applying to Quincy College part time program for Jan 2013

U.S.A. Massachusetts

Published

Hi,

Is anyone else applying to this program? The application deadline is July 15. I am planning to apply - now trying to figure out how I can take the prerequisites in time!

Ryan

Yeah, I'm taking A&P II right now & then I think all I need is micro (besides the nursing classes). I was planning to take micro next summer b/c I don't think there are any nursing classes planned for this upcoming summer... Or at least that's what the schedule says that was sent out with the acceptance letter. I'm really trying to only take one class per semester - hopefully it's do-able! I think I might have to take computers at some point. For undergrad I was able to test out of computers so I never technically took it. I need to ask someone about that. I have so many questions!! LOL

0 Votes
Specializes in Psych/Mental Health.
Yeah, I'm taking A&P II right now & then I think all I need is micro (besides the nursing classes). I was planning to take micro next summer b/c I don't think there are any nursing classes planned for this upcoming summer... Or at least that's what the schedule says that was sent out with the acceptance letter. I'm really trying to only take one class per semester - hopefully it's do-able! I think I might have to take computers at some point. For undergrad I was able to test out of computers so I never technically took it. I need to ask someone about that. I have so many questions!! LOL

Yeah I think they squeeze in the non-nursing classes in Summer Session I, then nursing classes start with Session II, which begins early July. People like us with undergrad probably waived out of quite a few of those gen. ed. courses so there'll be a little break in the summer. I still have to take US History/Government though....definitely not looking forward to it. :(

0 Votes

I'm in the same boat! I was able to skip a lot of the general courses, but apparently I never took history in undergrad, woops! I'm going to take it during summer session I of the second year. It definitely stinks because I was thinking that would be a nice little break. I'm trying to stay positive though! I just keep thinking as long as I don't have to do any classes simultaneously with the nursing classes that I'll be okay. Not totally looking forward to taking history though... How is the online computer class?

0 Votes
Specializes in Psych/Mental Health.

The online computer class isn't that bad. So far I haven't had to spend much time on it because we're going through microsoft office. We just do assignments and upload them through the online portal. The later part of the course would have some online quizzes. The only time I have to show up is for the final exam. Not having to physically go to class is definitely flexible.

0 Votes

Congrats to all that are starting soon in Quincy- I am a current student just about to finish my first year of the part time program if you have any questions. Just be aware - you need to have a go with the flow attitude with this program- it is very unorganized and if you have a strict schedule it will be an issue- dates/ times change all the time so your schedule needs to be flexible. Be prepared to read every page of every chapter- test questions come directly from readings and if you don't keep up you will not do as well

0 Votes
Specializes in Psych/Mental Health.

TaylorBean- Thanks for reaching out. I've got a few questions here. I'm sure I'll find out more during orientation, but it's nice to hear from a current student's perspective.

1. What's your schedule like? I know you mentioned that it changes, but generally what days/hours are your lectures/labs and clinical?

2. How many students are in your PT class?

3. Does the school assign you to clinical sites or do you pick? What are some of the facilities where student do their clinical?

4. How are the instructors? Do you feel like they provide good support? Is there any support in terms of career counseling etc.?

5. How challenging has the material been for you? Do you get test questions from instructors or those standardized ones? How much time do you find yourself studying outside of the classroom setting?

0 Votes

1.for the most part- class is Tuesday evening 4-9 pm with alternating labs Monday and Wednesday's - then you will have lab one day, clinical one day and class one day2. There are about 32 students3. You might get assigned or you might be able to pick- it depends on your professor- our first semester we rated the sites 1-4 and got either 1 or 2 choiceSometimes you do not pick but people are willing to trade and that is acceptableMost facilities are in the south shore:Fundamentals clinical sites were south shore hospital, Brockton hospital, Milton hospital, maybe Norwood but not sure on that oneMaternity was south shore hospital and tuftsMed surge 1- south shore , carney, Norwood, Jordan 4. The instructors are either really good or really bad- our fundamentals instructor for the most part was iffy as well as our maternity instructor- pretty much they just read the power points with no significant inputOur instructor for medsurge 1 has been amazing but clinical instructors vary and communication with clinical instructors and the school is ridiculously unorganizedCareer counseling is never discussed5. The material itself is not that tough but if you do not put in 100% effort you will fail- questions are standardized - the questions are all nclex style to help you pass it in the end but getting used to the questions will take time - there's always two right answers just one if the most right The readings can take a long time- I pretty much read them before class and then go over it again and take notes on it after the lesson so I don't fall behind- before a test I will study 3 full days in a row about 18 hoursI would suggest buying a nclex question book to help prepare you for practice test taking - usually they are separated by subject

0 Votes
Specializes in Psych/Mental Health.

Thanks, that's really helpful!

