gansu

DO NOT MOVE ! There are jobs posted on the hospital websites but they will have nothing to do with you if you are a new grad. If you have some experience, then by all means interview and secure your job before you move. But if you are a new grad, I would hate to see you take the trouble of moving and incurring extra expense without a promise of a job. New grad positions are virtually impossible to get in Atlanta.

What does the future hold for new grads who cannot find jobs even a year after graduating. Sure, the economy will turn around and hospitals may start hiring soon but most of them hire through residency programs and new grad programs anyway and the city is churning out new grads by the droves twice a year. Will we ever reach a situation where there are more jobs than new grads. There will definitely be a situation where there are more jobs than nurses and even if the hospitals agree to take on new grads , will they not prefer more recent new grads. So what is to happen to all new grads of 2009/10 who cannot find jobs !

Suzanne, Does this apply even if I graduated from a school in the US ? I've been a resident for 10 years now and graduated this past summer. I wasn't asked proof of residency for the NCLEX though. Thank you for your time,

Hi all, I passed the boards early this month. I got an email from the board asking me to submit documentation for proof of residency ( I am a green card holder). Has anyone else experienced this. I am out of the country now and won't be back until January, so I can't submit any documents before that. Will this impact my licensure. Any comments are appreciated. Thanks,

You really have to know your content for the NCLEX. Saunders is a very good book for content and don't just skim. Really study it. Especially for SATA type questions, you have to be absolutely sure of the content. Then do all the questions on the Saunders CD whichever way you want. I did system by system and that helped me remember most of it and if I had any question I would go back and look up the content and then read my nursing textbook to be sure I got it. THERE IS NO SHORT CUT TO THIS. YOU HAVE TO KNOW THE CONTENT. Look at the test plan that NCLEX gives you. You can find it on their website and pay special attention to the plan. The test is designed to follow that plan. This will give you a good foundation to work with. Then do some other CD. I did Lippincott, Davis, Mosby, Reviews and Rationales, Kaplan, Nursing made Insanely Easy. DO NOT GO TO THESE BOOKS AND REVIEW CONTENT AGAIN. THIS WILL ONLY CONFUSE YOU. Use these CDs only to do questions and more questions. I aimed at about 200 questions a day. REMEMBER THAT YOU SHOULD ONLY START DOING HIGHER LEVEL QUESTIONS ONCE YOUR CONTENT IS IN. A week before my exam I started reviewing all lab levels, electrolyte levels, signs and symptoms of some common diseases and basic pharma. Review not study. You should already know this. Any good content book will do but Saunders is a good content book. Good luck,

There is no need to go over many books for content review. Saunders and nursing textbooks are good books for content. All I'm saying is that know your content really really well and understand the concept behind it. Know the logic behind each intervention and be able to extrapolate it to other situations. Here is my reason for not sticking to just Saunders for practice questions. Saunders may help you get above the minimum practice standard but only by a narrow margin. So yes, if you can consistently stay above the passing standard albeit a very narrow margin then you will surely pass. But to maximize your chances, you have to get way above the passing line in the test and that only higher level questions can do which I'm afraid Saunders will not do for you. I have nothing against that book and we used it extensively in school. I am a 4.0 student, breezed through nursing school and aced every single subject including pharmacology and yet I felt that if I had stuck to Saunders I would have taken a big chance, hovering dangerously close to the passing line and increasing the risk of having to prove myself by answering more and more questions. Doing a wide range of questions put me in the " safe zone". That's all I'm saying. I'm not anti Saunders at all ! Hope this helps.

