Aggiegrl07

Hey! I got hired into the transition PACU at MDA. I guess we'll meet each other soon. :-) MDA is great. I have also heard from friends who had their preceptorship on the MDA PACU that it is a great unit. The nurses love to teach. I'm sure it will be an amazing learning experience! As far as apartments go-the above posters are probably right. I personally haven't found any apartments near the med center to be safe, affordable, and large enough to accomodate all of my stuff. So, I'm moving to Katy. Many people live in the burbs and commute but the Houston traffic may be a shock to you. Good luck with the search!

Hi Adrian! I'm going next week too. I have gotten almost everything-I guess I need a few more pairs of scrubs though. And the patches and all that. I'm still waiting on 2 of my books to come in the mail-hopefully they will come before I move to Houston on Saturday! I meant to sign up for a senior buddy but I completely forgot. Oh well... I am going to be walking to campus since I am living in the dreaded Favrot apartments in the med center. Personally I think they sound worth it since they're cheap, convenient and all bills paid. I'm really scatter brained about bills-so all bills paid saves my life. I'm getting excited! :-)

Well you chose some very different cities. I can only speak for the TX cities though. Galveston is kind of an odd one if you are wanting a bigger city with good night life. Many people love Galveston but it is not for everyone. It is a little bit grungy and I wouldn’t necessarily say the night life is booming. They have a beach, true. But it is by no means a glamorous one. It does have a great school though. UTMB is highly respected. It is also in close proximity to Houston-which IS a gigantic city. Would you mind evacuating for hurricanes? If so, don’t choose Galveston. Austin is known for its night life. It is certainly full of young 20-30 somethings. This is probably the trendiest of the Texas cities. Also, UT is one of the best nursing schools in the nation. Dallas has great night life as well. Full of young professionals. There are good graduate schools in the DFW metroplex, but not many in Dallas specifically. Texas Womens has a campus in Dallas, but I don’t know anything about their programs. Baylor has a campus there but that is private tuition-OUCH! In the surrounding cities there is TCU, UTA, TWU Denton etc. All of these are very good schools. ALSO, if you like sports, DFW has just about every pro sport you could want to see. So, if you’re wanting to pick based on schools-any of the TX cities are good choices. I feel like you could definitely find a good fit in DFW given all of the choices. The right program for you is obviously a personal decision though. If you’re wanting to pick based on the night life and opportunities in the city-Austin and Dallas would be the best. You’ll obviously see all types in both cities, (as they are both large) but to generalize, pick Austin if you prefer the trendy/hippie type of scene. Pick Dallas if you prefer the big city, young professional type. I obviously don’t know you, but I would pick DFW. What Dallas doesn’t have, Fort Worth does and vice versa. I’m from DFW and I much prefer Ft. Worth to Dallas-it is cheaper, cleaner, easier to navigate, has less traffic. I could go on and on. I’ve also heard great things about DFW hospitals-specifically Cook Children’s since you are interested in that area.

It tests math, reading comprehension, grammar type skills and science. The math is pretty basic but you may really need to brush up on grammar skills. The science seemed pretty broad to me-not really something you can study for. They are assuming you have a science basis through your prereqs. The rest of it is about your test taking strategies and other odd stuff like that. They only factor the math, english and science in to your admissions. The rest of it is for your knowledge. It's difficulty really depends on how long you have been out of school. It is the kind of stuff that you learned, but may have forgotten. The longer it has been since you took a test like this the longer you should study. Good luck!

I'd do A&P. If you have a cumulative final you will be less likely to forget the massive amounts of memorization required in 10 weeks than 15 weeks. I took A&PII in a summer session and found it was easier to be immersed in that particular class then to spread it out in a normal semester. In our 10 week session we had lab 2 nights a week instead of the normal 1. That really helps in A&P because of how killer the lab is. You have to be exposed to the information multiple times.

you are too late for fall 08 admissions so shoot for spring09. depending on the school you are interested in, you may be cutting it close even for the spring! check out www.allnursingschools.com/find/texas/nursing-schools.php for a list of tx schools. you may just need to apply to as many as you can afford to (application fees are freaking expensive!) good luck!

I agree with the others above. It will be difficult, but not impossible. You will however need A's in your remaining prereqs. I was in the same situation. I had around a 3.3 in my previous degree and a 3.6 in my completed prereqs (I was still missing Micro at the time of the app.) 3.3 is not a good overall GPA when you are applying to nursing school! However, you do have your biology degree on your side. Admissions counselors are not stupid-they know that a person with a 2.9 in an extremely difficult degree is no less intelligent than a person who got a 4.0 by taking all of their prereqs at a community college. The hump you will have to get over is getting an interview. I really feel that my interview is what did it for me. Definitely focus on your prereq GPA-you won't be able to change your overall GPA that much. (Most places don't focus on overall GPA anyway). As long as your overall is above 3.0 you may be ok. (3.0 might be required for admission, I don't remember). Your present status may be ok at Prairie View, but you will need to work to get an interview with TWU-they are SUPER competitive. Not to be a downer, but I definitely don't think your GPA will get you into an accelerated program, so I would shoot for a generic BSN. So, if you are serious about TWU or another competitive school, here is my advice: 1-complete your prereqs with A's BEFORE you apply. You will need the GPA boost on the transcripts that you send in. Retake what you must-prereq and science GPA are the most important aspects of your application. 2-refresh your math/grammar for the NET. I know this is required for TWU. A great score will help you get an interview. 3-Ace the interview. You can stress your experience and ability to persevere through VERY difficult classes in your undergrad. Sorry for the book-I can just really relate to your situation. Also, you may want to look at UTHSC-Houston. They are really competitive as well, but I did it so I am sure you can if you work at it. I'm going there this fall and their generic BSN is 4 semesters, no break. So, you get out in 16 months. Many accelerated programs are this same length. Good luck if you decide to apply!

I've actually been admitted to both schools for Fall 2008. I also had transcript issues with UTA! The application asked what courses I was currently enrolled in and then they requested the transcript for those courses! It seemed pretty obvious to me that I couldn't send transcripts in in January for courses I was currently enrolled in. Oh well, it luckily got worked out right on time. Thanks for the response!

I know right-I'm a walking contradiction. My first degree is from A&M but UT has way better nursing programs, so UT it is! I'll have to get one of those house divided bumber stickers tattooed on my forehead. UTA is far more convenient and would be cheaper as I am from Arlington. But, I would still rather go to UTHSC. I'm just confused because now more than one person has told my parents "tell her to pick UTA-it's top 10 in the nation!" I don't know how multiple people came up with the same thing when I can't find a single thing that substantiates their claim. My mind is pretty made up anyway-I just figured I'd try the people who may know.:nuke:

I hope someone here can help me. I am wrestling with the decision of going to UT-Houston or UT Arlington for nursing school. I know they are both great schools. However, I have always been under the impression that UT-Houston is considered slightly "better". Now that I am deciding, I have heard from multiple people that UTA is one of the top schools in the nation. Does anyone know where they are getting their information? Or has anyone seen or heard anything like this before? I haven't seen anything to indicate this online and I have done a TON of research. UT-Houston is my dream school so I'm sticking with it unless I find some evidence that UTA is as amazing as some people are telling me. If anyone has any insight, PLEASE let me know!