Chamberlain: Can you take nursing classes in whatever order you want?

[NeoNatMom]

Hi,

I will be entering Chamberlain's BSN program (not the RN-BSN) in 2017 and am trying to get the full picture of how registering for the classes works. I will have completed almost all non-nursing courses with the exception of the following:

Culture & Society

Intro to Chem

Critical Reasoning

Public Speaking

Statistics

I plan to complete Chem, statistics and public speaking at GTC before transferring.

So I will probably be starting there officially by Fall 2017. That being said, I have already been in another program that I left for personal reasons, and figure that there must be some kind of logical order in which at least some of the nursing courses are completed. But which ones can I take at whatever semester or session I prefer? I am about 40 minutes away from the campus, so I am trying to take courses in a similar order to that of GTC. I have a family member who will be starting there at the same time, so covering the same major courses, such as fundamentals, pharm, adult health 1 & 2, Peds/OB, and adult health 3 and transitions, would make good sense to do together so we can study together close by home. I will have extra courses that are seperated such as fundamental skills, assessment 1 & 2, and fundamentals pt care, but that is all covered in GTC's fundamentals class as a whole for 16 weeks rather than 2 sessions each being 8 weeks.

My hopes were to take the classes as described below:

Fall 2017 Spring 2018

-assessment 1 -adult health 1

-fundamental skills -health & wellness

-pharmacology -adult health 2

-assessment 2 -nutrition, health & wellness

-fundamental pt care

Summer 2018 Fall 2018

-Culture & Society -Pediatrics

-Mental Health Nursing -Transitions into the Nursing Profession

-Critical Reasoning -Obstetric Nursing

-Information Systems in HC -Evidence Based Practice

Spring 2019 Summer 2019

-Adult health 3 -Pathophysiology

-Ethics -Collaborative Healthcare

-Community Health -Capstone Course

I am open to moving some around (not that it will be my choice if it's set in stone by the school ^^).

I just wanted to understand what flexibility I have to work with.

Thank you for reading through all this, and any help will be greatly appreciated!

NNM

[Anirtak_]

Our cutoff is 76% and they don't round up either. They definitely enforce it because we had almost half of our Health Assessments I class drop out. Also the 76% applies to your exam average as well as your overall class average, so you have to make sure all 4 of your exam averages are above 76%. You do get two attempts though but I believe that is for the whole length of your program. A drop before an actual fail is considered as an attempt if you're on the brink of not passing I think. You may want to clarify with your advisor but I think I recall my professor last session saying that when half the class disappeared.

Other cut offs could be some major problem that could happen at clinicals like getting caught sleeping or a dangerous drug error.

There are dosage calculation exams that are held during the first couple of weeks beginning in Fundamentals. You get up to 3 attempts to pass, and I honestly can't recall the percentage required to pass. They give you a practice exam which is very similar to the real exam (just different numbers) that you can practice unlimited times to get prepared. I just did that over and over and made a 100% on the real exam, first attempt. They also have a center for academic success (CAS) that is an amazing resource. They will help you with any class you're struggling with. I swear I don't work for them lol as much as it might sound I'm praising the school but they really do offer a ton of resources (tutors, open lab) to help students succeed. Oh, and yes you have check offs due all the time but open lab hours are available Mon thru Fri and they have lab specialists there to help practice with you critiquing you on what to improve so you can pass check offs.

[NeoNatMom]

Okay cool. Why so many drops? We didn't have that much drop during the entire 2 yr program at GTC. Theirs is solely nursing classes, no non-nursing mixed woth nursing like at Chamberlain...you think they just weren't putting their best foot forward, or is it legitimately difficult to learn there? It was more like that for anatomy and physiology at GTC, but ppl in the actual program worked like crazy to stay in and out of 75 we lost like 9 total. Why 50% drop rate if you mind my asking?

[NeoNatMom]

Just to further clarify, since you can basically be in the program at Chamberlain while taking what is considered prerequisites for most other programs, do you think they were mostly students who probably went into Nursing not fully aware of what being a nurse would require of them? I've met so many who said they were going to do nursing, but once they took their first A&P course, dropped bc it actually took effort to learn it well let along competitive for any program.

[Anirtak_]

I'm not sure why because that was the first session so far I saw that many drop. Before that I would see one or two but maybe they weren't applying themselves fully for exams? Who knows? Nursing school will be difficult and challenging and perhaps some go in thinking Chamberlain "accepts everyone" but you need to work hard to stay in and have those critical thinking skills as a nurse to be successful.

[NeoNatMom]

That being the case, would I be able to take my fall courses like this:

Fall 2017 (1st session)

Assessment 1

Fundamentals skills

Pharmacology

Fall 2017 (session 2)

Assessment 2

Fundamentals pt care

I saw on their sample curriculum you can take mental, ped and OB before advanced adult health which is the same order as at GTC.

