Turned Away From an ADN Program

I don't usually read the daily newspaper, but I just happened to glance at the front page today and this article in the Clarion-Ledger, a Jackson Mississippi paper, grabbed my attention. I thought it was pretty interesting since just Tuesday I met with the director of a nearby ADN (Associate's Degree in Nursing) program - who actually turned me away from their program because I have already taken too many classes, including many classes more advanced that what they even offer at a community college.

Before I realized that there was a legal problem with Marquette's Direct Entry program I decided to apply to an ADN program. Marquette had indicated that the only way for me to get a degree would be to go through another school as a transfer student. I thought that a community college might be the fastest & least expensive way for me to get a degree, which I need to get a valid Mississippi nursing license. I knew that it would basically mean repeating material I've already done, but my focus was on speed and cost. I figured I should just go ahead and apply and see how many of my credits they would transfer, and then I could decide if it would be worth my time and money to get the ADN or not. So I applied to the nearest community college with an ADN program (which is 45 miles from where I live). The problem is that in order for them to grant a degree from their institution, you have to take at least 25% of the required nursing courses at their school - and I already took ALL of their required courses, plus many more advanced nursing courses, at Marquette. I thought maybe they would let me re-take 25% of the classes at their school, but the director of the program decided that the situation was too irregular and told me that they would not accept me as a student.