American River College Spring 2016

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Hello! I have been looking for a thread for ARC for Spring 2016 and have yet to see one so decided to start one myself! Anyone applying for ARC's ADN program for Spring 2016 that want to share any questions or concerns while we wait for acceptance letters? This is my 5th time applying and am really hoping this is my lucky semester!

nothing here...

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So far I haven't heard anything.

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No updates on my end either...

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So I got all excited because I had an email from ARC..... and it wasn't from the nursing department.

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So far I haven't heard anything.

Maybe not today. Next week for sure! Enjoy your weekend everyone

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Specializes in Emergency Department.

What changes?

You'd have to look back about 8 years now. Back then, you needed to have a certain prereq GPA and overall GPA (last 60 units), meet with a counselor to verify that stuff, fill out an application with transcripts to be sent in, and turn it into the admissions department. If your application met the minimum entry requirements, you were deemed "qualified" as an applicant and you were put into a random selection pool, with greater and greater weight applied to your application as you reapplied in subsequent consecutive filing periods. You could go back and see the applicant statistics, broken down by number of times filed. Typically the applicant pool was between 800 and 1100 each semester. Now they have a merit-based system that places the applicants into a random selection pool. If you're "Qualified" you may be competing against 700-900 applicants, but if you make it into the random selection pool, you may be competing against 100 applicants, much better odds of being selected.

Also, back then, if you were selected as an alternate, you were guaranteed a seat for the next semester. I don't know if that's the case now.

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Thank you for your detailed response, @akulahawkRN! Absolutely much better odds now! The process, though not perfect, is getting better. A 1:3 chance is not bad. Given that the 90 points and above have been but a small fraction of the applications submitted, I think it would be only fair to allow those individuals into the program as the first cut and without needing to be in the lottery. They deserve it. They've worked hard. I know ppl will say that book-smart does not necessarily mean you'll have a "good nurse." However, someone with a solid understanding of the materials and works hard to get all As should be rewarded.

I don't know about what happens to alternates nowadays, either. Anyone?

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It was my understanding from other applicants that if you are picked as an alternate, you are automatically guaranteed a spot in the following semester.

Kelly

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It was my understanding from other applicants that if you are picked as an alternate, you are automatically guaranteed a spot in the following semester.

Kelly

Can we verify this somewhere? I'm not sure if ARC does this. My understanding is that alternates wait for someone accepted to drop. If no one drops, alternates have to reapply next semester? Again, I'm not sure and don't know where to find this information on ARC's nursing website.

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Alternates are guaranteed a spot the following semester. I'm not sure how many alternates they choose, I had been an alternate, 8 I believe, and got in the same semester I applied to ARC. I was told I was guaranteed a spot the following semester I just had to submit a form stating I wanted to take advantage of that spot.

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Alternates are guaranteed a spot the following semester. I'm not sure how many alternates they choose, I had been an alternate, 8 I believe, and got in the same semester I applied to ARC. I was told I was guaranteed a spot the following semester I just had to submit a form stating I wanted to take advantage of that spot.

I wonder, then, how they account for those alternates in the total number of cohorts for the following semester. If all of the alternates take advantage of that opportunity, then does it reduce the number of individuals for that following pool? For instance, if there are 10 alternates this semester and they all state that they will take their spot next semester (Fall 2016), that would mean 10 spots are occupied by the alternates, leaving only 30 potential applicants to be accepted in the Fall 2016 pool, right? I'm assuming the cohort size is 40. I hope I'm making sense.

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I'm not sure. I have a friend who is in the Fall 2015 class and he was 10th on the alternate list and his friend was 28th and they both still got in. So I don't know how many alternates they guarantee admission for from semester to semester. I did see a post from the Fall 2015 thread that said she was guaranteed admission into the Spring 2016 class. #waitingsucks

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