Patrick71

New grad RN from Oregon here. Just took my NCLEX this morning. I hope the fact that it shut off after the minimum 75 questions is a good thing. Hopefully can find out if I passed on Monday. I've been working as an LPN since last summer. SO great to be done with f$%*! nursing school.

Love to help people, job security, pays well, OPTIONS, set a good example for my kids. Also, I'm a glutton for punishment.

The admission process at Chemeketa works on a points system, you get points based on what grades you get in many of the prerequisite classes. There are 8 general ed classes that are worth between 15-18.75 points, C=15, B=16.875, A=18.75 Then the bio series (A&P + micro) that are worth C=40, B=45, and A= 50 points. There is also a reading and vocab test that is worth up to 50 points. ( I've been told that anything over 25 is good) Oregon residents get 10 points automatically. The maximum possible would be 360 and the score needed to get in this year was 324. There are other classes that are also required that do not count for points, but are required to take other classes. You have to take math 70 before you can take chemistry, you have to take chemistry before you can take bio 231 (A&P 1) and 231 before 232. I think that it is a great idea to work as a CNA before you start nursing school. It gives you a lot of exposure to many of the concepts that you will learn about in any nursing progam you will attend and it gives you experience that you will be very grateful you have once the clinical portion of nursing school starts. Salem hospital is one of the sites that Chemeketa students use and I know a few of the other students in my classes work there as CNAs. It is hard juggling family/work/school but I keep telling myself that it will pay off in the end. And time goes by REALLY fast when you don't have time for anything but those 3 things. It seems like yesterday when I started and now theres only 3 weeks left in NUR 106. (1st term) Good luck to you!

I am attending Chemeketa Community College in Salem and can say that the program is extremely competitive to get into. There were 149 applicants for 54 spots. I never heard about the program having a "poor reputation in the 90's" as one of the previous posters alluded to. The big claim to fame of Chemeketa is that is has boasted the highest 1st try passing percentage on both LPN and RN liscensing exams of any nursing school in Oregon for the past 10 years. It has a reputation for being very difficult and certainly for "weeding out the weak". The instructors that I have met and been taught by are tough but fair. It takes very good grades and reading exam scores to be accepted into the program, and a strong work ethic and time management skills to get through. (I haven't made it yet!) I have heard good things about all the local nursing schools (Linn-Benton, Linfield, PSU, and of course OHSU) I think that if a person is dedicated to being a nurse, they will find a way to get into whatever school they want and be successful. Good luck to all that are trying!!