Binghamton BAT Program Hopefuls 2014-2015!

alxrmt · Feb 17, 2014

Hey all! I spoke with an admissions counselor today and she informed me that I've been placed on the waitlist...better than rejection I suppose!

JennyLeeBee · Apr 27, 2014

That is fantastic to hear you are having a positive experience with the Binghamton BAT program! I am planning to apply this fall to that program for the 2015-2016 school year. I would love to get in contact with you - or any Binghamton BAT program students! - who would be able to spare a little time to share some information about their experience with that program. Thank you in advance!

coffee719 · May 15, 2014

hi all, I am graduating this weekend from the BAT program. Ask away if you have any questions for me!

JennyLeeBee · May 16, 2014

Hi coffee719!

Congratulations on making it through the program - that is fantastic! You probably just felt like you finished running a marathon...

That is so kind of you to offer to answer questions about the BAT program. I have so many questions and so I just wrote them all out....only answer what you have time for or feel like answering!! ANY information is greatly appreciated.

Overall, did you like the program and have a positive experience? Are you glad you chose that particular program?

Did you feel that there was anything lacking in the program or wish there was more of?

How difficult was the program? Did the accelerated nature/pace of the program ever feel too overwhelming?

Were there many students coming to the program without any healthcare work experience? Were there many older students?

For clinicals, did you have a choice of where you went? Where was the furthest you traveled for your clinical and how many days a week?

Did you have favorite place and unit where you did clinicals? Did you or any of your classmates get to have clinicals at the Golisano Children's Hospital in Syracuse?

What was your schedule like on a typical day or a week?

Were there many papers and/or group projects assigned throughout the program?

What did you feel was the most challenging class or classes? What did you feel was the most challenging part of the program?

Do you feel prepared to work in the field?

Does it seem like your classmates are able to find jobs? Are the people that come to the program to recruit?

Anything you wish you did differently or knew before going into the program?

And last but not least, if you have absolutely any other advice you can think of, I am all ears! My goal is to get most out of the program and also be in the best position possible to be hired upon graduation.

Thank you so much, coffee719! Congratulations again on your graduation! (I hope the rain goes away and you have a nice sunny day this weekend for your graduation :)

Jen

coffee719 · May 30, 2014

Jen, I am SO sorry I didn't back to you sooner! I hope you see this. I just literally forgot to log back on to here after graduation! Sorry! I am going to be very honest with all my answers, not to deter you or be biased or anything, just going to be honest!!!!!! I'm happy to answer everything, because I didn't get/find much detailed information when I was applying so I know information from someone who experienced it is helpful!!!!!

Overall, did you like the program and have a positive experience? Are you glad you chose that particular program?

Honestly...honestly..no. And this is ME personally. For ME, it was too fast. I wanted a 12 month program so badly but once in it I was like holy **** I can't keep up. For ME it was too much information way too fast. Keep in mind also I'm NOT a science person, my background is the arts and history. I had NEVER taken a science class before until I took my pre-reqs. So, what I'm saying is that maybe someone with a really strong science background wouldn't have found the pace so fast. As a matter of fact there were people that got 100s on pathophysiology exams while I struggled to get low 80s. I felt like I needed more repetition, more attention, more "till it sinks in", not just a lecture through powerpoint where the prof whizzes through the material because, and I quote, "This is the BAT program, you're all smart, I can skip this part right?" I keep repeating that this is just for me personally because I don't want you to think bad of it. Everyone has a different experience and I especially learned that everyone has a different learning style. I realized quick that I HATE power points. I'm not that old lol but in my first undergrad I had never been taught by a power point ever. So this was brand new to me. And I don't and didn't like it. I like to be taught, to have class discussions, to learn by videos or learn by doing, but that's not so in this program. I'm telling you I am so sick of power points. Secondly that I think is most important is I don't know where you are from originally but I am from NYC, I went to college there and worked in a hospital there too for 3 years. So I got very used to that. It was very difficult for me to adjust to upstate. I never went upstate ever before. The truth is the only reason I went to BU is for the SUNY tuition. I could not afford NYU. But anyway my point is I never really was happy there and it did affect my studies.

Did you feel that there was anything lacking in the program or wish there was more of?

