Athens Tech ADN program

[Aimfred]

I'm looking for opinions on the program at Athens Tech. I have been in contact with them, and it is very affordable, plus I can start my pre-nursing courses there this fall. I missed the application deadline for all the other schools, and will have to wait until spring to start anywhere else. I can't seem to get much first hand info on this school, however, and am just wondering if it is a good program, how hard it is to get into, etc.

Thanks,

Amy

[KellyC]

I guess it's ok if he's pretty difficult as long as he's fair and not out to get the students. For A&P 1 I had Dr. ********. He's new. He's good also. I"ll have him for AP2 again. I really don't have a lot of choice. They're the only ones that's going to fit in my schedule.

You're right about not working and just concentrate on your studies. I hear that you have to keep a pretty high grade and some people I heard even got kicked out of the program because of low or failing grade? not sure if it's this year or previous ones.

No comprehensive finals? Is it just with Dr. ***** Med Micro? Cuz we had comprehensive on anatomy. Well that will be really good then if we don't have to study tons and tons of materials and just concentrate on the last chapters.

****Instructor's names edited from post******

[Atlanta Kellie]

Dr."P" used to have a comprehensive final, but this past term he did not. I think it's like that just for Med Micro. I know the A&Ps still do.

We haven't lost anyone so far out the GTC campus, but I believe the ATC campus lost 2. I know three seniors were lost at the GTC campus this year. They didn't pass the math. (There is a drug calculations test you have to take your senior year. You get two tries and have to make a 100%) So...still lots of places to get the boot I guess. I don't plan on being one of them :)

[joeyzgy]

kelly,

i am also shooting for fall 2006 adn program at atc. i had the pleasure of speaking with the admissions director at atc, mr. reid. he provided me with the following statistics about the 2005 class:

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your gpa will be based upon the five courses you listed: mat 191, eng 191,

ahs 191 & 192 and bio 197. if you decide to re-take courses you may replace

your older grades. your gpa and nln scores are weighted equally. the average

gpa and nln score of the accepted class last year was gpa 3.27 and nln 88.8

------------------------------------------------------------------------

i've also emailed ms. mcdonald (director of nursing school) and she provided me with this information:

------------------------------------------------------------------------

we had a person who was in the 99%tile on the nln and a 2.7gpa that didn't get in, yet we also had a person score in the 80%tile and had a 3.8gpa that was accepted.

_______________________________________________________________

mr. reid says gpa and nln are weighted equally. though, when actually analyzing those two pieces of info, it does seem like there may be a little more weight on the gpa as opposed to the nln score. if i had to guess, i'd say that you're not counted out. like some others have said, you need to keep your gpa as high as possible. as with any competative program, your chances really depend on all the other applicants' scores... so there's no way to really tell. i guess we'll all have to wait-n-see. nice to meet you

best,

joe

hello. how are you all doing?

i am new to this board. i also go to atc and i just took my nln exam last dec. 2nd. phew! glad this qtr is over. i have 2 more pre-reqs left, med-mic and a&p2.

atlantakellie i read on your post that there were only 52 seats available? wow. pretty competitive.

i got my nln score back and my composite percentile score under ad is 77% i am kinda disaapointed at myself cuz i really wanted to do better than that. but my gpa is pretty good. i have 3.77 currently. what do you think are my chances of getting in the adn program for fall 2006? i've already submmitted my application and they said they make admission decisions around april. what a long wait. oh well.

thanks.

best wishes.

kelly

[sweet tooth]

Just checking in to see if anyone has anything good or bad to say about the Athens Tech ADN Program. Has anyone at allnurses graduated from AT? I have spoken to professionals that have good things to say about AT nurse graduates, but how do you guys like the program? Are the instructors pulling for you? I would love to hear from anyone who has any info on Athens Tech or anyone who will be attending in the Fall06.

[Atlanta Kellie]

I am currently in the ATC RN program. I am nearing the end of my junior year. So far its been great. Yes, the instructors are very supportive and rooting for you the whole way. Most are very patient, and you get a lot of clinical/hands on time. As a matter of fact, most of the nurses at the hospitals where we do clinicals, say that AT students are offered more clinical time than in any other program. They also said we seem to be more prepared to handle things once we graduate. Of course, I have never been in any other program, so I don't have anything to compare it to. But I am constantly learning, and I know I how I feel now in comparison to how I felt when I first entered the program. I have learned so much already, and I am contantly azamzed that I have the ability to actually take care of a patient. Hope this helps.

Just checking in to see if anyone has anything good

or bad to say about the Athens Tech ADN Program. Has anyone at allnurses graduated from AT? I have spoken to professionals that have good things to say about AT nurse graduates, but how do you guys like the program? Are the instructors pulling for you? I would love to hear from anyone who has any info on Athens Tech or anyone who will be attending in the Fall06.

[sweet tooth]

Thanks for your input Atlanta Kellie!! Do you do your clinicals in one hospital or several? Also, have you lost many students? Thanks again for taking the time to respond.

[Atlanta Kellie]

The school uses St. Mary's hospital, Athens Regional, North East Georgia Hospital and the Lanier campus hospital. (The Gwinnett group goes to the last two). They also have a contract with Gwinnett Hospital, but we have yet to do clinicals there.