I took my test last Thursday and found out today that I passed. I had 75 questions and it was the hardest test I ever took thus far in my life. This is what I did and I feel it helped me a great deal. Content is VERY IMPORTANT. We are expected to know content because we graduated from school. The problem is how much of content did we really learn in nursing school. Some schools give out study guides before the exam and the focus is on getting good grades in the exam not necessarily learning EVERYTHING there is to learn in those big fat nursing textbooks. But for the the NCLEX it is impossible to predict what are commonly tested content areas, so in short - know everything. Sounds impossible but that should be the goal so at least most of it will be covered. Saunders is a good review book- certainly more indepth content than Kaplan and as good as Reviews and Rationales. I strongly recommend going back to your nursing textbook if there is something you left out while you were in school. I subscribed to Suzanne's plan and I have the greatest admiration for her and for the time and effort she puts in to help those of us who are clueless. But I feel that doing Saunder's alone is taking a big risk. I am not arguing her statistics nor the effectiveness of only using Saunders. I did every single one of those questions because our school used Saunders and ATI as NCLEX material. But I also did Lippincott, Davis, reviews and rationales, and Kaplan. I doubt I would have passed if I had done Saunders alone. So to summarise - KNOW your content ( everything there is to know). Even if it feels overwhelming because you cannot tell where the questions will come from. Try many different sources of questions to broaden your way of thinking. You will find that as you do all these questions from different sources the way you think through a question will become more automatic and you will develop your critical thinking skills. It will become second nature to eliminate wrong choices and think through the plausible ones. My exam was by no means an easy one, but I felt I passed at 75 questions because I focussed on mastering my content and I did many many questions from different resources to broaden the way I approached a question. Hope this helps, good luck to all who are waiting to take the test or for results. It was the hardest 48 hours of my life.

Hello Paris2B, Can you give me an idea about how your schedule was for the first semester ? Tks,

I got my letter too ! But I have mixed emotions. For almost a year that I was doing my prereqs I would talk to the advisor every week and find out what my chances were and worked very hard to keep my 4.0 GPA. I even studied for the NET exam for 6 months ! I prayed hard that the program should continue in Lawrenveville at least for another admissions cycle since I couldn't go to Clarkston. Then in January, I applied to NGCSU just to have another option and I got in. After everything I've heard and the main difference being classes/clinicals twice a week as opposed to everyday 9-4, which is unmanageable for me with a 4 year old and a husband who travels a lot, I decided NGCSU may work better for me. Today when I saw the acceptance letter, I almost cried. It's like waiting all your life for something and then saying no when you get it. Am I doing the right thing ? I feel so sure one moment and the next I am torn by indecision.

Do you know where the clinicals might be for the Lanier Tech students. I am accepted at Gainesville, but I just checked mapquest and the lanier tech campus is 6miles closer and half the travel time. Sounds like this would be a much better option for me. D'you think they will change me to lanier if I ask ? But if the hospitals are going to be far out, then it may not be worth it. D'you have any information where the hospitals might be ? Thanks a lot,

dMarie, I found the advisor at NGCSU to be very very helpful. I recommend that you call her and submit any course information that you have so they can evaluate what classes you can transfer. That is what she advised me to do when I asked if I could transfer later into NG. Did you already send in the application for fall 2006. Good luck to you. I wish you success in whatever you decide to do. Thanks,

Those of you who are already in the GPC program either at Lawrenceville or Clarkston, I would much appreciate if you help me with below information. For fall of 2006, the program lists that we need 1921. This class is held Tu/We from 9-1 pm and I understand clinicals are Th and Fri from 6.30 to 3 or so. Does that mean that we are free on all Mondays and on Tu and Wed after 1 pm or are there any additional classes that are held. What I need to know is do we need to come to campus other than the above times for the first semester. Likewise for the second semester we need 1930 and that is Tu/We frm 9-1pm. My questions are the same. In the third semester we need 2920 and 2924 which is Mondays from 9-12 and 1-4. Does this mean we are free on Tu and Wed and only have clinicals again on Th and Fri or do the clinicals days increase ? In the fourth semester the only class listed in 2928 which is T/W from 9-1 pm. Same questions ? What I really want to know is that other than the schedule of classes listed AND the clinical timings, do we have to be on campus for anything else. Pleeeeeeeeeeese, help me understand this better. I have to make so many decisions based on this for my daughter's school and also if this program is feasible at all for me. If I go into it not knowing what to expect, I will be forced to drop out if the schedule turns out to be something different. So please help me. I will be extremely grateful. Thank you,