I also keep hearing students say they registered for the "trifecta" at chamberlain. What does this mean?

[NeoNatMom]

What courses where they that so many dropped from?

[Anirtak_]

I think the trifecta is Patho, Health Assessment, and Fundamentals. I wasn't scheduled that thankfully. And I'm not sure what classes you will be scheduled, it really depends on what your advisor recommends but I don't think Health Assess, Funds, and Pharm is a good idea. Pharm is a heavy class to add to those two.

The class that had the high drop rate that I witnessed was Health Assess I but maybe it's not always like that? Maybe it was just that handful of students? I can't speak for why they dropped, I just know towards the last two weeks we only had 11 students left.

[NeoNatMom]

Wow. I succeed in fundamentals (which included pt care, skills, and assessment) all in that lass along with pharm. Made an A in pharm and high B in fundies. But the, im starting to look into other programs in GA to keep my options open and possibly get into a more affordable program.

Georgia Perimeter

Georgia State

Georgia Gwinnett College

Athens Tech

Clayton state

Kenessaw

University of north ga

If anyone is looking into these also, how's that going? I'm open to ADN or BSN, and don't mind driving abut an hour out.

Thanks!

[peachshan, BSN, RN]

I'm having to look into other programs too. I attended Brenau nursing program. I started their part-time program in 2104. I was doing good until last Fall when I took Med-Surg and failed by 2 points. The school wouldn't let me take another course and I sat for a year until this August when I was supposed to retake Med Surg. While I was sitting out, I found out I was pregnant. I had my daughter not even a week into the course. I missed two exams and three clinical dates. The end result is that advised me to withdraw from Med-Surg class. Even though I didn't want to, I did it because I was behind. Now the school is making me reapply to the program which I am upset about because I feel like I wasted two and a half years.

So, anyway, I am looking into other programs including Clayton State, West Ga, and Chamberlain. My issue is that I will have to work and right now it will have to be full time. I liked Brenau part time program because I was still able to work and go to school. The only thing is I felt like we were doing the same amount of work as the full time students. Also, I didn't like the lack of support we got (no open labs, no tutoring services).

I like what Chamberlain offers. Is there a time limit on sciences (no more than 5 years)?

[NeoNatMom]

I believe your prereqs can be up to 10 years old.

I am sorry life put you back a few steps. but tbh, I attempted GTC's program twice. I too listened to the faculty and withdrew even when I was passing both classes bc they put the fear of God in you about possibly failing. They told me if I withdrew, my GPA would be okay and I could just reapply with my 1st time scores and get again. So I threw away a perfectly good opportunity. Believe in your own abilities!

6 of us left the same week this fall semester bc there were issues with faculty. I am glad to be gone after my last experience. I changed so much from my 1st cohort to the next.

Whereabouts do you live? I need to find some study ppl who are trying to get ready for other programs like TEAS/HESI exams, as well as studying ahead for the program. I saved my books from nursing and it would be great to study with you considering we both got pretty far so we get the gist. Maybe we can apply to similar schools? It's better to have some kind of support system that understands what you're going through. PM me if you'd like :)

[Livelaughlove72]

I like what Chamberlain offers. Is there a time limit on sciences (no more than 5 years)?

To be sure ask an advisor to look at your transcripts, they recently changed their transfer credit policy. This is copied from the catalog:

• A grade of B-” or higher is required for all science and nursing transfer

credits (pre-licensure only). A grade of C” or higher is required for all

other transfer credits.

• "C" grades earned in science courses may be accepted for transfer if

the corresponding A2 test score is 72 or greater

• Pre-licensure nursing coursework must have been completed within

the past five years and be from a baccalaureate level program to be

considered for transfer credit

• Transfer credit will not be awarded for any clinical nursing course

at the 300 level or above

• Courses transferring in for microbiology, chemistry or anatomy and

physiology credit must have been completed within the past 10 years

and include a lab component in order to be considered for transfer credit

[Buyer beware, BSN]

Re: Chamberlain (DeVry).

Well, some are prerequisites for others but some aren't. The Capstone, of course, is your last class so quite natually it makes sense when you have to take that baby. (last)

And don't worry about tuition payments, you just put that on your credit card and then get a copy of your grade and the present that to your employer and viola! they pay usually up to 5K per year as long as you get at least C grade.

Anything else you owe will be taken out of your school loans for the usual easy pay 10 year period or paid directly by you out of pocket.

One more thing about the class order. There is no guarantee they will be given in the order most pleasing to you. You see they must gather up enough recruits to make giving a class pay.

After all they're a for-profit for pete's sake.