GBCON Mercer

csweetooth · Jun 28, 2010

yes start looking for scholarships now that you have been admitted. it doesn't hurt. in addition to filing out fasfa there is a form that gbcn wants you to fill out. you should be able to find it online on the fin aid website, but it is also in the office. fill that out asap. the fin aid department does a great job looking for scholarships to help you based on merit and need. as soon as you get your award info take a close look. if you are missing money go see nancy teal. she is in charge of the nursing school’s funding. explain to her that you are missing money, and she will put you on a list. if she says she is going to look for money and add it to your account if she finds it then she will. i had a balance during my first semester and later on she did add more money to my account. you should also check in with the fin aid office frequently. hospitals often send them info for scholarships. if you don’t stop by you will never know about it.

at the end of your first semester there will be a piedmont scholar application available. if selected as a piedmont scholar, piedmont will pay $5000.00 every semester; give you a job as a tech during nursing school, and a job as a rn afterwards. you must agree to work for 6 months for every semester that they pay. during your second semester northside hospital will have the northside scholar application available.

look about for externship applications during winter break b/c deadlines will be approaching!!

csweetooth · Jun 28, 2010

Study tips!!

Get the comprehensive Saunders nclex book or any nclex book that separates the info by subject. The Davis series are life savers. There’s a fundamental of success, Pharmacology of success, Med Surg success, etc…

The more practice questions you do, the more you will become familiar with the nclex style of questioning.

A lot of students bring their laptops to class. I take my notes on the powerpoints that they give us on my laptops. Other students print out the powerpoints and take notes on the print outs. Find your method and stick with it. Also get into a study group!! You may find yourself changing groups once you get to know people better. Some people may not have the same study habits like you do.

I use this program called study stack. You can make online note cards and download it to your PDA. I have a iPod touch and I love it. Study stack allows me to take my note cards everywhere. The free app only allows you to download one stack at a time.

csweetooth · Jun 30, 2010

good morning nrice28,

my sister was thinking of applying to ngcsu what teas score and gpa would you suggest she have to get in? also do they just look at the science gpa or overal gpa?

thanks

nrice28 · Jun 30, 2010

well since I was on the waiting list for the second year and got pulled off of it.. I would say probably better grades than mine..haha. but for TEAS they accept 65 and greater but I would say the higher the better. I only had a 72.4 with them.. I have retaken it since..but my science wasn't too terrific either. I think they look at over all grades, teas, science grades, SAT scores and then if you are on the waiting list they give you points for that too. I really think that GOD just knew that I was going to crack if something didn't change so thats why I got in. Other wise.. I wouldn't know. I mean, I retook some C classes and they didn't even see them yet..so I was totally surprised. But good luck to your sister! Why doesn't she want to go to Mercer with you? I would have been so happy to go there..but honestly I really don't think I would have been able to afford it..even with all the scholarships and loans. hope I kinda answered ur question. I just don't really know exactly what any school looks for.

hyunjoo82 · Jul 12, 2010

Hello everyone!! I am part of the fall 2009 class.
Congrats to those who have been accepted!! To those who are still waiting hang in there. If you applied around April or May it may take longer to here something. At this point no news is good news!! They might have you in the maybe pile and comparing you with others. Get to know the admission people. Let them know how bad you want this. Don't under estimate the power of the personal touch. Let them know your name.
GBCN is a great school and it has given me great opportunites. The teachers that we have here are wonderful and will be there for you!!
I will meet a few of you at the July 20th orientation letting you know at GBANs.
The upperclassmen are here for you too!!
Welcome to GBCN!!

