Oklahoma City University- Spring 2014

BlueJays91 · Nov 14, 2013

Hi misnic626! Congrats on nursing school!

I just started the accelerated program at OCU (Fall 2013). I, too, am from out of state. If you are looking for a place to live, many of my classmates surprisingly chose to live in Edmond, OK. It is about 20 minutes from school, but it is a safer and more affordable alternative to living around OCU's campus. If you are living by yourself, I would NOT recommend living in the area directly around OCU.....kind of sketchy. I actually live near downtown, but it is pretty pricey. I opted out of not living on campus because of how expensive it was. I hope you find your transition goes well. The people of Oklahoma are much friendlier than the ones from my home state.

Now onto the topic of school.....nursing textbooks aren't too expensive (relatively speaking), but they are when you have to buy about 12 in your first semester alone. I didn't know if I would need the textbooks to study for the NCLEX, so I bought all of mine to keep. BIG MISTAKE. I plan on selling mine after this semester is over, I don't think I will need them after finals. That being said, rent your textbooks or get the e-book version (I did this for a couple of mine, LOVE IT). Better yet, get an older edition for half the price. Some of my classmates did this and the discrepancies are minimal. The page numbers may not match up, but the content is all the same. Sorry I am talking about textbooks so much! I hope that helps.

Lastly, it took me awhile to figure out what to expect on a nursing school exam. I have a B.A. in Chemistry already and I initially thought that I had mastered the art of studying. I was wrong. Chemistry/Biology classes and nursing classes are like two different languages. Both are trying to communicate similar fundamental facts, but with different rules. You may know how to LEARN and RETAIN information, but how you APPLY that information is a completely different story. There is not much you can do at this point before starting the semester, but just be aware of that fact. ALSO, read your books. I know that may sound silly (I never really had to in my previous degree) but the professors do pull questions directly from the text that were not mentioned in class.

Good luck! Glad to have you join the family.

outriton · Nov 15, 2013

Hi misnic. I relocated to OKC from San Diego about 3.5 years ago. We should definitely get together and reminisce. ;-)

The area where OCU is located is actually adjacent to the Asian District, i.e. the Vietnamese area of town. So it's not necessarily "sketch" in the "OMG gang bangers and drive by shootings" way so much as "kinda run down so people who have means choose not to live there and immigrants take advantage of the cheap housing" way.

Guess it depends on what you're comfortable with, but there are reasonably priced (especially compared to CA prices!) places to rent in the area near Big Truck Tacos/Mutt's Hot Dogs/Tucker's Onion Burgers. That part of the "sketch" area is more just general low income (versus new immigrant) but is quickly getting gentrified by trendy food hipsters.

Overall I'd say OKC is growing and becoming a lot more urban, but there's still a long way to go before becoming a major metropolitan city. The newest and most exciting things in town are the Thunder, the new Whole Foods and the blossoming food scene, e.g. better upscale dining and more innovative types of cuisine.

BTW, I'd suggest getting familiar with the highly restrictive alcohol purchasing laws if you drink. It was total culture shock for me.

Best of luck with the move and school!

codeblue222 · Nov 18, 2013

Bluejays91- Thank you so much for all of the information...especially about the books! I looked at the book list for my the first semester and it totaled to 16 books! I basically purchased only the ones that said 'required' from Half.com , but I am glad to hear there is no point in keeping the books because I have always sold my books after every semester. Next semester I will look into the e-books and older editions. Since I will be living by myself initially, safety is a big concern for me ... so I think I might look into the Edmond area. With the accelerated program do you think someone would be able to work part time with the school load? Also... what semester do the clinicals start? I am so excited to start!

Outriton- I appreciate your response! I actually accidentally stumbled across a article discussing the alcohol laws a little while ago and was surprised... its completely different than what we are use to in CA lol. I am glad to hear there is a whole foods! I heard that actually grocery stores are few and far between .. is this true?

outriton · Nov 18, 2013

Hi misnic.

It's somewhat true that there aren't "real" grocery stores here. Most people just shop at Walmart for food, but with the arrival of Whole Foods and Sprouts in the last year or two, the local places have really stepped up their game. The local grocery stores like Homeland and Crest have renovated the locations in nicer parts of town to be more like "regular" grocery stores in CA. Some of the Targets in the nicer areas have become Super Targets, and some of the Walmarts in nicer areas have started offering more fresh and/or organic produce. There'll definitely be fewer options than in CA, but if you know where to go, it's not completely awful like it used to be.

