Austin Community College Fall 2012 hopefuls

Hey all,

Sorry to everyone who did not get into the Traditional ADN this time. Congrats to those who made it! I've applied to the Fall Mobility program. I'm wondering if anyone on the board is in the same position as me or knows anyone who is. I'm curious if anyone else received an email today. I want a buddy who is going for Mobility! :-)

Thanks!

Congrats to all of you that got in, and I do empathize with those who didn't. I did get in!! This is my 2nd attempt so I do know how both groups feel. It really seems that this program has gotten so much more competitive- even compared to a year ago. More 2nd careers and less teachers does not bode well.

I'm looking forward to getting back to the grind, so anyone wants a partner for skills practice or prep in general- let me know. I've almost commented enough on here to get DM status.

Good Luck to All!!

Congratulations to all who were accepted this go around! For those of you who made it in, would you mind posting how many points you had as well as your rank? It would be helpful for those of us still waiting to get in hopefully next time. :)I applied for fall 2012 with 48 points knowing I wouldn't get in. I just reapplied for the spring 2013 with 61 points, so I'm hoping that's enough to get accepted this time.

@kdell23 - i had 64.18 points this application cycle. i don't know what my actual rank was, because they don't give you that when you get an acceptance letter. also, i don't know exactly what the cut off was for this cycle, but i do have a approximate numbers from the past few cycles that i participated in. from what i've heard from friends who were accepted and people in the nursing department, before spring 2011, it got as low as 49 or 50, and it hovered between 49 and 52 for quite a while before that. in spring 2011 the cut off was around 51 or 52. in fall 2011 (first time i applied), the cut off was around 54.8 something. for spring 2012, the cut off was around 56.1. as for this fall 2012 cycle, i'm assuming that the cut off was between 58 and 60.

here's some information that i've picked up over the past three cycles that i thought was interesting. from what i've heard, the rising score needed to get in has to do with the budget and the number of teachers acc has on hand. since the state regulates how many students there are per teacher in this program, acc can only accept students if they have enough professors. that is what predicts the number of spots open every cycle. again, from what i've heard, the number accepted the past few cycles were: spring 2011 - around 140 or 150, fall 2011 - around 118, spring 2012 - around 108, and fall 2012 - 95.

when i took nursing skills in fall 2011, the professor told us that "several acc nursing professors had retired in spring 2011, and since the budget was limited by the state budget cuts, they were unable to hire more teachers due to a hiring freeze." that would explain why the number jumped during summer 2011. now, last fall, i went to ut to try to transfer (i was tired of waiting at acc), which the ut advisor discouraged me to do until i finished the program at acc. anyway, while i was talking to her, she told me that an acc nursing department employee (i'm not using the actual name) had told her that acc was having a hard time finding professors. she also told me that all the other schools in the area, including ut, were having the same problem. she said: "they're simply not out there. and the ones that are, we have to fight to get them with incentives." apparently, ut gives "free rides" to the children of their nursing professors as a signing bonus. that made me think that acc has an even harder time finding professors. hopefully, acc will be able to hire more professors for spring 2013.

hope this information helps you. good luck in spring 2013!!! :)

I have actually inquired about this very subject lately, why the smaller class sizes. I was told that it is not lack of professors to teach but lack of clinical spaces in the Austin area.

With other colleges here now (Concordia, TX A&M, and TX State) all nursing programs are sharing the clinical spaces. Therefore until new facilities open up there is not much hope of increasing class sizes.

That could very well be true. One thing I've always disliked about the program is the lack of solid communication. There is so much conflicting information out there, and quite honestly, it is so frustrating. When that question was asked by my class to the professor that I took nursing skills with in Fall 2011, she said "Getting clinical space was no problem." She acted like it was available whenever they needed it. At this point, I've just learned to take everything I hear with a gain of salt. I guess one never really knows 100% what is really going on. HA

:)

The frustration ya'll are feeling is totally understandable. To be honest, all of the above is probably true. When I started level 1 in the Spring of 2011 there was drama because we lost a major clinical site, Round Rock Medical Center, to the brand new Texas State program. I don't believe they secured a new clinical site until barely a few weeks before our semester began and Cedar Park Regional Medical Center welcomed ACC as it's first nursing students ever. Austin is also overloaded with nursing programs. During level 2 I was a part of a one day sometimes two day Fri/Sat 12 hour clinical and the unit we were on had nursing students 7 days a week!! Sometimes we would overlap and have to wait for the other nursing student group to leave the unit before we could begin. Concordia's program was there, ACC was there, and so was Texas Tech second degree BSN program. Now I believe Texas State has taken over Scott and White in Round Rock for many of their semesters along with Seton Williamson.