I agree, never underestimate the power of personal touch. I found this to be very helpful and they worked with me for an entire year as I kept filling them in about my status as I met my prerequisites.

hyunjoo82 · Jul 12, 2010

I actually had a pretty crappy experience with GBCON...they didn't look at me "holistically" at all! I was kinda surprised. Because I expected more from my admissions counselor. But they denied me b4 I even got my essay to them. I was so upset. They kinda disappointed me. but its okay b/c really I couldn't have afforded it. I did get into NGCSU so I am happy. I know its not my BSN but I am actually glad b/c no Patho..not until I go back. But I am glad to hear you have had a great experience. I don't think my admissions counselor liked me...she was kinda snotty. Sorry..I feel bad for saying that, its not just b/c they didn't accept me..b/c thats just part of nursing. But to be short with me, not return my phone calls, or emails and then just deny me b4 they even got to know me through my essay..well, kinda left a sour taste...ya know?

Sadly, I have heard some admissions advisors werent as helpful and nice as others. I personally had an awesome advisor but a friend of mine who also is joining me this fall had a bad experience and she never really seemed to contact him. Maybe you two had the same advisor. Congrats on getting in though! However it takes to get to an RN license is all that should matter at this point. Worry about BSN later if you want to go to grad school. Plus, hospitals may help you when you want to bridge from RN-BSN so it may save you money in the long run. I'm going to be running a debt of about $15k per semester for 4 semesters lol

Yianna · Jul 26, 2010

Hi hyunjoo,

Have you had any good luck with the financial aid process? Are you planning on taking out private loans? I have researched private loans but most of them are with variable interest. Just wondering what my collegues are doing, since classes are fast approaching.

Yianna

hyunjoo82 · Jul 26, 2010

Actually, I got my financial aid package from the school and unfortunately, it wasn't able to cover my entire tuition let alone any extra costs like books and fees. I'm looking into some private loans since I would like some money to pay for my books and stuff. I was offered pell grant, subsidized and unsubsidized stafford loans, and an extra $1000 for the entire school year. It put me at about $700 short of being able to pay my tuition every semester. Worse case scenario, my parents can help me pay the differences but I don't want to get them involved as they are financially struggling now.

People have been telling me about Chase so I wanted to look into that. I also wanted to look into Wells Fargo since my family and I have been bankers with Wachovia for at least twenty years now. Keep me posted and I'll post what I hear from them.

By the way, do you have Facebook? I'm under Helen Yi under the Georgia State University and Atlanta, GA networks. We can keep updated there too.

I'm also going to the August 10th orientation. :)

-Helen

Yianna · Jul 26, 2010

Hey Helen,

I just tried to look you up on facebook, but I am having trouble. See if you can find me, I should be under Yianna Manolakis....Not too many of us..lol. I have been debating about the private loans out there, wells-fargo has a good interest rate but I think that it is variable. I will probably go with Suntrust, as I have been with them since I was old enough to have any money and I had my car loan with them (they also have a fixed-interest rate). I will keep looking and keep you posted on what I find! It looks like things will get better next year with more scholarships, externships, and forgivable loans.:)Also I will be at the August 10th orientation!

hyunjoo82 · Jul 26, 2010

I added you to be Facebook friends. :) I just remembered that I made it so that I wasn't so easily searchable on Facebook so that's probably why you couldn't find me. Haha.

Next year should definitely be easier to find funding. Unfortunately, I probably won't be taking any service-cancelable loans because I am planning to move out of Georgia to Illinois once I graduate. I was born and raised in Atlanta but I'm looking to be near my brother in Illinois to finally "settle down".

I would love to get an externship next year though, especially in the summer. I'm also a certified nursing assistant so I can already search for jobs but since nursing school is around the corner, I opted to hold off on any jobs until I can figure out what to do in order to get through nursing school, lol.

Nurse4ever88 · Feb 18, 2011

i applied for fall 2011, still havent heard anything from them though. i applied early, like in november.

has anyone got the acceptance letter for fall 2011 already? if so, what was your gpa, teas score?

hlee · Feb 18, 2011

I know two people who got their acceptance letter for Fall 2011. I think one person posted on a thread here on allnurses.com and she has a 4.0 GPA and I forgot her TEAS score. I am planning on applying for Fall 2011 as well and just took my TEAS and didn't do well on it. I wanted to complete my application asap because I know Mercer has a rolling admission but I think I'll have to wait until April to take the TEAS again. What is your GPA and Teas? Good luck!!