OCC - for Fall 2012 or Jan 2012 prospective students!

[IHeartPeds87]

Hi everyone! Okay so I decided to make a seperate thread for those of us seeing what our options are because we got the dreaded letter from OCC. It was getting hard to filter out the information pertinent to us in the general OCC thread.

I just want to tell everyone not to give up.

I had a meeting with a counselor yesterday, who basically assured me that any drastic changes made to OCC nursing admission policy could NOT be implemented in the very next admission cycle. He said that he had been a counselor for over 16 years, and the last time they made a drastic change (like from waitlist to gpa based) they grandfathered in everybody who would have been 'caught up' in the transition.

I had a 3.824 gpa. I had three classes that were not straight A's (An A- in both american government and english composition two, as well as the dreaded B in A&P 1). I am retaking all three and am going to seriousely aim for all A's. The gpa cutoff is gonna be a 3.9 something and I don't want to have to worry about not getting in again. I am going to do my best to get all A's.

I met with the counselor to discuss my options and see what to do at this point. I was considering going LPN but I don't think i'm going to do that anymore because my biggest aim is to get my RN as soon as possible. The LPN to RN transition program is only offerred every even year. What this means for us? If I were, for example to start the LPN program in January of 2012, it would be over in like March of 2013. Then I couldn't start the transition program until like July of 2014. Then I wouldn't be done with the transition program and have my RN until December of 2015! This versus the ADN RN program, which would start in the Fall of 2012 and finish in like early May of 2014.

Good luck to all of those still trying! We can't give up!!!!!

[B316]

I haven't even ordered my packet for finger printing yet!! I'm doing it first thing tomorrow. man I am so behind. How long did it take to get?

[sv99]

Hi B316,

For me it took only two days after I paid online for fingerprinting and criminal background check. The packet was ready at HL campus and after that it is only a day if you can get time to go a nearby police station for finger printing, get one of the letters notarized and the other one you fill up sign and put altogether and mail it..... it wasnt so difficult. It takes five minutes for finger printing..... I just did today.

[B316]

Thanks SV99

[whosurdaddy]

kizeemimi

im not telling you to not work, most of us have to work, but part time. i understand your in a very difficult spot with work paying for school and all: but working full time? i simply dont know how you are going to manage. starting in the fall your going to be in theory, clinical and then lab. the amount of studying and homework required is crazy.(plus the extra days they schedule to do something else not normally scheduled) there is not a single nursing student left in our graduating class that worked full time. (i know your saying how can i know every single person left in our grad class. well its actually easy, by your second year you will have class or clinical or lab with just about everyone and each semster your class will get smaller and smaller, there is only around 110 of us left from 216 and we all talk to one another. by the time of graduation you will all be one big family and will be close to a lot of people) sooooooo anyway. i would try scholarships, pell grants, mom and dad? i know your going to try working fulltime anyway, because if i was you i would too. i do wish you the best of luck. i just hope your work is willing to change your schedule every 7 weeks becuase your not going to have the same schedule all the time. if you do make it to second year you might be able to pull it off then becuase your schedule will lighten up a bit. like i said good luck

[777RN, BSN, RN]

Hi kizeemimi!

I agree with whosurdaddy regarding the time demands of the program. However, as a student approaching the end of the first year, I had to work full-time during the first semester. I still need to work full-time, but I am managing part-time now. I work in a place that only has 8-hour shifts, so three 12s was/is not an option for me.

During the first six weeks of Foundations, you will be attending classes three days a week: one theory and two lab days. Theory is usually on Mondays; lab is either Tuesdays and Wednesdays or Thursdays and Fridays. Beginning week seven, your schedule will consist of four days: one theory, one lab, and two days of clinicals.

Compared to the rest of the first year, the first six weeks of Foundations are deceptively mellow. I used a vacation day each week during the last nine weeks of Foundations to cut my work schedule down to four days a week instead of five.

