MCC (manchester) Fall 2012-2014

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For those currently attending MCC (or graduates).

One:Where are the clinical rotations held? All in Manchester or what?

Two: How'd did you like MCC? I have been accepted for this fall and looking to choose between MCC and Great Bay (95-5 in favor of MCC). FYI: consistent pass rates of 100% are excellent.

Three: For Nursing 1 classes, how much/little of a time commitment is it since it will be my only class starting this fall.

Four: Any insight you could provide would be appreciated and welcome.

thanks ahead of time.

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First of all, congratulations! Welcome! I am graduating from MCC in May. I have absoulutly loved my time here. It is not easy at all and at times things seem very unorganized however, I would not have picked any where else. I feel very prepared to take my boards and to go to work as a nurse. I learned alot and my hands on experience was more than I could have ever asked for. The majority of our clinical sites are in Manchester, such as CMC and Elliot. We do have an occasional group at southern NH west campus on nashua, St. Joes in Nashua and Parkland in Derry. The director is really great at making the best decisions on where to place you if you let her know where you will be traveling from.

In the past, the first semester consists of two days of lecture (M and TH) and 8 weeks of two day a week clinical, a lab lot and a prelab slot) You will have to go to school 4 or 5 days a week. As the semesters move on you lecture time decreases and you no longer have weekly prelab or lab, but you bump up to the full 16 weeks of two day a week clinical.

The time commitment for all the classes are heavy, however I am a mother of two and I occasionaly took an extra class along with nursing and passed them all fine. It takes a lot of time and effort and if this is what you want, you will get it done. Id be happy to answer any questions you come up with, I really cant say enough great things. Just ask :)

Danielle Coffill

For those currently attending MCC (or graduates).

One:Where are the clinical rotations held? All in Manchester or what?

Two: How'd did you like MCC? I have been accepted for this fall and looking to choose between MCC and Great Bay (95-5 in favor of MCC). FYI: consistent pass rates of 100% are excellent.

Three: For Nursing 1 classes, how much/little of a time commitment is it since it will be my only class starting this fall.

Four: Any insight you could provide would be appreciated and welcome.

thanks ahead of time.

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Danielle: thank you! I would like to say congrats to you on your upcoming gradation and nursing degree - all while being a mother of two!

One: I am going to choose MCC and your post just cements the fact I am making the right decision.

Two: The clinicals are so close! If Derry/Nashua is as far as a I go, that's nothing.

Three: how was your, or even most of the classes', experience as a whole with nursing staff at most hospitals? i'm not asking you to single out any hospital, but were most nurses helpful? The horror story I have is one friend of mine in a boston nursing school says it is a dog-eat-dog world. Me? I prefer to be eternally optimistic about people. However, it doesn't hurt to have a heads up.

Four: The excitement still hasn't hit me. I checked my mail everyday for over a month (no joke) and when I got it - it was a sense of relief.

thanks!

joe

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I got my acceptance letter last week for MCC nursing prgram fall 2012! After stalking my mailman for months, I couldn't even open the letter myself when it finally got here! I went to the nursing info sessions three times, and I'm so excited for the orientation on April 27th. I'm sure we will find out so much more about everything.

I chose this school for their 100% pass rate. I'm sure the program is very rigorous, but so is the nursing profession in general I guess:) My A&P II professor says that the MCC nursing program is very hard, but she has heard from people in the field that MCC students are very well prepared. My pre-reqs are almost all done, so I will basically just have the nursing classes to take, but nursing I alone is a 10 credit class. I'm glad clinical sites are local. I hope to do at least one clinical at the elliot. My aunt works as adjunct faculty in a surg tech program and she says they are an awesome teaching hospital and very good with the students. My husband also did rotations there for his paramedic and their ER was one of his favorites.

I'm glad you started this thread! I feel like maybe I'll know at least a few people out of our 64!

Michelle

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Michelle, I hope more do post - we can't be the only ones this excited. The more I hear the more I like.

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:) Ok I'm going to skip out on proper grammatical form and just start posting things as I think of them hope that's ok Hahaha!

Everyone will hit the Elliot hospital at least once as that's where the pedi/OB rotation is.

The nurses on the floors...Most nurses are very pleasant and eager to teach, however some are not. The best you can do is be pleasant and show up prepared to work, know your patient and have a goal for the day. When you are prepared even the toughest nurses seem to soften a bit. People tell horror stories because they stick out the most in memory but do not always represent the whole picture. If that makes sense. I too an quite the optimist and general can find the bright side of most situations :)

The excitement will hit you, along with dread. LOL. Your first day will make you want to run for the hills, but you won't. You will take each day one at a time and because you choose to be here, you will make it work the best it can for you. The days are short but the weeks fly by.

This program is hard but the knowledge you gain makes it so very much worth it. It will absolutely test your limits, but it prepares you to act on your feet. Your current study methods may not work for this type of testing, so you will need to be adaptable. As much as people hate to hear it, you will most likely not get the same grades as you do in other classes.

Keep shooting me questions and I will gladly answer :) I am also ALWAYS in the library at school and would be more than happy to meet with any of you and show you the ropes so to speak lol!

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I got accepted into Manchester cc and gbcc for nursing 2012. I cant choose!! Help me!!

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morgan: (congrats!) i feel that both provide great experience and either one would be a good choice.

here is a run-down, from my angle, as to why i chose mcc.

pros to mcc

1) less classes to take [color=#808080](mcc accepted more transfer credits) mean less money to spend.

