Colorado Nursing Schools????

maddmaddie

Anyone live in Colorado? What area is your favorite? I'm looking at applying to nursing schools out of state and don't know what college or area to pick. I would love to apply to a school in Colorado, but I don't know where start.

Here is a list of my options in Colorado.
http://www.dora.state.co.us/nursing/education/RN Associate Degree Programs4.27.12.pdf


Thanks, any recommendations or input would be appreciated.

_GlaDOS_

I would choose somewhere in Denver or Ft. Collins. If you're just looking for an Associate's Degree, to be honest, the school doesn't really matter.

Do not live in Greeley. It smells of dead animals and poop. No joke.

Do not live in Colorado Springs. It's pretty, but really boring. And the super religious folks are not much fun to be around.

Pueblo should be at the bottom of your list as well.

The rest are pretty small towns, with not much going for them. But, you could also live in Boulder and go to Front Range in Longmont. But I don't recommend living in Longmont (it's about 20 minutes or so from Boulder). Boulder is nice. Full of rich hippies, but nice.

Also, there is this group if you want more opinions: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/53-mile-high-mfp

ImJDLookatME

I would choose somewhere in Denver or Ft. Collins. If you're just looking for an Associate's Degree, to be honest, the school doesn't really matter.

Do not live in Greeley. It smells of dead animals and poop. No joke.

Do not live in Colorado Springs. It's pretty, but really boring. And the super religious folks are not much fun to be around.

Pueblo should be at the bottom of your list as well.

The rest are pretty small towns, with not much going for them. But, you could also live in Boulder and go to Front Range in Longmont. But I don't recommend living in Longmont (it's about 20 minutes or so from Boulder). Boulder is nice. Full of rich hippies, but nice.


Also, there is this group if you want more opinions: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/53-mile-high-mfp

Even if you are only going for an Associates make sure the school is NLNAC, otherwise you are wasting your money.

LilRedRooster

I would choose somewhere in Denver or Ft. Collins. If you're just looking for an Associate's Degree, to be honest, the school doesn't really matter.

Do not live in Greeley. It smells of dead animals and poop. No joke.

Do not live in Colorado Springs. It's pretty, but really boring. And the super religious folks are not much fun to be around.

Pueblo should be at the bottom of your list as well.

The rest are pretty small towns, with not much going for them. But, you could also live in Boulder and go to Front Range in Longmont. But I don't recommend living in Longmont (it's about 20 minutes or so from Boulder). Boulder is nice. Full of rich hippies, but nice.

Also, there is this group if you want more opinions: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/53-mile-high-mfp

Second the mile high group. We're friendly.

And yeah, the religious fundies in the Springs area overall are REALLY obnoxious. That being said, the Springs is a nice area, in general, and offers a lot of opportunities without being as expensive as Denver/Boulder area. Plus, it's only about an hour away from Denver, so a day trip is totally doable. But trust me, real estate, even renting up there, is EXPENSIVE. We looked into living up there, and yeah.. Couldn't do school and live in the Boulder vicinity, even though the area is great.

That being said, where you apply depends on your goals. If you'd like to get a Bachelor's, go for one of the schools up north, like CSU in Boulder (they're supposed to be a great school), or if you're looking to live a little more west, Mesa State College in Grand Junction has good Bachelor's opportunities, and they're a good school. I looked into going there, but we didn't end up on that side of the state. CSU Pueblo has a Bachelor's, but I don't like Pueblo.. It's like the armpit of Colorado. Cheap, if you're looking to not spend a lot of money on things like rent, food, and general expenses,and they're accredited, but the city itself is an armpit.

If you're looking for an associate's, many community colleges offer pretty similar opportunities. I go to Pueblo Community College in Fremont (Canon City), and it's a nice school. I'm waiting to see if they accepted me to the nursing program for the fall at the moment, actually. They're VERY student-oriented, with small classes, and are very helpful in general. Most community colleges in the area are pretty similar in terms being student-oriented, so you'll find a good experience, and an Associate's will give you a foot in the door anywhere, and you can go for your Bachelor's once you start working as an RN.

You WILL end up paying out-of-state tuition, though, if you start school without living here for a year, and the state of Colorado is ridiculously EXPENSIVE, even at a little community college. That is a huge consideration if you're a bit strapped for money, because even with loans, the past two semesters for me were ones in which I barely made the tuition with money leftover for living.

Feel free to add me if you life, btw.

ImJDLookatME

I would choose somewhere in Denver or Ft. Collins. If you're just looking for an Associate's Degree, to be honest, the school doesn't really matter.

Do not live in Greeley. It smells of dead animals and poop. No joke.

Do not live in Colorado Springs. It's pretty, but really boring. And the super religious folks are not much fun to be around.

Pueblo should be at the bottom of your list as well.

The rest are pretty small towns, with not much going for them. But, you could also live in Boulder and go to Front Range in Longmont. But I don't recommend living in Longmont (it's about 20 minutes or so from Boulder). Boulder is nice. Full of rich hippies, but nice.

Also, there is this group if you want more opinions: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/53-mile-high-mfp

Second the mile high group. We're friendly.

And yeah, the religious fundies in the Springs area overall are REALLY obnoxious. That being said, the Springs is a nice area, in general, and offers a lot of opportunities without being as expensive as Denver/Boulder area. Plus, it's only about an hour away from Denver, so a day trip is totally doable. But trust me, real estate, even renting up there, is EXPENSIVE. We looked into living up there, and yeah.. Couldn't do school and live in the Boulder vicinity, even though the area is great.

That being said, where you apply depends on your goals. If you'd like to get a Bachelor's, go for one of the schools up north, like CSU in Boulder (they're supposed to be a great school), or if you're looking to live a little more west, Mesa State College in Grand Junction has good Bachelor's opportunities, and they're a good school. I looked into going there, but we didn't end up on that side of the state. CSU Pueblo has a Bachelor's, but I don't like Pueblo.. It's like the armpit of Colorado. Cheap, if you're looking to not spend a lot of money on things like rent, food, and general expenses,and they're accredited, but the city itself is an armpit.

If you're looking for an associate's, many community colleges offer pretty similar opportunities. I go to Pueblo Community College in Fremont (Canon City), and it's a nice school. I'm waiting to see if they accepted me to the nursing program for the fall at the moment, actually. They're VERY student-oriented, with small classes, and are very helpful in general. Most community colleges in the area are pretty similar in terms being student-oriented, so you'll find a good experience, and an Associate's will give you a foot in the door anywhere, and you can go for your Bachelor's once you start working as an RN.

You WILL end up paying out-of-state tuition, though, if you start school without living here for a year, and the state of Colorado is ridiculously EXPENSIVE, even at a little community college. That is a huge consideration if you're a bit strapped for money, because even with loans, the past two semesters for me were ones in which I barely made the tuition with money leftover for living.

Feel free to add me if you life, btw.

Just so you know, CSU and CU-Boulder don't have Nursing schools. The only Bachelors of Nursing program up north is in Greeley.

LilRedRooster

Just so you know, CSU and CU-Boulder don't have Nursing schools. The only Bachelors of Nursing program up north is in Greeley.

Really? I didn't know they didn't have Bachelor's programs. Though to be fair, I wasn't going to spend more money on the first year going for that when I could get an Associate's, so I didn't look at all the Bachelor's programs, just a few. Thanks for the correction.

_GlaDOS_

UCCS (Colorado Springs) apparently has a really good nursing school if you want a bachelor's degree (http://www.uccs.edu/~bethel). When I was at UCCS though, the waiting list to get into their nursing school was a couple of years.