altbsn2010

I'm not sure when orientation is. I haven't heard anything from them yet, other than my admission letter. Are you getting this information from the website? I would imagine we would be with the regular undergrads whenever theirs is, since we'll pretty much be starting at the same time as them, at least for the first semester before things get completely crazy. I was thinking the class would be more like 30, too. I'm surprised to hear it'll be as high as 60, but it'll still be great either way.

jeagle - I'm from out of state, too, but I'm not that far away. Originally my plan was just to commute from where I live now, but that was a pretty stupid idea now that I've thought about it and planned some, so I'll have to relocate, too. I don't live as far away as you, so it should be easier. Still, thinking of going the on-campus route just to make it easier. Shouldn't be too hard for you since you used to live there. Good luck with your search. I'm very eager to get started too. I didn't realize the class would be so large. I don't really know that much about it, though, I guess I just imagined the CARE class would be smaller.

Peachy, your good vibes must have helped. I got my letter today. I got in.

Thanks. Hopefully in a couple of hours I'll know something.I'm prepared to accept the decision either way, but I kind of just want to know something already.

I didn't get a letter yesterday. Hopefully it will come today. I don't know how I'll make it through the whole day at work, wondering if it came. :uhoh21:Congrats on your acceptance.

Sorry Peachy. I still don't know yet. Guess I might have the verdict when I get home today.

Oh nooooooo. Now I'm really nervous. :uhoh21: Best of luck to everyone who applied.

I hope it's early in May, too. I can't take much more of this waiting. I'm worried, too, about financial aid, but I haven't been worrying too much about it, because I figured I'd save myself a lot of grief in case I don't get in. I honestly don't know how I'll be able to pay for it. I actually live on the MS Gulf Coast, about an hour and a half from New Orleans.

Haha! I'm glad I could help you out with my sloth-like qualities. I'm also glad that other people haven't heard yet either. I was starting to get a little nervous. Does anyone have any idea when we should be hearing something?

I haven't filled it out either. It's one of those things I keep meaning to do but never quite get around to actually doing it.

Not yet. It's starting to drive me a little nuts too. :uhoh21: Hopefully, we'll all hear something soon...and it'll be good news.

Well, I've got my third Chem test tonight. In a couple of hours actually. :uhoh21: I don't think I'm going to do nearly as well on this one as I did on the first two. But I feel relatively well prepared, so I guess we'll see.

I'm soo jealous! Good Work!Yeah, I've got to keep it up, though. Now we're doing the really hard stuff. :uhoh21:

That's great!! Congrats! I got mine back tonight, too, and I'm very happy with my grade as well. We also got our midterm grades, and I'll have an A average so far, so I'm pretty stoked.

I'll be finding out tonight how I did on my second test, and I'm really nervous about it. The second test was awful. It wasn't all that hard, per se. It was just extremely time consuming and required a lot of focus and patience. It didn't help that she told us the test should only take us about 30 minutes. Well, as far as I could tell, only about two people finished in that amount of time. It took me over an hour, and I'm normally a very fast test taker. When I finished, half the class was still there working on the test. I was so drained after I was done. It took a lot out of me. Reminded me of the feeling I'd get after some of my three hour law school finals.

I got my first Chem test back. I got a very high A, so I'm totally stoked right now! With all our grades thus far, I'm pulling a very high A as well. Of course, it's only going to get harder, but I'm off on the right track.

Thanks, Mariposa! I know just what you mean. Even though I know I won't be hearing anything, I still check the mail every day, just in case. I've also pretty much convinced myself that I'm not getting in and have started planning for what I'm going to do next. So silly how I always get ahead of myself. Good luck to you, too. Keep me posted. It'll be kind of cool to maybe get to know a couple of my future classmates virtually before entering the program!

Ha! That sounds like my instructor.We had our first Chemistry test last night, and there were several typos and mistakes on it. Crazy! On assignments it's one thing, but on the test. Ridiculous. It's okay, though. I think I did pretty well on the first test. The first for a new instructor is always the worst, because you don't know what to expect. There were a couple of questions that I wasn't sure about, and one where I just didn't have a clue and so I had to guess - something about enthalpy - but for the most part, I feel pretty good about it. Guess I'll find out next week when we get the test back.

