Remington College of Nursing - Orlando

U.S.A. Florida

Published

has anyone enrolled in the inaugural accelerated bsn class that started january 2009? what are your impressions so far?

thank you,

topcat

I did not have my transcripts in before they made the decision last July so they took the students who already had everything completed first. So I am guessing that if you finish the class and turn in the transcripts before they make a decision then you are fine.

I did not have to resubmit everything over again. I just had to write a letter to defer my application to the January class.

I was accepted for Jan. but could not go since I could not secure private loans without a cosigner. I too was already recieving private loans(for med school & previously for undergrad).

goodluck!

Specializes in n/a.
I did not have my transcripts in before they made the decision last July so they took the students who already had everything completed first. So I am guessing that if you finish the class and turn in the transcripts before they make a decision then you are fine.

I did not have to resubmit everything over again. I just had to write a letter to defer my application to the January class.

I was accepted for Jan. but could not go since I could not secure private loans without a cosigner. I too was already recieving private loans(for med school & previously for undergrad).

goodluck!

it might just be a blessing in disguise! are you applying to valencia, UCF or any other programs? lake sumter has a program that takes applications in feb, so you could get on that!

Hello willow0918,

How did it go on your first day? Was it interesting? I heard that before you all started school that you all had to read over 16 chapters. What was covered in those chapters and things to know? What was that like?

Also, what was the facility like?

Hope you're not stressed out.

MedicalOne

Specializes in n/a.
Hello willow0918,

How did it go on your first day? Was it interesting? I heard that before you all started school that you all had to read over 16 chapters. What was covered in those chapters and things to know? What was that like?

Also, what was the facility like?

Hope you're not stressed out.

MedicalOne

i know you didn't ask me, but i'll answer with my two cents anyways.

i just finished my second quarter at RCON, and the reading for the first quarter was INSANE. there was once a pharm exam that spanned 39 chapters. it was obscene! the first quarter is just very intense academically. pharm, patho, essentials and health assessment. plus essentials and assessment both have labs, and for the last 4 weeks you have clinicals. i think we had 7 exams during finals week, between exams, lab practicums, and HESIs.

but its doable.

the facility is nice, but bare bones. we have all of these fancy state of the art talking simulators (we have peds, adults, a mother who gives birth, a newborn and an infant). but we have NO printers for student use. there's a copier, but no where to print anything out. there's a fridge, 2 microwaves, and some tables for students to use, so that's nice. the whole campus is wireless, and at each desk are plugs and landline access if you don't want to use the wireless (it works faster, but has a more hardcore firewall).

the second quarter was totally different. we had med-surg lecture + clinical, case management, evidence based research and an online nutrition/health promotion/genetics class. we had a lot of papers due, and all of the teachers are beyond hardcore with their APA. the online class had huge hw assignments every week, open-book tests that were VERY hard (the first one took my 5 hours, the 2nd one took 2.5) and two papers. the other classes- case mgmt and research- both had presentations involved.

i had a 3.8gpa as an undergrad, and now in nursing school i'm at about a 2.9gpa. not doing as well has been weird for me, but i'm trying to work on my study habits. the school is hard, the classes are hard and the teachers don't eff around. there's no wiggle room ever. but i guess being an accelerated program, they kinda have to be hardcore so we get taken seriously.

Hey MedicalOne,

I wasn't stressed out until I just read rad sugar's reply lol! Maybe because it's the first week and I'm going in fresh, I don't feel overwhelmed yet. And during orientation we met 2 students, one from graduating class and one from the senior class, who both are attaining a 4.0 gpa . I found that pretty amazing, especially since both are married and one has 2 kids. So they inspired me.

I was freaked out before starting because, on this forum, someone said you had to read 68 chapters before the first day of class! It turned out not to be true. There was assigned reading, probably closer to 16 chapters, but easily accomplished in the one week.

Best of luck!

Specializes in n/a.
Hey MedicalOne,

I wasn't stressed out until I just read rad sugar's reply lol! Maybe because it's the first week and I'm going in fresh, I don't feel overwhelmed yet. And during orientation we met 2 students, one from graduating class and one from the senior class, who both are attaining a 4.0 gpa . I found that pretty amazing, especially since both are married and one has 2 kids. So they inspired me.

