Drexel University-ACE Program Fall '09

honestly,
you can easily get by without buying a single book in this program except for med surg, pharm, and assessment as references. However, some of the books have CDs/website access which can help you study for HESIs.

I also found that reading never helped me for exams, in fact it distracted me from the "snapshot" learning required to succeed in this program. In otherwords, too much info clouded my head and at times I did not know what circle to fill in on the bubble exams.

Did you use the Reviews and Rationales series at all? I was considering getting a bunch of them instead of the texts.

I think the important thing is to figure out how you learn best and use your resources accordingly. Some people like to read, some like to do the questions on the CDs, some like NCLEX books. It takes a little while to find your style, and you have to be prepared to modify it a little bit depending on the class or your own time priorities. Ultimately, you need to end up with a really good grasp of the concepts and how they relate to your patients. If you understand what's going on, that's the important part.

I also agree that the books new1nursebabyea mentioned are good ones to buy...they're definitely still on my bookshelves. What I ended up doing after first quarter was waiting and buying books throughout the quarter as I found them necessary. My study group was also good about sharing materials - textbooks, notes, online codes, NCLEX books. It worked for us, which was what mattered.

You'll get the hang of things pretty quickly.

I would agree with August Rain. I did not use those reviews/rationales while studying for classes but they are great now that I am studying for NCLEX. I do not know if they are the best idea for the classes themselves as the class exams are usually fairly straight forward.

If you can stay on top of your studies, which is quite difficult in this program to do because of the amount of time you are in clinicals, I would incorporate the use of the study DVDs that come with most books. When I used them, they really helped me with the HESI portion of the exam. If you do not want to buy the books, you can borrow them from the library, and often you have free access to on-line reviews/practice quizzes by virtue of being in the class.

My best advice for success in this program is what they always say, study frequently in small chunks. It is very easy to be overwhelmed by the bs of the bsn.


Good luck!

Is anyone else having financial aid issues? We start on Monday, and I listened to Drexel and took out exactly what they told me I should. Now I'm finding out that they split your disbursed money into the 4 quarters. This would be great, except for the first quarter we're charged an equipment fee, which looks like is gonna eat up all of my refund money for the first quarter.. not to mention I'm going to have to get the student health insurance plan... does anyone know how payment for that works? Does it get added onto your student bill and taken from your financial aid? I really wish I woulda knew about these extra expenses, so i could have requested much more money.. looks like I'll be a poor college student again.. lol

I had that same problem. After I called and spoke to financial aid, the told me i just needed to send a letter to them explaining why i needed the disbursement of my loans adjusted and they would then contact my lender. He seemed confident that for this situation the request would be granted, and the process would take a week or two. I would give the financial aid office a call and they will help.

Hey, I just finished the ACE program and I will be more than willing to answer any questions anyone has. I agree, you do not need to but the lab coat. Also, do yourself a favor and don't buy the awful scrub pants they tell you to- they are like cardboard. Go get yourself some comfy navy scrub pants with a bunch of pockets.

Textbooks- it all depends on who you get as your professor. In general most test off of their lecture power points, but it really depends on who you get as your prof. I agree with new1nursebabyea- and I'm trying to figure out who you are lol! Also, get the HESI review book the start of 2nd Quarter- it will help with the HESIs you take throughout the program....and 4th Quarter make it your best friend! But, in my opinion, if they are still using Lewis for Adult I would just get the clinical companion guide. It's $35 compared to $100+ and if your prof is good this is really all you will need. I discovered at the end of Adult 1 and never opened the text again. DO NOT BUY books for : Mental, Community, Leadership, the APA book, Informatics, and whatever class they tell you to get the Mosby Study cards for- wasted a ton of money! I think the Assessment book was helpful but towards the end I really just used the clinical pocket guide for that too.
Look on the FB Drexel ACE page for people selling their books- join the page and ask, I know people who are selling...Do Not buy from the bookstore unless you have a trust fund
Anyone that has more detailed questions can shoot me a private message and I will be more than happy to answer!