ldnurse1

Hi Kelly51420, Things are going great here. Can't wait for my last and final semester to be over with though. I'm counting down the weeks, 14 left to go. It's a very busy semester, so it should go by fast, I hope. How was your first semester? Hope things are going well. If there's anything I can help you with, let me know.

I am starting my last semester at St. Clair County Community College and out of 110 students that started my program we are down to 87. We've only lost 23 in 4 semesters. I don't believe that anyone failed this semester and I've heard that very few fail last semester. (We had 13 fail our 1st semester) I kind of find it hard to beleive that almost half of the 1st year students failed this year. I'd check your numbers with the school if you're concerned, because that seems like a lot. I heard that around 20 failed, but of course that's not from a reputable source. It is a very tough program, but I've heard that they have a very high NCLEX pass rate. Hope this helps you in making your decision about applying at SC4.

First of all, like I said the program is very doable. I'm not going to lie, first semester is awful. I thought about quitting multiple times, but I'm now glad that I didn't. Because it does get so much better. I truly believe that first semester is for "weeding out". You have five classes plus 2 days of clinicals. It's insane. There are many weeks where you have 3 or 4 tests all at once. It goes by super fast though. And now in my second year I look back and think "how did I do it". After the first semester you only have 2 classes, so there is much more time to absorb the material. It's much more relaxed. Don't get me wrong, I still have to study a lot, but I have the time to do it now. A lot of people actually get a job in their second year, but I didn't because I didn't want to get in over my head. Plus I'm enjoying having a little free time for myself (and my family). Advice that I would give you is enjoy your free time now because you won't have much once you start. Advice for once you start is take it one day at a time. You can't worry about what you have due or what test you have next week, you just have to focus on each day as it comes. And remember that it flies by and before you know it you'll look back and think where did that time go. Good luck with the rest of your pre-req's and with your upcoming HESI;>) Let me know if you need anything else, I'd be more than happy to share. I know the anxiety and excitement that you're going through.

I am in currently in the ADN program at SC4. I graduate in May and can't wait. It's a tough program, but very doable. Let me know if you have any questions, I'll do my best to answer them for you.

It is a competitive program, but I did get in on my first try. They calculate your GPA, HESI score, and the amount of pre-reqs that you have completed. I had a pretty good GPA and HESI and had all but one pre-req complete when I applied. They accepted 110 students and I heard that about 500 applied. The articulation program is also competitive, but I"m not sure how many they accept each year.

I don't know anything about the job market for LPN's in Michigan, but the school I am at does have a LPN to RN program. I think it's only a year, but you have to have so many work hours as an LPN before applying. I am currently in the ADN program at St. Clair County Community College (in Port Huron).

Kelly and Sunshine Congrats to you both!! It is so exciting. I know how you're feeling, you probably just want to get it started. That's how I felt last year at this time. But really just enjoy your summer because it is so much work once you start (especially first semester). If you have any questions let me know, I know it's nice to be able to talk to someone who has just gone through it. Anyways, congrats again!!!

Hi Kelly, I was surprised to see someone else from SC4 on here. I still check allnurses regularly, as I find it very informative even while in the program. Anyways, I am now in my second semester and things are going really well. I'm not going to lie first semester was extremely tough and time-consuming. There were many times that I felt like giving up, but am now glad that I didn't. Because it does get better. What I mean by time-consuming is that you will eat, breathe and sleep nursing school. That is literally all that I did for 16 weeks, is read and study. We had so much information thrown at us in such a short time. It really was tough, but like I said it does get better. I don't want to scare you, but prepare yourself for that. Now in second semester, I feel like I must be doing something wrong, because I have way too much free time. Not that I don't study, because I do, but I definitely have more time to do other things as well. First semester we had five classes and 2 days of clinicals, whereas this semester we only have 2 classes (on the same day and if you have all of your prereq's done) and 2 days of clinicals. It is much more relaxed. I would actually say that I look forward to going to school and clinicals instead of dreading it like last semester. Anyways, my point is is that it gets better, so when you feel like giving up just keep pushing yourself. I'm so glad that I did. And it really does go by fast. I can't believe that I'm almost half way done to becoming an RN. If you have any more questions, please feel free to ask, like I said I do check-in regularly. Good luck, I hope you get your acceptance letter soon. Please keep me posted on your acceptance, I know how anxious you must be.

I think I got my book from Borders, but I know that you can get it online as well. I'm not sure how to delete a post. If you know, let me know how and I will do it.

Principles includes principles lecture (4 long boring hours), skills class (2 hours) and clinicals (2 days a week). If you fail any part of these 3 you fail principles and have to retake all of them over. Oh and in addition 8 weeks out of the semester they add in another class, nursing process, that gets added into your principle grade. I think that so many people fail because they can't get used to the way that the questions are worded. They are very tricky. The content of the material isn't difficult if you study it, but you have to be able to use your critical thinking skills. Also, there are many questions that have 2 right answers and you have to be able to determine the best right answer. So I think that's hard for a lot of people. Whereas in pharm, the content is more difficult, but the questions are pretty straightforward, as you long as you put the time into the material. I purchased an NCLEX (saunders) study guide this semester, which is a nice review. I wish I had bought it sooner. It gives you a lot of practice questions that are worded how you're going to see them on a test. It's nice because it gives the rational as well. If I were you I would get this book early and begin looking over it just so you can get used to the way that the questions are asked.

