can't believe what they are doing ..

That is nuts. I had to go out of state for my nursing education because I would have had to wait at least three years to get into the program. I am sorry this is going on and I know how frustrating it can be.

Thanks for the reply, CalebMommy! Here's part of the email I got back from ACC:

>>
All candidates who had applied to the program and received a waitlist number by the "cut-off date" of December 19, 2008 will, in good faith, be offered admission. It is anticipated that it will take between two and three years to offer admission to all those candidates who applied under the first come first served process.

No student accepted under the first come first served application process who got a waitlist number by December 19, 2008 will be denied an offer to the program. When all those candidates have been offered admission, then ACC will go to the competitive qualifications process.
>>

So, if one fulfilled the pre-reqs and applied to and got a waitlist number from ACC before 12/19/08, it looks like he or she is in, after spending time in Waitlist Jail. It looks like ACC won't be changing their criteria for the people who made it onto their waitlist...it only seems fair to me that the other schools in the community college system do the same thing.

And they wonder why there's a nursing shortage!!!!!!!!

Good luck to you, and to all of us!

Penny

I am new to this site, well that is not true, I have read quite a bit in google searches that brought me here, but I am a new member. Anyway, I wanted to jump in here. it will vary greatly by school. I was living in Washington State and it was VERY hard to get in the nursing program there. I did most of my pre reqs. there. It is crazy how long the wait lists are but I am happy that here in CO they give everyone a chance or did. Even if you weren't a 4.0 student. In WA the area I lived in, if you had anything below a 3.8 GPA you could count yourself out pretty much. It was all done on points and points jumped a lot for 4.0 students.

I got on the waitlist for FRCC-Larimer when I still lived in WA, March 2006. This was before Micro was required to get on the list. Just had to be done before you entered. You also got to pick between your top 3 colleges in CO. Now you can only be on ONE waitlist in CO which is dumb. Anyway, so I have been on the waitlist for 3 years in 2 weeks and I JUST NOW got my acceptance letter to start in the Fall Semester. Granted I am thankful to finally get in before all these new changes but come August when I start that would have been 3.5 years I was on the waitlist. It's crazy but then again, at least I got a shot.

The problem is there aren't enough places for students to do their clinicals, so the schools are limited in how many they can accept. The question then becomes should the schools accept all applicants that meet the admissions criteria on a first-come first served basis (waitlists) or should they accept the most qualified applicants?

That is a tough one because what constitutes "most qualified" Is it simply a GPA?? Another college I went to, you pretty much were not going to get into the nursing program unless you had a 3.8 GPA or higher. The problem with that, it takes more than perfect grades to be a good nurse. Some of those nursing students were some of the most stuck up, impersonal people I have ever met. Sure they were more qualified then the B and C students, but they had the personality of rocks, and being in the field of nursing personality is at least half of it. IMO

I talked to ACC and PCC and they are going to currently admit the people on the waitlist prior to going to a competitive program. PPCC is not going to do that. They are going to admit the people who have been on the waitlist for three years or longer and everyone else is losing their place on the waitlist and going to the competitive program. I feel for the people who have been on the waitlist for 2 years, met all of the prior qualifications, and can't get in because of their grades.

There is also a big shortage of nursing instructors, you have to take that into consideration. Look at any nursing program and I bet they will have openings for teachers. And the number of wannabe nurse students keep increasing. The schools can't keep up. And since the majority of nurses leave the field in a couple of years, I think they are trying to be more selective. They don't want to train these men and women only to have them not stay in nursing.

Front Range is still doing waitlist, at least the Larimer Campus is, they did change things a little and that is people that already have a BS in another area will get top priority, which in a way makes sense. When they said changes were going to be made I thought they were going to go to a point system but that was the only change they made. When I start in August, I would have been on the waitlist for 3.5 years so I don't have a lot of sympathy for people much less then that LOL.

People that live in Fort Collins, can also commute to Cheyenne and do Nursing there. I know a handful of people that have done that, they don't have waitlist but they are much easier to get into, there isn't an over abundance of nurses there. In fact the cordinator there told me majority of there nursing students are CO residents.

Fort Morgan is a longer commute for those in the Larimer County Area but also better chances of starting sooner. When I got on the waitlist Micro wasn't required yet to get on the list, you had to have it done before you started but not to get on the list. Back then you also picked 3 colleges you would be willing to attend. Well knowing the wait for Fort Morgan was much shorter I put that on my list. I got on the list Mid March and I got offered Admission to Fort Morgan that August. I had to pass since 1) I found out I was pregnant and 2) I wasn't going to have Micro Done in time because I didn't think it would be THAT quick.

Anyway those are a couple options for those that don't want to wait as long and are willing to commute.

I agree GPA shouldn't be the only factor in determining "most qualified". I think you need to take other factors into account such as previous experience, interviews, recommendations, etc. We can debate all day about exactly what factors should be considered and how much weight should be given to each to determine who is the "most qualified."

But I agree with moving to a selective process. If I'm a patient, I'd much rather be treated by a nurse who was selected for nursing school based on his/her accomplishments rather than one who met the absolute minimum requirements and got in just because their turn came up on the wait list. Of course their are instances where the second person could do better in nursing school and become a better nurse than the first person, but I would say that in most cases, the first person is going to become a better nurse.

And as Satori77 said, there is a pretty high turnover rate for nurses in the first couple of years of practice. I would love to know if there are any stats on this, but I would bet that the turnover is lower among nurses who went to programs with competitive application processes. Someone who is willing to go through a competitive process is (on average) going to be more motivated than someone who does just enough to get into a program that takes everyone in order from a waitlist. I have no data to back this claim up, so feel free to shoot holes in the theory.

I suppose it would really just depend on the person. I struggled in my science classes, I had been out of school for 8 years when I went back and I never had Chemistry and stuff in HS. Maybe because I went to an alternative HS since I was a teen mom. I graduated with a HS Diploma but I didn't have Anatomy and Chemistry at all. So I got C's in A&P and Chemistry. I got A's in Psych and Sociology, a B in English 101 which is Ironic because I make tons of Grammar and Spelling errors :| So to someone else looking at my transcripts it might look like I "did just enough to get by" but that wasn't the case. I busted my butt to try and do well in my Science classes, I had a lot going against me at the time as well and I didn't give up. My marriage had gone to hell, I hadn't been in school for so long, this was all foriegn to me and I had 3 kids at home to contend with as well, young children at that. But I didn't give up. I have been waiting for over 3 years without giving up, I have hit many road blocks moving to a new state and getting grades transferred as well. But through all of it I have stayed positive and kept going. I KNOW I will make a a great nurse. I would have no Medical Exp. No letters of recommendation as I have been home raising my children and not out working. I don't know many people here, I had a lot of medical issues that kept me off my feet for the most part for over a year. I know my Micro Teacher and my Nutrition Teacher would probably write me a great recomendation, they said I was a huge asset to the class and they really enjoyed having me there. But other then that I am guessing with my "qualifications" I wouldn't have much of a chance with "better qualified" people. But I can assure you I did not wait over 3 years to start nusing school to give up, to loose interest, or to not give it my all, I am not a stupid person and I am a quick learner that is not afraid to ask questions. I did get a B in Microbiology and so far have a B in Pathophysiology. But I have no doubt whatsoever that I am going to be an outstanding nurse and one that probably stands out and makes a mark on people in a positive way.

Like I said though, I can only speak for me.