ASU Post Bacc - 2021

Emily Barney · Jun 27, 2020

1 hour ago, J2Flowers1 said:
Hi ASU PBCNP 2021 hopefuls! I will try to check in here on occasion & will put the word out to my cohort that this group has been started. Last year at this time, I was right where you all are now. You got it, I am in the current ASU PBCNP 2020 cohort. This weekend we are OFFICIALLY 50% through the program.
We had so many questions. Many are the same as what I am seeing above. I will do my best to scroll back through them & answer as best I can. In the meantime, keep posting & I will do my best to answer or see if one of my classmates can answer.
Wishing you all the best of luck & so excited to see you all on here & gearing up for the application cycle.

Yay! Thanks for taking the time to reach out. ? Congratulations on making it halfway through the program! Do you know what the average "achievement score" (TEAS + prereq grade) was for getting in for your cohort? Mine currently is a 1.93 but I'm still nervous as this is the only program I'm applying to. Also, how much would you say you spend on average per semester for textbooks, school supplies, etc?

J2Flowers1, EMT-B · Jun 27, 2020

1 hour ago, Emily Barney said:
Yay! Thanks for taking the time to reach out. ? Congratulations on making it halfway through the program! Do you know what the average "achievement score" (TEAS + prereq grade) was for getting in for your cohort? Mine currently is a 1.93 but I'm still nervous as this is the only program I'm applying to. Also, how much would you say you spend on average per semester for textbooks, school supplies, etc?

Thank you. It has been interesting getting here. Life is interesting for everyone right now.

The average advancement score each year changes. It all depends on how many applicants. However, with a 1.93 you will definitely get in. I got in with 1.76552 because I didn't study for the TEAS & only scored an 80 (a couple of my classmates scored a bit lower, but can't remember their exact score). I walked in & just took it because I didn't have time to study due to life events. If it helps, this was the only program I applied to and had others in my sites, but I really wanted this one.

Something one of our profs told us the 1st day of class & is so true. Get used to NOT being the best at everything. Most student nurses are used to being overachievers with straight As. Most of the best RNs graduate with a B average, so let go of expecting to have all As, otherwise you will cause yourself a lot of unnecessary anxiety & grief.

For books & supplies:
Uniform: not sure b/c previous cohort got all their together after graduation & gave us theirs (pssst, we are planning to do the same). If you choose to buy, I think the scrub top was $25 & bottoms depend on the brand you buy. Black scrub pants, any brand w/5 pockets NOT tapered cuff. We use AllPro & they give ASU students a discount.
Textbooks: 1st semester is the big one. Get out your checkbook/credit card & prepare to cry. Estimate about $1000 (books & 1st install of ATI Subscription), for Summer it was about $550 (books plus ATI subscription 2nd install), & Fall I am guessing another $500. Note: ASU does a package deal which was the cheapest regardless of how many ways I tried to do a discount. The are electronic. If you want physical texts, I recommend buying them off of one of my cohort for like $100 for all of them.
Supplies: $50-100, depending on your needs/wants

Free study sites that are epically helpful:
registerednursern.com (website & Youtube)

picmonic (subscription for full access, I think it is worth it)

KeithRN (mostly his blog & Youtube)

Podcast anything nursing (Spotify is my BFF)

Look up 'Nurse Blake'. He is the best source of nursing humor because it is all TRUE!

9andahalfquarters · Jun 28, 2020

I'm also in the 2020 cohort -just thought I would add to your post about the books- you pretty much have to buy them online through ASU because some of the materials/assignments for the classes are online through evolve and are required, so I wouldn't waste money on trying to buy the actual hard copies unless you want both.

I wouldn't worry about GPA or TEAS scores, just do your best. A lot of people in our class had low scores. I don't think it will make much of a difference. The best way I found to study was to purchase the ATI practice TEAS exams and do those. I also reviewed just some basic math on Youtube videos to refresh my memory. I ended up scoring higher on the actual TEAS than on the practice exams.

I have a 2 year old and 4 year old, if you have kids I would not recommend working at all unless you have a good support system and someone to babysit!!

jdm525 · Jun 28, 2020

May I ask what do you think is the total cost for the program and what does a typical sched looks like? Is it always mon-Friday? Just trying to get an idea if I can squeeze in temping for a dental office on some days while also in school. Thanks

jdm525 · Jul 6, 2020

Hi everybody. I couldn't get in touch with the advisor and not sure if my emails were being received? anybody elses have any issues? thanks!

