Houston Community College ADN

I agree with their orientation being a bit unorganized, but they give you information packets and the opportunity to ask any questions you need. Their program is not perfect, but IMO a very solid one. The instructors are highly experienced, knowledgeable, and easy to talk to. HCC may set a bad first impression, but they don't lack in substance. IMO the main factor that determines whether a program is worth its salt, is its NCLEX pass rate, and HCC's is higher that the national and state average:

ftp://www.bne.state.tx.us/RN-5YR2004.pdf

I agree with their orientation being a bit unorganized, but they give you information packets and the opportunity to ask any questions you need. Their program is not perfect, but IMO a very solid one. The instructors are highly experienced, knowledgeable, and easy to talk to. HCC may set a bad first impression, but they don't lack in substance. IMO the main factor that determines whether a program is worth its salt, is its NCLEX pass rate, and HCC's is higher that the national and state average:

ftp://www.bne.state.tx.us/RN-5YR2004.pdf

Keep in mind that many hospitals in the med center will not hire a HCC grad because they consistently have pass rates below 90%.

Keep in mind that many hospitals in the med center will not hire a HCC grad because they consistently have pass rates below 90%.

I had heard that too but from the looks of the graph- they have cleaned up their act. I thought about HCC (they do accept more students) but I am in Katy and really do not want to drive (or ride a bus) to the Med Center. I've been nursing for 16 yrs- I've done the driving thing...checking into Tomball program

Hi,

Does anyone know which is the better school amongst North Harris, Montgomery and Tomball ? What are the pros and cons of eeach program. I know they are pretty similar being in the same district and have a centralized admissions system, but given that you have choice to go into either one of the three which one would be best to select.

North Harris has 100 students and is the oldest program having been around for 30 plus yrs. Montgomery takes only 30 students so smaller class size and possibly more attention but has been around for only 3or 4 yrs.

Any tips either way will be appreciated.

Thanks

I had heard that too but from the looks of the graph- they have cleaned up their act. I thought about HCC (they do accept more students) but I am in Katy and really do not want to drive (or ride a bus) to the Med Center. I've been nursing for 16 yrs- I've done the driving thing...checking into Tomball program

Hi,

Does anyone know which is the better school amongst North Harris, Montgomery and Tomball ? What are the pros and cons of eeach program. I know they are pretty similar being in the same district and have a centralized admissions system, but given that you have choice to go into either one of the three which one would be best to select.

North Harris has 100 students and is the oldest program having been around for 30 plus yrs. Montgomery takes only 30 students so smaller class size and possibly more attention but has been around for only 3or 4 yrs.

Any tips either way will be appreciated.

Thanks

I would like to go to CyFair but as of now they do not have a transitional program- I'm really not sure about which program is better. Not really sure I would want to be in the first class at CyFair. New program = kinks! Honestly, the geographical factor is guiding me.

Hey Everybody!

THis is my first post. I have been to this website many times, but never to post. Just wondering, what is the latest info on Houston Community College. I have heard alot of negative, but alot of that is old.. Are things better over there now??

Thanks!

Amy

I am currently in my first semester of the ADN program at HCC and am having a blast! The staff has been nothing but wonderful and helpful! I know HCC has gotten negative reports in the past so it must be better because I have absolutely no complaints. I had heard many things... he said/she said type of thing and was a little nervous about applying to HCC.

However, now that I'm in the program I LOVE it! And they have a very good NCLEX pass rate! +90% over the last few years! Don't listen to what anyone tells you... it's something you have to decide for yourself... Don't let someones negative opinion of the school make you change your mind. Many times it's the people who have failed out or have had some type of bad experience with a staff member, or the program that are bad mouthing it. I can assure you, the ones who are doing well in the program will have a lot better information to provide you with. Also, unless you're in the program that's the only way you're going to get what information you need. If you want any information at all, feel free to message me or someone else who is an ADN student and I'm sure they'd be willing and I certainly will be willing to answer any questions you may have. Getting the answers you want through the secretaries in the ADN dept is VERY difficult, so your best bet is talking to one of us who can give you the most accurate info and if we don't know it can ask someone who does.

Keep in mind that many hospitals in the med center will not hire a HCC grad because they consistently have pass rates below 90%.

Actually, I believe that may be a falsehood. Some of the TMC hospitals will only hire BSN students due to their Magnet status; however, I have friends in HR at various hospitals and have interviewed nurse recruiters from other hospitals and they could care less where you went to school. If you have your license - welcome aboard!

I had attended an HCC orientation a few months back and it was horrible. There were tons of people there in a huge room (id guess at least 100 plus) but there was no real info given out. After having been to North Harris, Tomball and Kingwood College's orientation HCC was a BIG disappointment. They did not give out any info on the selection criteria etc. All they kept on doing is saying how tough it is and how demanding it is etc. Plus ended up paying $ 10 or so for parking across the street.

I found the orientation very unprofessional. I know nursing is hard and we need a clean criminal record, what I need to know is what I need to get in and most importantly what is the selection criteria and what last semester/yr's admission cutoff was - that info was not provided. Im not saying its not a good program because I didnt have much to go by, all I felt was the orientation left much to be desired compared to other orientations.

I also had the same experience; however, HCC is also bombarded with applications. I did find that once you go to the orientation, it is somewhat easier to get information. The downer is it takes time for anyone to get back to you. I have been accepted into their pharmacology class for Fall 2006 and if I do well-should be able to segway into the clinical portion of the program. I have also applied to a few BSN programs, so I'll just be hanging tough to find out where I'll be going. Now, I got a majority of my prerequisites done at HCC, and if you would like to e-mail or PM me, I'd be happy to go into more detail regarding my experiences.

Thanks everyone for the replys. This is very helpful.. I really want to get into the nursing program SOMEWHERE!! I think that the experience in the medical center would be invaluable as well!! Do you have to take the Pharm class there? Im currently taking it at Cy Fair, and was wondering if it would transfer, or this was there break or make class.. Good luck to all of you in the program, and soon to be!!

Thanks everyone for the replys. This is very helpful.. I really want to get into the nursing program SOMEWHERE!! I think that the experience in the medical center would be invaluable as well!! Do you have to take the Pharm class there? Im currently taking it at Cy Fair, and was wondering if it would transfer, or this was there break or make class.. Good luck to all of you in the program, and soon to be!!

Excellent question Amy. I'm not sure if one must take the HCC Pharm or not. I do know that a student cannot apply to the actual clinical portion of HCC's program until they have made a certain grade in pharmacology. If I were you, I would try to e-mail a woman named *****. Please PM me and I will l provide you with the name. I don't know if she still works there, but she was pretty helpful in providing that type of information. Again, it will take awhile to get a response; but, she pretty much always got back to me. On the other hand, UT-H and UTMB require that the student enroll specifically in their Pharm course. Good luck.

Name edited out for privacy reasons

Great. Thank you for the info.. I appreciate that.

Also, just wondering, what about taking act/sat is that a requirement??