This is gonna be a long one! I'm making this to help future applicants of NAU's ABSN program with some data and info that I've used to help me find peace during my application for the 2019 cohort. *Disclaimer: This info is speculative based on users voluntary data and info they have received*This by no means represents the absolute truth of what it takes to be accepted and how the NAU administration chooses who's accepted into the program* THERE IS ALWAYS A CHANCE!
Selection Criteria
(GPA, KAPLAN, and PREREQ's)
It appears there is an 18 point scale that is used to compare applicants.
GPA (5 points)
3.0-3.19 = 1 pt.
3.2-3.39 = 2 pts.
3.4-3.59 = 3 pts.
3.6-3.79 = 4 pts.
3.8-4.0 = 5 pts.
Kaplan (10 points)
Overall Score = 5 points (scale based on applicant pool)
Science Score = 5 points (scale based on applicant pool)
Prerequisite completion (2 points)+(1 point)
+2 points for 100% completion of prerequisites at time of application
-0.2 points per class in progress
+1 point for completion of prerequisites at the NAU Campus
Previous Applicant Data
Pulled this from various user submissions from previous ABSN Cycles. These are self reported stats.
Key Notes
2014 - Applicant with 3.42 PReq GPA + 90% Overall Kaplan was wait listed in 6th position and was ultimately offered a seat. The 7th position was confirmed to also get a position with unknown stats
2015 - Applicant with 3.72 PReq GPA + 89% Overall/75% Science was accepted outright.
2016 - 2nd in the wait list was offered a seat.
2017 - No relevant stats found
2018 - Applicant with 3.9 PReq GPA + 88% Overall/80% Science was accepted. Applicant with 3.75 PReq GPA + 87% Overall/65% Science was not offered a seat.
Kaplan Exam Basics
I took my in California at my local community college by setting up a proctor time with them first and then reaching out to the nursing admin at NAU to then contact the proctor to give them all the details.
My study habits. I focused on Science as my main subject to tackle. I used info available from previous cycles to guide what i needed to study. YouTube and Kaplan entrance exam posts on allnurses are great for guiding you to which questions will most likely be asked and can help narrow down where you want to focus your time. With a BS in Kinesiology the 20 questions that were pathology and physiology based were relatively easy. There weren't any anatomy questions other than 1 question about the 3 compartments of fluid in the body.
Math isn't even worth studying for since you can use a calculator and scratch paper to double check your work. DOUBLE CHECK YOUR WORK AND DOUBLE CHECK THE QUESTION!
Writing/Reading were two sections that you cannot study for in any meaningful way. Just know that there are types of questions that will reoccur in each section like...which sentence summarizes the authors viewpoint about paragraph X? which sentence can be removed from paragraph X? Which sentence has a punctuation error? Which word is misspelled? etc... I used a kaplan study guide book and it really wasn't worth it for me as someone who has already completed a science oriented bachelor's.
My Stats:
91% overall
90% science
100% math
86% reading
86% writing
I finished 40 minutes early while taking one short bathroom break in between sections (phone is locked away by proctor) and was able to print a printout of my score/stats. I changed 7 wrong answers into 7 right answers, 1 correct answer to an incorrect one, and 1 incorrect to another incorrect ?. Moral of the story: GO BACK and RE-READ the question and the answer you gave and compare it to the other answers. I avoided a 83% overall by doing so!
Conclusion
Please! Please! Please! apply to your nursing program. We nursing hopefuls tend to be neurotic messes when it comes to GPA's and TEAS/HESI/KAPLAN scores. We tend to forget that life isn't always about the numerical values we use compare ourselves. Remember a little faith, a little hope, and a lot of guts might be the deciding factor during application cycles. Good Luck!
Hoping someone else can chime in here from your cohort, but I did this math last year. Here is my quoted post:
"
Feb 11, 2019 by Cpt ATP
Alright did some research and contacted a couple of departments. Still pretty cryptic on details but here's what I've gathered.
We are considered pledge tuition(not excess or no pledge) from what I was told.
WUE (they call it wooey LOL) is automatically applied assuming you filed for FAFSA. I personally filed for 2018-19 and another for 2019-2020.
