McNurse1295

Hey there! As one of the students that understands the original poster's message, I can try to answer. At UF CON, the administration has a bad habit of treating students like numbers. A majority of the professors make no effort to get to know their class (of course there are exceptions) and only care that you pass the course. The whole curriculum is aimed at improving the NCLEX pass rate, which is great, but real nursing requires much more than that. You will rarely get a patient or situation that perfectly aligns with a NCLEX objective and so to teach students in this way isn't always effective. On top of this, the CON is sometimes extremely disorganized. This is why patience is so important to this program! There will be times when you are so frustrated that you will want to drop out, but I promise that you can get through it. At the end of the day, you will (likely) become a nurse and you'll get to tell people that you attended a top-tier institution. With all of that being said, the OG poster and I went through the program before the curriculum was changed. I have personally heard mixed things about the new curriculum, but mostly great things. Also, despite its many flaws, I can truly say that I wouldn't want to go anywhere else because of the friendships I've made and the great experiences I've had. I made an effort to get to know my professors and to learn as much as I could during clinicals. When our professors just weren't teaching us, my friends and I collaborated and taught ourselves. So what I'm saying is this program is really what you make it. I'm not saying that I wouldn't have received a better education elsewhere, but I'm happy with the decision I made to attend UF CON. I hope that by the end of your program you can say the same!

One of the mentors just answered this, editing just to say take a peek at the previous page!

This isn’t well known, but you don’t need a certification to work as a CNA after you complete one semester of nursing school! You should wait and apply in the fall to get adjusted to the program and it’s expectations, if possible.

I know that you're very frustrated but this is a super common thing. The feelings of frustration and confusion are just beginning. Great opportunity to practice your patience in preparation for the rest of the program! The good news is that they always fix it, it just takes awhile. There's nothing you can do in the meantime so just take a breath and try to focus on something else! It will all work out <-- your new mantra ***editing to add that all nursing programs are complicated and confusing, there's just so many people to organize and rules for the administration to follow, so don't be discouraged!

Congrats to everyone who (so far) got in! In regards to the possible email mix up, this is an excellent introduction to UF CON for you lol we have fun but we live in a constant state of confusion, welcome to the club

Not sure if anyone else has answered this yet, but I think you get whatever campus they tell you in the email. In order to switch I believe that you'd have to go on the waitlist for the other campus and you would be placed at the end of the line. Not entirely sure so definitely check with Kenneth, but that's what I heard happening last year.

Our emails came out at 5:00! You'll probably know right away because the subject line reads like "congratulations!" Or it did for us, at least. GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!

For those of us that went straight from first BSN to ABSN we graduated May 5th and then began the program on May 14th I want to say! So it's a quick turnaround if you're a new grad. And to whoever was wondering about summer starts, the program only begins in May!

We heard that you guys find out on Friday around 5:00! There's never a guarantee because there's so much going on in CON, but if this turns out to be true then good luck! And remember to make a Facebook group ASAP!!

Don't apologize for asking anything, you should be well-prepared for this program if you're admitted! Trust me, you'll wish you asked much more in the future. Patho grades were a combination of exams, homework assignments, and quizzes. Same with pharm but they added in case studies as well. Exams make up the majority of your grade in almost every class, especially the harder ones. Unfortunately, professors seldom offer extra credit (if they do, DO IT! Wether you need it or not at that moment, DO IT). They also don't show any pity. I know a girl who unfortunately lost a member of her immediate family during semester two. She somehow managed to attend the final SOC exam but did poorly and her passing grade was 1.2 points below the requirement. They didn't budge, even with her situation, and she had to repeat the course. I answered a question about course schedules somewhere around page 18 or 19, but the summers are usually busier than the fall and spring because there's only 12 weeks instead of 16. You'll probably have an activity planned for every weekday during summer. We had one lecture day and two clinical days in fall and spring, with a fourth day reserved for exams and/or meetings. I think they try to give us at least one day off a week but sometimes they just can't because there are so many other nursing students. I'm not sure if they've changed the schedule since the new curriculum rolled out, but I'm sure that it's still manageable! Many people in our cohort have jobs but a few chose to quit after summer. It depends on who you are and how you handle stress and study.