Actually, I live in MS. I will definitely check that program out. Financially, it might be a little difficult to relocate, but I'm definitely looking for as many viable options as possible. So thanks! :)

Cruffler - An engineer, eh? Some of my best friends in law school were engineers. Thanks for your advice. The program I've applied to doesn't require interviews, but I did make sure to include my drive and passion in my statement, in order to make myself stand out. I'm hoping that, plus my background being a little different than most and my pretty good grades, will be enough to make me an attractive candidate who will hopefully get accepted. I hope to experience that camaraderie with my classmates as well. When I went to law school, I started in the Spring rather than the traditional fall semester. We were a really small class, and we all got to know each other pretty well, and we really helped each other out a lot for the really difficult first year of law school. That was so nice, and I would like to see a repeat of that with my nursing school class, wherever I end up going.

Thanks, carolina. I appreciate any and all advice, solicited or not. Honestly, the MSN thing is almost definitely not what I'm going to do. Since I don't have much of a healthcare background at all, I'm definitely interested in learning a lot more about what all the different areas and specialties of nursing entail before I settle on anything in particular. It's just one of the options I've considered, but I definitely think I'd prefer to do the BSN first and then work for a while until I have a better understanding of just what all the whole nursing thing entails first. Right now, just from what little I know, I really think I'd like to do something in critical care. But I fully expect that this may change several times as I learn more about nursing and actually start a program. Best of luck as you get ready to start your job. Oncology would be interesting, but very hard, too, I imagine. And I think you're right, we do sound a lot alike. :)

I'm taking Chem I this semester. I'm in, too. :) We have a test coming up this Wednesday. It's mostly the introductory terms and conversions and some of the other simple equations and stuff, so it shouldn't be too bad. I'm hoping for an A. We'll see, though.

Thanks everyone for the comments. They've really helped a lot. Rianna - I thought about doing the direct entry MSN thing, but unfortunately the program closest to me doesn't offer a lot of different options for master's study, and I'm worried that none of those areas would interest me. I have some ideas of what I'd like to do with my nursing career, but so far, I don't know anything for certain, other than that nursing is what I want to do. I hope everything works out with your applications! carolina - Thanks, your post makes me feel a little bit better about the possibilities of dealing with the coursework and everything else. I know it's going to be stressful, but I really feel like this is the best option for me and I think I have more than a chance of surviving it in one piece. :) Kens - Thanks! Law school was no picnic, but I know that this will be even more intense than that, even. Next time I get stressed out, I will definitely PM you. :)

I'm only looking for accelerated BSN programs right now, since I already have a couple of degrees. I've only applied to one school for this coming fall: LSU's Health Sciences Center. It's one of three programs close to me, and they have less prereqs than most schools, which made it possible for me to apply for this fall. If I don't get in there, or decide that I'd rather try somewhere else or wait a year, then I will probably apply to University of South Alabama and University of Mississippi for their accelerated BSN programs, too. I can't apply this year because I won't be done with all the prereqs they require before then. I've also thought of applying to a couple of "dream" schools, but that probably won't happen because I can't afford it and I've already done the paying through the nose for education thing before. Still, it would be awesome to go somewhere in New York. I used to live there and would really like to move back, I think. I've also considered applying to Vanderbilt's direct entry MSN program, because I think I'd like to get my MSN someday and I have a friend in Nashville. Of course, if I get into LSU for the fall, I'll probably just end up going there.

Oh, no, you didn't discourage me, per se. I agree with everything that you said in your post, and it was probably something I needed to hear, because in all of my excitement about becoming a nurse and thinking about the future when I will be a nurse, I need to remember exactly what it will take to get there. A healthy dose of reality is important. The truth is I was starting to get a little bit ahead of myself this week with all of it, so your post was a good reality check. Also, I don't really have that many distractions or baggage, as you call it, in my life right now. That could change, potentially, but at the moment I am unencumbered. And if I want it badly enough - as I really do - then the rest of those things, if they do come, will have to take second priority to this thing that I'm most passionate about pursuing. My life has been on hold for a while now, and I really feel like this will be the best thing to get it jump started and on the right path, even if it does cause me to be put on hold in other areas for a little while longer. Really, don't feel like you've discouraged me. I probably shouldn't have used that word. Perhaps humbled would have been a better word. I truly did appreciate the honesty of your comment. A lot of times, all you hear is everyone telling you that of course you can do it and you'll do great and you'll succeed. Those things are nice to hear, but it's also good to be realistic about your expectations. So thanks a lot. :) And if nurses really are crazy, then I will fit right in.