Those of you who are already in the GPC program either at Lawrenceville or Clarkston, I would much appreciate if you help me with below information. For fall of 2006, the program lists that we need 1921. This class is held Tu/We from 9-1 pm and I understand clinicals are Th and Fri from 6.30 to 3 or so. Does that mean that we are free on all Mondays and on Tu and Wed after 1 pm or are there any additional classes that are held. What I need to know is do we need to come to campus other than the above times for the first semester. Likewise for the second semester we need 1930 and that is Tu/We frm 9-1pm. My questions are the same. In the third semester we need 2920 and 2924 which is Mondays from 9-12 and 1-4. Does this mean we are free on Tu and Wed and only have clinicals again on Th and Fri or do the clinicals days increase ? In the fourth semester the only class listed in 2928 which is T/W from 9-1 pm. Same questions ? What I really want to know is that other than the schedule of classes listed AND the clinical timings, do we have to be on campus for anything else. Pleeeeeeeeeeese, help me understand this better. I have to make so many decisions based on this for my daughter's school and also if this program is feasible at all for me. If I go into it not knowing what to expect, I will be forced to drop out if the schedule turns out to be something different. So please help me. I will be extremely grateful. Thank you,

Hi everyone, Eagle Girl and 12BRN are just awesome. I hope everyone has someone like them to answer the gazillion questions that we newcomers have. I have been accepted to the Fall 2006 at Gainesville too ! Maybe we can consider carpooling ! I live in Suwanee and it's quite a drive. I have a phobia of highway driving and I have to overcome that for the clinicals I'm sure. I'm so glad to have found others that are going to Gainesville too ! Gansu

Hi, I've been accepted at the Gainesville location for Fall 2006. I have a question about the schedule. I am fairly clear about the first year schedule but am confused about the second year. Also are all clinicals for Gainesville campus at the North GA hospital or do we have to go to several hospitals in the first or second year. Do we have a choice as to where we want to go ? For instance can I do all my clinicals at Gwinnett Medical if I wanted to ? Any help is appreciated. Tks,

Thank you so much for responding, On the days that we don't have clinicals, does the day start at 9 usually or can we have classes before 9. Also does the number of days in clinical vary or can it be other days than thu and Fri. My problem is that my daughter's school is very close to GPC Lawrenceville but I can only drop her off after 8.30. I can keep her in after school though until 5.pm, so I'm trying to figure out how many days a week will I have a situation where I would have to start before 9 am. Thank you again,

Hello, I'm trying to get an idea about the schedule in general. What are the timings of classes generally ? How many days of clinicals is done and what are the timings ? Also can we be done by about 2.30 pm on most days and what are the start timings. I am trying to pick a school for my child and any information you can give me is greatly appreciated. Thank you,

hi malarwen, can you tell me if your NET score was composite or was it only in the reading section. I heard they are very particular about the reading section. Thank you, Gansu

Hi sweet tooth, I got my accepted at the Gainesville campus too. Where do you live, p'haps we can carpool. Gansu

Hello, I have finished most of my prreqs, taking micro now and wil be done by May. My GPA is 4.0. I just got my TEAS result. My overall score is in the 94 th percentile for national and program. I did okay in English and Math but my science pecentile is so bad. Only 77th percentile. Actually the score sheet gives a break down and in A & P I am placed in the 33rd percentile national. I don't recall seeing more than one A& P question on the test and I know I got it right so I have no idea what this 33rd percentile is all about. When I did A&P I and II, I received awards both times for academic performance so this is really upsetting me. Can anyone tell me what to make of these results and what does the college take into consideration ? Thank you,