Anyone taking Micro this summer thru CCC Online?

FNPhopeful · May 11, 2005

I just registered, ordered my books and my at home lab kit. I'm nervous about taking a lab science at home- but the schedules for Micro at my local community colleges just didn't work for me. I'm also going to be taking Org. Chem at the same time (not online) :uhoh21:
I start my nursing program in Sept and these are the last two pre reqs I have to get through. At least I'm already accepted, so I don't have to stress about making As in both of them! :chuckle
-Jess

Lucky! Yea at least your already accepted. I am taking Micro and Chem through ccconline this fall. I'll be bugging you to see how its going though!

-Jasmine

fotografe · May 11, 2005

I took it this spring, along with at least one other person on this board, with a teacher named Kathy Allshouse. She is fabulous at communicating and getting and keeping the discussion board going. The only complaint I had was about the lab manual, which had a lot of errors in it. The labs are really interesting, but time consuming. Get them done early, and do the whole group at the same time. You have to use cultures of S. epidermidis in many of the experiments, so getting good growth on that is key. (My family swims a lot so we were hard to get a good sample from). Hopefully all the manual kinks are worked out. To be sure, always ask your instructor if you have a question. Some people did entire labs wrong because they assumed the wrong thing. BTW, I used an old baby wipes warmer as an incubator. It was great at maintaining a good, steady temp. Good luck!

I just registered, ordered my books and my at home lab kit. I'm nervous about taking a lab science at home- but the schedules for Micro at my local community colleges just didn't work for me. I'm also going to be taking Org. Chem at the same time (not online) :uhoh21:
I start my nursing program in Sept and these are the last two pre reqs I have to get through. At least I'm already accepted, so I don't have to stress about making As in both of them! :chuckle
-Jess

MiaLyse, APRN · May 11, 2005

I took it this spring, along with at least one other person on this board, with a teacher named Kathy Allshouse. She is fabulous at communicating and getting and keeping the discussion board going. The only complaint I had was about the lab manual, which had a lot of errors in it. The labs are really interesting, but time consuming. Get them done early, and do the whole group at the same time.>>
Hi! I was in your class and I agree Kathy was a good instructor. The labs are time consuming and the lab manual did have mistakes in it so I agree, get to those early. I wonder if you'll have all 13 labs to do in the summer though.
Best of luck this summer. I am taking Interpersonal Communication through CCCOnline this summer. I was surprised and happy that they offer it. :) It wasn't available at our local college this summer.
Kelly

Jess RN · May 11, 2005

Lucky! Yea at least your already accepted. I am taking Micro and Chem through ccconline this fall. I'll be bugging you to see how its going though!
-Jasmine

I'll keep you posted how it goes!

-Jess

Jess RN · May 11, 2005

I took it this spring, along with at least one other person on this board, with a teacher named Kathy Allshouse. She is fabulous at communicating and getting and keeping the discussion board going. The only complaint I had was about the lab manual, which had a lot of errors in it. The labs are really interesting, but time consuming. Get them done early, and do the whole group at the same time. You have to use cultures of S. epidermidis in many of the experiments, so getting good growth on that is key. (My family swims a lot so we were hard to get a good sample from). Hopefully all the manual kinks are worked out. To be sure, always ask your instructor if you have a question. Some people did entire labs wrong because they assumed the wrong thing. BTW, I used an old baby wipes warmer as an incubator. It was great at maintaining a good, steady temp. Good luck!

Wow that's good to know about the instructor and the labs! I have little ones at home (ages 2 and 9mo) so it will be a challenge to get the labs done and protect my experiments and supplies from them! I will be going to the library to do reading/ lecture/discussions- but I can't imagine they would be too thrilled if I whipped out the old microscope to do some labs there too! :chuckle That's a great idea about a baby wipe incubator- I certainly have no shortage of those! What nursing program will you be going to and when do you start?

-Jess

Jess RN · May 11, 2005

I took it this spring, along with at least one other person on this board, with a teacher named Kathy Allshouse. She is fabulous at communicating and getting and keeping the discussion board going. The only complaint I had was about the lab manual, which had a lot of errors in it. The labs are really interesting, but time consuming. Get them done early, and do the whole group at the same time.>>
Hi! I was in your class and I agree Kathy was a good instructor. The labs are time consuming and the lab manual did have mistakes in it so I agree, get to those early. I wonder if you'll have all 13 labs to do in the summer though.
Best of luck this summer. I am taking Interpersonal Communication through CCCOnline this summer. I was surprised and happy that they offer it. :) It wasn't available at our local college this summer.
Kelly
Thanks Kelly for your response! When you guys say do the labs early and all together- do you mean start on them before they are assigned on the syllabus? Or aren't they on a schedule and you just need to complete them by the end of the semester? I'm glad the instructor was good- did you find it harder with the online format than a traditional class? I know with my A&P 1 and 2 that I took at a community college I relied heavily on my study group to help prep for exams. You don't have that luxury in the online format- it's all you, you know? I'm torn because while I really like the classroom experience- with two little ones and already going to class twice a week for chem- the ability to set my own schedule for Micro is a real lifesaver.
-Jess

fotografe · May 11, 2005

I applied to Curry, UMB and Massasoit and got into all three. I chose Massasoit, but am still going to UMB to have my transcripts evaluated. I believe it will take me 3 years to finish there. I really liked Massasoit, except for the Peds rotation. They do it in the Brockton public schools, not in a PEDs unit in the city. I figure I will finish my BSN online while I am working my first couple of years since I have this online thing down. LOL. Where are you going?

