AZ Sunshine

Ozed, I attend UIU. You are able to use your Pell grant and UIU does use the consortium agreement. I cannot speak to the comparison with ASU, but I really like UIU. Like most of the other schools, the terms are 8 weeks each, so you only take 1 class at a time. There is a little busy work, but the courses are not overly difficult. Most of your stress and frustration will come from your community college nursing classes. All the hard work will be worth it in the end......at least that is what I keep telling myself! I feel like the UIU program is a bit smaller and I feel I get more attention than I would in a larger program. Everyone is very attentive and helpful. Good luck!!

Apple-Core, you are correct, you can purchase scrubs wherever you choose, as long as they are the proper shade of Caribbean Blue with the embroidered logo. I elected to stick with the cheap ones from Apparel Pro since we will only be using them for 4 semesters. The pants are not the most pleasant, so I may end up buying different ones later. As far as the "nursing tote", as it was called at my school. I picked up my tote yesterday. It was a clear plastic bag filled with supplies. Most were individually sealed so I have not opened them It appears to be a foley kit, syringes, fake medications, a bag of IV fluid and IV lines and things like that. There is no stethoscope, pen light, bandage scissors....you will absolutely need to purchase those on your own.

PVCC had a very short orientation which just went over the paperwork we need to submit and how to submit it. We have a more formal, all-day orientation about a week before class begins. 62 days and counting!!!

The point rubric has now been published on the CEP website. It is a bit different than Union indicated - I'm sure the advisor gave you the updated info. I was selected for the last round of placement. I didn't expect it as I did not think my points were high enough. Using this new rubric I would have 21 points, but I don't know if the same rubric was used last placement. I had no previous degrees, but did quite well on my HESI. The new rubric says it is for November 17 placement and forward. My advisor did not disclose the illusive point system to my when I applied last May. Maybe others had a different experience. Unfortunately it has notoriously been a big unknown in the past.

I don't know that anyone can really give a specific answer to that question. The average points vary based upon the candidate pool. It depends if the group of students you are applying with have higher or lower scores than you this round, but this changes each application cycle. I honestly believe there is some invisible calculation that takes place based on the university you select as well. Again, that is just my personal belief. Aim for the highest possible scores and retake your HESI if you need to. Good Luck!!

Last I heard, they made it to approximately mid to late May 2016. Placement is not officially complete yet, so they make it just a little farther.

Their program was recently censured. You may want to look into that before considering them. When I was considering attending, I spoke with an advisor at GCU. She basically said, if you don't complete at least 1 year of prerequisites with them, your chances of acceptance are slim to none. Even if you do complete prerequisites with them, they are still pretty competitive. They have a tiering system to rank students and their placement is done within those tiers.

Capstone is your final project for your bachelor's degree. It is basically a 2-semester research project. I was told we get to pick a topic pertaining to an improvement we would like to implement in our field of study. I am sure someone who has completed this can chime in with more detail. I wouldn't worry too much about it now....we have 4 blocks of nursing school to focus on first. Good luck all!!

I heard "critical thinking" can be an extremely time consuming course depending on your instructor. I am hoping my experience is pleasant, but I am prepared for the worst....just in case. I am glad to be taking it by itself and before block 1 begins.

The waitlist for the AAS program can vary substantially depending on the size of the candidate pool when you submit your application. Where there was once no waitlist, there is now about a 2 year wait - give or take. Go ahead and place yourself on the AAS waitlist as soon as you finish your prerequisites and then continue on with your co-reqs for CEP. If you do get called for AAS while working toward CEP, it is a good idea to take the spot (you can always pick up the mid CEP after block 2). CEP has become quite competitive and there is no guarantee you will be placed just because you finish all the required courses. Placement would depend on the size and test scores of the candidate pool you are up against. I personally have been on the AAS waitlist for about 16 months, but I was fortunate enough to be selected for CEP during the last application cycle. Do your best to maintain a competitive GPA and get the best possible scores on the HESI to make yourself a competitive candidate.

Thank you so much for your insight AZBlueBell!! I know the "full-time job" class you were referring to, I take it next. I chose to familiarize myself with their online format by taking an elective first. I am mentally preparing for the intense class after all the opinions I have heard about it. Thank you for the heads up about the lack of breaks. I guess I assumed there would be little breaks here and there. I knew the program ran a little longer than a few other schools, but I am okay with that. I'll still have my RN at the same time as my classmates, and should hopefully be able to start working while wrapping up those last few credits. Good luck finishing up your program! I can't wait until I can say I am where you are now!!

Ha-Ha! Thanks Union-Jack! I am far from a UIU expert, just voicing my opinion. Hopefully it stays just as positive throughout my educational journey!!

After reviewing all of the brochures for all of the universities I chose UIU. I reached out to UIU before completing my pre/co-reqs and they were very responsive from the start. Their responsiveness has remained consistent to this day. While they are not the least expensive choice, they pride themselves on delivering the personal touch. They do have an office and some classrooms in Mesa if you prefer face-to-face interaction. I have just started my first course with them and so far I have no negative feedback to report. I am hopeful my communication with the advising staff will remain consistent and my courses will all run as smoothly as my current classes. They require no additional classes for consideration in their CEP program and their GPA requirements are lower than some. If you look at the Maricopa rubric this equates to a slight shift in the points on the Maricopa side, which could bump your changes of acceptance up slightly. Of course, going in with the best possible GPA and HESI scores is always your best bet regardless of where you decide to apply. Good luck!!

I am currently taking a computer science course. It teaches some intricate details about common programs like word and excel and then touches on some audio and video editing and I believe it will touch on programming. Since technology is so prevalent it seemed like a good choice and was highly recommended by my advisor. I was going to take critical thinking first, but apparently UIU has a version more specific to nursing majors which was not available until October. Their online classroom really has been quite user friendly so far, just very different from canvas - which I know quite well.

So far so good. I'm with UIU and started an elective course this past Monday. I wanted to take something to familiarize myself with their online classroom before the more difficult courses begin. I start critical thinking in October, which I hear can be quite time consuming. Good luck everyone! Block 1 is right around the corner!!