Drexel ACE Fall 2017

Hey Everybody! I just got my acceptance yesterday for the ACE 11 month program beginning this fall! I applied in late December but I know most of my transcripts weren't received until January so if you've applied and not heard don't be worried. I found this forum and was extremely concerned because some people applied back in May (wow you guys have a lot of initiative!) and I thought I might be too late! I just have my second Statistics class to finish this term and then I'll be ready to go. I took A&P two years ago so I'm thinking I may audit the class again this summer. I'm worried that all of the relevant info has gone completely out of my head and thought it wouldn't hurt to have a refresher course. I know eleven months is a big time crunch and I'm worried about keeping up. Anyway I look forward to meeting those of you who choose to attend!

Hi everyone! I will also be attending the ACE 11 month program in the fall! Super excited! I will be moving from California and have no idea where to live and am not yet familiar with the area. Does anyone have any suggestions on apartments/areas to look into? I will have my car but I would love to live as close as possible. If anyone is up for a roommate, let me know!:)

Hi all, congrats on your acceptances. I'm a current 24-monther currently in quarter 2, started in Fall 2016. If anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask :)

P.S. Make sure you start your Hep C immunizations NOW if you haven't already. The whole process can take up to 6-7 months and they are usually due August 1st on CastleBranch for the Fall term. They give you extra time if you need it, but just get it done now.

Also, if you have anything on your record for stupid **** you did when you were younger, even if it's a drunk and disorderly conduct, etc, get started on the expungements right away, b/c the background checks are also due August 1st and anything within the last 7 years will show up and expungements can take many months to complete. You can't start clinical in quarter 2 if you have anything on your background.

Good luck to you all!

Hi Philly85!

Thank you so much for commenting...it's always nice to hear from current students! I'll be in the 24 month program starting in the fall and I have a few questions about the class schedule. How many times a week do you have class? I've heard Tues/Thurs at 6 pm but does it change every quarter? Also, what do most people do about working? Is it feasible to work a 9-5 job Mon-Fri?

Sorry for all the questions!!

Hi Penny94, it's my pleasure. As far as class schedule, for quarter 1, we had 3 classes total, Nursing Pathophysiology, Relationship Based Nursing Care, and Contemporary Health Care. Patho was Tues 6-8:50 pm, Relationship Based Nursing was Thurs 6-8:50 pm and Contemporary Health Care was Saturday morning 9-11:50 am.

For this second quarter, we have 2 classes + clinical. Nursing Foundations is 8 credits and is Tues/Thurs 6 - 8:50 pm and then we have Medication Principles (Med Math) online. Skills lab is every other Saturday 8 am - 8 pm (more like 7:45 am - 7:45 pm) and then clinical is every other Sunday 7 am - 3 pm (more like 6:45 am - 2:45 pm). Skills lab and clinical are always on the same weekend, so you have every other weekend completely off.

Starting quarter 3, from what I understand, we will not have skills lab on Saturdays anymore, that will be replaced with another clinical through the rest of the program.

As far as working, I work a full-time 9-5 and, although I am pretty busy, it's definitely do-able and you are still able to have free time and a life outside of school and work. You just need to make sure you set aside at least an hour a day for studying/projects/school-work.

I will say, the first quarter, you will have a big group project in both Relationship Based Nursing and Contemporary Health Care, so for those of you who hate group projects (like myself, lol), just an FYI. The nice thing about Relationship Based Nursing though, is that there are no exams, just a paper, discussion board, and a project, with participation and attendance thrown in.

This quarter def feels a little busier to me, basically just b/c we have lab/clinical now. However, it's def still doable, again, just need to make sure you are prioritizing your time.

Overall, I think the program is run pretty well. There have been some recent issues in skills lab with some disorganization, but they are working on it. I do appreciate that they are opening up the skills lab with a faculty member on the off Saturdays now (b/c we all complained), b/c before it was only open during the weekday and closed at the end of the work-day.

Please feel free to ask me more questions!

Wow, thank you so much! This is very helpful! I'm excited to start the program.

This is extremely helpful thanks so much! I had a quick question. I am moving from California and was wondering if it mattered that much how close to campus I lived and if a car is necessary for the program since I've heard clinicals can be all over the place. Trying to get a sense of what the living situation is going to be like and the best location to move to.

Also are all of the classes on Drexel's nursing campus or are there any on the main campus as well?

Hi Kaleighs,

I've had the chance of working alongside some Drexel ACE students while they were doing clinicals at the hospital I work at, and from what they told me it's not too important to live close to campus. The first quarter will be all in the classroom, but once you start clinicals you can be sent pretty far. The hospital I work at is over an hour from Philadelphia.

If you decide not to live in the city, you'll definitely need a car. I'd recommend living in a town along the PA turnpike or highway 95 that way you'll have easy access to any place we could possibly do clinicals—Bryn Mawr, Hatboro, Warminster, Langhorne, or Doylestown to name a few (rent is pretty similar in all places).

I'll be in the 11 month day program starting in the fall!

Hi everyone!

I was just accepted into the ACE 11 month program. I am very excited but nervous about some of the reviews I've read online.

