Austin Community College Fall 2011 Hopefuls

Good luck!!! I'm sure with a rank of 61 you will have no problems getting in! I'm about to finish level 3 hybrid and I know it isn't something you are really interested in but all of the instructors are awesome. Just like LD424 said above, I didn't brush up on any pre-reqs because the textbooks are so in depth. It pretty much gives the basic run downs of A&P for every disease process while you are learning it. Brush up on dosage calculations but only for po meds. You don't test over IV calculations until level 2. Mastery checkoffs can be awful. Like stated above, even the instructors at the Round Rock campus have different ways of doing things in checkoffs. Stick to the starred items on the checkoff lists and you'll be fine. I know everyone always told me while I was waiting for acceptance that once you get in it will fly by and I'll be damned....here I am already finishing level 3! It does fly by!

Just a note on Hybird from someone who has done it all four semesters ...

I am a Southie (as are about 9 other hybrid students) and I am SO glad I chose Hybrid. It's so much less TOTAL driving, because we don't have to be on campus as often. Most of the time I'm driving, the traffic isn't bad -- I live down by Ben White, and it takes about 40 minutes. Plus the RRC campus is newer and the labs are much nicer. That's good when you're first learning everything.

You have to be on campus a lot for the labs in level 1, then not so much in the other levels. Seminars are optional for us. I was a little daunted by the driving in Level 1, but it wasn't as much overall as if I'd chosen another campus. Then once I got to level 2 and beyond, I was SO glad I had done it. Every semester we had people who wanted to transfer to hybrid but the department usually didn't let people do it. This last semester we finally took in a few.

Clinicals are kind of a crapshoot because you never know where you're going to end up -- with all the schools competing for sites, it gets shuffled around. And sometimes they will mix people from two different campuses into the same clinical group.

Our instructors for Hybrid have been incredible, with one notable exception (who I think is no longer teaching hybrid). That person teaches on-site and I would have chosen hybrid just to avoid her. Radiation knows who I mean!!

Also something worth considering ... now that we are Level 4, the majority of our group has jobs lined up and the rest have already interviewed. That isn't the case for the other campuses -- lots of them haven't even interviewed yet. I think Hybrid has an especially strong reputation at the hospitals because in my interviews (yes, I got more than one!), the hospital reps were VERY impressed by it.

I'm really not sure how I got to this point -- one test, one clinical, one final, and we're done! It goes by SO fast you won't believe it. Good luck!!

Thanks for all the feedback. It's good to get a first hand perspective to such a big decision and 2 year commitment.

@ Purkinje @RADIATION - I'll keep my mind open as regards to hybrid. Did you find the clinicals more concentrated up north, or did occasionally a few folks get placed central or south. I have to say, the interview and job placement aspect has me intrigued. I know everyone is different, but do you find the "learn on your own" model easy navigate. Is is pretty structured where the seminars highlight test materials?

Thanks for all the help and insight. Sorry for all these random questions. Just hoping to make the best informed decision possible.

Level 1 hybrid we had a clinical choice of North Austin Medical Center, Cedar Park Medical Center, or Texas Neuro Rehab which is super south.

Level 2 were mainly north, one group at North Austin Medical Center, the other two groups at Seton NW.

Level 3 everyone is at Dell Childrens for pediatrics, Seton Main or North Austin Medical Center for OB, and either Shoal Creek or Austin State Hospital for mental health (both central locations)

Level 4 there are two groups at Brack (central) and one at North Austin Medical Center.

Back when Purkinje and I were in level 1, the seminars were truly hybrid meaning, we did lectures live online in a chatroom. This was awesome because if you couldn't attend the lecture it was recorded and put on blackboard where you could watch it anytime. Like Purkinje said, level 1 you are in lab a lot because you are learning so much new material and have to checkoff on so much stuff.

