alpinegirl

Hey guys, anybody else seeing this post, we have the facebook group for your cohort up and running! About 3/4 of the class is in it now. It's called Beth-El Accelerated Cohort 21.

Hi everybody. Congratulations on getting accepted! I'm a current student in the 3rd of 4 semesters in UCCS's ABSN program. I remember being so curious after getting into the program to find out information, and the school really doesn't give you anything until approximately April. So I wanted to make a post here to answer the questions you all have asked so far as well as give an open invitation to ask me any further questions. My school email works best ([email protected]), and if you want to send me your number via email, I'm happy to text or talk, too! It looks like a lot of you guys are EMTs based off your taglines. I had about 4 years of EMS experience before starting this program, and it has been so incredibly helpful, especially during clinicals. You all are set up really well! One caveat to my answers-I've done this program throughout the pandemic, and it's changed certain things, such as doing the majority of our lecture-style classes online. 1) ANeu0321, I will say for my program, there were about 5 or 6 alternates that got accepted and ultimately ended up in the program. Usually, this is due to people choosing another school that they got into (such as CSU Pueblo) and giving up their spots. 2) Majotank, if you email me, I'm happy to send you the pdf of my Summer schedule, so you can get an even better idea of what it looks like. I won't lie to you, the first Summer is intense. I don't think I've ever been busier or more stressed out in my life...but I also worked full time, so that made it a lot more challenging. Not all 6 classes run concurrently. Pharmacology is the only one that runs the whole Summer. Pharm math is only the first two weeks, Health Promotion and Health Assessment run the first four weeks or so, and Foundations/Fundamentals run the last six or so. All of these classes have a didactic portion. The only two with lab components are Fundamentals and Health Assessment unless things have changed. The only one with a clinical portion is Fundamentals. Clinicals do not start until July, so you can fully focus on didactic work until that point. Note that during the Summer semester, you will always have your weekends free (nothing scheduled on Saturday/Sunday). However, you need to plan for potentially having something going on every other day of the week. Again, this first semester is very challenging in terms of pure amount of material and time taken, but you can do it! You will seriously be thrilled when you start fall semester and realize how little you have to do in comparison ? Push through the first 3 months, and it'll get better. Finally, you asked about preparation. Don't buy all the books. The cohort above you will make a facebook group and post pdfs of many of the books you need so that you don't need to buy them. If I could give you advice, take a vacation before you start. This program is intense, and you'll be studying all the time soon enough. Relax and enjoy the time with family and friends before school starts! 3) Raptorshears91, I'm curious what ER you work in as I'm a tech, too! Definitely talk to the nurses you work with. They'll be a great support system! As I said above, I'm a bit of a workaholic, and have stayed at full-time hours for the majority of the weeks in the program, so I may not be the best person to ask about work-life balance, but I'll do my best! After the first semester, you should have no trouble finding time to hold at least a part-time job or spend time with friends and family. The main thing to be aware of after Summer is that in the fall, every Saturday will be a clinical day. (12 hours). The way I stayed sane during the Summer was to pick one day a week that I had no work or homework (I would get ahead on my homework). I did still have a short lecture or lab on this day generally. I would spend time with my husband or friends or go rock climbing or something I enjoyed. Sometimes, I would just watch Netflix. It helps to have a day to look forward to. The other huge thing I would recommend is find one or two people in the program you can do homework with and rant to and just generally have as a support system. Your classmates are the only ones who are going to understand how busy and chaotic it can be, and they're important to have! The first semester will be a lot of busy work, but most of it is relatively easy to comprehend, especially with your medical background. The second semester has slightly more difficult material that you'll need to study more for, but you'll have a lot less discussion posts, papers, and such. So far, the third semester is similar to the second semester, except even less time consuming due to having 15 instead of 21 credits. This post is getting crazy long, so let me know if I can answer any more specific questions for you ? 4) Shea Basselen, I'm a Colorado Springs native, so please feel free to ask about any specific areas of the city! UCCS has some student housing apartments, and it's a decent area to live in (fairly close to the school, restaurants, and stores) and very safe. In terms of classes, a vehicle wouldn't be necessary. UCCS has a bus that runs all over campus at regular intervals. However, as soon as you start clinicals, you're going to need one (or a very reliable ride). In the Summer for Fundamentals, you could be at any of the four major hospitals in town. For fall MedSurg clinicals, you'll again need to be at one of the four hospitals every Saturday at 0645. Pediatric clinicals are over Winter break and are at the Children's Hospital on the north side of town or at Presbyterian-St. Luke's in Denver. Mental Health clinicals are at either of the two mental hospitals in town or in Pueblo at the state hospital. That's what I've done so far! Unfortunately, you don't get much of a say for any of the above except Mental Health, and the faculty really likes students to gain experience at multiple different hospitals, so you'll likely be all over town. Stethoscopes...I absolutely love my stethoscope (Littman Classic III) and am a huge proponent of Littmans, but if you're looking for something cheaper, many of my classmates are happy with their MDFs. Something that's really useful with both brands is looking for one that has a bell you can flip between adult and pediatric sizes. As far as class size, it used to be 36 students in the cohort. My cohort is the first one to admit 42 students, so I'm guessing yours will be similar! As far as funding, if you are paying in-state tuition, definitely take advantage of the college opportunity fund. I thankfully don't have loans from my first degree, so I had a blank slate with this one. I have paid for it with a combination of federal student loans, some tuition reimbursement from the hospital I work at, a COVID grant from the CARES act, and will be about $4000 dollars short for the last semester that I'll have to take out a private loan for. So...this was a novel LOL. But I hope there's some helpful information in there for you all! Again, please email me with more questions or post them here, and I'll answer them as soon as I can! Congratulations again to all of you! You're going to do great! Don't forget to take time for yourself both now and in the program ?

