Pace University ABSN Spring 2020

NNurse1995 · Sep 17, 2020

Hi! I'm currently in the last semester of the program right now. What are your questions?

Nursing8734 · Sep 17, 2020

@NNurse1995 thank you so much! So I got into a couple schools and I’m trying to decide where to go. In the interview for pace, they made it seem really really crazy difficult because it’s 12 months. They made it seems almost impossible! I just wanted to get someone’s feedback on the program- how doable it is and if you’re happy that you went there.

NNurse1995 · Sep 17, 2020

@Nursing8734 No problem! The program is very time consuming. The first semester is the easiest semester, the Summer semester is the worst, and the last semester has not been so bad. Due to COVID in March everything switched to online. We had online clinicals using VSIMS, class is held via zoom, the exams are taken through Exam soft which monitors you while you are taking it. This semester we are going to clinical sites for our preceptorship and for our make-up med surg hours from the Summer. I personally do not know anyone that was able to keep their full-time job while in this program, and most people who work part time struggle, some people work per diem if they can. We had a test at least every week during the Summer semester so that was the hardest part to be honest. The communication between faculty and students have not been great. Partially because I do not think they knew what was going to happen with our clinical hours and stuff like that. The past few months have really gone by so fast. The program is extremely stressful but worth it if you are looking to get your degree the fastest.

Nursing8734 · Sep 18, 2020

@NNurse1995 I seriously appreciate your feedback. Are classes still online now? Did a lot of people drop out? I see that the NCLEX pass rate is high but that obviously doesn’t take into account the people that didn’t graduate. Obviously I know it won’t be easy and I know it’ll take a lot of work. I’m just trying to make sure I can handle it. Has it been difficult to build groups to study in with COVID? Or were you able to establish that before? And how are the faculty in general- nice, helpful, etc. The people on the interview seemed really intense LOL

NNurse1995 · Sep 18, 2020

@NNurse1995No problem! We all wanted clarification and had questions when we applied to the program. Yeah all the classes this semester are being held online. I don’t remember exactly how many people dropped out the first semester because I don’t remember the exact number of people we had when we started the program but there’s currently 65 of us which was the same amount we had over the Summer. We were able to meet the people assigned to our group for the first semester before the school switched to fully online so that helped. They say that each semester the clinical groups change but they kept us in the same group over the Summer & switched around the groups this semester. There’s a lot of group work like projects and assignments each semester so you get to know people even when it’s online. All the professors are extremely helpful. Yeah the interview was intense for my group too.

Nursing8734 · Sep 18, 2020

@NNurse1995 so if you could go back, would you do the same program or would you do a different one that was maybe longer?

NatalieNurse · Sep 18, 2020

42 minutes ago, Nursing8734 said:

@NNurse1995 so if you could go back, would you do the same program or would you do a different one that was maybe longer?

Soooooo Im in the same program at the moment and I’m not sure I would do it again honestly speaking!

Nursing8734 · Sep 18, 2020

@NatalieNurse why do you say that?? I’m deciding between this program and a 16 month program in Texas right now. I appreciate any insight!!

NNurse1995 · Sep 18, 2020

I agree with @NatalieNurse I wouldn't want to go through this program again. The communication between administration and students have been awful. We were uncertain if we would even be able to go to clinical sites and even the hours are confusing. It's a lot of work and extremely stressful. For me personally I would have preferred a program that was a few months longer and more manageable so I could actually balance school, work, and have somewhat of a life. If you have the finances and don't mind being completely overwhelmed for 11 months, and looking for the fastest way to get your degree I would go for it. If you need to work & looking to balance that and family/friends I would look for a longer program.

@Nursing8734

ncal · Sep 18, 2020

On 9/17/2020 at 11:21 AM, Nursing8734 said:

Is anyone in the program that would be willing to answer a couple questions? I got accepted for Spring 2021 and am trying to decide what school to go to. Thanks!!

Hey!

Congrats on the acceptance! I am a current student of the program at Pleasantville.

In my personal opinion, the nursing program you go to does not really matter, as long as you come out with your BSN and pass the NCLEX. In the end, jobs don’t care about where you went — they care if you have your NCLEX.

As for Pace, communication could DEFINITELY be better between students and administration. I have a friend who goes to an Accelerated BSN program in another state and she says the communication at her school is also awful, so honestly who knows this might just be an accelerated program thing LOL. Or this could be due to the pandemic, but either way communication could definitely be better. If you choose to attend this program, don’t be afraid to ask questions and demand answers.

