GPC Letters

ga girl · May 3, 2006

Wow! I did not know that the deadline has not passed!!!! I just checked their website and you are right-the deadline is 5/15! I have not looked at that site in a few months-for some reason I was thinking the deadline was April. This is good to know! One part of me wants to have my transcripts requested right now to send there. The other part is like....I cannot afford that school!!! I went to an open house there last year and they do keep saying to everyone to not be scared about the cost b/c there are so many hospitals that will pay your way if you agree to work for them. But they kind of just kept saying that in regards to the junior and senior years. The sophmore year may still cost you $12,000 +. Yike-a-rama. I dont want any debt!!!

I dont think I can ignore this juicy info though-I may go ahead and request my transcript to get there pronto... I am so torn! I would love to just go thru GPC-quick and cheap.

momgrad5/07 · May 3, 2006

:eek: NOTHING!!!! I GOT NOTHING in the mail, but my gas bill and a Lowes ad!! :crying2: I AM GOING SOOOOO FREAKING NUTS now.

I guess if I don't get in, I can take my Micro and Lab, and maybe the Link to Nursing course in the Fall. For the, ya know, PRE-nursing students. :sniff:

Tomorrow is another day!

ga girl · May 4, 2006

UPDATE ON THE LETTERS:

I just broke down and called the nursing dept at the Lawrenceville campus. I was told that letters have NOT gone out yet. She could not tell me exactly when they would go out, but that decisions have been made.

This does not help me though. So my fate for Fall 2006 has been made but I dont know what it is.....the frustration continues....

GAbuzzfan · May 4, 2006

I wonder if the same is true for the Clarkston campus?

VRGirl · May 4, 2006

I was told that they choose the top candidates and don't even look at which campus you supposedly applied for.

dmarie (GA) · May 4, 2006

As a GPC student who just completed 2nd semester (med/surg), I highly recommend that you explore and apply to other schools of nursing. Take your good GPA's and NET scores and run like hell!!!

If you absolutely must go to GPC, definitely go to L'ville campus if at all possible. I'm at the Clarkston campus and can tell you first hand that after 1st semester, students were frantically scrambling around trying to transfer there.

Georgia Board of Nursing has received numerous complaints regarding this program and GPC has been warned that they must raise their graduating numbers.

Take a look at the pictures of the nursing graduating classes through the years hanging on the walls at Clarkston. Notice anything unusual? I noticed it too, but naively disregarded all warnings and gut feelings I had. I'm one of those annoyingly happy people who tries to maintain a positive attitude, believing that with hard work and the right attitude, anything is possible.

I am in the process of transfering out of GPC because they finally broke me down. And believe me, I am not the only one.

My regret is that I didn't explore different options before entering the program. Nursing school is supposed to be difficult and challanging, as we all know, but when other nursing schools retain happy students and graduate competent nurses, and GPC churns out misery, unhappiness, and frustration, there is something seriously wrong.

Good luck to you all. Who knows, maybe the classes before you are helping to pave an easier way for you? Maybe GPC is listening to the numerous complaints and planning to make a change?

suture_self · May 4, 2006

As a GPC student who just completed 2nd semester (med/surg), I highly recommend that you explore and apply to other schools of nursing.

I'm sure you have specific reasons for recommending that we look elsewhere. So, if you don't mind, what are they?

I've already begun to look elsewhere. I've applied to KSU, GSU, and Georgia Baptist. In fact, yesterday I had an appointment with the director of admissions at GBCN. It was encouraging.

I'm against putting all eggs in one basket, but if GPC is the basket... then I'm the...

BASKETCASE?:uhoh21:

dmarie (GA) · May 4, 2006

Going on the cold hard facts, and not on personal opinions, GPC produces far less graduates than any other nursing school in the general area. 10% of the original class (roughly 10 people from L'ville and 10 people from C'ston) will graduate. Other schools like GSU and NGCSU graduate anywhere between 75%-80% of the original class. And their students love the program.

Yes, there is a difference between graduating by sheer volume or graduating competent nurses. But GSU and NGCSU have a high NCLEX pass rate and their students are happy. I have never met a happy GPC student.

As for personal opinions: The instructors are lazy and don't care. Period. In a nutshell. I could go on and on and on, but the bottom line is this -- with a program as difficult as Nursing, it's important to have good, competent instructors who take an interest in students and help students take responsibility for their own learning. Give us a clue, and leave the rest to us. Play fair. Point us in the right direction and help us if we need it. Don't lecture on "A, B, and C" and point the students in that direction, only to test on "D, E, and F" and shrug your shoulders and say, "Oh well, I guess you aren't nurse material!" This is the kind of low-down dirty technique used at Clarkston.

Yes, we know you are supposed to connect the dots on your own, and yes, we know you are supposed to critically think. We are bright, motivated, and hard working students. We record the lectures, take notes, do concept mapping, join study groups, make note cards, the whole bit. With the sheer volume of material, especially in 2nd semester, and I'm talking about alot of information, it helps to have instructors who are on your side, cheering you on, helping you if you need it, and giving you the tools to help yourself.

