Re: UT houston spring 2010 hopefuls
wow it's only been a few days since I've been on here to check up on yall and there's nearly 20 more pages!
CONGRATULATIONS
to all who made it in!!! I'm also glad to have helped some people on here =)....here are some more tips:
As far as uniforms, no you don't need to wear the skirt...someone in our class did for religious reasons and no she didn't wear opaque white hose lol And although I'm a huge fan of TOMS shoes, I don't know if you'll be allowed to wear them...they definitely don't need to be white leather shoes though...plenty of students wore tennis shoes in any color and no one ever said anything. And you won't need to wear the lab coat during clinicals...no one really did (gets too hot)...actually I don't ever remember NEEDING the coat EVER...it's a nice souvenir though haha and yes you can get navy scrubs in any brand. The patches can be bought @ the bookstore...I think they're about 10 bucks I forget the exact price (so just get like 2 pairs of scrubs...you really don't need much). You don't have to even get the personalized name clip thing...as long as you have your badge you're good (do you REALLY need 3 different things to say you're a UT nursing student?)...those things never stayed clipped on anyways, it was so annoying! Although it can also be a nice souvenir lol...I still have mine on my desk.
As far as books you definitely do not need the whole list! If yall post the list, I can tell yall which ones to get...although our professors may be different so that could be an issue. Off the top of my head, the ones I used were my Med Surg w/study guide, Pedi w/study guide, Patho w/study guide, Pharm study guide only, Research text, & the nurse's pocket guide to do assessments. I swear on all the other courses you can study on powerpoints/Tegrity alone. You'll definitely need Davis Drug Guide too BUT if you can get the CD from a friend that's really all you need (way easier to use for care plans)...unless you want the hard copy to bring with you to clinicals. The ones you'll be needing for your care plans are Patho, Med-Surg, and your Davis Drug Guide texts for the most part. The other books you'll barely ever need so just bum one off someone for a day if you need some info...totally not worth buying. Please don't try to get everything...you will waste SO much money (like me!). But then again...things may have changed in 2 years so I dunno. Also, buy from Amazon...way cheaper. But you gotta get 'em early for the good deals.
Clinicals were for the most part 8 hour days BUT sometimes depending on your clinical instructor, you can go for 12 hour days and have shorter amount of total days to do (we did that for Adult Care II). You will have 12 hour days for high acuity though since you will be precepted by a nurse during her entire shift. And sometimes your instructors will let you off early...
UT also has the high tech lab simulators...I saw some of you guys thought TWU were the only ones...but we definitely had 1 that talked and had an actual pulse, etc...our group was actually chosen to do a scenario in front of the legislators one day so I definitely remember that mannequin!
For those who read my other post, I talked to my friend who went to TWU and she said she had a great experience there...she graduated in '05 in the old building though but she said she the main reason she went there was because she heard from a friend that the UT professors didn't care if their students passed or not and were just overall not caring. She also said that out of 150 people who were initially in her class, only 90 graduated.
Ok here's my take on that. There were definitely some professors that I thought were unprofessional to some students...I unfortunately can't name anyone on here but I mean in every school you're not going to like every single professor you'll have. I felt that I was studying on my own most of the time anyways...it's all in the powerpoints and book...plus they should record each lecture on Tegrity to guide the PPTs they give you so I didn't mind. This is actually why I never went to class...it was really all there for us online! I had a study group of about 3-4 people and by quizzing each other and talking out the chapters, we did fine and graduated on time. The people who failed are the ones who just don't take it seriously to begin with or just never found the right way to study for them. Actually...THAT is probably the most crucial part of your first semester...it's SO hard to find out the best way for you to study ALLLLLLL that material...I found the best way for me was to open up a PPT in half my screen and the tegrity on the other and just listen while typing out my notes. Then afterwards I'd print the PPT with the added notes and just study on those alone...then afterwards we would quiz each other like crazy! Starbucks was our second home. Sitting in lectures was just so hard for me b/c I'd doze off and sometimes they would speak so fast I couldn't keep up...so it really helps when they record it on Tegrity and I could go my own pace. You can always email a professor if you have questions...every time I had a question they'd always write back in a timely manner. In some classes they give reviews too so those helped a lot. Plus, each of you will be assigned an advisor (who is a professor) and you can always make an appt to speak with them if you have any concerns...if you fail a test (<75) then you will automatically need to meet with them. At UT, you can fail a course twice before you're out of the program if I'm not mistaken. You may have to appeal to the board if you fail more than twice.
As far as attrition rates, I believe our class started with 150 people and there were about 110 who graduated that were there from the beginning (I say that b/c near the end, the accelerated BSN joined our class so overall it was still about 150). And yes, you fail even though you have a 74.4... but hey it's nursing school...you may fail that one course and have to repeat it but out in the real nursing world there's no room for ANY mistake anymore. One little mistake can mean a patient's life so just keep that in mind. Yall are in the big leagues now so take it seriously! This is way harder than prerequisites especially for yall since it's compressed to 4 semesters now. And also I know a lot of you are concerned about school during the summer and yes it does suck but in a way it helps to keep your mind intact...I don't know how great I would've done if I had that 2 month gap...my brain would be back to mush lol. Plus, you'll graduate quicker...and start making nursing money =)
And if you're still stuck b/w UT and TWU...like I said before, a BSN is a BSN anywhere so hey if it means that UT looks good on paper (aka RESUME) then go for it! Why not?? You want your dream job at that top hospital, right?? lol they're both great schools but UT does seem to have the upper hand on things.
Ok well there goes another novel I wrote geeeeeez...how sad is it that I do this after I come home from a night out? you'd think I'd be fast asleep by now lol I guess that's what happens when you work nights. ok take care guys...any more questions just post on here since I apparently can't respond to private messages.
- Medical-Surgical Nursing: Assessment and Management of Clinical Problems. 
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