GMU accelerated BSN Fall 2015

Morjayne4 · Jun 2, 2015

@deej394 - I was wondering if you could recall when your test etc. were done for the Fall semester? I'm just wondering for winter break and will be flying across the country so I want to get an idea of when in December we more or less will be done with exams etc. Thanks!

greenbean74 · Jun 2, 2015

Here's the fall academic calendar. I would imagine that our exam schedule falls into the overall university exam week. https://registrar.gmu.edu/calendars/fall-2015/

deej394, BSN, MSN, RN · Jun 16, 2015

So our exam schedule was probably different than yours will be. We had essentially 2 seven week long classes at a time (2 first 1/2 of semester, 2 second 1/2 of semester). We had HESIs for some of these classes that were taken at the end of the class, and I think we were actually done quite early in finals week. We had one online test that week, and a HESI, so if the schedule is anything like that, you should be able to travel.

If I were you though, I would wait until you get more information about what your schedule will be like. If they're doing all four classes at once, then you might have exams during the actual exam week.

deej394, BSN, MSN, RN · Jun 17, 2015

I was just thinking about these things lately and I thought I'd pass them along: wait to buy the books and uniform. You definitely don't need a blood pressure cuff. Also, only buy one GMU nursing patch and Velcro it to your scrub tops. For the books, I'd recommend getting the ebooks and sharing them with someone (you get two downloads). You would then each have to buy some access codes separately. And turn off location services on your phone for trajecsys.

Morjayne4 · Jun 17, 2015

Thank you for the info! Which type of parking pass would you recommend?

greenbean74 · Jun 18, 2015

Thank you so much! This is helpful! My only concern with books is not having them available as a reference in the future. Are there any textbooks that you would recommend getting in hard copy to save for future reference?

deej394, BSN, MSN, RN · Jun 18, 2015

Morjayne4-

For the parking passes, I got the general annual one for Fairfax/PW. Don't spend the extra money to be able to park in the garage at Fairfax. It definitely isn't worth it. At PW, parking was never a problem, and at Fairfax I usually parked in the Rappahanock Deck.

deej394, BSN, MSN, RN · Jun 18, 2015

Greenbean74-

Honestly, I don't think you will need any of them. There's some that I never even opened (they are STILL in shrinkwrap). Everything can be googled, or you can ask a co-worker if you don't know something. But to be honest, I am not one to use textbooks all that much anyway, and I certainly don't use them for reference. The online textbooks are yours. They don't expire, so you would have the reference if you want it, but you also can't sell them back.

Morjayne4 · Jul 8, 2015

Deej394- Did you not buy any textbooks beyond the first semester? Also, would you recommend using the shuttle between Fairfax and Manassas or was it more of a hassle? Thanks again

deej394, BSN, MSN, RN · Jul 9, 2015

I bought the package first semester which I regretted. It would have been cheaper to get the books on Amazon or something and purchase the codes separately. Or share the online books with someone.

For the second semester I rented the books. The way that our courses were structured, 1/3 of us had psych, OB, and peds at a time. So I shared the rental with two others in different rotations than me. It was about $20. I also rented the other books I needed cause it was cheaper.

As far as the shuttle goes, I only used it once and it was a special circumstance. There aren't really days that you go from one campus to the other and then back to the first place. So it's easier to just drive between the campuses, unless you live close to one of the campuses

Morjayne4 · Jul 16, 2015

What kind of laptop and software did you use? I don't really see any specifics in any of our material. Thanks again as always!

deej394, BSN, MSN, RN · Jul 16, 2015

I used my laptop that I had before. There is not specific laptop that you need, in fact you could probably get by without a laptop or tablet, and just a PC at home, but I wouldn't recommend it. I preferred having a laptop in class to follow along powerpoints. (Also, you have three hour long classes, and those can get really boring. It's nice to have something to distract you occassionally.)

As far as the software, I used MS Office (mostly powerpoint and word, a little excel). I don't think there is any other software that you truly need.

For one class for an online test we had to use something called Lockdown Browser, which was incredibly annoying. It was a special internet browser that only allowed one tab, and didn't let you go into any other applications. It also video recorded you to make sure you weren't cheating by looking something up in a book or something. There was discussion of using it in the future, but it went so poorly the first time with us that the professors abandoned it. So I would be surprised if they made you guys use it.

Good luck!