[c2010]

Last year my school (2 year community college) went to a cohort system. They admit 4 classes a year (Aug, Oct, Jan and March) of 30 people each. Also, instead of taking classes for 16 weeks, you take 1 class every 8 weeks, and have clinical 2x a week as well.

I was told that it was changed b/c they'd have a huge class at the beginning of the semester, then half the class would quit by the end of the add/drop period. There was a problem with failure rates as well. And, the 30 people that I start with on Monday, will be the same 30 people I graduate with in 2 years.

My question is this? How does your school run? And if it runs on a schedule like this, have you found it helpful or not helpful? I think I like the 1 class every 8 weeks, though I'm kind of wondering how we're going to get through this HUGE fundamentals book,that has over 1000 pages in it and a critical thinking book in 8 weeks.

Not that I'm going to quit or anything. I tried to get into a 2nd degree BSN program, and I was so far down on the waiting list that it would have been at least another 2 years before I got in.

[Chantilly]

Personally I don't think I would really like the schedule you have...seems a little too intense for my liking. I am also in a 2 year CC program but things don't work that way at our school. I am going into my 3rd semester and my class is the smallest class with 47 students. My school has changed how they do things since I started though. Now they admit 70-80 students each semester and they are divided into 2 smaller classes. Our classes last 16 weeks with clinical once a week for 12 hours. I know that everyone in my class passed 2nd semester and we only lost 5 during our first semester. I am not sure how the class behind us did but overall our school has a low failure and drop rate. Good luck with your intense schedule!!

[Dream2BANurse]

My CC admits in Fall and Spring semester for LPN and Fall semester only for RN. They are 16 week courses.

[anurse2be09]

My CC spreads out the 120 lucky accepted students into four groups of 30. One group starts in August, one in October, one in January and the final group in March. We have four semesters broken down into 8 wk classes. I think the hard part is going to be having 3 months off during the summer, seems like our brains will go to mush with that much downtime.

[Tampagirl]

I'm in a LPN program and the school itself has five classes four during the days (M-F) and one part time in the evening (M-Th). We are in 9 week quins and usually do one class at a time with clinicals mixed in. Each class accepts 60 students but it usually drops to about half of that by the time graduation comes. I like it because you only have to study for one thing at a time but I'm used to having three or four classes to study for. Our fundamentals book is 2200 pages and we graduate in March and we've just about read the whole thing so you will get through it. We also have a spring, summer, and winter break but the instructors were nice enough to give us a lot of stuff to do so "we won't forget anything". So if you have breaks in your schedule you might still have school work to do.

[studentnursemommy]

I am in an ADN program and we have ~150 every Fall start and another but smaller group start every Spring. In the summer there is an LPN to RN bridge program that combines semesters 1&2. The students that start in the spring take semester 1 in the spring and semester 2 in the summer. That way the class that started in the fall, the spring starting class and the LPN bridgers all combine in the fall for semester 3. So the empty seats even out again, and there are still people being admitted throughout the year. I like it, and think it's really fair.

[misc.jen]

My CC admits 56 students in the fall and 56 in the spring.

[supafly]

Ea semester:
One new class (that's 2 per yr).
One main theory class that's a semester long.
A couple other classes that are 8 wks a piece.

I'd rather take several classes simultaneously that are all 16 wks. I imagine it would be less stressful that way.

[Wolfe24]

We are admitted in the spring and fall, I think ~70 or so. Not many tend to drop, but at the end of my fundamentals we were around 60 people left. The first semester is 16 weeks of fundamentals, then we have five courses of 7 weeks each, then the final advanced course is 16 weeks. So if you start in the fall, you will graduate in May 1 1/2 years later. If you start in the spring, you will graduate in december 2 years later b/c you can't take the last 16 week course over the summer and end up having the summer off.

I rather like the quick 7 week courses. They are more specific (adult health 1&2, peds, maternity, psych), so if you aren't particularly interested in it, you get it over and done with quick. If you like it, you can choose to spend more time in that area during the last semester. 7 weeks is a very short amount of time to pack the information in, but somehow we are able to do it, and the school has very good nclex pass rates, so I guess it works.

[nurz2be]

I have explained my classes on other forums so here goes....

My program, ASN - RN, is an accelerated program. If someone has to take all pre reqs the program is 22 months long. All pre reqs are 4 weeks in length. I had to take all my pre reqs, so all my classes, AP I and II, Algebra, Micro and so on...were all 4 weeks in length, 5 days a week, most were 5-7 hours per day.

Now, if someone does not have to take any pre reqs, because they have them completed from somewhere else, the ASN-RN portion of the program is 16 months in length. Fundamentals is the only exception and it lasts 3 months, the rest, pharmacology, psychology, med surg, peds, and so on...are all 4 weeks in duration. Classes are M W F --- T TH are for on site clinicals. Classes start at 7 or 8 AM and go until 3 or 5, depending on the class. Clinicals are 6:45 AM until 1-3 PM.

Now, class size is 24. We have 2 clinical groups and by state law are only allowed 12 per clinical site, FBON. Our school starts a new set of nursing students every 3 months, so in one year we have 4 classes of 24. Now, that being said, the class that started fundamentals 3 months ago, and now starting pharmacology, has already lost 7 students. That number is high, but this course is extremely intense. The grades expected are high and the quality of nursing students they turn out is one of the most respected in my area.

I feel the class size is great. I can't imagine going to one of these schools where they have 30+ students. We have 2 instructors with us at all times, of which we have 6 total instructors for our students. As far as how quickly we move, 4 weeks per class, it is tough but it makes you really focus on what you are doing. It isn't for everyone but I like it. It is challenging and it challenges me to reach out and stretch my brains..... LOL.