2) shorter range of clinical commute.[color=#d3d3d3]: [color=#808080]mcc=manchester to nashua versus gbcc=portsmouth to lawrence, ma

3) less commute to class (my situation)[color=#808080] mcc=i could bike to class! gbcc=20 min drive at minimum.

4) slightly higher pass rate at mcc. [color=#808080]wasn't a big deal, both are quite high.

5) job opportunities for me: [color=#808080]mcc=anything on i-93 and gbcc=seacoast.

6) long term:[color=#808080] looking to buy house in manchester area, family is much closer.

7) living costs: less for mcc, [color=#808080]gbcc many surrounding areas tend to be more expensive.

pros for gbcc:

1) living on the coast. (beautiful!)

2) slightly better reputation - although that is subjective and depends on who you talk to.

3) only program on coast and therefore slight edge to other programs in other parts of state-i could be grossly wrong about this.

what i do not know:

1) % ratio of grads that get jobs

2) long term ability to enter a master's program (mcc already sent a bsn option to rivier, but i'm hoping to skip that step).

i would write down pro's and cons. worst case, you accept both and lose $100 bucks but gain valuable time to consider both.

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I was accepted to GBCC for this fall also, but I did not apply to Manchester because I will be commuting from Saco, Maine! Manchester is simply too far and moving is not something I really want to do. I wish I could help you, but I'm afraid I know nothing about Manchester and to be quite frank don't know all that much about GBCC aside from their pass rates. I am graduating in May with my B.S. in Health Sciences and a minor in Holistic Health from the University of Southern Maine, which was not my plan but that's how it has ended up.

I applied to the Options Program for Non-Nursing Bacheloriate holders to become an FNP, but did not get in. When there are 110 applicants for 24 slots even a 3.429 is not good enough. I applied to an accelerated BSN with USM, same deal: 24 slots and I didn't get in. I also applied to their regular BSN program, but they take their sweet time making the decission and I will not hear anything until April which is when the deadline is at GBCC. So I've decided I don't need to collect Bachelor's degrees and twice the student loan debt to be a good RN and I've made my tuition deposit at GBCC. If schedueling is part of your dilema, the Fall Course Catalog is out, but the director of Nursing says specific clinical sites have not been determined. Orientation at GBCC is on May 15th at 9am.

As for the grads of a specific program entering Master's programs, bear in mind that many people going through community college often have small children, which might prolong their efforts in seeking a further degree or perhaps some students aspire to enter a Master's program some day but would like gain a solid clinical experience base before applying. Trust me applying to a Nursing Master's program is very stressful and pretty intimidating. Also keep in mind that every school looks at different things. A friend of mine from USM has a similair GPA as me, has a job as a CNA in Portland, has a previous B.S. degree, and she has applied but not been accepted 3 times to USM nursing. When she spoke with advising about what she could do to help her chances of getting in, she was told she did not have enough volunteer hours on her resume!!! BSN and MSN schools are entirely different animals... can't tell I'm ready to return to community college can you? In other words, someone could have been an outstanding student, but didn't get in because of a lack of volunteer hours! I would love to volunteer someday, but first I need to be able to pay my own bills before I can help others! Much like many of you, if I have a little free time, I should be studying, working, or cleaning my messy house!

Whatever it is that you decide, I'm sure it will work out! Try not to agonize or stress too much, take a deep breath and a few steps back to give it a little time to simmer in your mind. The answer will probably come when you least expect it! If I had to guess I'd say I think both places probably have fairly equal quality programs and either program you choose will be what you make of it. A college can only do so much, the rest is up to us lucky students who were accepted! :-) If anyone hears of a GBCC student commuting from southern, Maine send them my way I want to carpool!

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Dragonfly: Given your experience, I am soooooo relieved to have gotten into a program. I mean, I was relieved before, but that is some great input for post-RN masters. I had no idea volunteer hours came into play - I suspect I need to start planning for masters while I am in my Associates - since it may take a few years of work to attain the standards of the master's programs. Also, I love to plan ahead so great insight there - and congrats on acceptance in GBCC. Some of my friends are happy, but sad that I will be going to Manchester rather than GBCC.

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Yes it is quite interesting the things they take into consideration! It doesn't say on the application that you have to have volunteer hours, just that you need to turn in a resume. Tricky, tricky! You'd think you were applying to the Peace Core not a Nursing program the way it goes sometimes! I was tremendously relieved to be accepted to a program too!!! Planning ahead as much as possible is always good.

One thing you could do ahead of time for an RN to MSN program that bypasses the BSN is to take whatever prerequisites or "Courses within the B.S. program that must be taken in required sequence" before entering graduate classes. At USM they include classes like Statistics, Pathophysiology, Health Related Research, Concepts in Community Health, Health Assessment, and Professional Communications and Technology Utilization in Nursing plus 30 RN credit options. I've already been subjected to all of the above as part of my B.S. in Health Sciences except Health Assessment, and trust me the only one that is REALLY necessary in my opinion is Pathophysiology! Chipping away at whatever you can for whichever MSN program you apply to can really help!

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Danielle,

Thanks for all the great info! Were you assigned to a nursing home your first semester for clinicals? It seems like that's usually the case and that's the thing that scares me the most. I know that I need to learn how to care for the elderly and I want to learn, but I have this overwhelming fear of nursing homes. I hope I can just learn to work through it because I know that these are people who need and deserve the same care as everyone else, and one day we will all be just like them. I'm also very afraid of performing the postmortem care.

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