Ravenx2012

As a current student I can give you this "humble" opinion. Stick with your plans on going to Shadyside. Does the administration suck? Incredibly so. Once your in, it will feel like they are trying to fail out people weekly .... After the first two semesters you will likely have lost 15-20% of your class. Not all to failing, but many not being able to handle the stress. Sleep? What's that? You'll have time to sleep when you graduate 22 months later. So, why do I say stick with it? Because, it has some of the best clinical experience anywhere. The program is incredibly tough, but on the floor, it quickly becomes apparent who are past UPMC Shadyside grads, and those who have graduated elsewhere. 200 Level Shadyside Nursing Students are catching errors made by other nurses left and right. 300 and 400 level students are far surpassing the skills of many Licensed RNs they work with. How? Well because it is the hardest, but best program in Pittsburgh. Clinical instructors are constantly challenging your knowledge and helping you to recognize all the possibilities within your scope of practice. They don't stop with just reading a few chapters out of a book. Your not just a number to them, and your not just a nurse when you graduate. You will be a highly skilled individual and one of the best in your field. You will have a great understanding of the practice; and know how to think and rationalize as a nurse should. Too many of the nurses on the floors these days are paint by numbers certified. It is painfully obvious who these people are by the quality of care they give. So does the administration suck? Well .. Yea.. the points you bring up are just a few of the reasons why... but is it worth it .. Most definitely. Get in, keep your grades up, pay attention .. and the only time you will have to deal with admin is when your clearances are due, and when you graduate.

You will do a clinical at children's from my understanding. I am only starting clinicals this week, but I know children's is down the road as we learn more. I have heard nothing of labor stuff, but I know several students are going to McGee. Perhaps one of the more senior students will see this and add more. Good luck :)

For anyone starting in August 2010... selling "relationship-based care" book for N101 and Alcamo's 8th edition fundamentals of microbiology w/ Baron's Microbiology the easy way. Accepting first reasonable offer. On campus Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays. Pickup only in Cranberry other days.

@ shrwanda: I started in the spring carried over from a fall waiting list. There was a long delay in sending out acceptance letters, because they were determining whether they were going to keep it @ 10000 or goto 15000. If you are all ready enrolled and taking classes, your locked into the "rate" as its a signed contract you start with. Students prior to my class still are on the full free ride. The school receives over 1000 applicants each session and takes 80 to 100. So, the demand is very high. Rightfully so. They have one the best programs in the country. Mercy's school was almost shut down prior to it being obtained by UPMC. UPMC decided to keep the school, but the structure of the program will likely be reworked over the next couple years, as they try to get the standard upto what it is at Shadyside. There is a reason Shadyside has a waiting list and the other schools do not. The same reason UPMC can charge more at Shadyside. In the end, you can goto any of the hospitals or community colleges in the area to get your degree and you will be an RN when you finish. But, you get what you pay for, and employers know Shadyside. So to quell your fears, there is no bait and switch. But, there is a strong chance that the tuition forgiveness will get hit again. @DMG10: Some people are able to work the first semester, but some of them looked completely wrecked. Second semester it gets tougher. After that you may be able to work weekends, but you won't likely have the time beyond that.

I may not be the best to ask. I am on match.com and can't seem to ever write the right thing to score a date LOL..... Anyhow .... IMHO I would not focus on the grades you had at that school. How I would address it is as you stated before; a growth and a sign of maturity. Do not come straight out and say I had horrible grades in high school, I had horrible grades in college.... be more allusive. Rephrase it to focus on who you are now. something on the line of.. "Learning from past experiences I have now decided on a career that I know in my heart I wish to pursue. I have gained the skills I need to drive me forward as a student and a nurse. Currently carrying a 4.0 GPA, I know I can handle the pressures put forth by this accelerated program." If you work it from that angle, you show growth and determination without focusing directly on anything negative. Hope this helps :)

You may be forced to list it unfortunetly. If there was no indication that you went to the other school then it would be easy to just ignore it. However as you pointed out the application asks for all schools in the past 10 years. I would unfortunetly suggest because of it being on your current schools transcripts you best include the it. However I would not worry toooo much. If you score well on your entrance exam, and show your high GPA that you are carrying now, then you shouldn't have any problems. Write a good essay too