Either way, no matter where you go you have to work hard and “suffer” for the duration of the program and then you’re home free.

This program, since it is only a year long, IS indeed a time commitment. At my interview the director strongly emphasized that this year will be one year of “Pace’s time”, and honestly it’s true. Not that there’s absolutely no time for anything else, but the program will absolutely become your priority so keep that in mind. And to add in that things can change really fast so you can’t really bank on having weekends or semester breaks to yourself.

I am fortunate enough to still be living with my parents and I don’t have any other real life obligations or bills to pay, so personally doing this one year program was very feasible since I didn’t have a job to work at or anything. All of my friends live in other areas or are at grad school in other places, so honestly even if I did a longer program and had more time then it still would have just been me, myself, and I LOL.

The program IS doable, you just have to keep in mind that it is fast and there is no time to learn everything — you need to narrow things down and focus on the big picture when you study. And of course TAKE BREAKS! Take breaks, take breaks.

If I could go back I would probably do this program again. That might just be because of my opinion on how where you go doesn’t matter as long as your living situation is good and you come out with your degree and pass the NCLEX. In my opinion, my time here at Pace isn’t the most amazing thing in the whole world, but it’s also not the worst thing either and I wouldn’t mind having to do it again.

I’ve had my fair share of some breakdowns where I thought I couldn’t do it anymore and so have some of my friends, but I’ve pushed myself and we push each other and help each other as much as we can. Nursing school is challenging no matter where you go.

Like someone else said, before COVID hit we got to have about a month and a half of in-person classes and my study group to this day is still the people I was in clinical with that first semester. Either way don’t be afraid to reach out to people and ask to study together because study groups have definitely helped me a lot.

The online classes/clinicals have definitely sucked because there’s a lack of face-to-face experience, but can’t complain about that too much because it’s nobody’s fault but coronavirus so

Overall, Pace in my opinion isn’t as horrible as it seems. We’ve definitely had a hard time this past year and it could have been better for sure, but if the location, price tag, and time commitment work for you then why not? Just get that degree and pass that NCLEX.

JTFutureRN · Sep 18, 2020

Hi! I’m also a student at pace right now and I have to say that this program really wasn’t bad at all. I was still able to work per diem, I was honestly able to go out and have a life every weekend, and still do well in all the classes. It really comes down to time management and other personal circumstances. I live with my parents still so I didn’t have to stress about bills and stuff, but if you don’t live at home I’m sure that will add a lot more stress. Like everyone else said, the communication absolutely sucks. Literally no communication between faculty and students but It still ends up working out. Other than that, the only thing I don’t really like about the program is how far away some of the clinicals are, but it’s absolutely 100% doable. I never once felt like super overwhelmed in the program or like the material was too hard or anything like that, it’s just a lot at once. My advice is to not skip class, pay attention and study at least 3-4 days before each exam. You’ll find that some classes require more studying than others so you just have to find that balance. Before I started this program, I was convinced I was going to fail out because everyone scared me about how impossible It is, and once I actually started I realized It wasn’t as bad as everyone makes It seem. You can do It!!

ncal · Sep 18, 2020

3 minutes ago, JTFutureRN said:

Hi! I’m also a student at pace right now and I have to say that this program really wasn’t bad at all. I was still able to work per diem, I was honestly able to go out and have a life every weekend, and still do well in all the classes. It really comes down to time management and other personal circumstances. I live with my parents still so I didn’t have to stress about bills and stuff, but if you don’t live at home I’m sure that will add a lot more stress. Like everyone else said, the communication absolutely sucks. Literally no communication between faculty and students but It still ends up working out. Other than that, the only thing I don’t really like about the program is how far away some of the clinicals are, but it’s absolutely 100% doable. I never once felt like super overwhelmed in the program or like the material was too hard or anything like that, it’s just a lot at once. My advice is to not skip class, pay attention and study at least 3-4 days before each exam. You’ll find that some classes require more studying than others so you just have to find that balance. Before I started this program, I was convinced I was going to fail out because everyone scared me about how impossible It is, and once I actually started I realized It wasn’t as bad as everyone makes It seem. You can do It!!

I totally agree with this post! It’s not as bad as it seems, you just gotta do it.