I think my standards and expectations were too high sometimes and maybe so, but I just wish there was more to the program. Sounds like an oxymoron as I have said it's too fast. Well what I mean is that I wished we practiced injections more than one hour in lab before we did it in real life. I wish we used the SIM mannequins more than 3 times the entire program. I wish we had clinical every day in the spring to really learn and practice everything instead of twice a week. Twice a week is just not enough. I would practice something on Wednesday and return next Tuesday having completely forgotten what I did and how I did it. Another thing I should say is that since I had never been to nursing school before this I can't compare to anywhere else. So for all I know every nursing program accelerated is the same?!

How difficult was the program? Did the accelerated nature/pace of the program ever feel too overwhelming?

Again this is for ME personally...don't want to deter you...it all depends on how you handle stress and I do believe also on your background. I found out that I can handle stress, but I can't handle it that "well..." I was just stressed out a lot. There are times where you will have like 5 research papers due, clinical assignments, plus exams in a matter of a couple weeks. Really, it doesn't sound too bad. But some assignments can take foreverrrrr, and most of the research papers are pretty tedious and boring. In terms of how difficult it was...it's hard to say exactly...well it was difficult, but not impossible. I would say that the summer was easy. I was really fine in the summer. Once the fall started and I was going back and forth to Syracuse and the assignments were piling on is when I got stressed. There were times it was really overwhelming, but I know I'm not unusual in that way. Many of my friends got super stressed at times, but the great thing is that everyone is in the same boat and everyone supports you when you feel like you're going to lose it!

Were there many students coming to the program without any healthcare work experience? Were there many older students?

Actually I was surprised how many students DIDN'T have an ounce of experience. And meaning not only did they not have healthcare experience, they had no "Real life" experience- many had JUST graduated and entered into the BAT right away. Like, they graduated from their first BA/BS in May 2013 and started BAT in May 2013! So there were a lot of a 20, 21, 22 year olds. There were a handful of 30+. A couple of married people with kids. One or two 50+! I would have to say the majority was in their twenties. Experience wise besides what I already said, some people had phDs!!! Some had masters degrees, many were CNAs, some were EMTs/paramedics, some had only simply volunteered, some had no experience etc. I had about 4 years healthcare experience.

For clinicals, did you have a choice of where you went? Where was the furthest you traveled for your clinical and how many days a week?

Kind of but not really. I think you put in for what section # you would like for the fall, each section has different placements (but everyone does the same rotation. Like everyone does maternity but we all get sent to different hospitals). For the spring, you fill out a form with your 1, 2, and 3 top choices of where you want to get placed for the spring. But I didn't get any of my choices. I got placed somewhere totally random that I never asked for. Some people did get their top pick. I have no idea how they chose who got to get one of their choices or not.

Did you have favorite place and unit where you did clinicals? Did you or any of your classmates get to have clinicals at the Golisano Children's Hospital in Syracuse?

No I didn't, I was really unimpressed with all the local hospitals and as much as I'm sure I sound like a snot, I just think I was very spoiled where I was working in NYC. And I don't know if anyone had clinical there, really no idea.

What was your schedule like on a typical day or a week?

Fall was the worst, clinical 4 days a week from 7am -3pm then class in the evenings. But it lasted only 2-3 months. Everyone kept saying to each other just get through the fall! Spring is the total opposite, one day of classes and clinical twice a week.

Were there many papers and/or group projects assigned throughout the program?

YES OMG YES

What did you feel was the most challenging class or classes? What did you feel was the most challenging part of the program?

Patho wasn't easy for me, pharm wasn't that easy either, as it was online (one of my major gripes as well, pharm should have been LIVE IN CLASS!!!!) Maternity was hard because that's just not my cup of tea....pediatrics was hard too because again that's not my cup of tea.

Do you feel prepared to work in the field?

No! But don't worry the consensus amongst the entire program was that no one feels ready. We're all scared and feel like we know nothing. We kept being told that's normal.

Does it seem like your classmates are able to find jobs? Are the people that come to the program to recruit?

I was really disappointed in this. I was told at orientation that all these hospitals from NYC came to BU to recruit because "they love BU students." But never did I see or hear of that ever. If you are staying local I can almost guarantee that you'll get hired. The two local hospitals, Lourdes and UHS hire new grads I swear starting in like February. However if you are planning on working downstate like in NYC or LI, it's that simple. You need to be licensed first before they will look at you. Which is fine with me, I was expecting that anyway. So right now I'm just enjoying not being in school and studying for the boards. ALL of my friends who are staying in Binghamton have jobs already.