BTW, I work with several people who live in the foodie area I mentioned above, and they've never had any problems with safety. I've found that people here just really have these set neighborhoods in mind that you can or can't live in (e.g. "OMG the south side of town, how scary!") because the houses are older or run down or there are too many people of color, not because it was actually all that dangerous. When we first moved here, we lived in this supposedly "awful" part of town (N. Meridian and NW 13th) - so bad that people tried to encourage us to break our lease - but our neighbors were awesome and we really enjoyed living there. It's actually in our very white, very suburban neighborhood now that there have been problems with car vandalism.

codeblue222 · Nov 19, 2013

That's good to hear about the grocery stores... too bad there isn't a Costco! =P Do you have any recommendations for places to live within the city or in other surrounding cities? I am actually looking for a home to buy in a decent area... since I not only want to feel safe but I ultimately want to get a roommate or two and I think a 'safer' area might be more appealing for roommates lol. Thank you for all of your input! I was getting concerned no one would respond to my thread lol.

outriton · Nov 20, 2013

I own in NW OKC. It's in a desirable location since it's off NW Expressway, the big street with all the chain stores and chain restaurants, so it's where a lot of people end up running errands and going out to eat.

Edmond and Deer Creek are the white flight/suburban sprawl areas that are affordable for "regular" people and have great school districts, so really desirable for resale value.

Nichols Hills is where the old money lives, but even the homes there are reasonable by CA housing price standards. Gaillardia is where the showy new money lives.

There are some up and coming brand new neighborhoods on the south side of OKC, but people still think of it as the scary, icky Hispanic part of town, so even though it's totally nice, you might not be convinced of its safeness. A big exception is the Rivendell neighborhood, which is kind of like Nichols Hills on the southside.

The Paseo district, which is the art-y part of town with galleries and local restaurants, is actually adjacent to the "questionable" part of town by OCU and is a really hip older place. There's also Heritage Hills and Mesta Park by there. They're historic neighborhoods that are considered "safe" enclaves around that same area.

codeblue222 · Nov 22, 2013

Wow..thank you! I appreciate your responses. I was really nervous moving into a new area without knowing anything! And now I feel like I have a little idea of what OKC is like. Thank you!

snowleopard13 · Mar 6, 2014

I don'tknow if any of you who are going to OCU still look at this post but I have somequestions about the program.

I'm interested in the accelerated BSN program but have read some bad reviewsfrom the past that the program is unorganized and lacking in some areas.Students have complained about professors not being very knowledgeable aboutthe material and students who are struggling are more likely to get pushed outof the program than get the help they need to get back on track.

I know the program is expensive and if I wasn't up against an age limit forgetting a position as a flight nurse in the Air National Guard without havingto do an age wavier I would probably keep trying to get into the state programwhere I live.

I want to learn a lot and feel like I'm getting the education I'm paying forwithout feeling like I missed something in my education. I felt like that aftermy first BS degree because most of my professors were more interested in theirresearch than teaching their classes and helping students who didn't understandthe material or what was expect from them.

I know I'ma better learner now and because of the school I've attend to get my pre-requestsfor the nursing program I've learn how to apply the material instead of onlybeing able to regurgitate it from memory. I'm even helping a few students this year who are taking the same coursehow to study the material so they can do well on the exams. Not all the subjects are this hard but theupper science classes have adapted this set up to help students be ready forthe nursing program. It has an ASNprogram attached to the college so many students who go there want to become anurse.

I guesswhat I'm asking is the program mostly organized and do most of the professorsteach the material well were you feel like you're learning something and can applythis in the real world? I understandevery program has its issues but if a program has too many issues it gets to thepoint of waisting my time. I knowstudents have different opinions and neither is right or wrong. I see that with the two professors who teachthe A&P courses at the CC I go to. I'veheard it all on those two professors from good to bad. However, I realized one thing with thoseprofessors and that is the course is not a cake walk and you have to spend alot of hours outside of class to understand the material well enough to do wellon their exams. Students think thatstudying the notes is enough and it's not. They need to read the book and sometimes use the internet to understandthe depth of the material and not the basics (like memorizing a list). Yeah, I could do that in the past and do wellon those exams but when I had to learn how to apply it I couldn't do it becauseI didn't understand the material and how it works I only knew what was in mynotes.

Sorry, Italk too much. Anything will be a helpthank you.

roxychick731 · Mar 26, 2014

Hi misnic626! I am planning on relocating (I live in Wyoming) for Fall 2014 accelerated nursing program at Oklahoma City University, and looking for some input. I will be moving with my 3 year old son, so I am looking for pre-school resources, as well as apartment/living arrangements. In your initial post you had very similar concerns as I do, and the responses were helpful, but I was curious what your outcomes were (where to live, etc.). I am not too fond of the high cost of on-campus living, but I also don't want to have to commute every day. There are a few apartments that seem to be within a 10 minute drive, but there is no guarantee on availability. I live in a small town, and I'm not used to having to drive far distances each day (it takes ~1 minute to get to the grocery store). However, I would rather live in a safe area and commute everyday, rather than live somewhere close, and not feel safe...

I would really appreciate any advice you could give :) Also, were there any surprises once you actually moved, and started the program? Thanks in advance!

guillermo.rosales · May 14, 2014

Hello, I am going to start in the fall of 2014, can you give me any info on how classes are? The professors? The school in general? Any info would help! Thank you?

njnj · Oct 2, 2014

Hello [COLOR=#003366]misnic626

I already applied for Spring of 2015 and deadline for applying is November 15. When did you apply and when did you get notification about acceptance? Thank you