txstudentnurse

I am currently enrolled in the eline program and I am in Austin. As of right now there are no clinical sites set up in Austin but they are working on it. I will probably be helping them work out a couple of sites. I just relocated to Austin from Dallas. Originally I was going to complete the eline program in Dallas but then I suddenly had to relocate. This is my first semester in the eline program so I have not even started clinicals yet. If for some reason the eline program is unable to secure clinical sites my backup plan is to transfer/apply to ACC or UT Austin. Texas Tech also has a program here but they suggest not working during the program which I have to do. Anyway, you might be interested in either ACC or Texas Tech if you are looking for an online option, both of those programs have that. Texas Tech is an accelerated one year program (if you already have bachelor's degree) and ACC is a 2 year associate degree program. UT Austin also offers a one year accelerated program for those that already have a bachelor's but they don't have online classes. Anyway, you can send me a PM if you want to talk about the options in Austin in more detail.

I will update everyone when I get my clinicals set up. Right now I am in the middle of relocating to a new city so I will have to contact **** about what clinical options there are in the new city. Anyway, I would contact Rita if you are concerned or have questions about the clinicals.

I am currently enrolled in the eline program through TAMUCC. I will begin the nursing classes in January. I have already completed the pathophysiology course online at TAMUCC and I highly recommend it. It is a great course with a wonderful professor, an ER physician who was formerly a nurse. I am excited about this program and if you have any further questions you can pm me.

There are 5 online nursing programs in Texas that I am aware of: 1) UT Houston - I am not sure how many of the courses are online but it does have an online program. You would have to be in the Houston area to do the clinicals and to occassionally come to classes. BSN program. 2) UTMB - is set up like UT Houston with some classes online and you would also have to live in the area. BSN program. 3) Texas Tech - is online except for the clinicals. It is an accelerated one year program. The cost is a little pricey at around $17K. You can only complete clinicals in the Austin or Lubbock area at this time. BSN program. 4) eline nursing with Del Mar College and Texas A&M University Corpus Christi -ADN or BSN. You can accelerate or work slower through the courses because it is self-paced. All courses online except for the clinicals. Clinicals can be completed in several different areas in Texas although I think someone mentioned that they haven't set up clinical sites in Houston yet. 5) Austin Community College - has an online ADN program. It is a regular 2 year program. A lot of competition to get accepted so don't move there just to go to this one. I think the clinicals can be completed in Austin and the surrounding areas like San Marcos or Round Rock. All of the above programs do not require a previous nursing degree. All of the programs require you to live in Texas. Hope this helps.

I live in the DFW area as well and actually I graduated from TWU with a BS in psychology. I am also a stay at home mom so it would have been nearly impossible for me to attend day classes full time for nursing. Have you checked out the eline nursing program? Del Mar College and Texas A&M University Corpus Christi offer the program and you can get either an ADN or BSN online. You will just need to complete the clinicals in your area. I will be starting the eline program in January through Texas A&M University Corpus Christi so let me know if you need more information. It really doesn't matter if you get the ADN or BSN but when I looked at programs in the DFW area I was surprised to find that the ADN program were even more competitive than the BSN programs. I think someone mentioned that some of the programs were only accepting students with GPAs in the range of 3.8-4.0. Collin County Community College used to offer the ADN program at night but I think they have ended that program. In the DFW area there are virtually no nursing programs with flexible hours. Anyway, I decided to go for the BSN even though I already have a bachelor's degree because I want to eventually become either an NP or PA and also because it was quicker for me to get into the BSN program rather than the ADN program. Also, don't be scared by the prerequisites that programs require. Talk to the advisors to find out what you need. I found that some of my older classes were accepted. Good luck! http://www.eline.tamucc.edu/index.htm

If any one needs any further information on the Texas A&M Univ-CC eline nursing program PM me. I have just been accepted to the eline program and will be starting courses in the Spring. It is a really great program. If you want to stay in the Houston area I would suggest one of the accelerated programs, either TWU or UTHouston. UTMB also has an accelerated program if you are near that area. I would contact the programs and find out what you will need to do for admissions and what prerequisites you might need. Based on that you can find out which program fits you better. Good Luck!