It's really funny to see everyone posting here - I was in your shoes last year! I'm in the 11 month program on the last legs of Q2 and so ready to hit the halfway mark!

By the time you guys start you'll be the 3rd cohort to start with the "new" curriculum. We were the guinea pigs and so many things needed to be ironed out Q1 it was a wonder we got anything accomplished. Q1 is a lot of classroom time and easier courses (Relationships and Contemporary). Patho and Nursing Foundations you'll have to study a lot for. Med Math is brutal but I think they're making it an online course? Consider yourself lucky if that's the case. Lab is a brutal 6 hours. Clinical...it seems is really dependent on your instructor and placement as to what you'll do/how much you'll learn (seems pretty universal no matter what class the clinical is for).

I'm not used to a quarter system coming from a traditional semester style curriculum at every other school I've attended. It moves FAST. Tests start week 3 and don't stop til finals week - prepare to study a lot. We had a long break between Q1 and Q2 but that's not the case the rest of the program. Keep on top of your **** - study. Utilize resources available to you.

Someone asked about working PT and it is possible - I know a few classmates who are doing it...but it only works if you can be flexible with your schedule. She's a tech PT at a hospital and is per diem and has one required weekend a month (I believe) and she picks up some shifts when she has time. Idk how feasible that will be in Q3 and Q4 because we have 4 classes 8-5 MT and clinicals 3 days week...most extra time will be studying!! She's making it work though. I had a M-F, 9-5 job prior so I couldn't really cut back on hours or do weekends. I know someone else who picks up waitressing shifts on weekends too.

As far as living in Philly/close to campus...there are people who live spread out in the area - some from Jersey, the suburbs in Bucks/Delco, and all parts of Philly. So living in Center City is not at all necessary ESPECIALLY because Q2-4 you'll only be in class 2 days a week and the rest of the time you have clinicals and can be placed literally anywhere. A lot of people in the city seem to get city placements, but it's totally not a guarantee. I live in the suburbs (Bucks Co) and take Regional Rail to class and get off at Suburban Station and literally the Three Parkway building is right across the street (if you go to the right exit anyway) and that's where 99% of classes are. Train tickets are cheaper than parking (unless you can carpool) and I don't have to worry about rush hour traffic. Then I just drive to clinicals (FYI lots of hospitals you have to pay to park at - the worst).

Anyway, speaking of clinical, gotta get up at 5 am so I can be at the hospital by 6:30...I rambled a lot here but if anyone has ?s I'm happy to try to answer.

THANK YOU elizabeth_anne! I'm no stranger to the quarter system so the loads of studying doesn't come as a surprise. Will definitely have to mentally prepare myself.

I have a few questions:

You mentioned that a majority of the classes are at the Three Parkway building -- do you know if that'll remain true for the few classes you'll have in the 3rd and 4th quarters?

Did you get a Thanksgiving weekend break? (Or did you/anyone have weekend clinicals?)

Would it be feasible to rely on public transportation to get to clinicals on time?

Any recommendations for what kind of laptop to purchase? I've been planning on getting a MacBook, but don't mind getting a PC if the ACE program has some specific PC-only software we need to use.

We just got our Q3 schedules and all the classes are at Three Parkway and I'm pretty confident we'll be there for Q4 as well. For Q1 we had 3/5 classes at Three Parkway and my section had Patho and Med Math in New College Building (I think Med Math may be moved to an online class now?) Labs and any simulations are also in NCB. Our exams are usually taken in NCB because there are big lecture halls there so we can all spread out.

Yes, we did get a long-weekend for Thanksgiving! And a 3-day weekend for Columbus Day. There are more breaks Q1 (starting Fall Term) than any other quarter because of the holidays - not the case for Q2 - it's going by so much faster! Then there was a really long break between Q1 and Q2 - 4 weeks! It was nice to have that time - and I'm glad we had it in the beginning and now it's full steam ahead to September!

The powers that be claim all clinical sites are accessible by public transport. I myself haven't used public transpo for clinicals, and while it may be possible, I don't always know that it would be the easiest - mostly for the placements that are out in the suburbs. If you're living in the city without a car there are a decent amount of people who will have their car with them - so definitely reach out to your classmates, because I know lots of people who carpool! Keep in mind some of the sites are also not in wonderful neighborhoods and might require walking in the darkness at 6 am. The official start time for clinicals is 7 am (unless you have an afternoon/evening clinical, then it's 2 pm) but 2/3 of mine so far required us to be there by 6:30 am. And there are Saturday clinicals - I have one this quarter. For 24 monthers all their clinicals are weekends. I heard a rumor (that I don't really believe) that they'll only give you one quarter with a Saturday clinical. But like I said, idk how feasible that really is trying to place so many students (bc it's not just ACE, but they have their BSN Co-op students also). We haven't gotten our Q3 clinical placements yet (probably very soon!) so time will tell!

As far as a laptop goes - you just need something with internet and a word processor! I have a MacBook Air and I think that a good 75% of my section also has a Mac of some kind but people also use iPads with a keyboard, Chrome books and PCs. All the ATI resources are online and the same goes supplemental textbook materials!