I was freaked out before starting because, on this forum, someone said you had to read 68 chapters before the first day of class! It turned out not to be true. There was assigned reading, probably closer to 16 chapters, but easily accomplished in the one week.

Best of luck!

don't be stressed based on what i was saying- it really is doable, you just have to buckley down and put school first a lot.

as far as the students who talked to yall: the one with 2 kids also has TEN years of tech experience, is in nursing school for the 3rd time and studies probably more than 30 hours a week!!

not to be a negative nancy, because there are plenty of us who still have lives and we're doing fine... but sometimes you don't know the whole background on some of these people.

Hey rad sugar,

Thanx for all the specifics about the program. The 39 chapter thing made me extremely nervous lol, but hey, I'll just have to suck it up like everyone else will. I've put in my app packet and I'm hoping to get in for July. I'm already expecting it to be a challenge (which I openly welcome), and since you're half way through the program I figured you could give me your opinion. Ideally, I would love to be able to study six to seven hours a day, but I know that would be difficult to do because I have a 4 year old. I'm planning to set aside 3-4 hours everyday with no weekend/holiday breaks to compensate. Do you think this will be good enough to do well in the program? Keep in mind that after a few years of working as an RN I plan to go to anesthesia school... so when I mean "well" I mean ending with a 3.6 or higher.

any of you who is thinking about going to this school please reconsider. i just completed my last quarter, we were the first group, we did not know about the hesi exit exam until the third quater, the first time we took it 10 people passed, the second time 2 people, the third time 2 and the 4th time 1 people passe. the remaining six who did not pass will not graduate or get their diploma after paying $30000. the vice president feels if we can not pass hesi we are a risk to the school because we will not be able to pass nclex. had we known about this in the beginning i believe some of us would have though twice about coming to this school

That's a little discouraging... is the hesi exam similar to the nclex? Is 4 the maximum number of attempts allowed?

according to some people who took the nclex they stated that the nclex is much easier the the hesi. I think there is 7 versions of hesi.

For anyone who read ELS4048's post and became even more confused/discouraged about applying/attending (like I did):

I did a little research, and it appears that passing the HESI exam is a standard requirement for most, if not all, nursing programs. Also, each one that I found required at least a 950 with a maximum of 3 attempts (I'm sure there are plenty out there that allow a lower score... this is just what came up in MY search), so I'm grateful that Remington only requires a 900 and allows 4 attempts. I'm assuming the sucky part for the first class to attend the program is that they sort of sprung it on them in the 3rd quarter (so I've read), which does suck. Most states are not allowed to fail a student based on the HESI since it's supposed to only serve as a measure for students most likely to pass the NCLEX, however, based on what ELS4048 said I'm assuming FL is one of those few states that can... I'll have to research that later. Remington is still looking for full accreditation and the boards look at the number of students who pass the HESI. If too many students fail it the school won't get accredited or it will be put under investigation. If they're always under investigation they risk being closed down. I kinda see why they're such sticklers about it.

I was so disturbed by the thought of not being able to get through the program that I spent hours trying to find the quickest alternate route to getting my BSN (my 2nd BS), and this is what I came up with:

1- Become an LPN ($4.5K/12mo) and then enroll in the LPN-BSN bridge online program at Indiana State University ($23K/3yrs) TOTAL: $27.5K/4yrs

2- Become an RN (non-LPN route) @ Herzing ($35K/14mo) and then enroll in an RN-BSN bridge program (there are so many so the cost and time varies, but the good thing is I'll already be working as an RN making decent money while I get my BSN)

Obviously option 2 seemed to be the best, but just becoming an RN already has a $35K price tag, and that's without the BSN. At first I thought Remington was uber-expensive, but after seeing how much it would cost in both time and money to go about it in any other way I kinda feel like I would be getting a bargain at Remington... both RN & BSN for $36K and in only one year. I'm not trying to vouch for Remington or anything cause I think it really does suck how the first students were like the guinea pigs and some cannot graduate, but now that I know about the HESI (which is a graduation requirement everywhere anyway), I'm going to try to keep it in mind from the first day of classes (provided that I get accepted lol). Hope this helps.

littlegator you are right. In fact I can't think of any accelerated BSN program that does not require the Hesi or some kind of exit exam. If one can pass the Hesi with a 900 or above then mostly likely he or she will also pass the NCLEX. This is how most schools keep their NCLEX pass rate high. Some even require you to take it per semester.

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