Level 2, after you check off on level 1 skills and the new level 2 IV skills you are done with labs the first 2 weeks of class. The only time you need to be on campus is for the exams. Lectures again are optional. I don't believe I attended one lecture in level 2 and managed an A. The learning resources in hybrid are really structured and easy to follow. In level 2 we received 4 transfers from onsite campuses to our hybrid class. 2 were from EVC and the other 2 were from CEC. All four transfered because they didnt like attending lectures onsite and just being read to. I'm the same way and the idea of attending a 4 hour lecture where the professor reads to you from the powerpoints verbatim makes me cringe. Not only that but having to sit through some classmates, and trust me every class will have them, who raise their hand and proceed to ask "well my brother's wife's mother has a friend who knows this guy who goes to church with this lady who had pancreatitis and the doctor did this....is that correct?" Or the classmates who are already techs at hospitals who proceed to argue with the professor because the things we are taught are "not done where I work".

With all that said, there are some students who NEED to be read to and NEED to hear the material in class in order to learn. No problem with that at all, if you are one of those learners then hybrid has lectures once a week. Keep in mind though that since these lectures are only once a week for about three hours, they usually only cover major concepts in the powerpoints. Take for instance in the difference in level 3 hybrid OB class, in our three hour lecture we covered "Complications of labor and delivery, complications of postpartum, complications of the newborn" while the same professor had to teach just one of those in a four hour lecture for onsite.

I don't regret hybrid for a bit. I also liked only having 26 students in our group rather than 50 like in onsite. The instructors knew your name, that was nice.

I have a friend who is about to graduate in a few weeks who did CEC all four semesters and he loved it. So to end my lecture, to each his own. lol

Hey, there. I'm level one at the CEC, so I thought I'd offer up my thoughts.

Personally, I love the CEC. We only have about 30 in our class. Three clinical groups of about ten each. Our instructors are all really great and know and seem to genuinely care about each of us. They're really sweet and helpful, so it's been a great way to ease in to nursing school. They told us the first day that lectures were optional, and I and other working students have definitely skipped those, as necessary- some more than others. I hate when I have to miss one, because I do feel like I get so much out of them. It makes a huge difference on the tests, too, because I find that the teachers do a really good job of emphasizing what they feel is really important (which always seems to show up later in the exam). There are, of course, the question-askers, but the instructors are good about telling them when it's time to move on. Plus, when I have a question, I love being able to get an immediate answer, instead of having to email someone and wait for a response. If you're an auditory learner, I'd choose the CEC for sure. We have guest speakers on different topics and really helpful conversations spring up.

It's also fun to be in a real hospital and the labs are great and really well equipped. In addition to the regular labs, there are labs in the old ORs with skills dummies that the instructors can control from outside of the room. They speak through a mic and control all the vitals from the other room, which lends an element of reality to the situation. I don't know if the other campuses have that ability or not.

I have a friend in level two at CEC, who I talked into going to that campus with me. I missed by a couple of spots, so we're not together after all, but she's told me more than once that she's been really happy with her decision.

As for clinicals, we were at Texas Neuro Rehab, Seton Main or Cedar Park, but we were assigned based on our addresses and allowed to swap with others, so there weren't any real problems.

I tend to think you'll be happy no matter what you decide. Good luck on getting in, and have fun.

One of our hybrid instructors moved to CEC after we finished level 1, so I suspect that's why Texas Neuro Rehab is a choice for CEC now. (It's an incredible facility to be in for level 1, because you get to do so many skills.)

Since hybrid is at RRC for labs, we have the fancy Sim man labs with the controls. We also have nicely-appointed regular labs.

I think the biggest advantage for hybrid is the time factor, in terms of being able to fit school around your life, instead of trying to fit your life in around school.

But it isn't for everyone -- you have to be academically independent. If you struggle with understanding the material, hybrid won't work out well for you unless you put in a lot of effort. Hybrid tends to attract type-A high-achievers (Radiation, I'm looking at you ), so there isn't much hand-holding from the teachers. If you need the information broken down for you, you need to be on-site. If you're the type to go the extra mile to find information and make connections, you'd do well.

We are also a small group, so there is a lot of bonding. That's been the best part of this whole experience! And about a third of the class has gotten jobs on different floors at the same hospital, too ... so we get to continue the fun after graduation. :)