The teacher shortage is also true. They have lost a few instructors due to retirement mainly. The reason it is so hard to find clinical instructors, requires a Masters degree and the pay is really low compared to what they could be making in other areas of nursing. The majority of the ACC clinical instructors I have been assigned to were doing it as a part time job while working full-time at another hospital.

My score was 63.85. Last application round my score was 55.24 and I did not get accepted.. I had a friend who had 56.10 in my nursing skills class last Fall who didn't get accepted immediately but received a late acceptance. So I would agree that the cut-off this round would have been somewhere between 57-59.

Too bad we don't get to know what our ranking was. I know I was accepted but I'm still curious! Selfish, I know...

@Kdell23 - I had 64.18 points this application cycle. I don't know what my actual rank was, because they don't give you that when you get an acceptance letter. Also, I don't know exactly what the cut off was for this cycle, but I do have a approximate numbers from the past few cycles that I participated in. From what I've heard from friends who were accepted and people in the nursing department, before Spring 2011, it got as low as 49 or 50, and it hovered between 49 and 52 for quite a while before that. In spring 2011 the cut off was around 51 or 52. In Fall 2011 (first time I applied), the cut off was around 54.8 something. For Spring 2012, the cut off was around 56.1. As for this Fall 2012 cycle, I'm assuming that the cut off was between 58 and 60.

Here's some information that I've picked up over the past three cycles that I thought was interesting. From what I've heard, the rising score needed to get in has to do with the budget and the number of teachers ACC has on hand. Since the state regulates how many students there are per teacher in this program, ACC can only accept students if they have enough professors. That is what predicts the number of spots open every cycle. Again, from what I've heard, the number accepted the past few cycles were: Spring 2011 - around 140 or 150, Fall 2011 - Around 118, Spring 2012 - Around 108, and Fall 2012 - 95.

When I took Nursing Skills in Fall 2011, the professor told us that "several ACC Nursing professors had retired in Spring 2011, and since the budget was limited by the state budget cuts, they were unable to hire more teachers due to a hiring freeze." That would explain why the number jumped during summer 2011. Now, last fall, I went to UT to try to transfer (I was tired of waiting at ACC), which the UT advisor discouraged me to do until I finished the program at ACC. Anyway, while I was talking to her, she told me that an ACC nursing department employee (I'm not using the actual name) had told her that ACC was having a hard time finding professors. She also told me that all the other schools in the area, including UT, were having the same problem. She said: "They're simply not out there. And the ones that are, we have to fight to get them with incentives." Apparently, UT gives "free rides" to the children of their nursing professors as a signing bonus. That made me think that ACC has an even harder time finding professors. Hopefully, ACC will be able to hire more professors for Spring 2013.

Hope this information helps you. Good luck in Spring 2013!!! :)

Hello, Austin404

I was just wondering... What was the reason that UT advisor discouraged you to transfer until you finish ACC nursing program??

Thanks! :)

@ yejin0816

I met with her last fall, and she told me the following:

1. If I wanted to transfer to UT before I had completed clinicals, I would have to take classes over again at UT.

- I would have to take chemistry and cellular and molecular biology over again. Apparently, in order to get a clinical ticket at UT, you have to take two science classes in residency. That's what they use to score the students. UT has a much high pre-req for those classes than ACC does. If I'm not mistaken, they require a high level math class for chemistry. Plus, half of the kids in my cellular and molecular biology class were from UT. Apparently, that class is rather difficult to get into at UT because of wait listing.

- I would have to take Pharmacology over again, because UT won't take the one from ACC.

- I would have to take some freshmen class along with the global health, ethics, and spanish for healthcare classes before clinicals.

She said it wasn't worth it, and that I would probably get into clinicals at ACC before I even got those done. Plus, Tuition at UT is 5 times what it is at ACC.

2. There's no guarantee that anyone will get a clinical ticket at UT. They do things much differently than ACC does. Also, If I'm not mistaken, they only have one class that enters each year. ACC has two.

Congrats to all who got in! :)

I didn't make in this semester. I had 55.73 points and made 183/478. I am reapplying for spring 2013 with 63.15 points. I am applying ACC as well as other schools' accelerated programs, like texas tech. Hope i can start the program next year!

@ Austin404

Thanks for the reply!

They suck for making ppl to take science classes again at UT. UT science classes are hard ;(