0 Votes

@TaylorBean:

Thanks so much for your post! I've been watching this thread because I'm also starting the PT program this January and have been anxiously awaiting orientation to get some info. You def answered some questions for me as well!

0 Votes

I am a full time, RN student at QC due to graduate in May 2013.

This nursing program is highly unorganized as a prior poster stated. Its been 3 weeks since our final exam for 3rd semester, 1 week till the start of the 4th semester and many of us have YET to receive our final course grades. Emails, phone calls to staff/ professors are hardly ever returned. Although, more progress is made when going in to talk to the professors face to face.

Tutoring was cut back due to the budget. Many computer programs (phys wiz) that were offered to previous years are no longer available. ATI is a required exam every student must pay $120 per semester to take and it doesn't effect your grade whatsoever and is often scheduled at very inconvenient times. Such as, the day before our final exams where valuable, crucial study time could have been utilized. The books that were to be supplied to students from ATI were never supplied. Money and time wasted.

Clinical sites often choose other 4yr programs over Quincy. Or we often lose sites to other schools. I personally was moved 3 times last semester AND some students did not have a clinical site secured and had to make up clinical over winter break!!

The only Boston hospital we go to is Tufts in chinatown for 2nd semester maternity. The Boston hospitals won't take Quincy because we are not a 4 yr school. Most clinicals are at nursing homes aside from south shore hospital, Quincy and Jordan. You find out your clinical location often during orientation about 1 wk prior to the start of the semester. But as I said it is always subject to change at any given time. Even though we are in a full time day program, clinical can be a 1 day a week 12hr Saturday rotation or a 2 day- Tuesday, Thursday 7-3 or 3-11 shift. Flexibility is a MUST. They will tell you at your very first orientation that they suggest you do not work at all or if you have to no more than 15 hrs per wk while in nursing school...and they mean it! I often put in 3-4 hrs of study time 7 days a week and still feel unprepared. The learning is very fast paced and not something that can be memorized.

(3) 100 exam questions and (1) 130 question final exam make up your overall grade per semester. Attendance, group projects and clinical do not add to your grade at all. People have failed out by only .5 points! Grades for exams take for.....evvvv.....errr to be received. Other programs, students find out their grade that day of the exam. Expect a week if not more before you find out your grade for an exam. Their classic excuse is that the "scantron is broken" and the nursing department is the only department that uses scantron for their exams (yeah right!) It adds to the stress, as if we don't have enough already!

Class size was a joke. They had us in the Saville building 70+ students in one classroom

Honestly, with the aggravation and money spent, if I could do it over I would bite the bullet and go to a 4yr school.

Every year they start out with around 90 students. Last years graduating class had 62 students and our class is starting the final semester with about 65 students.

I wish this post wasn't so "debbie downer-ish" but I was warned from previous graduates of this programs defects and still proceeded. I'm sure every school has its issues but most other nursing students I speak with do not have these issues.

Good luck :)

0 Votes
Specializes in Psych/Mental Health.

Thanks zoie314! It is always good to get an honest feedback like yours and TaylorBean's, just so people know what to expect. Now I won't be caught by surprise. I'll do whatever I need to get through the program and keep my eyes on future goals. I've heard that other community colleges are pretty unorganized as well...I guess in a way you get what you paid for (however, QC is more expensive than other community colleges).

I did not realize that clinical grades don't count toward overall grade. So it's basically just a pass/fail right?

We just got the schedule and form for clinical placement and we have 2 hospitals to choose from.

The delay on getting grades is a bummer (kind of a pet peeve for me). :down: My A&P II teacher this past semester was like that. We didn't get our first exam grade until a month later! :mad: I made sure that I include that in my course evaluation, although I doubt that the department reads it.

0 Votes

Im also graduating in May.. and the program is ridiculous. I wish I had gone somewhere else.. it's seriously a joke. Im not so sure about people failing for 0.5 points, anyone with a 72.1 and above were passed. Whether that was based on "feeling bad" or that grades were actually calculated the wrong way (heard both of these), that's up for debate. But everything at this school is "up for debate".

Oh the scantron is broken. How many times was it broken, and then we heard that the LPN program got their grades 4hrs post-test?? And yes, they take their tests on the same days as we do.

yes, our final grades were just posted 2 days ago. I made a big mistake coming to this school, which by the way is $6,000+ for the nursing program. What other 2 year program charges that much!?! Charged for parking, charged for PAPER, charged for everything. Oh and double charged for things! Check your account every semester to make sure you are not double charged.. Id like to mention that A LOT of people (if not everyone?) was overcharged for the semester. When the phone calls and emails went into the school, do you think they changed it for EVERYONE? nope. You had to actually ASK for it to be corrected!

The only good thing I had was clinical sites. I know a lot of people were left w/o a site, but I had some pretty good sites that were close to me. But clinical placements are a huge mess at this school. THank god Im almost done!

0 Votes
+ Add a Comment