Hey! My overall GPA was between 3.5 and 3.6 with a major in Integrative Physiology. My HESI scores are as follows: -Reading Comprehension: 96% (class average: 89%) -Grammar: 100% (class average: 88%) -Vocabulary: 98% (class average: 91%) -Math: 98% (class average: 92%) -A&P: 92% (class average: 82%) -Biology: 92% (class average: 87%) -Chemistry: 100% (class average: 87%) ***Cumulative: 96.57%*** I heard that they rank the HESI a lot higher than your GPA, so I spent about 3 months studying for it! Good luck applying! Please feel free to message me with any questions about the HESI or how the program goes. ?

Hey, glad my content has been helpful! If I had to break down the things that helped my score by percentage, they would be as follows: 40%-Pocket Prep App 40%-The HESI A2 Prep book made by Elsevier 20%-Previous knowledge from my classes in college and tips by others who had taken the exam Both the app and book are 100% worth the money in my opinion!

RDHtoRN-good luck with your program, too ? I currently work full time in the emergency room as an EMT and part-time at a fire department. My plan is to just be part-time at the hospital during the program (two 12 hour shifts a week). I work with two girls who just finished this program, and one didn't work, and one had a part-time job! I got registration for myclinicalexchange done, but I haven't started uploading yet! The 4 step TB test is going to be a process lol. I need to get my FAFSA done as well! What about you all? What are your first Bachelor's degrees in?

I bet your dental background will still help a lot with patient interactions and such! ? I got the facebook group started. Here's the link: https://m.facebook.com/groups/792215147923614?group_view_referrer=profile_browser

It would be awesome to meet up before school starts! Has anyone else worked in healthcare before? I've been an EMT for 3 years in hospital and pre-hospital settings. One of my current EMT coworkers was also accepted into this program! Would you all be interested if I started a facebook group to meet everyone and then to make study groups and such throughout the semester?

The study guide I used was edition 4, and I haven't seen any newer editions than that! The questions will vary on each person's exam, of course, but I believe the study guide and the question app help cover most of the topics that will be on the test!

Almost all of my questions were geared toward asking which version of a sentence out of four options was correct. For example, some used the wrong pronouns, incorrect subject-verb agreement, commas in the wrong places, and other such grammatical errors. I wasn't sure what to study and tried to refresh my memory on grammar concepts from elementary/middle school on sentence types, parts of speech, and compound/complex sentences, but none of this was very helpful on the exam. This section of the exam really only tests your ability to speak and write proper English. I hope that's helpful!