I would certainly not advise anyone to work full-time in the program if not absolutely necessary (as it was in my case). However, if you can work midnights Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, or any shift Saturdays and Sundays, with an absolutely flexible day during the week, you may be able to swing it, especially if you have a nice bank of vacation days from which to draw.

I will admit, though, that I feel much less stressed about school now that I am working part-time. Nevertheless, that reduction in stress is countered by an increase in financial stress. What a Catch-22!

In the end, we all do what we have to do. Good luck!

[brodygirl]

B316, as soon as you submit for your background check online, take your printed receipt (will be immediately emailed to you) to the nursing office and they will give you the 2nd packet for drug testing and fingerprinting. Really all you have to wait for is the time to run up to Highland Lakes and the lab and getting your fingerprints done. Piece of cake. And by the timeline they have given us, you are in no way behind. I am just trying to get everything done so I don't have to deal with any of it during summer I pharmacology.

[kizeemimi]

Thank you again, Whosurdaddy & Wendyyvonne for the input. :) I definitely hear what you're saying and I WISH I didn't have to work fulltime while in NS but I have no choice. Even if I somehow go together the money to pay for school or got a loan, I still have bills, which is the main issue. Anyway, I am planning on working a 12 hr shift on both Sat's & Sun's and try to use PTO for the other 8-12 hrs one day a week. We'll see....

Wendyyvonne, with working, how are you doing gradewise? (If you don't mind me asking. If you do just tell me to mind my own business.)

Also, is our Pharmacology book something we will ever use again after this semester? I was thinking about renting instead of buying it, but if there's any chance it will come in handy later I will buy it.

[777RN, BSN, RN]

Hi Kizeemimi, I just sent you a PM.

[whosurdaddy]

i never used that pharm book after pharm, never even opened the drug calc book. you can get away with renting all your books except your med surg book. that one you will use over and over again. OB, pysch, ped's you can rent and i would say most of the books listed as optional you can do without. there are a lot of way to cut expenses. i would see if you can get he donated scrubs, that will save some bucks. high oaks hall computer lab still has free printing, that can save you a punch of money. dont skimp on the stetascope thou the cheap ones suck your better off buying the $100 one. you will get a free flashlight from lab so dont buy those crappy ones in the book store. buy the cheaper lab book and grab that on-line used. dont buy the hardcover. yes it has more info but its not worth the extra $70.

the problem with this program is all the extra cost that they dont tell you about so saving where-ever you can helps.

good luck with the working i know what its like to be broke and its hard so if you can work and make it then more power too you.

[kizeemimi]

Thanks so much for the info! I am lucky that in working FT, my work is paying for everything after this semester, including books. I doubt theyre paying for the stethoscope though but Ill be sure to get a good one anyway. I use this crappy one from work (the "disposable" ones we use for isolation patients) and I HATE it. I can't hear crap on it, but it serves the purpose since I only have to generally do 1-2 manual bps a shift.

[princessim2003]

To anyone who is taking Pharm this summer:

I'm a little confused on the reading that the professor wants us to do prior to class. In the packet we recieved it says to look over reading activity in units 1 and 2, now in unit 1 it says to read 1-5 ( which I get), but pg 8, 18 and 52-53 don't make sense to me they are at random spots in the chapter?? I don't want to already be bugging the professor...LOL, I feel dumb and haven't even begun the class...HAHA Thanks for your help!!!

[Anne36, LPN]

Good luck to everyone in next years class. Im finishing up in the LPN program and we also have less than half of our original class left. Whosyurdaddy had the best advice. We do have a couple of girls who manage to work some part time hours but I dont know how they do it. More people tried to hold on to their part time hours in Foundations but after we came back in the fall it was much more difficult. If you have to work, go ahead and try it. When your grade slips to 80-84% you may want to call in sick. There is a fine line between passing and failing. People have failed our program over 2-3 points. Enjoy the next few months while you can. Your life is about to change.