Anything you wish you did differently or knew before going into the program?

I wish I knew it catered to who wants to stay local. I really believed they had contacts elsewhere and could help you find a job or at least give you advice or had SOME knowledge about hospitals besides Lourdes or UHS. If you aren't planning on staying local just be aware of that. I know I will get hired somewhere I'm really not nervous about that but I truly and largely felt that our professors knew only about UHS and Lourdes and those are the only two hospitals that were talked about to death the entire program. I always felt like, "Um hi, I'm not from here and not going to stay here...so...." A couple of professors made it very obvious that they did not like downstate much.

And last but not least, if you have absolutely any other advice you can think of, I am all ears! My goal is to get most out of the program and also be in the best position possible to be hired upon graduation.

I think it just depends where you want to end up, location wise. I really believe if you're staying locally you're set. Even the girls who had no job experience got hired. Make sure you take care of yourself during the program and don't go crazy!

Thank you so much, coffee719! Congratulations again on your graduation! (I hope the rain goes away and you have a nice sunny day this weekend for your graduation :) Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BradS · Oct 4, 2014

Hi coffee719, I kinda stumbled across this post while searching for reviews of the BAT program and I just wanted to say thanks for the detailed review. I'm considering this program and still deciding what route to take, so this was really great. Hope everything turned out ok for you.

dee789 · Oct 4, 2014

Hi, I just wanted to counter what was posted above a bit.. I am also from NYC and came upstate for this program, and I am having a great time. Yes, people have complaints about the program, but overall I think it is very good. Our profs are very supportive and we have a lot of very good professors and clinical instructors. I have all my clinicals in Binghamton, and as my only prior experience was volunteering in an NYC hospital I can't really compare upstate hospitals to downstate, but I have heard that the people who go to Syracuse have a better clinical experience in some ways and see more things (tho this is obv. a tradeoff as you have to drive upstate twice a week for 3 weeks).

Yes, it is very very fast-paced, but if you are determined, you can definitely do it and make good grades. I had no prior science educations except for my pre-reqs, and was able to finish summer with a 3.7 GPA. Patho esp. is a TON of info but you just have to study a lot and stay on top of it and you will do fine. In contrast to above, in my opinion summer was MUCH worse than fall. It was really very fast-paced and we had 2-3 exams per week plus small projects, check-offs, etc. Fall is a more normal pace.

Yes, they can be a tad unorganized at times, but from what I have heard every accelerated program is. They respond to you fast when you have problems and profs will email you day and night, and during the weekends if you have questions. I have made great friends and am overall very happy here. And for only about $15,000, I don't think you will find a cheaper program in NY state.

Obviously, I haven't done spring yet or looked for a job, so I can't speak to that. But so far I would recommend this program.

JennyLeeBee · Nov 22, 2014

Wow! Thank you SO MUCH for your detailed and honest responses to my questions! I can't tell you how helpful it is to get an insiders take on the program. I so sorry that I am responding so late to your reply! I imagined when I posted all those questions to you in the spring you were knee-deep in studying for your NCLEX exam, finding a job....and just taking a breather!

Right after I posted to you in the spring, I started my 6 prerequisites and took each one consecutively and just now finished up with them along with my application and only now that the "dust has settled" thought to check back on allnurses....I was so happy to see your reply! I am so grateful for all the fantastic information. Thank you!

I hope you are doing well and feeling settled into your next stage post-BAT program!

Thank you again!

Jen

JennyLeeBee · Nov 22, 2014

Hi dee789!

Thank you so much for the GREAT information! It makes all the difference hearing from someone who has been in or is currently in the program. And it is so helpful to hear different experiences of the program.

(I went ahead and applied to the BAT Program for next year - just submitted my application 2 weeks ago - so fingers are crossed!)

I can imagine that it is very exciting for you to be almost at the halfway point of your program. Best of luck to you through the rest of it for a strong finish!

Thank you again for taking time out to answer my questions (so helpful!)

Kindest regards,

Jen

dee789 · Nov 23, 2014

No problem! Just PM me if you have any more questions and I will be happy to answer what I can. Good luck on your applications!

JennyLeeBee · Nov 23, 2014

Thank you so much, dee789!!

Jen

mmusa7111 · Dec 29, 2015

Hi does anyone know the cutt off for pre reqs in the BAT program please