I unfortunately do not know of any programs that require what you are asking, but I have another potential option for you. Many community colleges are very easy to enroll in without any previous transcripts, application fees, or anything. Is it possible to just take a nutrition course at a community college, get an A, and have the transcripts sent over with the transfer credit to the college you intend to go to nursing school at?

I live in Colorado, and this is the research I did when applying to schools. As I was unable to move out of state, Colorado schools are the only ones I'm familiar with, but I'll give you the information on those if you're interested! (Information is specific to ABSN programs.) -Colorado State University Pueblo: no minimum GPA, but all pre-reqs must have a C or higher (14 month program, moderately competitive, despite no GPA requirement, from what I've heard) -University of Colorado at Colorado Springs: 2.5 minimum GPA, and the HESI A2 is weighted much higher than your GPA (16 month program and moderately competitive). I have a lot of info on this school, as it's where I'm going to be attending next year. Getting in with less than a 3.0 is rare, but it's possible if you do very well on the HESI. -University of Colorado Anchutz: 3.0 minimum GPA (highly competitive program as Anchutz is a very highly ranked medical school campus; 12 month program) -Regis University: 2.75 minimum GPA (moderately competitive school; 12 month program) -Metropolitan State University: they go off a point system, so theoretically, they can take anyone; however, a GPA under 3.0 gives 0 points on the GPA category, so it is highly unlikely anyone less than a 3.0 would get in (don't know a lot about competitiveness, but it's 17 months) -University of Northern Colorado: 3.0 minimum GPA (again, unsure of how competitive it is; 20 month program) That being said, I have one piece of advice. You are exceptionally close to a 3.0 GPA, which is the cutoff for so many schools. I would retake A&P I and maybe one other easy class and get As in both. This does three things for you. 1-It gives you an A in another pre-requisite. 2-It bumps your GPA across the line. 3-It shows that you are capable of scoring high in recent coursework and that you are improving your skills and study habits. Hopefully, that helps, if only to show you there are options out there! If you name a particular state for me, I'd be happy to do research for you on all the ABSN schools in the area and draw up a list similar to the one above!

Are you willing to move to other states? There are absolutely programs out there that have minimum GPAs of 2.5 or 2.75. Keep in mind, meeting the minimum isn't a guarantee, but if you have good grades in your pre-requisite courses and do well on the entrance exam (TEAS or HESI A2 depending on where you are), you do have a shot. The program I'm going to be attending next year put a lot more weight onto the entrance exam than prior GPA, although both were considered. My advice, if you're serious about nursing school, would be to retake and get an A in any pre-requisites you have a C or less in. Try to bump your GPA up to at least a 2.75. Study very hard for your entrance exam and do well. Be flexible with the locations of the programs you apply to. Another option is to do a traditional BSN/ADN program. I'm sure starting over is a pain, but these programs are more likely to look at just your pre-requisites, and your overall undergrad GPA doesn't matter as much. Finally, as rose_quartz said, there are many other fields in healthcare to get into if nursing isn't what you choose or doesn't work out. Most graduate programs (physical therapy, occupation therapy, medical school, physician assistant, chiropractic, etc.) will require you to have a GPA higher than most nursing programs. Programs where you are doing a second Associate's or Bachelor's (radiology tech, dietician, etc.) will more than likely not put as much weight onto your undergrad GPA. Good luck with what you choose!

Hi! Just wondering if anyone else received acceptance/waitlist letters for UCCS's (in Colorado Springs) accelerated BSN program starting in May 2020. Hoping to meet some classmates before it starts! If anyone is currently in the program or has attended in the past, I'd love to hear any feedback or advice as well! ?

I think of a lot of it depends on your strength in math. Both Chemistry and Stats can be pretty math-heavy. If you struggle with mathematical concepts, I would separate Chemistry and Statistics. I also agree with the above posters saying taking two lab courses at a time can be challenging. My recommendation would probably be Biology and Statistics in one semester and Chemistry and English Lit in the other. For the record, I'm sure every college is different, but I found Biology II much easier than Biology I!

This book was amazing! Along with the pocket prep app, I felt very well-prepared for the exam and barely had to open old textbooks. What school(s) are you applying to?