First Coast Techincal College (FCTC)

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Has anyone heard the good, the bad, and the ugly about First Coast Technical College (FCTC) in St. Augustine, Florida? I tried searching but nothing comes up.

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bump:up:

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i am applying to FCTC 2010 lpn program & would appreciate some input.

also does anyone know when you take the lpn nclex after you finish the program? my roommate an RN took the nclex 2 mos after ASN graduation.

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I'm currently in the LPN program at FCTC,, my Wife graduated in Dec. 08' and sat for the NClex in Feb. 09'

The Good: very friendly staff and instructors, the instructor are experinced and relate real life information

there LPN program has a NClex pass rate around 95%, and they are proud of it,

The Bad: like any nursing program there is alot of studying, if you have a Test score below 80% you must retake the test! if you score lower than 80% on a retake of a test you will be dismissed from the program!

The ugly: sometimes unorganized, make copies of any paper work that gets turned in, it may save you alot of headaches

Overall My wife and I have been very pleased with FCTC, and highly recomend them!

Be prepared to :eek:STUDY!:eek:

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Thanks for your reply jjasbury.

  • Which program are you in days or nights?
  • What kind of pts did you have for your application?

I have been looking for someone to talk to about this & FCTC does not provide a lot of upfront information.

Do you think you could also address a few other questions?

  • For Days LPN when/ how long is spring break & summer break?
  • How is absences leaving early tolerated?
  • You say your wife graduated in December, so I take it she went December to December... she also took her test in Feb.... Can you take the test as soon as you graduate or end the program?

If I come off as an irresponsible careless person or slacker I don't mean to I am just preparing my schedule for the next year. My fiance is in the USMC & we are trying to plan his leave around my school schedule. When we get married in February I want to pick him up at the airport & drop him off & was just concerned how FCTC handles clinical & classroom absences or early leave/ late arrival.

I do intend to make school a top priority just please let me know what I'm up against :) The nursing staff never returns emails & I don't want to bug them with my questions.

-Joanna

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I'm in the Day program, which is approx. 13 months, 7:30 to 3:30 M.-Th. for the first 3 months. Then hours change to; M. & Tu. 6:30 - 4:30, W. & Th. 8:30 - 4:00, Clinicals are M. & Tu., class room W. & Th.

The night program lasts approx. 18 months, 5:00-9:00 T-W-T with clinicals every other weekend from 6:30am to 4:30 pm

-FCTC pts. system is based on TABE and critical thinking test scores, the date of your app. and previous experence (health care provider C.P.R. training, C.N.A. licence and experence, and if you live in St. Johns County.

-Breaks or days out of school follows the St. Johns Co. school schedule, with in-services being observed on Thurs. since FCTC is not open on Fri.

-Absences; you are allowed 24 hrs. of classroom and 24 hrs. of clinical time that can be missed. 30min late to clinicals is considered absent and you will be sent home, (assignments are given with-in that time, if you are late you will not be given one). any time missed over that, will require enrollment into the next class in order to make up that time.

Leaving early requires signing out and that time is tabulated against the allowed absence time.

-Also, you must score higher than 80% on ALL tests, if a score is lower, the test must be retaken and 80% must be achieved. You are allowed only one or two retakes per the 5 sub-sections of the course. FCTC's high N-Clex pass rate is due to the fact that if someone is not learning the information, they will be excussed from thier course and given the opportunity to enroll in the next avalible class. (no exception)

-Upon completion of the program, FCTC will double check that all of the course requirements have been meet and will then send the D.O.H. a list of applicants who are eligible to take their State boards (N-Clex).

However the D.O.H. does not handle testing, it is contracted to a 3rd. party, so when you apply with this 3rd. party they must send and receive confirmation form the D.O.H. that you are eligible to test, the 3rd. party will then send the you a list of times and testing locations, to choose from. This process takes 3-4 weeks before you will have a test date. which is generally another 2-4 weeks out. very rarely will someone test with-in one month of course completion. It is usually 2-4 months depending on how many others are applying, and in Dec. the holidays will slow things down a-bit. (this is the D.O.H.'s process, the school you goto has no control over it)

Hope this helps !

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jjasbury thanks for replying & relieving my stress a little.

When did you get the chance to sit for CNA exxam?

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I took a CNA class in Jan. took the Exam in Feb. also got, A.H.A. BSL CPR in Feb.

