ADN Program at Athens Technical College

Indy, LPN, LVN · Feb 18, 2010

I believe their deadline (you might know this already) is Feb. 1 for all the stuff to be submitted. It is a very good idea to double check the admissions office- they will point you to the person in charge of all this- and make sure they have your name on the actual list of people to consider for the nursing program, at least once, before the Feb. 1 deadline. It took me a couple visits to this person. The left hand sometimes knows what the right hand does, but don't take it for granted.

The gpa seems good and I have doubts about the NLN score. However, it may be that a lot of folks didn't have a good score either, so cross your fingers. In the event that you don't get in, retaking the NLN will only help you. You didn't mention your SAT scores, but that's ok since I don't remember what range they should be for consideration or for likelyhood to get into the program.

mommybear9 · Feb 23, 2010

Hi. I am playing the waiting game for Athens as well. It's so hard!!! Anyone have any idea when they are going to let us know?

DollFinn · Feb 24, 2010

I believe acceptance, or adversely denial letters will be sent sometime in April. I wish I had an idea of where I stand in the ranking. I wouldn't be as nervous as I am if my NLN score was better... Generally, I do not like to wish time away, however in this instance, I sure do wish it was April already!!

weezyswifey · Nov 30, 2010

I'm a recent graduate of Athens Tech's ADN program. The instructors, for the most part, want to see you succeed. My class had an average of 95% on NLN so I would say that 89% is a stretch. They only look at 5 classes as far as GPA goes: Engl, College Algebra, A&P 1 and 2, and Med Micro. If you have good grades in those 5, that's a plus. They only accept 50 students per year so you have to look good on paper. There is no interview to help boost you up. Also, I had a friend who graduated from NGCSU and her careplans were 15-20 pages long, whereas my last careplan was 55 pages. They expect a lot out of you...it is a very rigorous program. They also use the ATI program where you test after each quarter in the subject you just studied. In the last quarter, you are required to pass a comprehensive ATI exam in the 95% in order to graduate.

I think any nursing program you enter is going to be stressful, so just prepare yourself now. Retake the NLN and try again. :) Before I took the NLN, I sat down for the 3 days before the test and redid all of the practice exams in the study guide and I came out in the 99%.

Good luck!

Butterflyrn83 · Dec 1, 2010

I'm a recent graduate of Athens Tech's ADN program. The instructors, for the most part, want to see you succeed. My class had an average of 95% on NLN so I would say that 89% is a stretch. They only look at 5 classes as far as GPA goes: Engl, College Algebra, A&P 1 and 2, and Med Micro. If you have good grades in those 5, that's a plus. They only accept 50 students per year so you have to look good on paper. There is no interview to help boost you up. Also, I had a friend who graduated from NGCSU and her careplans were 15-20 pages long, whereas my last careplan was 55 pages. They expect a lot out of you...it is a very rigorous program. They also use the ATI program where you test after each quarter in the subject you just studied. In the last quarter, you are required to pass a comprehensive ATI exam in the 95% in order to graduate.
I think any nursing program you enter is going to be stressful, so just prepare yourself now. Retake the NLN and try again. :) Before I took the NLN, I sat down for the 3 days before the test and redid all of the practice exams in the study guide and I came out in the 99%.
Good luck!

How did you like the program overall? I am from that area but I moved to go to another school and I've always been curious about their program. Our school uses ATI also. Did you all get any extra points for doing well on ATI? How were the exams and clinical?

outsidegraykittie · Dec 27, 2010

ATC has a wonderful ADN program, although, like most nursing schools, it's very hard and very time consuming. It's hard to live life and pass tests, so I'm very glad it's only a six quarter program. Care Plans are now "shorter" and consist of 15 to 20 pages, one of which is now a diagram of the pathophysiology of the patient's disease. The graduating class of 2009 had a 100% NCLEX pass rate, and the class of 2010 had a 99% NCLEX pass rate. The student who didn't pass also did not attend the ATI NCLEX prep classes. Not sure if this student passed on their second attempt. Most of the instructors at ATC are wonderful, although a couple are students working on their doctorates. They tend to use us students as guinea pigs and use the new "less lectures with more class participation, group discussion, and group projects" method, which really makes learning difficult. There's an extra amount of self-teaching involved with these two instructors, although nursing school itself involves a lot of self-teaching since only a tenth of what we need to learn can actually be taught during lectures. ATC is a great school, and very reasonably priced, but know that your GPA will suffer in their ADN program. If you plan to continue schooling after your ADN and will be trying to get accepted into a competitive nursing program, choose another school where it's easier to keep a B average. As for ATI, we don't get any credit for the tests, but in the last quarter of the program, we must make a 75 or above (which is 95% compared nationally) in order to stay in the program. We get two attempts to pass. If we fail both times, we're out of the program even if we're passing the ATC program. Clinicals are okay in our program, depending on the instructor you wind up with. They are scheduled to be from 6:30 to 3:00 six days each quarter. We also have some observation days in place of working with a patient. Those are fun most of the time.