Wow that's good to know about the instructor and the labs! I have little ones at home (ages 2 and 9mo) so it will be a challenge to get the labs done and protect my experiments and supplies from them! I will be going to the library to do reading/ lecture/discussions- but I can't imagine they would be too thrilled if I whipped out the old microscope to do some labs there too! :chuckle That's a great idea about a baby wipe incubator- I certainly have no shortage of those! What nursing program will you be going to and when do you start?
-Jess

Jess RN · May 11, 2005

I applied to Curry, UMB and Massasoit and got into all three. I chose Massasoit, but am still going to UMB to have my transcripts evaluated. I believe it will take me 3 years to finish there. I really liked Massasoit, except for the Peds rotation. They do it in the Brockton public schools, not in a PEDs unit in the city. I figure I will finish my BSN online while I am working my first couple of years since I have this online thing down. LOL. Where are you going?

I applied to MGH, BC and Regis and got into all three. I decided on BC because it is the shortest program. If there were any type of part time program I would totally go for that because my kids are so young- but I haven't found anything even remotely like that at the schools around here. Even the "evening" programs for career switchers are just as many hours per week. My kids are so little- I wonder if BC is the right call. But then, I don't know if there will ever be a "good" time to go back to school, you know?

-Jess

fotografe · May 11, 2005

The other thing I forgot to mention about the labs is that there are things that must be refrigerated upon arrival.. THis wasn't marked on the outer box, but an inner one, so many people didn't refrigerate right away. Probably didn't matter much in the winter but might in the summer. THey are nothing toxic, just growth media. You might want to make up your agar media dishes when you have a free afternoon. These are tricky as you have to divide the media up among many petri dishes. Read through the lab book to see how many you will need in total to be sure you do your calculations right. If you have them done ahead, you don't have to do that step in your lab time.

I looked at the Direct Entry programs, but finally decided the expense was too great and too time intensive. Curry is an accelerated BSN (16 months), but also very time consuming, so me also having little kids, I decided to do the ADN and then work on higher degrees as I work. I also didn't know exactly which area of advanced practice I want to go into, so I just thought it best to start slow. Not that the ADN is not time consuming. I think any program leading to the RN is just going to be a huge time commitment no matter what. Good luck and keep me posted on how BC is! I am thinking about there or Northeastern for grad school.

I applied to MGH, BC and Regis and got into all three. I decided on BC because it is the shortest program. If there were any type of part time program I would totally go for that because my kids are so young- but I haven't found anything even remotely like that at the schools around here. Even the "evening" programs for career switchers are just as many hours per week. My kids are so little- I wonder if BC is the right call. But then, I don't know if there will ever be a "good" time to go back to school, you know?
-Jess

MiaLyse, APRN · May 12, 2005

Thanks Kelly for your response! When you guys say do the labs early and all together- do you mean start on them before they are assigned on the syllabus? Or aren't they on a schedule and you just need to complete them by the end of the semester? I'm glad the instructor was good- did you find it harder with the online format than a traditional class?

It is more time consuming than your traditional classes. The labs were grouped together. For example, Labs 1, 2 and 3 were due by a certain day. It's much easier to plan a good block of time and get them done. There are lab quizzes and lab reports that are due in addition to chapter quizzes and exams. You can do them ahead, before the last due date and this makes life easier. I don't know how the summer classes run at CCCOnline though, as in the amount of labs to perform.

Kelly

Jess RN · May 12, 2005

I decided to do the ADN and then work on higher degrees as I work. I also didn't know exactly which area of advanced practice I want to go into, so I just thought it best to start slow. Not that the ADN is not time consuming. I think any program leading to the RN is just going to be a huge time commitment no matter what.

I think that's wise. The Direct Entry programs are pricey- but for me childcare for two kids works out to be *more* expensive than the tuition. :uhoh21: My husband is very pro- direct entry and I think a bit of a snob about schooling- so he really discouraged going the ADN route- which I think just kind of shows his ignorance about the nursing profession. I didn't really expect to get into any of the schools I applied to- so I thought at that point I could renegotiate the whole direct entry vs ADN thing. Then I got in which was a shocker to me- and had to make a choice. I do know what I want to specialize in (Women's Health) and that is the basis of the reason I want to become a nurse- so I think direct entry will be ok for me. I also plan to do the advanced practice section part time over two or three years so I can get more clinical experience working as an RN. The number of clinical hourse is a big downfall of many direct entry programs in this area- there just aren't enough hours in the pre- RN part of the programs. I'm definitely nervous about the pace of the program- but I figure I will just muddle through it for the year it takes, sit for NCLEX and then slow things way down. I'm a bit of a perfectionisit when it comes to school work- but I know with two kids, a house and a husband who all need attention too- I'm going to have to just be satisfied with whatever I can do and retain my sanity. :chuckle

-Jess