Howdy all, I bit the bullet and after much research, I decided on Grand Canyon! Wow, I did not expect BSN schools to be like used car salesmen--hounding me by emails and phone calls. Rather impressed on how Grand Canyon sort of left me alone, but at the same time kept in touch.
Commence my first class Sept 30th, excited, yet very nervous, as I'm not a big fan of school, LOL! I did extremely well on my Associate degree, graduated back in 2009 from Northern Virginia Community College. We shall see.
Would love to hear from past and present Grand Canyon RN to BSN students.
I about had a heart attack in my 1st CLC. I did the outline for the PP and another student was going to put the PP together, then I was going to proofread it. Instead of making a PP he wrote a 3 page APA paper. My outline even said "Slide 1..., Slide 2..." How do you go from that to an APA paper?!?! He pulled it together in the end (after I politely complimented him on his paper, but redirected him toward the ACTUAL assignment) and we got 100% on the assignment. Good tips on how to handle the rest of the CLCs. I think the instructors must know what we are up against!
Specializes in Certified Med/Surg tele, and other stuff.
That's better answered by tokmom or JRich or PurpleMyst, as they are nearing the end (yay!) and have most all behind them. I can attest to CH being busy, frankly they're all kind of busy (did I just say "kind of"?? LOL), but here's the thing about the CLC's... and yes, I know there's no way you can know this in advance, but... IF you get into a group that has an absolute control freak and appears to write well in the DQs and posts waaaaay more than the required 6/wk, the CLC can be your friend. (Again, can't believe I just said that). In every single class I was the proofer/editor and general all-around cleaner-upper of crap, and that can RUIN your week. You're assured a good grade, but it's a hellish nightmare to get there. All the while, those other 4-5 team members are out at the zoo with their kids having a lollygagging weekend of freedom. This last class, however, my group included someone who wanted to take the wheel, I trusted her, she wrote well and was allllll over those DQs, so I let go of my controlling nature and didn't say a peep when she wanted to drive the train. What a relief that was, all I had to do was my little part of the PowerPoint, email it to her on Thursday, and I had FOUR DAYS of happydance! If I'm making As on my other 4 personal papers/projects, I'm more willing now to let someone else take on that CLC Lead, because even if it turns out not-so-fab, I've got my other grades to keep me in the game. Plus, these may be isolated incidents, but I've noticed that some of the things in those ppt's that I thought should be marked down on weren't, so I'm not sure the instructors grade as hard on the group projects as I think they should. The reference page on our last one was a literal APA disaster, I sent the Lead my suggestions for corrections, she basically said, "thanks but I'm going with what I have", and submitted it as-is. Not a WORD from the instructor when the grade came back. I was shocked. Got an A and I didn't kill myself in the process. WooHoo!
It bothers me that they didn't recognize crappy APA in the references, because it suddenly comes important in those last few classes, especially capstone:yawn:. Not a great time to be figuring it all out.
Too bad you can't take the capstone during xmas break! That would be convenient!!
My friends at work who have completed the program said the same thing about taking the capstone over Christmas. I think I would have to double up on every class between now and then to make it work. Probably would not make it out of the program alive if I do it that way!
My friends at work who have completed the program said the same thing about taking the capstone over Christmas. I think I would have to double up on every class between now and then to make it work. Probably would not make it out of the program alive if I do it that way!
Hi there,
I don't know if you have yet taken Ethics, or Community nursing, both of those have 2 part clc projects. Maybe you can take one of those during Christmas. To me, having to deal with more clc group stuff is more difficult than doing your own stuff.
Thanks PurpleMyst. So far my plan is to take Community nursing over Christmas break. I might get brave and cut back my hours at work for a few months so I can double up on classes. If I go that route then I will have the capstone over Christmas and finish the program in January. Otherwise I will finish in May. Which of the classes did you enjoy most? Everyone always talks about how horrible everything is (because it IS school!) but I would really like to hear about what classes you actually enjoyed. Thanks!
Which of the classes did you enjoy most? Everyone always talks about how horrible everything is (because it IS school!) but I would really like to hear about what classes you actually enjoyed. Thanks!
Ya know, I guess I'm a school-geek (which was a shocker for me to learn), but I've actually enjoyed them all so far (just finished class 6). Well, maybe not Stats, that just about killed me, because rather than just learning the individual modules and doing the associated homework, I actually tried to learn STATISTICS. Like, the whole thing. I was You-Tubing myself to death trying to go back to the beginning and learn "Statistics, Step One" LOL, thinking the class would make more sense to me if I had a better foundation. It scared me that the 1st assignment was from Chapter 11 - whaaat? Didn't anyone think I might need to know what went on in Chapters 1-10 for Chapter 11 to make sense to me?? Just being dropped into the middle like that, using language I was not familiar with, did not bode well for me. So, Stats was harder for me than most probably, because I basically tried to incorporate an entire semester's worth of alien concepts into 5 weeks. I did it to myself.
