meg314

Have you viewed the content videos on the Kaplan website? They are EXTREMELY boring, but they help to review content. Also, reading the book through and through helped me out a lot. My scores went from the 50's to mid 60's after reviewing the videos and reading the book again.

I got 62% on question trainer 7 and passed in 75 questions, first time. A friend of mine got 55% on her question trainer 7 and was freaking out, wanted to reschedule, but stuck with it and she passed in 75 on her first try.

I can answer SOME of these, but not all. If you want to know more information I suggest talking to a MEDICAL Officer Recruiter, they can answer some of the more specific questions. I went through the Nurse Candidate Program for my last two years of nursing school so I am simply speaking from my own experience. I graduated in May 2010 and just passed my NCLEX last week, and will be headed to ODS on July 18th.

My exam took me 2 and a half hours for 75 questions! I'm a very slow test taker as well. I for SURE thought I failed and that there was NO way I could have passed in 75. I cried for a half hour after I walked out in the parking lot. I had so many SATA (probably like 20) and felt that I guessed on nearly every question except for maybe 2. I had meds I never heard of and tons of safety and infection control. I tried the pearson vue trick as soon as I got home and got the good pop up, and found out yesterday that I passed!

I used Kaplan and was getting 60-65% on their practice exams, and towards the end was getting around 70% on the QBanks (50 questions each). I passed the exam in 75 questions just two days ago.

I don't know how the direct accession works. I did NCP for 2 years. I have a friend in nursing school graduating in May that just applied and is waiting to hear back as to whether or not he got accepted.

Just wondering if anyone here will be reporting to ODS in Newport, RI for the 18 July class? Also, anyone else being stationed at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth? Meg

Hi Shaun- I just got in contact with my detailer and he told me there weren't any spots left in San Diego (that was my first choice). I was given the option of choosing between Portsmouth, VA and Camp Lejeune, NC. I chose Portsmouth since it is a larger facility and I want to go into critical care nursing. The detailer "strongly encouraged" me to go to Portsmouth (I think he might be biased, haha). But I think we will be in the same ODS class! He is placing me in the 18 July class. All of this information is very unofficial I haven't gotten written orders yet but that's what I found out this morning! -Meg

Hi Shaun! Nice to hear from someone else in the program. The NCP website says that orders are usually received 2-3 months before graduation, which would be February-March so I'm hoping to get my orders in the next month or so. When did you receive yours? I also listed San Diego as my top choice for my duty station. I will just have to play the waiting game a little longer I suppose! I am excited to begin as well- and to find out where I'm going! -Meg

I was just wondering if there were any nursing students out there in the Nurse Candidate Program that will be graduating in May 2010. I've been in the program since May '08. Just waiting on my orders and wondering if anyone else is in the same boat! I'll be going to ODS sometime this summer and wanted to see if anyone else would be going around that time also and if you've heard anything about that or your duty station.

Hi all, I too recently discovered this site and have spent a lot of time reading everyone's posts! I'm a sophomore in college working on earning my BSN. I was recently accepted into the Nurse Candidate Program for the Navy Nurse Corps and I'll be swearing in to the Navy this coming Friday! I'm really excited!

I can't tell you a WHOLE lot about the Navy, but I can inform you a little bit about the Nurse Candidate program application process because I just finished and was just accepted about a week ago! First of all is contact a recruiter. Find your local Navy Recruiting District in your area and call or e-mail them and set up an appointment to talk. I met my recruiter at nursing school orientation in August and we had a few meetings while I was working on my application. Usually there should be a medical officer or health programs officer of some sort to talk to. Ask a lot of questions so you are making a well-informed decision. The application process takes quite a bit of time so the sooner you start the better. I believe you have to be in a nursing program with fewer than 24 months left or more than 6 months left to finish. In my case (I'm a sophomore) my 24 month time frame won't start until May, so that's when I will swear in and start receiving pay. You can start the application when you're a sophomore or with more than 2 years left of school, but you won't start the program until the 24 month mark. You have to complete a background check, an EPSQ (security questionnaire, just asking a lot of questions about where you live, where you worked, etc) and an application (most important part: the motivational statement!) and get transcripts, all things that require time more than anything. I also had to get 3 letters of recommendation from college professors. Also, two interviews with Nurse Corps officers are required as part of the application process. For my interviews, we were taken on a MEDVIP trip (a trip for applicants finishing up the application process) to San Diego to both tour the medical center and conduct interviews, but I believe the interviews can also be done over the phone. You also need to get a complete physical at a MEPS station which takes a good portion of your morning (mine was about 5 hours). As for the competitiveness, I can't really judge that. I finished my application in the end of October and it was reviewed on November 14th, 2007. I just found out Friday (January 25, 2008) that I was accepted. My recruiter told me that 55 applicants were chosen for this fiscal year (which begins in October, runs through October I believe). I believe it's like a "first come, first serve" process, where if you're qualified and you get your application in early, you have a better chance. They don't accept a bunch of applications and then pick the best ones. At least that's what my recruiter told me (don't believe everything you hear, obviously). So all in all, give yourself enough time to complete the application well. Time is the key factor. The first step is contacting a recruiter and once you do that, they will guide you and tell you pretty much everything you need to do! Like I said before, I was JUST accepted so I can't fill you in about the experience, only the application process. Feel free to correct me if I have something wrong here, but I'm just basing it on my experience. Best of luck to you!