kdrose01

If you read through these boards some more, you'll find a ton of info on the FACT program. I'm a FACT grad and will agree with some of what you've read online. After reading the nightmares people experienced with the financial aide office, I paid as much as possible up front and secured my own private loan when I needed it. I've avoided the financial aide office in nearly every way possible after my one encounter yielded incorrect info. There are also little annoying things within the university that I never dealt with at my previous school. For example, right before graduation I received an email from someone saying I had to print the email and have signed clearances on the printed email to prove my various accounts had been closed, otherwise I couldn't graduate. I had never even done anything with most of the departments listed, so I couldn't figure why I would have to waste time I didn't have right before graduation to run around campus getting signatures. They wanted to me to have my housing account closed. I NEVER lived on campus!!! So I emailed the person and asked them to please verify that they really needed me to collect all those signatures, since I was doing 12 hour clinical days and didn't have any interaction with most of the departments listed. They looked into it and decided I only needed 1 signature, not 6! As a whole, I found that the entire year was full of little annoyances like that. But when you're eating, sleeping, and breathing school, those little annoyances are a heckuva lot more stressful. Especially when you find they're consistent. I will agree that the faculty is overworked. Even so, many of the nursing faculty will bend over backward to help you because they're that dedicated. Some of the professors are great, some I hesitate to call "professors" (I hate to take away from the professors who really were outstanding because there truly are some fantastic people who work there, but some professors just are not very good). There was definitely favoritism among certain professors and students, which was really irritating, since you think that kind of idiocy only exists in high school, but it definitely exists within the FACT program. The clinical experiences were great overall. I had a few clinical instructors who were less than stellar, and even that's being generous, but the majority were awesome and so dedicated. Some of my clinical instructors would have made excellent nursing professors too - they were that good! I will also say that there were essential chunks of nursing info that were barely covered or not at covered at all. They say it's because it's "facilitated" that they don't cover everything. Some things are too important to leave out of a curriculum. Had those things not been omitted, I would have had a much easier time grasping a number of nursing concepts. It's not as if you have much time to read things on your own, due to the accelerated nature of the program, so it makes no sense to skip over essential info. That's a major complaint I have. Anyway, as I've posted on another thread, I don't regret having attended Jefferson, but it wasn't the program I thought I was going to have. My previous undergraduate institution was far superior in academic excellence, organization, and overall experience. Students who were younger and/or had previously attended a large university thought it was an exceptional program. Those of us who were older and/or attended liberal arts schools felt that overall the academic excellence was lacking, that students could submit shoddy work and still earn As. I guess I'm old school in thinking that universities shouldn't lower standards for students to earn their grades. Many will hate me for saying so.

Yup, sad isn't it? When I was comparing schools, I found that my local state university charged $27,000 for tuition for their one year BSN program, but was in one of the most expensive areas of the country and would likely have required me to purchase a car to access their clinical sites. It also didn't have the best reputation. When I compared it to the $40,000 for tuition for a one year BSN program at a well regarded private institution, I found the private school to be a better deal. The cost of living was lower at private school, the area in which the school was located was much, much safer, and I wouldn't have to purchase a car, pay for insurance or gas, etc. The $13k difference in tuition seemed significant at first, but when I factored in everything else, the seemingly cheaper state university really wasn't cheaper after all. Even though I paid a substantial amount of tuition money, I am very happy with my school choice, even if it required me to move. Also, sadly, many cheaper state schools have long, long, long waiting lists.

I worked full-time while completing the pre-reqs for my ABSN program and lived in a cheap apartment with 3 roommates in order to save money. I hated that dumpy apartment and having to share one bathroom with 3 other often inconsiderate girls, but I hated the idea of nearly $100,000 of debt even more. In order to save, I also lived very frugally (almost always brought my lunch to work, tried not to shop too much, tried to keep my living and entertainment expenses as low as possible, etc.). Over the course of several years, I saved enough to live off for one year and to pay half my $40,000 tuition. I was also fortunate to have won a $2,500 scholarship that helped cover my health insurace. As a result, my student loan debt is fairly low. I know a bunch of my classmates have around $100,000 of debt now. Education is expensive, but there's a way to make it work. You just have to manage your finances in a responsible way. If you're too concerned about keeping up with the Joneses, you will find yourself deeply in debt.

Hang in there, Nugget! You will be fine. I'm a new nurse too, but I'm still searching for my first job. Be glad you found a job and remember that you still have much to learn. All these mistakes will make you a better nurse because you'll remember your mistakes. Every job takes time to learn, so be patient with yourself. Good luck!

No, I didn't even see it on their website.

Congratulations to those who've been called to interview! Would you mind sharing what you did to get a call? I've been applying for listing that I qualify for, but no response. Thanks and good luck to you!

If anyone wants to buy a used Saunders NCLEX review book for $35, I'll sell you mine. Just PM me on here. Good luck, FACTsters!

I took it last week and felt the same way. After all the Kaplan preparation my program required us to do throughout our program (at least one Kaplan exam per course, the Q bank, trainers, and videos) and all the studying I did with outside sources as well, I still felt completely lost! Fortunately, I passed, but I left feeling as if I knew nothing, despite all the studying I've been doing.