But, the rest of them, I can actually say, despite the frantic pace of it all, I learned a lot and enjoyed the material. I certainly have a new appreciation for CH/PH nurses (again, YouTube), that takes a special breed of person. I kinda wish I could do it.
I think I would have to double up on every class between now and then to make it work.
...and if you were single, unemployed, and lived in a yurt on an uninhabited plain with a year's worth of food stockpiled and your only amenity (distraction) being wireless internet to log into LoudCloud...
It bothers me that they didn't recognize crappy APA in the references, because it suddenly comes important in those last few classes, especially capstone:yawn:.
I agree tokmom, and I have to say, I was a bit miffed when the thing came back with no comments. The reason I was so "on it" about the APA was because that very instructor had busted me on my personal papers earlier in the class, and the CLC Lead gal had made those very same errors (remember the >7 authors with the "...&" ??) So, why did all her APA flubs fly under the radar on the CLC when I got marked down individually? That's what made me start thinking that maybe, like Noodles said, the instructors cut the team a break overall since they know we all about killed each other putting it together. Consistency in grading is not something I've come to rely on in my classes so far
That is so funny Prism! I am in my last week of statistics and I kinda like it. I thought I would hate it so I took it early in the program to get it over with. It actually takes up much less of my time than writing papers for the other classes. I also use the tutors. So far I have 100%. All I can say for anyone taking stats is to use the tutors! For me, it is the DQs and the responses that are the hardest. The subject is so dry that I really don't ever feel like discussing it. I have actually weighed the pros and cons of just avoiding the DQs and the participation points completely. The "good student" part of me kicks in and forces me to do them anyway - even though they are only worth 30 points each week. If you ace the spreadsheet and the workbook assignment each week you can still pull off a B in the class without ever writing a DQ or participating. I have a wonderful hands-off instructor who apparently grades fairly in case anyone is interested.
...and if you were single, unemployed, and lived in a yurt on an uninhabited plain with a year's worth of food stockpiled and your only amenity (distraction) being wireless internet to log into LoudCloud...
OK - So I am single. I have my son 4 days a week (Fri-Mon). I can work on Mondays and Fridays only because I work per diem. My yurt is small (condo) and I can live on coffee, shredded wheat, peanut butter and bananas quite happily. Knowing all of this, would I still be crazy to double up on classes if it cuts 15 weeks off my program and lets me do my capstone over Christmas break (7 weeks instead of 5)?
Thanks PurpleMyst. So far my plan is to take Community nursing over Christmas break. I might get brave and cut back my hours at work for a few months so I can double up on classes. If I go that route then I will have the capstone over Christmas and finish the program in January. Otherwise I will finish in May. Which of the classes did you enjoy most? Everyone always talks about how horrible everything is (because it IS school!) but I would really like to hear about what classes you actually enjoyed. Thanks!
Hi Noodles,
You know, like Prism said, I am a bit of a geek myself so I have enjoyed all the classes, I don't mind group work if we could meet in person or skype or something, it's just really difficult when you have to write about all communications so the teacher can see you're participating. I love that they make you write a lot of essays because that has really gotten me past my fear and slowness at writing. I feel like I have learned to write professionally and I'm very happy about that. The collaborative work you do with others prepares you to author professional papers with others that can be published in those nursing journals. If you think about it the group work also prepares you to collaborate in textbook writing if you want to do that one day too.
Specializes in Certified Med/Surg tele, and other stuff.
OK - So I am single. I have my son 4 days a week (Fri-Mon). I can work on Mondays and Fridays only because I work per diem. My yurt is small (condo) and I can live on coffee, shredded wheat, peanut butter and bananas quite happily. Knowing all of this, would I still be crazy to double up on classes if it cuts 15 weeks off my program and lets me do my capstone over Christmas break (7 weeks instead of 5)?
Wow! Not the diet, (sounds yummy), but doubling up. What classes have you taken and or what is left?
Wow! Not the diet, (sounds yummy), but doubling up. What classes have you taken and or what is left?
NoodlespRN
94 Posts
I about had a heart attack in my 1st CLC. I did the outline for the PP and another student was going to put the PP together, then I was going to proofread it. Instead of making a PP he wrote a 3 page APA paper. My outline even said "Slide 1..., Slide 2..." How do you go from that to an APA paper?!?! He pulled it together in the end (after I politely complimented him on his paper, but redirected him toward the ACTUAL assignment) and we got 100% on the assignment. Good tips on how to handle the rest of the CLCs. I think the instructors must know what we are up against!