I am currently enrolled in the Pace University RN4 program. I have to say this is not a good school. The professors often avoid answering questions, do not give you any room to learn, and overall feels like they don't care whether you pass or fail.
Let me give you some examples of what I am talking about.
1. This was the first semester so we are learning patient assessment skills and everything. This girl in my class passes all but one skill, something simple in the frequency hearing test where she said "tell me when you stop feeling this" rather than "tell me when you stop HEARING this". OK, no problem she gets another chance to retake the practical. She corrects the problem and fails again. The instructor said she did another part of the exam wrong when she did everything exactly as she did the first time with the once correction that was brought to her attention. This girl tried everything but none of the professors would do anything about it and she was not allowed to move on.
2. I often have have questions that I think of when I am home studying or something and if I can't figure it out I will email a professor. I have only had 1 professor who has actually answered my questions via email. Every other professor either did not respond or told me to speak with someone else. THis really annoyed me when an email was sent about applying for a nursing internship and I asked a simple question about the internship (Whether one year of Nursing school was required when applying or the year was needed to be completed before the start of the internship, as it starts in the summer it is a reasonable question). I wrote to the woman who sent the email and she told me to contact someone else.
3. I just got an email today, less than 2 weeks before the start of Spring semester saying "All friday clinicals have been canceled. Sorry for the inconvenience." WHat the hell is that? No explanation at all, no comments on saying they will accomodate us. Simply "Sorry for the inconvenience". I don't know about anyone else, but I schedule my school around my other priorities, in this case work. I was glad there was a Friday section because the other sections interfere with my work schedule. Now they expect me to change everything at the last minute with no explanation or anything.
I have found out so far that at least 20 people have failed out during this first semester, which is probably like 15% of those enrolled. Thankfully I grasp information easily so I was able to make it on my own, but anyone who needs some extra help or needs an instructor to learn well will most likely not fit into this environment. I suggest anyone looking at Pace University seriously reconsider.
Me? No I will not be graduating from Pace...I was with the 80% of my classmates who failed out in my first semester. I'm starting at a new program and have already had a significantly better experience with this school. This school is honest, helpful and is really excited about giving people a good nursing education...all things that I did not experience with Pace.
hi everyone, i am currently enrolled at pace university in the rn4 program and i am a senior. just wanted to give you some advice about going to nursing school in general. nursing school is very tough and requires extreme dedication to studying and practicing your skills. the nursing professors at pace are extermely dedicated (as well) to their students and they too have alot to deal with. if you go to them personally asking for help, help will be arranged. i personally know this because professors have come to me for help to tutor other students endanger of failing or who were struggling with a particular subject. if you don't ask for help, you will struggle in nursing. it is important to seek help as early as possible which will reduce your chances of failing. the lrc is available to practice assessment skills and if you are having trouble you must seek help from professors. e-mailing professors is quick and easy but you must not realize how much work our professors have as well. sometimes e-mails may get deleted accidently before they are replied to so it is important to make sure you send out another e-mail or just go to the professor in person. i know, i have had those same experiences and accidents happen, we all make mistakes. school is very important and you should have to work your schedule around school if you are dedicated enough to finish. i know we all have other commitments such as work, but school is priority. cancellations happen that are out of anyone's control somtimes and if you have any concerns you must bring it up with your clinical instructors or professors. if you are being referred to someone else, go to that person because clearly they must be the one with more knowledge in order to address your concerns. lastly, i would like to mention that the nclex passing rates for 2009 are 90%. this is posted on the pace website - see http://www.pace.edu/pace/lienhard/lsn-news/nclex/). if you have anymore questions or concerns i will gladly help you and i suggest you check out pace lienhard school of nursing because i have no regrets to coming here. yes, i will be honest that nursing school is tough and sometimes you feel like quitting and sometimes you may get a bad grade, but in the end it is all worth it. and like i said previously the most important thing you can do for yourself is get help early. if you have a question and do not understand what you did wrong ask and if you are not getting answers from a professor or instructor you can bring it up with a higher personnel in the leinhard school of nursing (but you must address the concern with the professor directly involved first!). do not feel intimidated by your professors, they are here to help you.