Summer is considered apart of 2018-19 school year so this theoretically free up 12500 in Federal loans off the bat, leaving another 12500 for 2019-2020 school year maximum. So we have 25000 in Federal loans allowed (can't get confirmation until the advisors enroll us into courses in the coming weeks).
Summer doesn't descriminate on tuition for in or out of state. The calculated cost should be 7152(16 units) + 422(fees for the 17th unit). Add on 800 for nursing fees.
Summer = 8374 all students
Fall 2019 will cost 8380 (12 unit or above no longer changes tuition) plus 800 for nursing fees.
Fall = 9180 WUE
Spring will cost 8379 (same as above -1 dollar LOL) plus 800 for nursing fees.
Spring = 9179 WUE
Grand total of tuition+fees = 26733. WUE
So assuming we can take 25k fed and maybe a liberal 1k per month in allowances for living/books etc. A private loan or personal savings of 14k+ will be needed here."
Yes to everything that Cpt ATP stated above, of course our tuition has slightly increased, as it does. This is what my Fin Aid advisor calculated for me (WUE student), but it could be a little off. The entire program is still under 30k!!
thank you @Kiki and @Cpt ATP for those numbers. Thats what I roughly coming up with too. Thanks for clarifying. As far as accelerated programs go, thats one screaming deal!
Though the semester is technically still underway, and I will report back after it is truly finished, the formal classroom portion is now over.
General
The feeling is starting to sink in that graduation is coming soon and NCLEX feelings are sinking in. Overall, the pacing lets up quite a bit compared to fall semester since you are mainly focused on Maternity/PEDS as far as hard nursing knowledge. There are two online components that feel like somewhat engaging busywork and Mat/PEDS clinicals filling out the rest of the week schedule. By the end of it, you are pretty much feeling like you can really start to NCLEX prep since you will now have been exposed to all the material of nursing school!
335 Mat/PEDS
General Tips
This class is not as detail focused as med/surg was imo. This class focused on assessments, interventions for complications, and how to approach kiddos using developmental principles. We are focused on mom/baby safety for pregnancy, birth, and post-partum for the 1st half, and then you will focus on pediatric nursing for the 2nd half. I think assessment is the name of the game for this class, interventions will be based off deviations from normal/baseline. Her presentation material is where you want to base studying off!
Quizzes
Done individually, but then as a group where some great discussions can be had. Not too bad since there is only 3 totals!
EXAMS
Here is what ill say. If you have struggled in the past, you may find some relief in this class. She focuses in on what she teaches and that is reflective on what you are tested on. I skimmed the book chapters prior to class, answered questions in the back of the book, and used Silvestri as my assessment/intervention resource.
Final Kaplan
Haven’t taken it yet to be honest (after Spring break), but I imagine it is just like all the other Kaplans and at this point you have seen all the material so I wouldn’t be to worry about it. (if you tank it, you can remediate for 4/5 of the % back).
Other
There are concept maps, a group presentation, a small clinical guidelines paper, and Kaplan practice tests. There aren’t very many other assignments during this course, which is fine, because there is a lot of material to get a handle on.
335 Clinicals
The format is that groups of 10 will rotate to different sites. There will 3 weeks in the Hospital, 2 weeks in the community, and 3 weeks in SIM. You are randomly assigned and where you land may have an impact on certain parts of the semester. I was in the hospital during the first rotation, which was intense because you are walking in with pretty much zero knowledge due to school just starting.
The group who did hospital as their last rotation had the benefit of being exposed to more material prior but felt the heat due to it lining up with some exams and papers from the online classes in the latter half of the semester.
3 weeks in the hospital in various Mat/PEDS units 2x per week (we also did some endoscopy for days there wasn’t enough census which was actually pretty cool), 2 weeks in the community 2 days per week (school nursing/birthing centers), and 3 sim labs at school 1 day per week (Friday…).
It was fun and kind of opened the possibility of doing PED/PICU in the future which was something I never envisioned for myself. The hospital experience is always nice especially since you feel rusty from such a long break between fall and Spring. The schools were very easy and low-pressure situations (didn’t do the birthing center since males are not allowed). The SIMs were amazing, and there was some prep work to be done, but just show up and get ready to see some real dicey situations!
340 Research
Discussions
These are familiar to what you may have seen in the fall and not too difficult. Just give an honest effort for full credit on your initial posts and your responses. You will revolve the later posts around a PICOT question you formulate and do research on.
