Newbie

bigwavedave · Apr 24, 2002

Hi Kelly,

Where are you going to school now? I live in the Fort Worth area, currently I am knocking out my pre-req's at TCC and then this fall I am going to start nursing school at UTA. UTA has a BSN program, TCC has a really good RN (not BSN) program (my wife is graduating from there in 3 weeks). I know Dallas County Community College has a program at their El Centro location in downtown Dallas, TCU has a BSN program, I have a few friends who went through that, but if you are thinking about going there, save money and go to UTA since it is public it is cheaper than TCU. I can't think of anyothers right now in the immediate metroplex, If you are wanting to get out of the metroplex I know of a couple that are a couple hours away. Hope this info helps! Good luck to you!

Moonshimme · Apr 24, 2002

Thanks sharing. I'm actually going to TCC, but I'm listed as a business major, so I need to go talk to someone and change it, I hope it isn't too late though, I'm in my second semester. I'm going to look the schools you suggested and see which one I can go to. Thanks again for replying. :)

bigwavedave · Apr 24, 2002

You're welcome! No it's really never too late. You will probably have to take a few different classes and some that you may have already taken probably won't count towards what you will need for nursing. Here's what I did... I was actually a business major to begin with when I first started at TCC. I took courses like accounting, intro to business, and so on. Well, after working at a bank I have realized I am not really into a desk job 8 hours a day, plus I like science/medicine. Anyways, I went and talked to a counselor and changed my degree plan to the Associates Degree- it is like a general plan that includes a lot of room to get the pre-req's necessary for most nursing programs. There are still some I have to take that were not on the degree plan, but UTA sent a letter to the financial aid office letting them know I need those courses for UTA so my grants will still work and I am going to save some money by still getting them out of the way at TCC. But I would get in and talk to a counselor/advisor asap so you can register for classes for this summer or this fall. That's probably more info than you were wanting- sorry.

mattsmom81 · Apr 24, 2002

Good luck to you both. I've been a nurse in the DFW area for 20 years and there's lots of opportunities! Dave is there a waiting list at UTA or will you be able to get right in? Just curious if the schools around here are keeping up to the demand!

bigwavedave · Apr 24, 2002

I'm really not too sure about a waiting list. I know that I got in my first time trying. There are about 100 in each entering class and I think this year there were something like 400 or so applicants. I consider myself wonderfully blessed to be getting in on my first try! I have a friend that went through the "bridge program" there at UTA and I think she said there was a substantial waiting list, of course that was a few years ago.

As a side note I am kind of surprised by the numbers of male students in UTA's program they told me 10% is usually the number of males in the program at one time. I wonder if that is all the males who apply or if they have a rule of trying to keep 10% of the student body males? Just one of those things.

What hospital are you at? My wife is going to start working in the NICU at Harris Ft Worth in June!

JJFROG · Apr 25, 2002

I went to TCU and recommend it to everyone. It is expensive, but that is the only draw back. Small classes, great instructors and guaranteed clinical time. I had 2 classmates who waited at UTA for clinical spots for 2 years and transferred to TCU just to get clinical time. I really felt prepared coming out of TCU into the workforce. Plus, you get to be a Horned Frog! Go Frogs!!!

Moonshimme · Apr 25, 2002

Thank you for all the great replies, I greatly appreciate them. I'm looking right now at TCU or UTA. Again, thanks to everyone. :)