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i'm in the day program, which is approx. 13 months, 7:30 to 3:30 m.-th. for the first 3 months. then hours change to; m. & tu. 6:30 - 4:30, w. & th. 8:30 - 4:00, clinicals are m. & tu., class room w. & th.

the night program lasts approx. 18 months, 5:00-9:00 t-w-t with clinicals every other weekend from 6:30am to 4:30 pm

just as a correction. the night program is 17 months, twr 1730 - 2130 classroom and 0630 - 1700. clinicals do not start until approximately one month into the program. so we had classroom time both on the weekends and during the week, however, we were able to ultilize the lab on the weekends to go over skills. it seems to me that clinical time can be scheduled whenever during the program. we have been in clinicals for appromimately 4 weeks and have completed hours both during the week (twr) and on the weekends (s/su). this is our first weekend off and begninng next week, for a while anyway, we will be having classroom time strictly during the week and clinicals on the weekends. also, during the remainder of the program we will be having clinical time during the week and weekend as well, but it seems that is more towards the end.

-fctc pts. system is based on tabe and critical thinking test scores, the date of your app. and previous experence (health care provider c.p.r. training, c.n.a. licence and experence, and if you live in st. johns county.

or putnam counties. i would suggest looking at the updated application since it has all of the new information that was not available to me when i turned in my application. there have been some changes made to state regulations that have now come down to the school level.

-breaks or days out of school follows the st. johns co. school schedule, with in-services being observed on thurs. since fctc is not open on fri.

-absences; you are allowed 24 hrs. of classroom and 24 hrs. of clinical time that can be missed. 30min late to clinicals is considered absent and you will be sent home, (assignments are given with-in that time, if you are late you will not be given one). any time missed over that, will require enrollment into the next class in order to make up that time.

leaving early requires signing out and that time is tabulated against the allowed absence time.

also, as a side note, please understand that you may have to make up anytime missed since it is a state requirement that students in the pn program have to complete a certain number of hours. i have come across two recent students that had to make up 3 and 5 days after the rest of their class before they were allowed to schedule to take the nclex-pn.

-also, you must score higher than 80% on all tests, if a score is lower, the test must be retaken and 80% must be achieved. you are allowed only one or two retakes per the 5 sub-sections of the course. fctc's high n-clex pass rate is due to the fact that if someone is not learning the information, they will be excussed from thier course and given the opportunity to enroll in the next avalible class. (no exception)

85% if you are able to have worksource pay for your program. fctc has a very high nclex pass rate and is very competative with fccj or rather fcsj. in most cases from what i saw it was higher.

-upon completion of the program, fctc will double check that all of the course requirements have been meet and will then send the d.o.h. a list of applicants who are eligible to take their state boards (n-clex).

however the d.o.h. does not handle testing, it is contracted to a 3rd. party, so when you apply with this 3rd. party they must send and receive confirmation form the d.o.h. that you are eligible to test, the 3rd. party will then send the you a list of times and testing locations, to choose from. this process takes 3-4 weeks before you will have a test date. which is generally another 2-4 weeks out. very rarely will someone test with-in one month of course completion. it is usually 2-4 months depending on how many others are applying, and in dec. the holidays will slow things down a-bit. (this is the d.o.h.'s process, the school you goto has no control over it)

hope this helps !

the program is very doable if you set your priorities and study. i had my choice between the lpn programs in the area and am happy with my decsion thusfar at fctc.

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Hello KTeacher2Nursing,

First off, Congrats on getting accepted to FCTC :yeah:!! I hope all is going well so far with the program!

I'm looking into applying to FCTC- LPN program as well. My ultimate goal is to bridge over to an RN program once I graduate ....would you happen to know if all of their courses are transferable to FCCJ/UNF or JU? Im trying to avoid extra courses prior to a RN bridge program after completion of a LPN program.

Thanks for your help in advance!

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I am also signed up for the Dec class daytime I cant wait I hope that 6 points is enough to get into this class I was told that I had a great chance. Im looking forward to it. I am currently studying ahead of time and think that will give me a jump start on things. I have already went to school for my CNA and passed with a B+ but that was 10 years ago. I remember some things but not everything. I look forward to meeting someone who may be in my classes soon hope everyone has a blessed day

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So glad I found this thread! I'm applying to FCTC for the Dec 2011 course. Hoping to do days and hunker down and "get it dun' ".

I was wondering if they offer any online courses or if it's all lecture?

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