danielg_84

And congrats to everyone who got accepted! Btw, I rented some of my books from Amazon, but I'll post on here at some point with the ones I actually bought so someone who needs them can snag them on the cheap.

That's basically what we did to get ready for the testing, but then you had to test one-on-one with an instructor. It was a little nerve wracking just bc you had to pass to move on, but it was easy.

That's kind of a tricky thing to answer. I've got a ton of prior experience and went to a hiring event as a 4th semester nursing student, and my interview went EXTREMELY well. So, it felt pretty easy to me, but it was (not to sound like an egotistical jerk) kind of a case of the perfect person for the perfect job. Ugh, that felt gross to type. But I think you know what I mean.

The summer session is pretty tight. It looks like those days include a Wednesday and a Thursday. You'd at least be missing a LOT of lecture, and may miss a test or lab practical exam. You basically have to be dead to get permission to make either of those up. They don't really worry attendance per se, as long as you're doing well. But if you're slipping they'll be up your butt if you miss. That's right around the time where we were having lab practicals, and you'll basically have an exam every other Wednesday during the summer. I would not advise missing that time. Skills testing.

Unfortunately I have no clue. Sorry. Good luck!

The summer session is pretty tight. It looks like those days include a Wednesday and a Thursday. You'd at least be missing a LOT of lecture, and may miss a test or lab practical exam. You basically have to be dead to get permission to make either of those up. They don't really worry attendance per se, as long as you're doing well. But if you're slipping they'll be up your butt if you miss. That's right around the time where we were having lab practicals, and you'll basically have an exam every other Wednesday during the summer. I would not advise missing that time.

My date of hire is stated as July 8.

Any kind of schedule like that will cause the days you work each week to rotate, so you will need to find people who can swap shifts with you to get coverage for school. Working full time during the program is difficult, but not impossible. If it's feasible for you, I would suggest working part time. San Jac is a fine school, but in my experience Lone Star is institutionally SUPER accommodating for it's students, and does what it can to minimize hoop-jumping and red tape. Also, the sheer size of Lone Star as a system gives you more options for scheduling pre reqs, and more spots within their nursing programs.

Got it mid day on Friday. Pay WAS altered to reflect my experience (phew!) but I'm not sure if there's any additional differential factored in for ER already. It was quoted to my as my base rate, so I'm not sure. It was 30.88 with 12 years paramedic experience. I feel like any ER differential is probably already in there, but I don't know for sure.

MCHD is a great organization. Good luck on landing your first job! I've attended both Lone Star and San Jac, and I definitely prefer Lone Star. For being such a large community college system, they are surprisingly easy to work with.

Sweet. Upper 20s is what I would've guessed as well.

Hey there! I'm a Paramedic about to graduate from Lone Star at their North Harris campus. Their bridge program condenses the basic track students' first 2 semesters into one 11 week summer session, and then you are put in with them for the last 2 semesters (fall and spring). It's been a really good experience. They lists of pre/co-requisites is not as extensive as some other community college's programs seem to be. You can find that on their website pretty easily. I THINK their requirement for their transition program includes your LVN or Paramedic cert being specific to Texas. But if you were serious, reciprocity probably isn't too bad. Again, if you were serious, Houston has a bazillion jobs for a paramedic. On a 911 truck, private truck, as a tech, et all. For a major city, it's fairly cheap to live in. (It has it's faults for SURE, but it has jobs, colleges, and "affordable" housing.) It wouldn't be too hard to find a job, find a place, and start working the process to get in to Lone Star's program. I was able to work 2x 24hr shifts a week during the program, but it was NOT easy. In reality, if you could find a place within driving distance that would let you do a 48 on the box over the weekends, that would be kind of perfect. The program has class on Wed and Thurs, with clinical on either Mon, Tues, Fri, or Sat. They ask for your top 3 preferences and try to match you. The first couple of weeks of each semester require some additional days, but only the first 2 weeks of the summer session are too crazy. Where are you located now?

Very good to hear! Mary Anne Holland is the current ER director at New Braunfels. Hope that's the same one you're speaking of. Have you gotten your written offer yet? I was told either today or tomorrow for that. Looks like it'll be tomorrow since it's after 5. I'm new to the greater SA area, coming from Houston. In Houston, pretty much all of the hospital systems give 1/2 credit for years of experience if you were previously a Paramedic or LVN. Ex: as a 12 year Paramedic, I'd be paid like a 6 year RN. I'm waiting to see if that's the case here. I asked the recruiter, and she said she wasn't sure, but if so that it would be indicated in the written offer. I'll be taking the position either way, just anxious to find out. I would imagine that "6" years would be a noticeable difference; so I'm a little antsy to see.

We do graduate in may (thank GOD), and if your cousin is in the basic track, they've been in class with me since the Fall '18 semester started. At least at NH, the transition students get thrown in with the basic students at that point. As to the first couple of weeks of each semester/summer session... For the summer session, expect M-F, 8-5ish for the first 2 weeks. They cram A LOT into that time. I swapped shifts to weekends, and made arrangements with my boss to come in late. Others did similar. If you have PTO or sick time, use it there. Outside of testing days, that's probably the least flexible time in the whole program. You're getting skills testing done, hospital orientation, lots of mandatory stuff like that. Each semester after that starts similarly, but less extreme. I also get the feeling it's a little different each semester/year/class. They kind of seem to have a list of stuff they need to get through, and kind of wing it during that time to get through everything. Organized chaos. Those periods are the only times I've been disappointed in the program...because (other than the summer session) they could really do everything they need to do during the normal class schedule. My advice would be to do everything you can to keep your work schedule as flexible as possible during those times. Let your boss know about it now, and remind then as each new semester approaches. Start talking to people who can swap/cover shifts for you now. In spite of their rhetoric about not working, if you are TRULY in a bind, they will try to help you (the professors), unless it's something like a skills test where you really can't get out of it. They also try and send a "first 2-4 weeks" calendar out to everyone about 6-8 weeks before each new semester starts. It helps, but I still felt like it was cutting it kind of close. That's why I just advise to plan on those first two weeks being difficult. Hope that helps!

Definitely stay on them with polite emails, voice messages, etc. I started off by going to their career fair back in February and getting some face-time. I let them know I had already applied to the nurse res program, and I was emailing them (ER directors) and the recruiter once a week until the interviews happened. As long as you can do it without becoming annoying, it never hurts to be the squeaky wheel!