We are students that go into each exam feeling confident, knowing that we have reviewed the enormous amount of material, sacrificing family and leisure time, in order to succeed. Most purchase supplemental NCLEX review books and take 100's of practice questions in addition to the required textbook.

Imagine after all that, going into an exam, more prepared than you've ever been in your life, and sitting there looking at question after question, sweat beading on your forehead, your eyes getting wide, your stomach in knots, as you realize that the test questions are on "D, E, and F" and not "A, B, and C" like the instructors lectured on. But as a bright student, you utilize your critical thinking skills, and manage to make educated guesses on many of the questions, getting some right and some wrong. And imagine, as the rationale for the correct answer, the instructors shrug their shoulders and say, "Sorry, but it's your job to connect the dots." And so you go and try harder, study harder, buy more supplemental books, listen to the recorded lecture over and over, discuss content with classmates, and try again on the next exam. And the same thing happens. And you get the same cold response from faculty. After all of your hard work, blood, sweat, tears, time, and money. They shrug their shoulders and smile...... "I guess you're not nurse material."

This is the kind of gut-wrenching experience you will find at GPC. Georgia Board of Nursing has received several complaints and GPC has been warned to increase their graduating numbers.

You see, if a program produces less than 75% NCLEX pass rate, they are put on probation. In order to keep their accreditation, they go from one extreme to the other, and even if only 8 people from the original class graduates, they have a NCLEX pass rate of 100%, and that's all they care about.

abmsam · May 4, 2006

Take your good GPA's and NET scores and run like hell!!!

AMEN! I've been preaching that for a year, not because I don't like the school. I love GPC, just not the nursing program. It will break you. Mentally. If you can go anywhere else, please take my advise, and go. Even if it's a BSN program, go. Chances are that you will not graduate from GPC. There are about 25 graduating this year out of the 150 that began when I did, August 2004. That's 1 out of 6. That means that 125 of the brightest people I know must start over, apply elsewhere, or change directions completely.

Please don't think I say this in spite, or "sour grapes." I just hate so much to see such bright minds be abused by such a terrible program. I would have been an amazing nurse, but GPC's program thought differently, and I withdrew before it was too late.

Good luck to all of you.

nursinginga · May 4, 2006

:uhoh3: Well everyone:

I am officially going out of my mind. After two tries to the mailbox today, I got my mail.....a big package was in there....nope, to my upset...there was nothing from GPC. I am sooooo ready to get this over with. Good luck again everyone and God bless as I and we wait another day.

Eagle Girl 06 · May 4, 2006

I am begging you guys to please listen to the students who are currently attending GPC and exercise all of your options!!! Today is one of the happiest days of my life - I just took my last final in nursing school and I KNOW that I'm graduating next week! I just talked to a friend who transferred from GPC to our school and she spoke to one of her former classmates yesterday who was "removed" from the program last week. This is two weeks before graduation!!! She told my friend that there are only 8 left! I don't know if that is in the whole program or just at the Lawrenceville campus. I'm not advocating that everyone should go to NGCSU, but there are plenty of GREAT nursing programs in the Atlanta area that graduate most of their class AND have good NCLEX scores. People love Kennesaw, GA Baptist, NGCSU, etc. I would rather graduate with debt than not graduate at all. If a nursing program starts with almost 100 and ends with less than 20 - there is a problem. It doesn't mean that the students were not smart enough or didn't study enough. If the deadline hasn't past for Ga Baptist - at least try for it. I got a Georgia Service Cancelable loan for my second year of school and as long as I work as a nurse in the state of GA, I don't have to pay it back. There are plenty of financial aid options out there - you just have to look for them!

I wish you guys all the luck in the world!

suture_self · May 4, 2006

Dmarie - Thanks for the honesty, not to mention the lengthy reply . You basically confirmed everything I already knew...

The fact that roughly 10% of their classes graduate is GPC's dirty little secret. When I brought this fact up to a lady on the nursing faculty, she more or less looked sideways and agreed that yeah, it is a problem. When pressed on WHY it's a problem, she put it all on the students.

I found that to be unfair. I really believe that educators and students should be able to meet each other half-way. If what I hear is true, then this just doesn't seem to be the case in the nursing program.

I think the school is having a hard time staying viable and they know it. Therefore we get courses such as LINK for Nursing, a class intended to prepare the student for the rigors of nursing school; and Medical Mathematics, a refresher course on basic math skills and conversions.

While these are genuine attempts at reform, the real issue of educator "connectedness" has yet to be addressed. Again, it's all on the students.

I know there are a lot of people who think that all of this negativity will get us nowhere. I think that's true, but call a spade a spade. If it's screwed up, say so! Don't ignore the problem. Trust me, it won't go away.

I really believe there is a responsibility teachers have to their students and vice versa. It's just that quid pro quo that has gotten me my thrid 4.0 in a row. Simply put, I worked hard to get where I am, but I'd be fool to say I did it completely alone.