J2Flowers1, EMT-B · Jul 6, 2020

On 6/27/2020 at 11:15 PM, jdm525 said:
May I ask what do you think is the total cost for the program and what does a typical sched looks like? Is it always mon-Friday? Just trying to get an idea if I can squeeze in temping for a dental office on some days while also in school. Thanks

Hi jdm525...The total cost is $35k-$38k, depending on your health insurance choice (school or personal).
Our lectures have mostly been Tuesday & Thursday from about 730am - 3pm (this is more than one class). Labs & Clinicals are 2 other days and can fall on Monday, Wed, Fri, and/or Saturday. In the Spring my lab was on Friday & clinical on Saturdays (long term care, 3 Saturdays & I was at an honor health facility). During the Summer it WAS SUPPOSED to be Wed Fri & Sat. Due to COVID, we have not had a clinical or been on campus since Spring break. Currently, our clinical are case studies in lieu of. Do know that this is nationwide issue. There are no student nurses in the USA that are having clinical. We are anticipating to have clinical rotations this fall for our critical care and transition to practice (TTP). However, we missed all med-surg (I was scheduled for Mayo), all of pediatrics, all of mental-health, and all of pediatrics clinicals. Yes, we are nervous, but know we are needed and will have job offers because this is a nationwide issue, not just ASU. I have friends in other programs across the nation that have confirmed.

3 hours ago, jdm525 said:
Hi everybody. I couldn't get in touch with the advisor and not sure if my emails were being received? anybody elses have any issues? thanks!

What email address are you using? How many days has it been?

jdm525 · Jul 8, 2020

On 7/6/2020 at 4:52 PM, J2Flowers1 said:
Hi jdm525...The total cost is $35k-$38k, depending on your health insurance choice (school or personal).
Our lectures have mostly been Tuesday & Thursday from about 730am - 3pm (this is more than one class). Labs & Clinicals are 2 other days and can fall on Monday, Wed, Fri, and/or Saturday. In the Spring my lab was on Friday & clinical on Saturdays (long term care, 3 Saturdays & I was at an honor health facility). During the Summer it WAS SUPPOSED to be Wed Fri & Sat. Due to COVID, we have not had a clinical or been on campus since Spring break. Currently, our clinical are case studies in lieu of. Do know that this is nationwide issue. There are no student nurses in the USA that are having clinical. We are anticipating to have clinical rotations this fall for our critical care and transition to practice (TTP). However, we missed all med-surg (I was scheduled for Mayo), all of pediatrics, all of mental-health, and all of pediatrics clinicals. Yes, we are nervous, but know we are needed and will have job offers because this is a nationwide issue, not just ASU. I have friends in other programs across the nation that have confirmed.
What email address are you using? How many days has it been?

Thank you so much for the detailed info. I really appreciate it. I'm actually really nervous about this and was wondering how it is like in an accelerated program. That is too bad with your situation because of the COVID. Because of it, will your graduation be delayed or not? Just curious. I hope that I can get accepted next year and the cinical rotations will be figured out by then. I'm still taking HCR 220 online right now and waiting for the faculty to hopefully approve my expired courses since I took them end of 2013 (so just passed that 7 yrs too close). I've never taken out financial aid before but will definitely need to take loan out for this one. It's very expensive but I know it will be worth it in the end.

*The email ended up being OK. It was actually my email that was a problem. I was just checking my phone email and apparently the emails were just not getting through. But I was able to talk to rebecca on the phone so everything si fine now.

J2Flowers1, EMT-B · Jul 8, 2020

11 hours ago, jdm525 said:
Thank you so much for the detailed info. I really appreciate it. I'm actually really nervous about this and was wondering how it is like in an accelerated program. That is too bad with your situation because of the COVID. Because of it, will your graduation be delayed or not? Just curious. I hope that I can get accepted next year and the cinical rotations will be figured out by then. I'm still taking HCR 220 online right now and waiting for the faculty to hopefully approve my expired courses since I took them end of 2013 (so just passed that 7 yrs too close). I've never taken out financial aid before but will definitely need to take loan out for this one. It's very expensive but I know it will be worth it in the end.
*The email ended up being OK. It was actually my email that was a problem. I was just checking my phone email and apparently the emails were just not getting through. But I was able to talk to rebecca on the phone so everything si fine now.