(a) let's say that i am getting in for example, if you have all your preq. in how difficult is the first semester then? i don't want to lie and say it was easy, because it wasn't. it was probably the most stressful thing that i have ever done in my life. we had five classes and two days of clinicals. the information wasn't that difficult, but the amount of information that they expected you to learn and retain was the hard part. there were several weeks when we had 3 or 4 exams at a time. it really was all about time management. there were many days that i thought about quitting because i just couldn't handle it, but i stuck it out and am glad that i did, because so far 2nd semester seems to be a lot less stressful. we only have 2 classes and 2 days of clinicals. not that it's easier, i just feel that i have more time to learn the material. (b) there was someone that before you replied to and that person had to retake the program do you remember? i am in the same boat but in the lpn course, and i have until jan 30th to decide which way i what to go. it's either i reapply and hope to get back in the lpn course or go on the hopes of getting into the rn program (you can't apply for both at the same time). i do remember, and in her case she had failed skills, which is incorporated with principles and clinicals. so basically if you fail any of the three you have to take them all over again. i don't know anything about the lpn program so i cant really give you much advice on which one to pursue, but for me i just want to get it over with. © my main intentions were always to go for my rn but where i am from it just seemed a better idea to go lpn than on to rn. now that i been to the campus last semester for classes and also this semester, i don't have a problem with the campus scene. how hard is pharmacology your first semester? i taken the one for the lpn course but when i looked at the schedule for the rn it's 2 credits hours but 5 contact hours. this only makes me think that it's got to be the hardest and most time demanding subject of all. i personally didn't think pharm was too bad. but i did study a lot for it. i went into the final with a 91% and ended up with a 90% as my final grade. i am a note card studier. i know that they take a lot of time to make, but they really help me. actually the class is only 2 hours long, and i feel that it could be double that with all of the information that is presented. just to let you know, most of the people that failed first semester (we had 13 fail) failed because of principles, not pharm. (d) when you start your clinicals just how would you rate it from the start of the program to where you are now as in difficulty. clinicals are not that difficult. although there is a lot of paperwork involved that is very time consuming. i felt very comfortable with my patients, but i also was very comfortable with my clinical instructor. she was great. by the end of first semester, you are able to do quite a bit at clinicals, including giving injections, inserting and removing catheters, and anything else that you've learned and passed in your skills class. (e) my advisor said that with my 85.4 total score is good as compared to what the cutoff point was last year. have you heard about what students are attaining this year? my grade point aveg. was 3.57 with phy 220, patho. , and health care missing from my preq. ( i will have these in by fall), my hesi was 94.31. i have no idea what the scores are like this year. are you currently in these classes. they advise you not to take anything else with first semester. there are many nursing students that have patho right now, second semester, and for them this semester is probably a little more stressful than for those of us that were done with all of our prereqs. so what i am saying is try to get everything done before the program starts. it will make it a lot easier for you come second semester. (f) how would you advise a person that is not in the program yet to start getting a head start on pharmaclogy. what was the best way that you or some other students in your class studied for it. what i did was read the chapter before lecture. and then after lecture i would make note card based on the lecture and syllabus. that really helped me. i know many students recorded lecture and would relisten when they got home. but i didn't feel like i had time to do that. so the notecards worked for me. plus when it came time for the final, i really just reviewed my shoebox full of notecards and ended up doing ok with that. as hard as the nursing program is, it is very doable. i have a husband and kids to take care of and am still maintaining my grades, so i am proof that it can be done. just be prepared to accept that this is your life. obviously besides for what had to get done (like feeding and bathing my children) i really didn't do much else first semester. and although i'm only going into my third week of second semester i definitely feel like i have more free time to do stuff for myself (or clean my house, which was neglected for the last 16 weeks before christmas). if this is something that you want then don't give up and the best advice that i can give you is to just take it one day at a time. you will hear that a lot first semester. do not look at what you have to do next week or even tomorrow, because you will get very overwhelmed. good luck and i hope that i helped. let me know if you have any more questions. i will check back regularly.

Pebbels123, To be honest with you, I don't feel comfortable giving out my private information and would rather talk to you through allnurses. I believe that you can only pm after you've posted a certain amount of times (but I'm not sure). Anyways, I would be more than happy to answer any questions that you may have about SC4's program through posting on this site, that way others can share and benefit form the information as well. I look forward to hearing your questions and hope that I will be of help to you. Talk to you soon.

I am currently in the nursing program at SC4, 2nd semester. Last year I had a 91 on the HESI, a 3.97 GPA and all but one Pre-req class done. I was in my last pre-req at the time of application, but that doesn't count. I got in on my first try. Your HESI score is great, what is your GPA and your pre-req status?

I'm currently a first year nursing sudent at St Clair County Community College (in Port Huron). Pharm is not a pre-req (we take it with our first semester), but we can take patho before we start (or after if we choose to). I had it last semester online. I know that our ADN program transfers to U of M Flint (University of Michigan?? I'm assuming that's where you're talking about) Bachelors program. So it should transfer and since you can take it online that would be a good option. Although you do have to come to campus for a few of the exams (I think there were 3 proctored). But nonetheless I really enjoyed taking it online. Best of Luck and I hope you find the information that you're looking for.

Does anyone know if all Nike Shox are the same, or do they have different "models"? TJMaxx has all white Shox for $60, where as retail on them says $115. I'm just not sure if they are all the same or do they have some that are less expensive?