When I started college I had no idea how to study and ended up with poor grades. It took me several years to figure out how to study and get good grades. Here are my suggestions: 1) What type of learner are you? Visual, Kinesthetic, Aural? If you learn through listening (aural) then definitely attend every lecture and tape the lectures to listen to them later. Also, talk to yourself while studying. If you are visual draw lots of diagrams and pictures, use different color highlighters and notecards, pay attention when your professor writes on the whiteboard or uses powerpoint slides. If you are kinesthetic you probably do better in labs because you learn better doing things with your hands or while moving around. Try rewriting your notes, actively taking notes while reading your book, or exercising while studying. Also, I am kinesthetic and it helps me to even teach others, it really reinforces the material and I have to be active while I am doing it. Unless your teacher moves around a lot in lectures or gives hands on demonstrations the class will not help you much if your kinesthetic. 2) Do you learn the details first and then form the big picture or do you always see the big picture first and then fill in the details? I tend to be a big picture person first so how I study is I read all of the material and get an overview (taking notes while I am doing this only on the most important items) and then I come back to my notes later and highlight them or underline them (this further breaks down my notes to what I really need to know) and then by the time it is a day before the test or a few hours before the test all I have to do is look at a couple of higlighted items in my notes. Basically what I am doing is breaking down the information from a lot of information at the beginning (3-5 chapters), to a few pages of notes, to finally just a few words or definitions. Since I usually struggle with details looking at this information right before the test starts helps me to at least remember a few of the harder details. I might still miss a few questions but the majority of my test answers will come from the overall picture that I learned in the beginning of my studying. Now, if you are a detail learner that learns the details first and then puts the details together to make a big picture then you will need to study a little differently. I would focus on finding a way to make the details come together earlier on in your studying by either making outlines or concept maps or diagrams. If you wait until a day before the test to study the overall picture and put the details together it could result in disaster on your test. The key is understanding the overall picture way before the test so you have time to solidify it in your brain and then you won't have any trouble applying that knowledge to the test. So many times I have seen really smart people that can recite every detail in class (something I could never do) but then they do miserably on the test because they couldn't figure out how to apply that knowledge. They are simply not making the connections between all of the details. 3) Don't waste time. For the longest time I didn't realize how much time I was wasting on things that didn't help my studying. Some people don't need to make notecards. Rewriting your notes is great if you have the time but if you are taking an accelerated class (like a 3 week class I took) you won't have time. Choose a few things that really work for you and that you know you will have time to do. If you don't do well in study groups (they definitely don't help me) then skip them. If you are pressed for time then listen to lecture tapes in the car or carry notes with you while you are standing in line and running errands. When I rode the bus to classes I would use that time to study as well. If you are bad at time management and feel overwhelmed than get a planner or PDA or calendar. At first I always feel overwhelmed at the beginning of the semester but when I start breaking it down it isn't as bad. Take things week by week or even day by day. I have a daughter and was still able to complete my BS degree with a 4.0 but I didn't go to every campus meeting, or perform perfectly on everything. My family came first and then I just figured out what I needed to complete each day for my classes. 4) Learn what the professor wants early on. Once you have read the syllabus and had your first test you have a pretty good idea how your professor grades. If you know that your professor always curves the tests then don't stress out when you get a 69! (I just completed a class just like this, the professor inevitably curved every test so even though my test grades were probably a B average I ended up with an A in the class!). If there are old tests available to study from then use them, sometimes the questions will be exactly the same. If your professor gives extra credit then plan on doing it if you think you might need the points but don't stress about it if you are happy with your B. If you have to write papers then make sure you know exactly what is expected in the paper and get help from a writing tutor if you need it. Always try to give more on a paper then you think you need to, better to write more than to leave something out. Sometimes it is hard to know what style to write a paper in but usually if you are in a Science or Social Science (Psychology) class it is usually going to be a technical format, which means you should leave out a lot of your own views and use more sources. Also, you will want to get to the point quicker and cover every point related to the subject. If you are writing an English or Philosophy paper then you are usually expressing your views and will need to elaborate a lot more. These papers can be harder to write if you don't already know your personal writing style. When in doubt, get help from the professor, go to office hours, ask for advice on the papers or studying for the tests. I have had professors even say that they would remember who came to class every day, etc at the end of the semester when the grades were really close (if you have an 89 maybe they will bump it to an A). Don't compare yourself to other people in the class, you are there to learn and they won't be the ones taking your test, or taking care of your patient. 5) This is the most important! Have Confidence! If you believe in yourself and value your gifts and talents then this will come through in your performance on tests and papers. Don't second guess yourself on exams, pick the best answer as quickly as possible. If you think about an answer too much you are probably not using your intuition anymore. If you studied enough before the test and you don't have Hitler for a professor then you most likely will know at least 75-80% of the test really well, it is that last 20-25% that you have to spend more time on. Try to narrow down your answers and then pick the best one, you won't remember everything for a test so don't fret over every missed question. By the way, there is nothing wrong with getting a B or even a C in a class or on a test. I earned a B in A&P I and I am proud of that grade because I learned a lot in that class from a really fabulous Physiology professor. 6) Relaxation. Find something you can do in between tests, etc. to really relax. Maybe sports/fitness, reading a book, etc. Academics are not life they are just a part of our lives. Believe me when I say that years from now most people are not going to care what grade you got in A&P! Hope this helps.

I know what you mean about chemistry, one of my least favorite classes! I also have tests coming up, one today in Epidemiology, one tomorrow in Pathophysiology, and I am also taking a 3 week government class that is keeping me busy. I don't know what I am going to do about childcare. It depends on the time I need to do clinicals. If I can do clinicals in the afternoon or evening then my husband can watch my daughter. He works an early shift. If I need to be at clinicals in the mornings then I might find a nanny or a friend to watch her. We should keep in touch, maybe we can do a childcare swap. You can email me or send me a PM off of this board.