Everyone is nervous about going to nursing school. There are 92,000 RNs in the state of AZ and we are still in a shortage. If 92,000 other people, in this state alone, can do this, so can you. I won't lie, this is hard. However, you will have 60+ other people going through this with you and they become your support & biggest cheerleaders. I LOVE MY CLASSMATES! They are the most diverse & amazing people and I feel blessed to be on this journey with them.
As for your waiver petitions. The board only meets every few weeks. Don't panic on them, as long as you have them in. I had like 8 or 9 in and a couple were last minute and they got approved the final week of the application window after I had submitted my application. The important part is that you get them in.

As for the financials, this ASU program is one of the cheaper ones. Creighton is way up in the high $40k's and most of my friends from other schools are paying over $40k for their accelerated programs. One of the best debts you can have is a school loan/financial aid. Most of our classmates are through a combination of FAFSA & private loan through a bank.

jdm525 · Jul 12, 2020

On 7/8/2020 at 12:22 PM, J2Flowers1 said:
Everyone is nervous about going to nursing school. There are 92,000 RNs in the state of AZ and we are still in a shortage. If 92,000 other people, in this state alone, can do this, so can you. I won't lie, this is hard. However, you will have 60+ other people going through this with you and they become your support & biggest cheerleaders. I LOVE MY CLASSMATES! They are the most diverse & amazing people and I feel blessed to be on this journey with them.
As for your waiver petitions. The board only meets every few weeks. Don't panic on them, as long as you have them in. I had like 8 or 9 in and a couple were last minute and they got approved the final week of the application window after I had submitted my application. The important part is that you get them in.
As for the financials, this ASU program is one of the cheaper ones. Creighton is way up in the high $40k's and most of my friends from other schools are paying over $40k for their accelerated programs. One of the best debts you can have is a school loan/financial aid. Most of our classmates are through a combination of FAFSA & private loan through a bank.

That's a good thing to think about so I get encouraged. thank you! So the cohort is for about 60 people? That's good. When I was a dental hygiene student there were only 29 of us in the cohort so 60 would be so much better since there will be more support.

Thank you so much for the waiver petitions information. I was getting worried because I haven't heard from them yet. I really wish they would accept it because I really want oto be able to apply by sept 1 and also don't want to retake those science courses. I'm currently taking HCR 220 (intro to nursing) online and I'm struggling a little bit since it's been 7 yrs since I was in school.haha. My next step is to order a TEAS review book.

jdm525 · Jul 19, 2020

Anyone else took the TEAS already?Just ordered my study guide and planning to schedule for the august 24. Really nervous about it. I got offered a spot for the Master's (MEPN) route this fall but declined it due to not being financially ready to start next month. So, I really wanna do well on the TEAS so I have high chances of getting in the Spring 2021 ABSN cohort.

mootpointbreak, BSN · Jul 29, 2020

I am a former pre-PA student and after being waitlisted two years in a row and having the chaos of corona hit, I decided to go the nursing route. I turned 36 years old this year and felt it was time to do something else. I spent 4 years working in an organ and tissue bank, with a year of EMT experience. I have a master’s in biology which I have been able to use for some of my prereqs. I am petitioning for one of my classes to be used in place of BIO202 which should help with my advancement score which currently sits at a 1.789 but will become a 1.827 if it is successful. I studied for 6 weeks for the TEAS and got an 83% on it. I spent too much time studying for the science and kind of dubbed the English portion. Waiting for the application to open up this week because I am ready to do something productive again.

jdm525 · Jul 30, 2020

7 hours ago, mootpointbreak said:
I am a former pre-PA student and after being waitlisted two years in a row and having the chaos of corona hit, I decided to go the nursing route. I turned 36 years old this year and felt it was time to do something else. I spent 4 years working in an organ and tissue bank, with a year of EMT experience. I have a master’s in biology which I have been able to use for some of my prereqs. I am petitioning for one of my classes to be used in place of BIO202 which should help with my advancement score which currently sits at a 1.789 but will become a 1.827 if it is successful. I studied for 6 weeks for the TEAS and got an 83% on it. I spent too much time studying for the science and kind of dubbed the English portion. Waiting for the application to open up this week because I am ready to do something productive again.

Do you have any suggestions in studying for the TEAS and which section to focus more? Im taking it but only have 4 weeks to review because my study guide just got here. It took too long so now im really worried I won't have enough time