As someone with a BSN, BA in English and years of experience in the corporate sector, I agree that solid writing skills are essential. However, colleges today do not seem to think so and, as a result, assign As to papers that are not actually A quality. During my BSN program, we were required to write a number of papers, and as long as we met the required elements for content, we received an A. I made every effort to produce well-researched, well-written papers and earned As. My classmates who put forth a great deal of effort in researching and little to no effort in writing well also received As. The only difference was that I received a comment from the instructor saying what a greater writer I was. I would have preferred the distinction of a higher grade, since I clearly put forth more effort than many of my classmates. If the institutions granting us degrees have set their standards so low, how can we expect more from our nurses? Then again, the real issue seems to be that higher education has placed a greater emphasis on the almighty dollar instead of the quality of education it delivers to those forking over their dollars. As a result, we have adults who lack professionalism - and writing well is a standard of professionalism.

Congratulations and thank you! :)

Oh, I forgot St. Chris is part of Tenet, not Temple. My mistake.

Thank you! This is quite informative and very sad to read about CHOP, since it's my top choice and I just spent a lot of time writing essays for their application. Obviously, I'm applying elsewhere and will take anything I can get. Hiddencat, how is safety around St. Chris's? I don't have a car, since I'm in CC, so I'd have to buy one if I were to work there. However, I haven't seen any job openings for St. Chris. Also, do you know how safe it is around the TUH-Episcopal campus? Thanks!

Thank you, jocy! You can post more questions on here. I'll try to answer them once my brain recovers a little. There's definitely a lot of great info on the other thread.

Pro: You're in and out in one year. Con: You have to cram an extraordinary amount of info into your brain in one year. That's seriously all I can think of just now, but tomorrow's my last day of the FACT program. My brain is exhausted.

Does anyone know the nurse recruiter's name and/or email? If so, would you mind PMing it to me? Thank you! CHOP is my first choice, but I haven't heard anything yet.

I have a white lab coat to sell as well if you would like it. I will also sell my Jefferson scrub tops mid-May. My clothes are female and small.

Choose the female instructor, not the man with the PhD after his name. This is for Clinton CC. Good luck!

Yes, you will have breaks, but if you miss clinical, your make up time can be over break. The winter break is not really even a break because you have so much work over it.

I was just thinking more about your post. My bigger concern with planning your weekends now is that you don't have your overall schedule, so you have no idea when your exams are, and exams are frequent. We are not on your typical semester calendar; instead, we have 12-week quarters and even then classes do not typically run week 1-12 of the semester, so you can't plan mid-terms or finals. We are usually always studying for exams and there's not much time to study, since our calendar is pretty much packed with class, clinical, Kaplan, etc. So if you have to travel for a wedding for a weekend right before your exams, you will have even less time to study. I'm not trying to scare you, but I'm trying to give you the reality of the situation. If you choose to attend this program, you will pay over $40k just in tuition, plus insurance and living expenses. That's a lot of money to gamble. I know several people who started in this program who were not willing to sacrifice their social lives, and they're no longer in the program. That's a lot of money for them to have wasted. Does it suck missing all the things you want to do? Yes, definitely! I can't wait to have a life again! But I'm glad I chose to knock it all out in one year. But I was also prepared to say no to a lot of things I wanted to do. I also reminded my family and friends repeatedly before this program started that I would not be see them much. So consider carefully how much you're willing to sacrifice for one year before committing the time and money to this program.

You can't switch. I don't know anyone who has been able to switch clinical rotations and the professors couldn't care less about any weekend obligations you might have, not even religious obligations. There are 120+ students in this program, so if they try to accommodate one person's schedule, then they have to try to accommodate them all and that's not possible. There have been times that we didn't even get our clinical assignments until a week before the start date and some clinicals have changed with less than 24 hours notice. As stated on this board many, many times, be prepared to give up your life for one year. There will be countless things you can't do. I couldn't even attend my grandmother's funeral because the travel involved would have required me to miss too much clinical during the first semester. For every non-emergency missed clinical day, there's a $250 fine and you still have to make it up. So I think you have weigh how essential your education is against how essential it is that you attend some weddings.

Mitch, We were given one tuition rate during the interview with Niki, but that rate changed when it came time to pay the bill. If I remember correctly, it increased several thousand dollars just days before the program started.

Thank you, Shah! You make really fair points, and I'm glad you're offering another perspective. You're correct that it's not fair of me to judge, but I also know little of your culture. From what I read in that book, I was very disturbed by what seemed to be very oppressive to women, but the other posts I've read on here presented a very different view of Saudi Arabia. I hope I get to visit your country one day!

Thank you, Zainab! Welcome to Philly! I'm in nursing school at a neighboring university, and I'm considering working in Saudi Arabia, since it would be great to explore another culture and be paid for it. I'm happy to read about the freedoms women seem to have in your country, since that was a major concern of mine. Good luck at Penn!

climberchick, I have an idea of who you are, but I'm not certain. Anyway, you've done an absolutely PERFECT job of summing up important details. The new class will find these details incredibly helpful!

The iPad is great for watching Netflix while you're at the gym relieving all your stress. Seriously, sometimes it comes in handy, though I'm really not a fan of it for academic purposes. Some of my classmates feel otherwise. That's just my opinion. :)