NJCU ABSN 2016

U.S.A. New Jersey

Published

Anyone applying? Have you taken the HESI? Thought it would be helpful to share experiences.

How long did it take them to verify your transcripts?

I submitted my application on the 11th of Feb. and about 1 week later my transcripts were verified. However, I did send in my transcripts to NursingCAS about months beforehand.

...on April 1st?! Ironic. HAh. But kidding aside, thanks for the info! I am anxiously awaiting for the email since this school is the only one I applied to.:unsure:

How is the work life balance with this program?

Any information will be appreciated! :)

I submitted my application on the 11th of Feb. and about 1 week later my transcripts were verified. However, I did send in my transcripts to NursingCAS about months beforehand.

Oh, okay. I ask because its been quite sometime since they have received my transcripts and haven't verified. Thanks!

Hi eris08, congratulations! How was your experience from the beginning to now?

How did you feel about clinicals?

Do you know of anyone's experience commuting from nyc using public transportation (if you yourself did not do so)?

These are what I have so far. lol. Pretty generic questions.

Specializes in Surgical, CVICU & Oncology, Med/Surg.
Hi guys, I am currently in NJCU ABSN if you have any questions for me. I found out last year on April 1st so you guys should be hearing from them around that time. The professors have had many meetings this week so I will not be surprised that they are looking at applications right now.

Hi @eris08, Wow, thank u for joining the thread :-). I was really hoping to hear from someone who is currently in the program.

So qstns:

What hours do the classes start and end on a typical day? i.e is it possible to post your exact schedule here just to give us an idea.

How many days do u have the theory classes & when are the clinicals?

Do students purchase the textbooks separately on their own or are they provided by the school & included in the tuition? (I ask because, I hear some programs provide the textsbks & include it in the tuition)

Are supplies ie scrubs, stethoscopes etc paid for separately by the students or covered in tuition?

How often are you tested? Ie, 3x a semester or every week

People have different study habits, but how much average study time do u think works best?

How are the professors & the program in general?

Specializes in Surgical Cardiovascular ICU.

At orientation the professors told us to not work and do the program because it would be difficult, so I quit my job taking their advice, but I don't recommend you quitting your job if you know how to time manage and have a pretty flexible work schedule. The first semester was "easy" and I think it is possible to hold a part time job and finish the semester with good grades. Plus you don't have to worry about all your expenses if you have a part time job. Our schedule for first semester was: gero and theory on Mondays, Fundamentals and health assessment on Tuesdays, clinical at the nursing home either Wednesday or Thursday and mandatory open lab on Friday. Pathophysiology was an online course. The second semester is the hardest. We're taking 23 credits and have three clinicals. You have med-surg clinical either Tuesday or Thursday and your peds/OB clinical on Saturday or Sunday. The peds/OB count as two separate ones. The classes we're taking right now are: Monday either peds or OB (half of the cohort takes peds the first half of the semester and the other half takes OB and then we switch), Tuesday or Thursday you have clinical, Wednesday is adult health, cultural, and research and on Friday we have law and ethics (1 class) and pharmacology. Third semester will be capstone class (review for the nclex), adult health II, psych, community and one other class that I cannot remember. I will say though they are changing the schedule for next year and putting Pathans pharm together and it will be split between the two semesters. We all think that makes a lot more sense and it can benefit you guys a lot more. Also, my cohort is trying to get the program to not send students to the nursing home the first semester because it's boring and you don't get to do much. Regarding commuting, there are some people from NYC that come to the school and they take the path to get to jersey city then take a train to the school. The train station is about four blocks away from the school. For clinicals all the people that live in NYC will go to Jersey City Medical Center. The other hospitals are: RWJ, Clara Mass, and Monmouth. Please excuse any spelling errors since I am trying this on my phone haha don't hesitate to ask me any other questions. I was in your position last year so I would love to help out.

Specializes in Surgical Cardiovascular ICU.

Hey dianearc!

The school provided us with three books and the rest you have to either purchase or rent them. Personally I only purchased the fundamentals book and rented the other books. This semester I purchased the adult health and OB/peds book everything else I rented.

The scrubs, stethoscope, etc are not supplied by the school. We had to purchase them from Flint O'hara.

