Loyola University Chicago ABSN Program — Local services in Downers Grove

Update: For future students, the Hybrid Downers Grove location closed down.. now those students (which are usually over 80+ students) filling up the in-person Maywood campus. There are several study places, but there's crossover between having to go to the medical students' study spaces, which beware bc they won't tell you that you can study or go that area because they don't want you to go over to that side. How do I know? I asked beforehand and the admin from the med school side said that we weren't allowed to study there... now you have even more nursing students over saturating the place, along with the grad programs they offer at the health science campus. So I do get the whole lack of study places and it's even worse that there's influx from this program shutting down the DG campus. There was an incident that occurred where faculty (yes, it was a FACULTY member) at the maywood campus disrespected nursing students for not paving the way for her and she said something along the lines of we're below the medical students. Many of us graduates do not want to step foot at a loyola hospital, we deferred to Northwestern instead. Again, do your research and look at hospital rates and satisfactory percentages.

*Pay attention to the NCLEX pass rates when researching programs, 2022 was 87% first time pass rate since 2019 when it was 94% * -- HUGE decrease.

Here are the pros and cons: CONS: Tuition is very very expensive. I do believe the program is a money grab because they charge unnecessary fees, such as a mandatory fitness center fee of $274+ every semester. Major turn off is that these advisor constantly blow up your phone to apply and to submit your application --it screams, "we need your money" Clinical placements and instructors can be horrible! It's a 50/50 chance of getting a good placement. But one of my peers had her community health placement and majority of what they did was LUNCH DUTY. For my mental health clinical, I just sat the entire semester because we couldn't do anything besides vital signs, but the nurses didn't care for that because they can do it themselves, so we would just sit and observe --very boring & a waste of time! 3rd semester clinicals were better for me. I think it's odd that the program doesn't teaching us how to do IVs in foundations lab and even the lab instructors brought that up as well.

PROS: Maywood campus is nice... because it was built for the medical students. Professors are good for the most part and then there are professors who are not good at teaching students, such as foundations of nursing, med surge, and I've noticed that the old nursing professors don't do a good job at teaching because their teaching style is very traditional. Academic advisor is great.

Overall, would I recommend this program? no. But this is just my opinion. No one should be bamboozled by...

They have their staff write reviews for the program lol. I can't speak for the DG campus, BUT their Maywood ABSN program is an absolute JOKE. Orientation (which included the DG students for the 1st day) had no welcoming signs and you need an ID badge to get into the building, but as orientation students, we don't have that. So a group of us had to wait until a student came in and opened the door for us and from there, there were no signs indicating where orientation was, so we were wandering around the elevator and floors trying to look for the orientation room until we finally found it.

IMPORTANT IF YOU ATTEND THE MAYWOOD ABSN PROGRAM there are NO study areas. The library that they have should not be called a library. It's one small area that's open (reminds me of a cafeteria) and they have I think 3 or 4 quiet study rooms. It's sad because we share the building with the med school students so you have all the nursing students AND med school students with no where to study. You have thousands of students with only 3 to 4 quiet study rooms????? You can go drive to the lakeshore campus to study (which is the main campus) if you want to pay an ADDITIONAL $300 to pay for their semester parking on top of already paying for the Maywood campus parking. But act fast! because the Lakeshore campus sells out on their $300 parking permits and if you don't buy one, then you're stuck with paying $7 A DAY to park your car because YOUR HEALTH SCIENCES "LIBRARY" DOESN'T HAVE ADEQUATE STUDY SPACES FOR THE THOUSANDS OF STUDENTS THAT ATTEND THIS CAMPUS.

This place is a joke. And all the staff that you encounter while applying for this school leave/take on new jobs and you wonder why.....

But at the same time, if you apply to this school then you automatically get accepted. You have to be really incompetent to not get in. Fair warning, it does come with...

Deciding to go back to school is never an easy decision. However, after completing Loyola's ABSN program, I wish I would have taken the opportunity years earlier!

I attended the MAYWOOD ON CAMPUS program and graduated in December 2023. The education I received in Loyola's ABSN program goes beyond the classroom and hospital walls. From the first day to the last, I feel that I was supported, prepared for success, and was provided with a safe, welcoming learning environment.

As a student, it was very important to me that I had several places on campus to study, collaborate with other students, and practice my skills. The Maywood campus has SEVERAL locations within the school of nursing and the connecting medical school that allow nursing students to independently study and collaborate with peers. Additionally, the simulation center is phenomenal! The simulation lab not only allows you as a nursing student to practice skills and critically think but provides interprofessional collaboration as well. Furthermore, I had the opportunity to be mentored by several professors as to where I see my impact as a nurse and how to achieve my goals. Not only did the faculty support me within the classroom and throughout clinicals, but they took the time to get to know me as an individual and desired my success.

As a graduate of this program, it is very disheartening to read such unrealistic reviews of this program and nursing school. I am SO proud of my decision to become a Loyola...