Drexel University ACE Spring 2011

U.S.A. Pennsylvania

Published

Anyone out there has applied or is applying to the ACE class beginning Spring 2011? Anyone waiting to hear from admissions for now?

Specializes in Mother/Baby.

Thanks for the insight Ashley!!!! I really appreciate the great advice =)

are you planning to walk/bike to school or take your car? i'm from sf and have visited philly for a day in august..and not sure if it's safe to walk/bike around hahnemann hospital to center city.

Thanks for the advice Ashley. I appreciate you telling us about your experience so far. Good luck with the rest of your quarter

Specializes in CSICU/CTICU.

Hey guys! I visited the campus and I really loved Philadelphia and the school seemed great and very together too! It was a little intimidating, as I got the full tour and got to see students getting tested (the professors watch you via videocamera from monitors in a back room). Seemed nerve wracking! But everyone at school seemed extremely nice. While the intense nature of the program itself it the most intimidating factor, I was incredibly happy with the school and the surrounding area. I am going to be looking for an apartment within walking or subway distance! If anyone has any questions about my visit to the school or about the surrounding area, let me know!

Before attending , or any school for that matter, ask about ALL requirements regarding the Exit HESi exam (pass score etc it is not the same at every school!), compare the answers that each of your school choices gives you and see it in writing. Ask what the HESI pass rate is if it is a requirement for graduation/to sit for the NCLEX. It may not seem like a big deal now but it becomes a huge deal when after you pay $80,000 and maintain B average, you find yourself not being able to sit for the NCLEX even after you've scored a 910 on your HESI first try after being up with your sick child in the ER. You get extremely worried now, really start flipping out and score lower on the second try. You're required to take a remedial course at the cost of another $3000.00 in order to take the test again. It finally takes 3 tries (no thanks to the school and the wasted extra $3000-thanks to KAPLAN Live review course and test taking skills. Other classmates around you are still failing the HESI, some deciding to give up. There were so many who failed. Don't think you are above failing the HESI. Brilliant students have failed. You finally get to sit for the NCLEX and end up passing with only 75 questions. The point is you would've passed without the HESI requirement. There are tons of folks who would undoubtedly pass the NCLEX if they were only allowed to sit for it. Schools have different policies. Some use HESI only as a measurement tool for remediation others use it to pad positive stats for the NCLEX pass rate for the school and are more prohibitive. Be careful. Hope you never have to hear "I told you So"

Specializes in ortho.

She is absolutely right about this. However, the dreaded HESI could be the least of your concerns; once you understand the format and do your review, anyone can pass the test. I went from scoring in the mid-50% to the top 5% and I did not attend college's that emphasized standardized testing. After I did not pass the first time, I did lots of review and passed on the final try. Let me tell you, had I gone to a different college, I would have passed on the first try as artificially inflates the pass score (90% now). I passed the NCLEX the first time in 2 hours.

Weighing both sides of the coin:

I would also like to shoot you future ACErs some warnings. If you are re-locating to attend Drexel I would think twice, unless of course, your next-of-kin is nurse manager back at home. With the pace of the Drexel program, there is no time to do summer externships - valuable experience that you do not get in the ACE program which also leads to lack of contacts. Unless you fail a class after having assessment 101. Then you can stop, get an externship, get much needed clinical time and make contacts. A classmate did this and she's employed with a major hospital where she did her externship. With my clinicals, I only met one nurse manager at CHOP and that was purely by accident. Although I had one clinical teacher who was incredible at providing direct contact to the HR person at Penn and many students got their first break this way. He was definitely the exception.

Once you graduate, you have a short window of opportunity to land that first job. What this means is that you have 6 months to obtain a spot in a graduate residency program with a hospital. I landed one at a major hospital through a connection - the way most people obtained theirs. Prior to this, I met the HR person at an "open call" and she was a @#$%. Unfortunately, I landed a spot where there was management change and I was lost in the shuffle. " I was the proverbial young who was completely eaten. Brief synopsis: 16 preceptors, pertinent handbook given to me week 4 out of 6 week training period (after I had repeatedly requested training materials), and vocal resentment that I had gone through the shortened ACE program and that I didn't know anything (which was true at first).

So, now it is coming on 1 year since I graduated. Got an interview, but HR called to cancel it because I am no longer a new grad d/t my graduation date in December 2009. Point is, that I am no longer a new grad. My only option is to do a refresher course, which does not seem like a good plan bc, once again, I will not be a new grad and I will not have enough real experience to be competitive, particularly in this recession market.

