Harper College

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Hi! I recently graduated from Harper college's nursing program. If anyone had any questions about the program I would definitely try to answer. I couldn't find much info when I was looking into the program, so I would love to help future students!

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Hi there!!

I just graduated from harpers RN program this past weekend, how long did it take for harper to send i fo to the BON? And how long did it take for your att to arrive??

Ive sent my app and paid about 2 weeks prior to graduation along with finger prints, id like to get an estimate of time

Thanks

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I waited about two weeks after graduating to send in my fingerprints, but I received my ATT the following week. A couple of people in my class that had everything done right away had theirs within 10 days of graduating. I am pretty sure Harper will/did send the list of graduates to the BON as soon as grades were finalized. I would think you should get your ATT in the next week or two. Good luck!

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Hey there!! First congrats on finishing your nursing program! I know this thread is couple of months old but I was hoping if I can get a little insight regarding employment prospects. How is your job hunt going? I hear lot of ADN vs BSN arguments but it seems to depend a lot on the area. How has your own experience been? What is the general consensus among the graduating class? Then thanks in advance!

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Hi, I moved out of the area shortly after graduating so I do not have personal experience with finding a job in the area. However, I know that a majority of my class did not have any problems getting jobs. A lot of us stay connected through our facebook group and send updates. Most found jobs at hospitals in the area, and some downtown. A couple are in rehab facilities. Harper has a good reputation in the area and most are willing to hire ADNs with the agreement that you will complete your bachelor's within five years (a lot offer some sort of tuition reimbursement). Good luck to you.

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Hi there! I will be starting the program this fall. Is there anything you wish you would have known prior or early in the program that might have helped get you through? Do you have any tips, insights, or knowledge you think might be helpful for someone starting their first semester? Thank you in advance!!

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Hi, I am so sorry I did not see your post earlier. I really hope everything is going well for you! If you have any specific questions about any upcoming classes I would love to help you out!

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Hi Penelope. I know this is an old thread but I will be starting Harper's nursing program in January and I was wondering if you could tell me what you found to be most challenging/enjoyable? Any professors you recommend or advise to stay away from? Is third semester as bad as it looks? Any clinical sites to avoid? Any info you can provide would be great! Thanks!

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Hello GOAL2BRN, congrats on getting into the program! I am sorry it took me so long to respond. It is a pretty small program so it isn't really possible to avoid professors. I would recommend not really listening too much to what others say about instructors. I had a clinical instructor that every one said was really difficult that I was terrified of having. She ended up being my favorite and I learned so much that semester.

Third semester was probably my favorite...I am now a peds nurse and had some really good clinical experiences that semester. First semester is actually the one that most people have problems with. All testing is NCLEX style from day one and some people really struggle with it. There is also a lot of different things going on with classes, labs, skills testing, and clinicals. Time management is really important. By third semester you have the routines and expectations figured out and it really is not that bad.

I would recommend trying to avoid Shriner's for your peds clinical. There were a lot of complaints about it from my class. Also, I was at Loyola for third semester med surg and I thought it would be a good experience, but the nurses on the floor wanted nothing to do with us and we weren't allowed to do IVs. However, people that were there for capstone had really good experiences, I think it was just that floor. Otherwise, I would suggest trying to go to as many different clinical sites as you can to experience different environments so that you have a good idea of where you want to be for capstone and possibly try to get a job at later.

I would highly recommend taking pharmacology and physical assessment during the semester if possible. It'll make your second semester way more manageable. I hope this helps some. Let me know if you have any more questions, I will try to check this more often.

Good Luck!

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Hey, Penelope!

I am looking in to Harper's RN program. I just moved to IL & I'm a student at UIC. I'm stuck between finishing a degree in psych there or an RN degree at Harper. So many questions, it's tough to know what the best call is!

I know each college has official requirements to get in to their programs...but we all know that those requirements are generally less selective than their actual requirements. Do you have any info on what they actually require to get in? NLN scores/GPA?

Thank you!!!!

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Hi danaleemoo,

Admission to Harper is based on a point system, with 90 being the maximum number of points possible. For my semester, 55 was the cutoff for acceptance. GPA is not nearly as important as your grades in Anatomy and Physiology. There are minimum requirements for each section of the NLN, but only your composite and verbal scores get you admission points. 80+ for composite and 70+ for verbal would be competitive. They also give preference to those who are permanent residents of Harper's district.

Have you looked into UIC's nursing program at all? Harper's nursing program is two years, but it can take a year or more to finish the prereqs before even starting the program. It took me another year and a half to complete my RN-BSN degree after that.

I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any more questions.

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Hello GOAL2BRN, congrats on getting into the program! I am sorry it took me so long to respond. It is a pretty small program so it isn't really possible to avoid professors. I would recommend not really listening too much to what others say about instructors. I had a clinical instructor that every one said was really difficult that I was terrified of having. She ended up being my favorite and I learned so much that semester.

Third semester was probably my favorite...I am now a peds nurse and had some really good clinical experiences that semester. First semester is actually the one that most people have problems with. All testing is NCLEX style from day one and some people really struggle with it. There is also a lot of different things going on with classes, labs, skills testing, and clinicals. Time management is really important. By third semester you have the routines and expectations figured out and it really is not that bad.

I would recommend trying to avoid Shriner's for your peds clinical. There were a lot of complaints about it from my class. Also, I was at Loyola for third semester med surg and I thought it would be a good experience, but the nurses on the floor wanted nothing to do with us and we weren't allowed to do IVs. However, people that were there for capstone had really good experiences, I think it was just that floor. Otherwise, I would suggest trying to go to as many different clinical sites as you can to experience different environments so that you have a good idea of where you want to be for capstone and possibly try to get a job at later.

I would highly recommend taking pharmacology and physical assessment during the semester if possible. It'll make your second semester way more manageable. I hope this helps some. Let me know if you have any more questions, I will try to check this more often.

Good Luck!

Thank you so much for the suggestions! I didn't know that I could take pharmacology or physical assessment beforehand. Although I know they mentioned offering both this summer to help us get them out of the way but we are only allowed to take one or the other. If you don't mind me asking, which did you find more difficult?

Also, did you have difficulty finding a job after graduation? I know that Harper has a good reputation in the area but I wasn't sure how willing some places would be to take on an ADN rather than a BSN.

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