Come to the orientation session at Pace University on April 11th. I will be speaking there as a Senior nursing student of the Lienhard School of Nursing along with two of my other fellow classmates. Some of our professors and faculty members will also be there to answer questions. I agree, definitely do your research but Pace has a wonderful nursing program and you are bascially GUARENTEED a job within the hospitals you do clinicals in once you graduate; I already have an interview in progress and I do not graduate until May 24, 2010. I would not just settle with all this negative information from others because everyone is different and therefore all of our experiences are different as well. See for yourself and I hope to see you on April 11th! Let me know if you have any questions!
hey, thanks for all the information. its great help. i do believe that the school cant be that bad. i already went to the info session ut unfortunately, there werent any students. just wondering, I heard that last semster they gave students a test and like 30 students failed or more and without pity they were all thrwn out of the school. That they were not given any chances to continue, and basically all their work and money did not count.
FYI: nursing students do fail, it is very common in ANY nursing school because this cirriculum is DIFFICULT. I have known many peers who have failed and I know it was because they did not dedicate themselves enough; they went out partying all the time and did not study nearly enough. Like I said do not come into any nursing school thinking it will be easy. You will have a VERY limited social life for four years but in the end you will have a job that pays well and you will be taking care of others. So please like I said do not go by other people, try it for yourself and if you are not going to be motivated and dedicated to graduate, yes you will most likely fail. Nursing is not easy, it involves peoples LIVES so if someone fails, it is for goods reasons and I personally would not want my life in someone's hands who is not capable of being dedicated to their work.
I don't know what test you are talking about but many students fail tests. Failing one test does not mean you fail the course. Everything is counted as a percentage towards your grade. Professors have been adding in practice NCLEX questions, case studies and projects in order to benefit our knowledge as well as our grades. You also have one chance to fail one nursing course. Of course you must retake it and will be behind your peers but you do have a second chance. Once you fail 2 nursing classes, you are out of the program which makes sense. If you cannot pass nursing school with those guidelines I agree you should no longer be in the program. I made it through this program without failing at all and I am telling you it takes extreme dedication to your studies. If you do not have that in you, you either need to make changes in order to pass or you won't pass. I know a girl who was into partying and not studying and failed one course. She took a year off and when she came back to continue she is doing SO well. She just needed that time to mature and get herself together.
Many of us were specifically speaking about the Combined Degree Program which is completely separate from the RN4 program. Of our program 80% of the students failed out and these were all Graduate Level students who hold degrees in other fields. Speaking for myself, I hold a degree in Microbiology from a very good school, with a very good undergraduate GPA and am fully aware of how demanding and stressful nursing programs are. Many of us had tutors, met with our teachers, and put in the time to succeed.
The RN4 program is completely different from the CDP. The teachers, faculty and overall curriculum is completely different. While I appreciate your feedback on your program, to say we failed because we were not doing things the right way is not appropriate. You speak on behalf of your program, and we'll stick to speaking on ours.
Again...everyone has a different experience, so those who are thinking of attending Pace, please meet with current or past students who are in or were in the program you are applying to.
Oh and in the CDP, bad grades are not allowed. If you get a C, you are kicked out of the program with no possibility of returning, you have to get a minimum of a C+, but if your GPA slips below a 3.0 you are out of the program. My classmate failed out with an A, a B and a C and she now has to start over at a new school. So, in the CDP there is no generous failing of 2 classes before getting kicked out, you aren't even allowed to do average in one class.
ok. i appreciate the time u r taking to write t us. i se and understand and agree with u...did u start at pace as a freshman from HS or did u go into the program with a BS in another field?
CDP stands for "Combined Degree Program," and is for students who already hold a degree in a field other than nursing to get both their bachelors and masters in nursing all at the same time.
I already have two bachelors degrees, one in Microbiology and one in Community Health Education, both from a school in California. The CDP is for people with degrees already, and generally speaking, the people in the RN4 program do not have degrees in another field.
Hope that helps! Oh, I saw your post from a few days ago about there not being any students at the orientation that you went to. I would recommend you try to find Pace students through facebook, that's what I'm doing to investigate my new school, and a lot of people have been very willing to talk to me and have given me really good information. allnurses is a great resource, but it seems like most of the students are either really happy or really irritated with their programs, so it's nice to get a good average opinion.
Katie1770
21 Posts
Me? No I will not be graduating from Pace...I was with the 80% of my classmates who failed out in my first semester. I'm starting at a new program and have already had a significantly better experience with this school. This school is honest, helpful and is really excited about giving people a good nursing education...all things that I did not experience with Pace.
I wish you the best of luck, Aspiring Nurse!