They mostly failed, unfortunately. We lost one or two people the first semester due to patho and then more people second semester due to SOC2 and pharm. You never really know why someone fails, but those courses are intense. We're in semester 3 now and I don't expect to lose many people this semester since our course load drastically decreased.

Before I answer these questions it's important for you to know that UF recently overhauled their curriculum so our classes are slightly different than those that you will take. For example, we took patho and pharm separately but now they're combined to be a part 1 and part 2 course (this is better!). 1. Personally, my favorite lecture courses were health assessment and SOC2. They were both more difficult but you really learn a lot in them. Your clinical courses will probably be your favorite though because you're actually out in the hospital doing things! 2. Our hardest course was probably patho because we were brand new to the program and it was a lot in just 6 weeks of summer. SOC2 is difficult as well but you at least know what you're doing by the time that rolls around.

I'm applying to the primary care pediatric part-time track! I heard decisions come out sometime in the middle of May. Good luck everyone!

For those applying to the Jax campus try to speak with someone currently in the program! We don't know a lot about it in our Gainesville cohort but we've heard some less than flattering things. Not to scare you but make sure you're well-informed going in or you might regret it!

There were about 80 people admitted to the Gville cohort and about 60 admitted to Jax last year! You'll lose some people so by the time you graduate you'll probably have about 10 less than that.

I want to say that it's fairly soon after, but I'm not positive. Definitely get in touch with the financial advisor, Mrs. Wynne (Kenneth's niece), because she's really great at finding scholarships and other opportunities for those that need them! There's also many more opportunities in the fall and spring so keep that in mind as you begin in the summer.

Exactly! Hospitals all over the country have a new initiative that states all RNs will have BSNs by 2020, so job hunting with just an ASN is risky business right now. Yes, hospitals will pay for you to get your BSN but they'd rather just hire the BSN graduate in the first place. There's also a salary increase for those with bachelors as opposed to associates!

There is ZERO difference between the academics of the traditional and accelerated programs. The difference is all about timing; traditional students get the summers off and therefore have a 24 month program while accelerated students take classes during the summer and therefore only have a 14 month program. The summer semesters are also only 12 weeks so those semesters go by fast compared to the 16 week first and last semesters that the traditional students get!

Scholarships!! UF offers a lot of them but you need to look for them, they won't just email you an invite to apply. A good amount of people in my program get them and don't pay a cent of tuition. There's a big need for nurses so there's a lot of organizations ready to help you become one!

Someone should make a Facebook group for those accepted! A lovely girl in our class volunteered to make one for us the night decisions came out, and we still use it daily! SO helpful.

Don't be fooled!! Nursing school is hard, yes, but it will not completely ruin your life. I mentioned earlier that my friends and I are able to go out, travel, and do all sorts of things that we never thought would be possible during the program. Of course, this all depends on the type of student that you are; we typically study for an exam beginning a week before. You'll be most overwhelmed the first semester but by the second one you'll feel like a pro and get your life back! Bottom line, do not worry!!

I believe that you can review your assessment result with Kenneth Wynne after the admission decisions come out, but I am not positive. I know a few people who did not receive invitations to the program were able to view theirs with him. It never hurts to ask, whether you get in or not!

Unfortunately I have no idea how many assessment they send out, but we've been told that everyone that meets the basic qualifications gets one. So I guess it would depend on how many students applied and that number varies from year to year!

Hey! I don't think that is necessarily a sign of admission or rejection, but we only have a handful of out-of-state students. To be honest, I don't think that there are many out-of-state applicants! To be even more honest, they want your tuition more than anyone else's (since it's significantly higher) so I would imagine that it helps much more than it hurts.

Hi there! Sorry for my delay in response, I've had a busy couple of weeks! I know that the admission officers put a great deal of weight on the essays and personality assessment. Don't worry if your GPA isn't fantastic, that's only one piece of the puzzle! And remember that if you are rejected then it is in your best interest to appeal.