ncal

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

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.

Hey! My undergrad GPA was about a 3.2 My pre-req GPA was probably around a 3.7 or 3.8. I got an A in every pre-req course except microbio (got a B+ instead). Sorry, I hope that doesn’t sound like I’m trying to show off, but I wanted to let you know. Good luck!

Hey! Good luck with your applications! I haven’t started yet, I’m part of the Spring 2020 cohort that’s actually about to have their first day in about a week and a half! So I can’t speak from experience exactly, but I can tell you some of the reasons why people/myself have applied (as far as I know, at least). One of the big things about Pace’s accelerated program is the fact that it’s only 12 months. Some people really take into account how long programs are and Pace is definitely one of the shorter ones. Pace’s list of prerequisites is also very short (general psych, stats, A&P I and II, micro, chem). I’ve seen other programs have twice the amount of prereqs necessary for their ABSN programs so Pace’s list being short is a plus; it’s less courses to worry about. I know that Pace gives students the opportunity to apply to one of their graduate programs if they wanted to. I don’t really know the details of this process so I’m not sure if it’s a “direct entry” sort of thing, but they have emphasized that you can move straight from undergraduate to graduate if being an NP is of any interest to you. I’m not sure if any other schools do this, but I also know that Pace allows you to take a graduate-level nursing elective if you are interested. This graduate-level course can then count for your Master’s degree if you chose to continue into Pace’s graduate nursing program. If you are not interested in a graduate-level elective then they also have undergraduate-level electives as well (you only have one opportunity to take an elective and it’s in your last semester). I remember the examples they told us for the elective were some of those “cooler” things, like oncology. I know there are other schools in the area with ABSN programs so this isn’t entirely unique, but probably worth mentioning: because of Pace’s location (NYC/Westchester), it allows students to have the opportunity to have clinical and network with big hospitals in the area. Pace was pretty quick about getting back to applicants on whether or not they were selected for an interview, as well as whether or not they were accepted. I remember my application was complete in early September, the deadline was September 15, and I found out September 16 that I was selected for an interview. Then a week after the interview I found out I was admitted. They gave two weeks to submit a deposit. I know you’re still kind of far from this step, but just in case you’re applying to other programs and need to know how fast you’re gonna get a decision. The staff/faculty all seem very supportive, ready to help, and ready to share their knowledge about nursing. Their passing rate for the NCLEX is about 97-98%. When I went for my interview they said that last year’s spring cohort had a 100% pass rate. Both of which are obviously really high. Overall, a lot of nurses I know claim that Pace is a great school for nursing, so it has a good reputation. Hope this helped! And good luck again ☺️

Yeah I’m leaving that part blank for now since we don’t know our placements yet. I’m assuming we only fill those parts out if we’re going to be at that hospital. You could try asking the school as well to be sure!

It was very subtly stated in one of the first emails we got, but it makes sense that the first semester is the most expensive because we have to buy the most supplies at this point - all of which are probably going to be used throughout the program so we buy them at the start. And no I was not able to log into the student email, I still can't. I think someone wrote on the Facebook page that they contacted the school and were told that we won't be able to access our emails until we register for classes, which would be December. But yeah it is a little bumpy right now and things aren't exactly clear (at least for me). One day we're just admitted and then the next we suddenly have a bunch of things to complete/submit. Agree, hopefully it gets better! I think it will, it's just rough right now because we're only just barely getting started.

You have to download and print the standard immunization form and on that your doctor can fill out the info about all of the required immunizations. Then you also have to upload all lab work to each immunization requirement since we have to do titers for almost every one of them (ex: upload the titer for varicella to the varicella tab, the titer for MMR to the MMR tab, etc). For the clinical sites, I think we only upload things there once we know we're going to be at that location. For now, I'm not going to touch the little tabs for the clinical sites on Castle Branch.

Yeah! It says so in the Health Clearance Procedure document that they sent out and on the CastleBranch To-Do List (once you make an account). You have to show proof of certification.

I'm not sure exactly how it works so I can't speak on that. I don't know if you've been admitted and are enrolled, but we'll probably find out more at orientation and our advising appointment. But yeah, I remember at the interview the faculty did emphasize that your clinicals can be anywhere in the tri-state area, so they said not to be surprised if you have to go to another state.

Yeah I just dropped the money for the background check/drug test and the lab kit ? I also gotta pay for a CPR class because I'm not certified (as well as the scrubs and books we need) so my bank account is about to be real dry! I believe in the first email that was sent by Amma she said that the first semester is the most expensive; still sad at all the money that's gonna be spent though lol. But agree, I feel like I have so little time to make sure all my health forms etc are in check! In their defense though, it is only a few months between being admitted and the start of the program.

I know the previous post stated that Pace is currently in the middle of transferring systems, but I still gotta ask: is anybody else having trouble logging into the MyPacePortal account (the account that you have to activate after finding your username and making a password etc)? I can log into the system where you activate the account (ADAM System), but when I go to log into MyPacePortal it doesn’t work. I figured I’d ask despite the previous post in case this is a “just me” thing.

I got the same email as well. I haven’t tried yet, though. Maybe we have to wait until everybody enrolls and they have the final, full class roster all set up ? It might be a little hectic right now because people are still deciding, on the waitlist, etc. They give you two weeks from the date of your acceptance to submit a deposit.

I know you weren't addressing me, but if it makes you feel better I literally uttered the words "I don't know... yeah" at the end of one of my responses when I was standing in front of everyone. I never wanted to shoot my own foot more than in the moment I realized I said I DON'T KNOW ? and I kept saying "um...". I thought that was the end of the road for me, but I was fortunately still admitted so you never know! I wish the best outcome for you!

I interviewed 9/24 and got the same vibe from them. Maybe they're just tired of hearing the majority of applicants talk about their medical experience and maybe they want people to try and say something different for once? That would be my guess. Either that or they simply just want to warn applicants that this program is like nothing we've done before. Also this interview was really just a way to get an idea about who each of us are, considering only so much character can come through on paper, so maybe they just wanted to see what we had to say about ourselves as students?

I talked about something that wasn’t on my application at all, but I connected it to how it would help me in my career as a nurse (I talked about a hobby I’ve always enjoyed). The admissions people there stressed that it should be something unique about you that isn’t in your paperwork. One girl in my interview said she grew up on a farm, somebody said they like to bake, someone side they like to hike, somebody said they’re an avid church-goer, etc. Your experience in healthcare is probably more appropriate for the second question they asked (what would make you a good student for Pace).