I am now working as a waiter. I am in the position of finding a way to use this BSN, and my past degrees and work experience, in a non-clinical setting - or perhaps, in a totally new direction. I am flat broke with debt up to my ears...sigh...and am approaching my 45th birthday.

The upside: It seems that many of my co-horts did find work and some are already on their second jobs!

Anyway, the moral of the story is: do not buy into the hype of the nursing shortage; tap your network ASAP if you want to be a nurse; and pay as little as you can for this BSN.

Specializes in Stepdown.
She is absolutely right about this. However, the dreaded HESI could be the least of your concerns; once you understand the format and do your review, anyone can pass the test. I went from scoring in the mid-50% to the top 5% and I did not attend college's that emphasized standardized testing. After I did not pass the first time, I did lots of review and passed on the final try. Let me tell you, had I gone to a different college, I would have passed on the first try as Drexel artificially inflates the pass score (90% now). I passed the NCLEX the first time in 2 hours.

Weighing both sides of the coin:

I would also like to shoot you future ACErs some warnings. If you are re-locating to attend Drexel I would think twice, unless of course, your next-of-kin is nurse manager back at home. With the pace of the Drexel program, there is no time to do summer externships - valuable experience that you do not get in the ACE program which also leads to lack of contacts. Unless you fail a class after having assessment 101. Then you can stop, get an externship, get much needed clinical time and make contacts. A classmate did this and she's employed with a major hospital where she did her externship. With my clinicals, I only met one nurse manager at CHOP and that was purely by accident. Although I had one clinical teacher who was incredible at providing direct contact to the HR person at Penn and many students got their first break this way. He was definitely the exception.

Once you graduate, you have a short window of opportunity to land that first job. What this means is that you have 6 months to obtain a spot in a graduate residency program with a hospital. I landed one at a major hospital through a connection - the way most people obtained theirs. Prior to this, I met the HR person at an "open call" and she was a @#$%. Unfortunately, I landed a spot where there was management change and I was lost in the shuffle. " I was the proverbial young who was completely eaten. Brief synopsis: 16 preceptors, pertinent handbook given to me week 4 out of 6 week training period (after I had repeatedly requested training materials), and vocal resentment that I had gone through the shortened ACE program and that I didn't know anything (which was true at first).

So, now it is coming on 1 year since I graduated. Got an interview, but HR called to cancel it because I am no longer a new grad d/t my graduation date in December 2009. Point is, that I am no longer a new grad. My only option is to do a refresher course, which does not seem like a good plan bc, once again, I will not be a new grad and I will not have enough real experience to be competitive, particularly in this recession market.

I am now working as a waiter. I am in the position of finding a way to use this BSN, and my past degrees and work experience, in a non-clinical setting - or perhaps, in a totally new direction. I am flat broke with debt up to my ears...sigh...and am approaching my 45th birthday.

The upside: It seems that many of my co-horts did find work and some are already on their second jobs!

Anyway, the moral of the story is: do not buy into the hype of the nursing shortage; tap your network ASAP if you want to be a nurse; and pay as little as you can for this BSN.

Thanks for the advice. Super nervous now...!

Hi Everyone, My name is Abha and I will be starting this program in the spring too. Born and Raised in Los Angeles and am getting nervous about moving. I wanted to know if anyone has looked into getting there loans, and about how much they were going to take out total? Also... Is anyone looking for a roommate? I have visited Philly for a day and am not sure about where to find housing? Thanks.

Specializes in Mother/Baby.

Hi Abha, I took out a total $24000 for the 2010-2011 year and will be doing the same for the 2011-2012 year. $3000 from Federal Stafford loans and my parents took out $21000 in a Parent Plus loan.

Hope that helps!

Specializes in Mother/Baby.

Did everyone get their compliance info that was sent to your email account? Seems like the deadline is in a couple weeks.

I'm getting excited!!!

has everyone that has been accepted received their transcript evaluations?? I was accepted in November and still have not received my email address or transcript evaluations..I've tried contacting Peggy Breslin but have not heard back..getting a little anxious :/ Please respond with how long after you were accepted until you received your evaluations! (I thought it was supposed to be 2-3 weeks but its been about a month and a half for me!!) any advice?!

Hello,

For all of you that got accepted to ACE2011-spring term, when did you apply? January, February, or March of 2010??

Thanks so much!!!!!

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