly02]

I am a college grad with a bachelors in English and Psychology. I am considering going back to get a second bachelors in nursing. I have been looking into the accelerated 12-18 month BSN programs specifically designed for students who already have a bachelors degree in an unrelated field. Are these programs as difficult to get into as regular undergrad nursing programs? The main one I am looking at (my local state university) doesn't say anything about being highly competitive or their acceptance rate. I feel like the number of people applying to these programs would be much less than regular nursing programs making them less competitive.. Does anyone have any experience/advice in this area?

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[pamac]

as a matter of fact they are much more competetive.... extremely competetive. the reason why this is the case lay in the terrible job market. vast numbers of people who graduated wit degrees that they cant get a job in want to join a new sector and make a living. health care is where the gold is. additionally, you have folks getting laid off that have steller grades in difficult degree fields, ie. engineers, biologists, etc, that arent finding work, so you are up against more competetive applicants than you might expect. you probably wont just walk into a state university accelerate bsn program without a lot of preparation. the folks who get into the local program where i am have straight A's in prereqs, and almost perfect TEAS scores. the same goes for the CC associates degee in nursing.

 

[FireCloud9]

I second pamac's response. Around here many of the applicants to the ABSN have advanced degrees in other fields - MBAs, JDs, etc. and near 4.0 GPAs - at a minimum, make sure that you have a ~90+ TEAS percentile ranking and all A's in:

• Anatomy
• Physiology
• Microbiology
• Chemistry

Last year the programs around here accepted applicants with 1 or 2 courses in progress. Nowadays they only accept applicants with all the courses completed.

Best of Luck to you in your healthcare pursuits!

 

[SailorNurse]

And I have to agree with the 2 responses above. I teach nursing at a state university & the fast track BSN for those with bachelor's degree was very competitive and since we have a low tuition rate (approx $2500 per semester) we have had applicants come from all over the US. Very competitive with degrees ranging the gamut (history, political science, biology, neurobiology etc etc) and some of the students have had more then one degree (some have 3 bachelor's) and many have master's degrees yes with very high GPAs, have previously graduated with high honors and they continue to excel in the fast track program.

These were highly motivated individuals, amazed me that in less then 12 months after starting the program were fantastic in the hospital clinicals as well as in the classroom. It is a blessing to the nursing profession to have these type of people becoming nurses as they have so much to offer.

PS We no longer have a BSN fast track, it is now an MSN degree. The first cohort just started a few weeks ago.