Just thought I'd toss out a friendly note that Mt. SAC (city of Walnut) has finally REOPENED applications to their ADN program starting SPRING 2014. Those that apply right now up until the last date which I think is somewhere in October will be applying for spring of 2014, and so on. It was closed for about a year to a year and a half due to switching acceptance systems from Lottery-based to Multi-Criteria Screening. The main reason for the closure was to ensure that every person left on the lottery system had gotten into the program before switching to the new one (makes it fair on part of those that have been waiting).
The multi-criteria screening is basically like the point system. You get a certain number of points based on your core requisite GPA, overall GPA, hospital experience, any degrees, and so on. Some of your points come from your core-requisite GPA (anatomy, physiology, and microbiology) which is 40 points, then next is your score on the HESI test which is a max of 30, and then your overall GPA/if you hold a bachelors which is another 10 each. There are a couple others but they give less than 10 points. You can google the Mt. SAC ADN program and look at the specifics yourself and how many points you have.
Some quick notes:
They accept 60 students every semester (fall and spring) but they can accept up to 90 depending on the budget (but of course in these days, it'll most likely stay at 60). There is a 4 day mandatory orientation, ALL day (no lie...) prior to the start of the semester where all accepted students AND alternates must attend. If you need clarity on anything, call the nursing department and they'd definitely give you more of a heads up than I have done.
So yeah, good luck to you all and hopefully last long enough for you guys to see me in third/fourth semester
You can look on the bookstore website to get costs of books. get the crn # for the course from the course catalog. I do want to get a head start on Pharmacology...I've heard that is a tough one;)
The Mtsac bookstore website does not seem to work for me so I called them instead. They said that they provide a bundle package where they offer all the required books for the first semester for ~$600. You would save some money if you bought it this way instead of manually buying them. Some of the books for Nursing 1A is Kozier, Fundamentals of Nursing (9ed) and Davis's Drug Guide for nursing (13ed). I am not trying to spend a lot of money on books so I'm going to wait until orientation to see if it's ok to buy older editions, preferably 1ed older.
The Mtsac bookstore website does not seem to work for me so I called them instead. They said that they provide a bundle package where they offer all the required books for the first semester for ~$600. You would save some money if you bought it this way instead of manually buying them. Some of the books for Nursing 1A is Kozier, Fundamentals of Nursing (9ed) and Davis's Drug Guide for nursing (13ed). I am not trying to spend a lot of money on books so I'm going to wait until orientation to see if it's ok to buy older editions, preferably 1ed older.
A girl from the program told me that some of the old books don't have the codes for podcast and other utilities in the book, because they have already been used.
The Mtsac bookstore website does not seem to work for me so I called them instead. They said that they provide a bundle package where they offer all the required books for the first semester for ~$600. You would save some money if you bought it this way instead of manually buying them. Some of the books for Nursing 1A is Kozier, Fundamentals of Nursing (9ed) and Davis's Drug Guide for nursing (13ed). I am not trying to spend a lot of money on books so I'm going to wait until orientation to see if it's ok to buy older editions, preferably 1ed older.
Thank you for all your info, I know I will use it.
Hm yeah, I believe the Davis's Drug Guide comes with additional stuff so I would probably buy the new current edition. However, I'm hoping they are ok with us buying older editions for books that do not come with other resources.
The pharm book that we will be using is the "pharmacology and the nursing process" published by elsevier by liley rainforth Collins and Snyder 7th edition. It has a study guide with it! I opened it in hopes that I would get an early start and make flash cards but it's so overwhelming lol I don't even know where to start! I think waiting to orientation would be the best bet!
Specializes in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation.
Wow, I just recently started browsing this place again and I totally forgot that I posted this thread last year! I never thought that this thread was still active haha.
Just to briefly go over the prices, it'll be about 400-500 per semester which is basically your books and the unit cost for each class. Extras that are mandatory are uniform (about 100 if you buy 2 sets), the nursing supplies (it's a bag that you have to buy from the school, which is about 100 as well), and your nursing shoes (can get those anywhere as long as they are white). Add another 120 to each semester for this thing called Kaplan by Pearson that is mandatory. You take practice NCLEX tests at the end of each semester that are part of your grade (only 5%, not a big deal unless you are borderline) and at the end of 4th semester, an NCLEX review session is included. It sucks that it's mandatory, but it's really good practice for NCLEX and you can take as many practice tests on their website as well.
If you guys have any questions, don't hesitate to reply here; messaging me would be better too. Good luck to all you future acceptees and congrats to those starting this fall! I'll be finishing up my last semester in fall :)
I just wanted to get some insight on the program and how it is?
Love the program. My older brother graduated from Chaffey years ago and advised me not to go there. The program is amazing, very flexible with your real life schedule (however, you still need to prioritize nursing over your life for the next 2 years).
Are the instructors helpful?
Very much so. I have had no issues with any theory instructors and nor has my classmates to my knowledge. ALL theory instructors are SUPER helpful and they want you to succeed. When you go to their office hours for whatever reason, you can tell they want you to pass and they will try to help you out as much as they can.
There is a slight exception to this. There are some clinical instructors (different than theory instructors) that some classmates have had issues with, but overall, everyone has passed every clinical so far.
Do you feel like your going to be prepared for the nclex?
Hard to say. I'm almost done with 3rd semester and have been averaging a B the whole program. The Kaplan testing which is mandatory per semester really helps out and puts you in an NCLEX style testing environment and I've been averaging 75% and higher which is good I guess. They do tell you that if you can average 75% on each Kaplan, you will be fine on NCLEX.
No worries, I've been getting a lot of messages. I wouldn't have advertised myself if I didn't want to help out. Feel free to shoot me any and as many questions as you want. Good luck!
FYI, I would pick Mt SAC nursing. You will NOT regret it. I have not heard anything about Rio Hondo from other friends or students so I duno how their place is but I seriously think Mt SAC is the best community college nursing program in SoCal. The Maternity theory instructor graduated from Rio Hondo MANY years ago and to this day she says Mt SAC is the best.
Just wanted to share this email with everyone who is thinking about going to mount sac. I was talking to someone who is in there 3rd semester in the mount sac nursing program. Hope this helps everyone and makes your decision a little bit easier.
kbrownstewart
211 Posts
Thanks.