On the chemistry requirement you may or may not have to retake it. I would check with them first. If you can't reach Rita by email which sometimes I had trouble with you can call her. I took General Chemistry I in 2006, Gen Chem II in 2007, and Organic Chemistry in 1999 and 2005. Although my general chem courses are a little old I think they accepted them because I had taken organic chemistry recently. If you need any help finding online courses for the program let me know. When I first looked at the Texas A&MCC program I thought I was going to have to take a lot more courses also but I found out that the foreign language requirement could be met by high school courses which I had. When I was deciding on a program I sent emails to all of the advisors for Texas Tech, Texas A&M CC, etc. I found out what the requirements were for the programs and whether certain courses I had completed would meet those requirements and from there I picked the program that would be the quickest route. Although it takes a little extra work to do all of that, you might be surprised by what you find out, a program you initially thought would be difficult to be admitted to suddenly seems like the perfect program.

I live in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. There are already a few students in this area that have started the eline program. They have several different starting dates for the program which includes both the Fall and Spring, I am not sure if they admit in the summer or not, you would have to talk to the eline advisor, Rita Rushing. The only thing about starting the program is that you have to have all of your preregs done before beginning the program. I was only lacking Pathophysiology but I had to wait until the Spring to be admitted and I am currently taking the Pathophysiology course. I am not exactly certain on the arrangement of the clinicals but I think they have some contacts with hospitals, etc. in the area or if you know of a place you want to do clinicals at then I guess they can arrange that. There is an old thread somewhere on allnurses about the eline program where someone may have answered that question. As far as how long it will take to complete the program since I already have a Bachelor's degree, that is determined by how fast I can move through the program. You complete modules online and after a certain number of modules you go to clinicals and then you come back and do more modules, and then clinicals, etc. If you can move quickly through the online material then that will speed things up, also I don't plan on working while I am doing the program so that I have more time for clinicals and can complete them faster (although I don't want to rush them so much that I don't know what I am doing either). So maybe if I follow this plan I can complete the program in 1.5 years instead of 2. I would have much rather attended an accelerated program that is 1 year in length but I am a stay at home mom and am unable to attend day classes. Anyway, I think the eline program will work out a lot better for me anyway. If you are at all interested in attending the program I would contact the eline advisor, find out if you have met all the prereqs or if you need to complete more courses before applying, and once you have met the prereqs get your application in quickly before more people start finding out about this program. Also, if you are like me and are lacking Pathophysiology (for the BSN program only) I would suggest applying for admittance into Texas A&M Univ CC for the Spring. Signing up for Pathophysiology so you can get an idea of how their online courses work. It also helps to already be admitted to the university and have your financial aid situated and to have all that extra paperwork out of the way before you even start the nursing program. Let me know if you have any further questions or just contact the eline advisor directly.

I just wanted to let everyone know about another Texas nursing program that is online. Del Mar College and Texas A&M University Corpus Christi offer online programs. Del Mar offers the ADN and Texas A&MCC offers the BSN. I just applied to start the program in the spring. You can go to the Del Mar College website, then the Nursing department and click on the eline Nursing Program to find out more about both of the programs. Some interesting tidbits about the eline program, you can complete the clinicals anywhere in Texas, the tuition is way cheaper than Texas Tech's program, and it is self-paced which means you could complete it faster than the usual time for on campus programs. You can try emailing the eline advisor to ask what the quickest time frame is for completing the program. Also, they don't require that you are a CNA before being admitted like Texas Tech does. I actually ended up meeting the requirements faster for Texas A&M CC than Del Mar so I decided to go ahead and get the BSN even though I already have a Bachelor's degree. I plan on going further on to graduate school so I decided it would be beneficial to get the BSN anyway. By the way, Texas A&M CC offers an excellent Pathophysiology course online if anyone needs to complete that course. You have to be formally admitted to the university to take it. It is taught by an ER physician who was formally a nurse. If anyone has any further questions about the eline program or Texas A&M CC let me know.

I am not as familiar with the LVN to RN programs in Texas. Check out Texasnurses.org to find a list of programs. I am not sure which programs might have online courses. Also, talk to the eLine advisor for Del Mar College they might be able to accomodate you. Pam

Is anyone applying to the Texas A&M University Corpus Christi BSN eLine Program? I have been researching online and accelerated nursing programs in Texas and that one is my top pick. If anybody is interested I have found a few other online and accelerated programs: Texas Tech University has a new second degree BSN online program. The clinicals have to be completed in Austin/Central Texas or Lubbock. They are offering Pathophysiology online this summer. UTMB and UT Houston HSC are offering second degree BSN programs with some of the courses online. Clinicals have to be completed in the Houston/Galveston area. Austin Community College has an online ADN program. Clinicals are completed in Austin, Smithville, Round Rock, or San Marcos. They used to have a FasTrack program but it is being phased out. I have heard admissions are very competitive. Accelerated Programs that don't offer online courses: Texas Woman's University - Houston, Houston Baptist University, Texas Christian University, UT Austin (leads to Master's degree). If anyone is applying to any of these programs or knows information about these programs please post to help others in the application process. Pam