For testing I am not sure what you mean. We have at least two exams per class and a HESI for every class except theory, health assessment and patho. Before the pinning ceremony we need to pass the HESI cumulative exam. We have three tries to pass it. The HESI is a bit harder than the actual nclex. Usually the regular in class exams are worth 20 or 25% of your grade. You also have to do HESI case studies which depending the class are worth 10-20% of your grade. You also will have to write papers.

Study time depends really on you. Last semester I usually studied two nights before an exam, but this semester I have been studying for longer and way in advance because the material is harder. On average I will say this semester I study/read 10-15 hours per week. Like this spring break I have 200 pages to read on respiratory for adult health. 30 pages for peds and 50 pages for pharm. Also, we have papers do soon so I will be working on those as well. So no real spring break haha

Branchizio is my favorite professor from the program. She is so passionate about teaching and nursing that she will make you love what you learn. Yet, she is tough on her questions which is always good. This year we got new professors from the previous cohorts and they are good. They work with you and try to help you in every possible way to succeed. Regarding the program, it depends on your cohort. We have a good cohort where everybody for the most part gets along and we try to help everybody out. As we say, we are in the program to succeed not to compete. :)

I hope I answered all your questions. :)

Specializes in Surgical, CVICU & Oncology, Med/Surg.
Hey dianearc!

The school provided us with three books and the rest you have to either purchase or rent them. Personally I only purchased the fundamentals book and rented the other books. This semester I purchased the adult health and OB/peds book everything else I rented.

The scrubs, stethoscope, etc are not supplied by the school. We had to purchase them from Flint O'hara.

For testing I am not sure what you mean. We have at least two exams per class and a HESI for every class except theory, health assessment and patho. Before the pinning ceremony we need to pass the HESI cumulative exam. We have three tries to pass it. The HESI is a bit harder than the actual nclex. Usually the regular in class exams are worth 20 or 25% of your grade. You also have to do HESI case studies which depending the class are worth 10-20% of your grade. You also will have to write papers.

Study time depends really on you. Last semester I usually studied two nights before an exam, but this semester I have been studying for longer and way in advance because the material is harder. On average I will say this semester I study/read 10-15 hours per week. Like this spring break I have 200 pages to read on respiratory for adult health. 30 pages for peds and 50 pages for pharm. Also, we have papers do soon so I will be working on those as well. So no real spring break haha

Branchizio is my favorite professor from the program. She is so passionate about teaching and nursing that she will make you love what you learn. Yet, she is tough on her questions which is always good. This year we got new professors from the previous cohorts and they are good. They work with you and try to help you in every possible way to succeed. Regarding the program, it depends on your cohort. We have a good cohort where everybody for the most part gets along and we try to help everybody out. As we say, we are in the program to succeed not to compete. :)

I hope I answered all your questions. :)

Hi @eris08, thank you so much. & yes u answered all my questions.

Just a clarification about the shedule...did classes & clinicals start at 7am or 8am?

& also briefly, how's the parking at njcu? ( is it one of those like rutgers where u have to arrive super early to catch a lucky spot so you're not late for class?)

Specializes in Surgical Cardiovascular ICU.

Hey dianearc,

Classes usually start at 9 am and the latest class finishes at 4 pm. Clinicals start at 7 am until 1 or 3:30 pm.

I buy a semester parking permit at Lot 3 which is $130, but some people park on the street. If you decide to park on the street you need to keep track of the time because they do give tickets like its candy.

Specializes in Surgical, CVICU & Oncology, Med/Surg.

Thank you eris08, this is really helpful.

Thank you, Eris08 for all the info! The suspense surrounding acceptance is driving me crazy! Hopefully we don't have to wait the full 4-6 weeks.

Specializes in Surgical Cardiovascular ICU.

No problem :) and good luck to everybody! NJCU's program is really good, shortest and the cheapest :) oh btw for those that are minority students once you get accepted either to this program or another one apply for the minority nurse scholarship (it's through minority nurse magazine). The first place gets $3,000 and the other two runner ups get $1,000. I was lucky enough to win the runner up award so if you have any questions regarding that scholarship don't hesitate to send me a message :) good luck everybody!

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