Of the 52, I believe 4 have left. Two for grades, one for pregnancy issues, and one for personal reasons. So far, that's it. I would imagine we might see a few others go. We have another math test the beginning of our senior year that we have to pass with a 90% or better in order to continue. It's mostly IV drip calculations regarding heprin and pediatric meds.

Thanks for your input Atlanta Kellie!! Do you do your clinicals in one hospital or several? Also, have you lost many students? Thanks again for taking the time to respond.

[Indy, LPN, LVN]

Hi, sorry I haven't looked at this forum in a while. I'm an ATC grad of 2005. About the math test for senior year, Kellie, I'd advise you to drill until you can do it in your sleep. Sometime over the summer one of the instructors, or Ms. McDonald, will probably email the class with review dates for the math test. Either go to the review or see her for a copy of the problems they did; the test itself was a doozy due to all the conversions and drips in it. Apothecary to metric and then figure out a drip rate on a pediatric patient. Or something similar for an IM injection and then you need to remember what volume you can give in IM injections and for peds versus adults.

Our class lost about a third of its students I think; 40 on ATC campus, 20 gwinnett campus to start with, and I think we graduated either 40 or 41, two of the grads failed NCLEX first time around but then passed it. Now that's only if my memory and grapevine info are correct! Reasons for dropping in the program were varied; anywhere from pregnancy to not passing a nursing course, and we lost one to the first year math test and two to the second year math test. We had only two tries on the second year math test and a lot of people had to take it the second time. Talk about tension! Pass the word around to study over the summer for it, and don't get too bent out of shape if some people don't, because you can only control what you do, even if you're emotionally attached to your classmates.

[Atlanta Kellie]

Thanks Indy. Math is always something I worry about. I passed the first drug calc test, but I stressed over it. This second one really has me worried with all the new stuff. I have a math tutor that I'm going to use this summer to help me figure out easy ways to approach the math. He helped me so much with the last test.

Any other areas I need to watch out for? I heard we have a med surg test we all have to pass this next fall in order to continue. Do you know anything about that? How tough was it?

Thanks again for the advice...I appreciate it.

Kellie

p/s What campus were you on? I'm at Gwinnett.

Hi, sorry I haven't looked at this forum in a while. I'm an ATC grad of 2005. About the math test for senior year, Kellie, I'd advise you to drill until you can do it in your sleep. Sometime over the summer one of the instructors, or Ms. McDonald, will probably email the class with review dates for the math test. Either go to the review or see her for a copy of the problems they did; the test itself was a doozy due to all the conversions and drips in it. Apothecary to metric and then figure out a drip rate on a pediatric patient. Or something similar for an IM injection and then you need to remember what volume you can give in IM injections and for peds versus adults.

Our class lost about a third of its students I think; 40 on ATC campus, 20 gwinnett campus to start with, and I think we graduated either 40 or 41, two of the grads failed NCLEX first time around but then passed it. Now that's only if my memory and grapevine info are correct! Reasons for dropping in the program were varied; anywhere from pregnancy to not passing a nursing course, and we lost one to the first year math test and two to the second year math test. We had only two tries on the second year math test and a lot of people had to take it the second time. Talk about tension! Pass the word around to study over the summer for it, and don't get too bent out of shape if some people don't, because you can only control what you do, even if you're emotionally attached to your classmates.

[Indy, LPN, LVN]

I haven't heard anything about this med surg test that you mentioned. We got our gwinnett students and ATC students together our first week of second year for a week of fun... there was an IV lecture and lab where we stuck each other but couldn't flush the IV's because we weren't allowed to push "drugs" (NS counts). We also did the math test during that week, the first one anyhow. There were some other lectures but it's all kinda fuzzy to me now. All I was thinking of was the math test.

If there's some make or break test in any format then you should be given some info about it beforehand. In the meantime I'd guess you're gonna have a summer with a lot of reading in it too! I realize the value of taking breaks with all of that, but as one of the few of my class who passed the math test on the first try second year, I'm serious when I say do it until it's second nature. That's the only way to beat the jitters long enough to do the test with a clear head.

I'm sorry if I come across as being severe. It's just that I hated to see us lose the people we did lose, and so I'm being blunt and realistic with you. It just killed me to hear classmates on occasion say things like "gee I sure hope I pass, can you help me?" interspersed with remarks about how much they didn't study. On the other hand they do pack a whole walloping lot of material into short lectures and tests that tie your brain in knots. Your idea of the summer tutor sounds like a good one! I'll keep my fingers crossed for you guys!

Edit: P.S. I was on the athens campus.

[MOM2000]

This thread is older-- Does anyone happen to know more recent statistics on the GPA/NLN scores you need to get in the Athens Tech program??

[monicabw]

I am a senior this year at Athens Tech and my roomate is a junior. For both years the average GPA is between at 3.7-3.8 range and NLN scores varied from 92-99%. It depends though; some people had a 3.5 but a 99% on the NLN; others had a 4.0 but a lower NLN score (like below 90%). The best advice I can give is to apply to multiple colleges besides Athens Tech. I heard it was the best school around, and that is why I decided to attend, but I wish now I had gone to a different school. For the most part, the teachers are aweful. They do not have interest in helping you succeed. They will hang you out to dry and out of the original 50, only 22 of us have survived their pathetic excuse for teaching. Run away, far away from Athens Tech!