Quizzes
Nothing new here, I honestly didn’t even read the book since the material she posts for the week is enough to satisfy the quizzes. You have 2 shots at it if you don’t like your grade. No time limits.
Papers
You do a bibliography paper based on the PICOT and its just like an annotated bibliography (not hard at all!) with a summary on the end. You also do an ethnography paper on a setting you make observations on (we went to the casino…) and is very straight forward/easy.
441 Public Health…
Do you like writing papers? This is the class for you…
Every week you will do assignments based on topics in which you basically write research papers about aspects of public health. This class was a class that many had great difficulty with, not in terms of actual difficulty, but in terms of mustering up the strength to sit down and do these assignments. Easily my least favorite class of the entire program. Maybe it’s just something I’m not interested, but really felt like I was pulling teeth every week trying to give such a grand effort with these papers. The grading scale is a little skewed since every point lost is a % lost, so there is some acclimating to how our professor grades the assignments. She posted a rubric in the announcements mid-week and I would suggest following that as opposed to what the actual assignment asks.
There are quizzes but they are very easy, and you get multiple shots and unlimited time.
Kaplan Assessment A
There is a final Kaplan that is part of this course for some reason. It is a 180-question test that includes all nursing knowledge. I personally drilled a lot of questions to prepare but may not be needed since I think only 1 person in the class didn’t pass it (you can remediate for 4/5 of the %). This comes the day after a 335 Exam 3 mind you! If you are doing hospital clinicals for your last rotation…stay strong, you got this!
PART 2 Coming soon…
We now only have 7 capstone clinical rotations to show up to and do some journals on for NUR 408 and there is an online leadership course that doesn’t seem like it will be very difficult to preemptively finish well before May graduation.
A Message of Uncertainty
COVID-19 is now starting to cause fear contagion amongst the general population and has begun to tax the healthcare system. Those who have preceptors at FMC and Tuba City are just now finding out that the hospitals are not allowing students for the time being. This is not an isolated situation and seems as though it is happening to many nursing programs across the country. With graduation in the balance, we are awaiting our fates in regards to completing our clinical requirements for our capstone. Luckily my connections in Kingman have allowed me to go there for capstone, but its only a matter of time before KRMC follows suit. I’ll keep you posted “We start by setting the course, we succeed by staying the course” - CS
The response by the nursing department was pretty swift and effective. Groups of 10 or so students went to Kingman KRMC to complete their hours (in a similar fashion to fall med/surg rotations where you rotated through different units with no particular preceptor and 3 of us had a dedicated preceptor) or they went to the flagstaff community health testing center to help with Covid-19 screenings. I'm pretty sure everyone has completed their hours by now and we are now in the clear for graduation!
450C (Leadership)
No need to go into detail with this class since its pretty much no different than what we have seen in the online courses prior to this one. Seems like an easy A!
In Summary...
Pretty pleased with the program, especially with how they were able to get us the clinical hours needed during the covid situation this Spring. I'm honestly not stressing the NCLEX and feel like it will be a breeze (but I'm still gonna drill questions leading up to it!). I feel very prepared to begin any new grad program out there and am look forward to an externship at KRMC at the end of the month/beginning of may where I will transition into the new grad residency (post licensure) and continue learning as an RN, so if you have any questions dont hesitate to ask away. If you do KRMC for fall rotations, you'll see me in the PCU hopefully! - Cpt APT
Thanks @Cpt ATP!! It's good to hear that the SON has supported their students. Also so good to hear that you feel prepared for the NCLEX, and CONGRATS on your residency at KRMC!
Hello incoming class of 2021! I have scrub tops and polos for sale.
-1 medium NAU polo for $10, 1 small NAU polo for $10, 1 small NAU scrub top for $15, 1 xsmall scrub top for $15, and 2 xxsmall scrub tops for $15 each. Message me if you are interested! Need to sell by Monday the 13th!
@Cpt ATP I appreciate your reviews of the classes. I was wondering how much pathophysiology is reviewed in NUR 331? I don't remember everything from my pre-req and am wondering if you think it is worth it to review that information while I'm taking NUR 330? Thank you!
If I'm being honest here, the name of the game is in oxygenation and circulatory dynamics. Think about ABCs of nursing, it's all about these two things.
As long as you understand the importance of what happens to tissue when it isn't being oxygenated (hint: it dies or doesnt perform it's function as effectively) and what happens when you don't have good circulation (hint: too little fluid means less oxygenated blood circulating OR too much fluid and lungs get filled with fluid - leading to bad oxygenation) you shouldn't need to review anything.
The classes do a great job of going over any of the need to know basics of when electrolytes, oxygen demands, and fluids need to be addressed as well as the medications/interventions needed.
I would come into nursing school with fresh eyes since established knowledge is helpful, but not really required. Don't sweat it, you got this!
Just took my NCLEX this morning and want to give my honest opinion about the study habits I used and how I felt after taking it this morning!
Used UWorld Exclusively for my Qbank Questions review and did all 2183 questions.
Scored in 58th percentile throughout w/ 55%-85% but averaging mid 60's for the most part.
Scored 61% on the self assessment towards the end w/ a good chance of passing
Used Nurse Achieve to take Computer adaptive tests (4 total) to finish up my final week of prep (use code FREE30 and give two fake emails to get 30 days!).
Got 3 Pass grades and 1 Solid Pass.
The NAU ABSN program uses Kaplan for tests and case studies BUT...if you click "go to study plan" you can access the Kaplan Qbank which can be bought seperately, but is free for you if $$ is an issue!
This strategy was done over the course of three weeks w/ about 100-200 per day (gradually increasing test length and # of questions). Skimmed the rationales for stuff I didn't know but never took notes (just not my style). I took the day before the test completely off and free'd my mind from NCLEX!
I finished the NCLEX in 62 questions in slightly under 30 minutes and walked out feeling like garbage!!! As a 4.0 student who walks into all tests w/ the utmost confidence as a mental strategy, this was an expected but devistating feeling. I still shook LOL, but I just put on a smile and listened to some jams on my way back from pheonix!
Moral of the story! this test is hard but this is intentional! if you test well, you will encounter questions/diseases/scenarios that you have never seen before, but you are still passing!
I didn't really get your typical questions like lab values questions, med calculations, ekg's, or obvious ABC/CPR questions which lets you know you are testing in the difficult questions (good thing!).
NOTE: if you finish too fast or have bad palm scans/errors, your Pearson Vue Trick will not give you a good or bad popup. You will get a "results on hold" popup. that will go away within 48hrs and allow you to get your pearson vue good/bad popup.
I got the "hold" message but 6 hours later, I was able to get my good popup PVT!
The program is in the midst of pretty nasty year w/ covid and other political strains across the country. But I think that our faculty is doing everything needed to make you succeed! Remember that all schools are having a tough time w/ clinicals, SO AZBN will have to make changes that will allow you to get your license! Keep your head up and CRUSH IT!
Cpt ATP, BSN, RN
53 Posts
@amigdale
Hoping someone else can chime in here from your cohort, but I did this math last year. Here is my quoted post:
"
Feb 11, 2019 by Cpt ATP
Alright did some research and contacted a couple of departments. Still pretty cryptic on details but here's what I've gathered.
We are considered pledge tuition(not excess or no pledge) from what I was told.
WUE (they call it wooey LOL) is automatically applied assuming you filed for FAFSA. I personally filed for 2018-19 and another for 2019-2020.
Summer is considered apart of 2018-19 school year so this theoretically free up 12500 in Federal loans off the bat, leaving another 12500 for 2019-2020 school year maximum. So we have 25000 in Federal loans allowed (can't get confirmation until the advisors enroll us into courses in the coming weeks).
Summer doesn't descriminate on tuition for in or out of state. The calculated cost should be 7152(16 units) + 422(fees for the 17th unit). Add on 800 for nursing fees.
Summer = 8374 all students
Fall 2019 will cost 8380 (12 unit or above no longer changes tuition) plus 800 for nursing fees.
Fall = 9180 WUE
Spring will cost 8379 (same as above -1 dollar LOL) plus 800 for nursing fees.
Spring = 9179 WUE
Grand total of tuition+fees = 26733. WUE
So assuming we can take 25k fed and maybe a liberal 1k per month in allowances for living/books etc. A private loan or personal savings of 14k+ will be needed here."
Hope that helps!