You can't get away from your high school grades. I am starting the program in 2 weeks and graduated H.S. in 1990 and had a B.S. degree allready. I still had to turn in my records for H.S. .... Crazy huh? But anyhow, more importantly, you can avoid the grevious errors of judgement you experienced the first time through college, by simply not declaring that school. As long as it is not for the same school your attending classes now you shouldn't worry. You only need to disclose colleges you attended if you wish to transfer credits from that school. As for what they look at... If you do well on your PSB (high 80s or better) and your carrying a 4.0 GPA now, I would not see any reason for your application to be denyed based on those factors. The only big hurtle beyond scores, is availability. Can't stress enough take the test early early early. I had a very high average on my PSBs but had to wait till this session because the class filled up quickly. Unfortunetly I had taken my PSB on the last possible day to take them. On a side note, and an opinion only, the competition to get in while still high has had to have dwindled since the tuition forgiveness program has stopped paying for the full tuition. Stakes are a lot higher now with your money riding on the line as well. Because of that factor and also the fact that you can't get state help through careerlink, more may take a look at CCAC. In this case though, you get what you pay for and what you get at Shadyside will get you a job anywhere.

Okay all ... I just got my parking squared away. I have been sitting on this knowledge until I could get my account and parking spot locked in. At 5750 Centre Avenue is an alco parking lot. Its 0.3 miles from the school. Took all of 5 minutes to walk there. Lease rate is $80/month annd they have spots. How many I do not know, but talking to the attendant, the day I was surveying the area, they said Alco was hoping to get more leases for the lot. Anyhow ... Its called the Centre Commons Lot. Located at 5750 Centre Avenue. Goto Alco's website to register/apply: https://www.alcoonline.com/garage_search.aspx?st=37&ct=Pittsburgh&stt=Pennsylvania&ctt=Pittsburgh the address on thier website is 56750 Centre Avenue, but its just a typo. I just printed out my invoice and it is 5750. Hope this helps some of you.

Anyone else having trouble finding the Laboratory manual ISBN 00073403571.... I called Mcgraw-Hill and found out that ISBN is for university bookstores/professors. Its a bulk number or something on that line. Anyhow the good news since there are no more of those anywhere on the net..... Mcgraw-hill gave me this ISBN: 0077274350 Its the identical book, but the individually packaged ISBN. Anyhow its on amazon.com for 107.77 New and used prices as low as 73.98 on gettextbooks.com or half.com

sending you a private message through this website pasunshine. The book is Laboratory Manual for human A&P Mcgraw-Hill and I don't mind at all. will giveyou my email and phone number in the Private message.

Oh yea .... BTW ... I am in Session A anyone else wanna chime in on the role call and find out who your classmates will be?

Yea seriously I picked up a used AP book for 80 bucks and had the manual ordered for substantially more until it was cancelled .. go figure. Chatum bookstore has been closed since it started snowing. Who knows when and if they will get the manuals in.

Does anyone from a previous class have the labortatory manual for human a&P Isbn 0073403571. I had an order in through amazon and it got canceled. Sold out and those were only used copies. I cannot find new anywhere and chatham has not ordered any of the A&P books yet. Anyhow if someone can offer one to me drop me an email. Will gladly compensate you for the trouble. Thanks.

I am starting my RN program March 1st. I just recieved my course list for the first session and it does include a medical terminology book requirement as Nursing 100. So I guess it really depends on what school your going to. My program is 22 months, going straight through with only a couple small breaks in between sessions.

Answers..... KBM318: the child abuse clearance is a requirement by the state for employment in a field that has exposure to children. Hence, you only need to do the clearance for Pennsylvania. However the clearance does require you to list every where you have lived since 1970. So, the state gives you the clearance, but does check all states for abuse records. Pennswoodman: Once you have your application in, there is not set time for approval. My appliccation was submitted the last week of submission for Fall 09. Mid-Summer I was informed there were no more slots available and that my application would be put in a priority pile (not reviewed) for March 2010. Once testing began for 2010, the files were reviewed and then I received an acceptance package. As some individuals presently have been told there are slots still available, I am sure you will not wait as long to hear something; but there is no specific time that the school sets for approvals. If slots fill, and someone doesn't pass a physical or clearances another slot may open and a new acceptance package sent out to a person waiting. Chances are acceptance packages could be sent out as late as February and those individuuals will bbe rushed to get everything together on time. My advice is as another person posted a few posts back. Take a risk and spend the money on getting your clearances just in case. It takles 4 to 6 weeks for them to get approved. I did get mine in two, but with the holidays, I wouldn't count on that. You will need a child abuse clearance, FBI fingerprint clearance, and criminal background check. I do not have the specifics in front of me right now, but perhaps calling the school they can tell you exactly which agencies need contacted. there is 3 very specific methods and the only method for getting these clearances. If you are pushed back to Fall 2010 you will need to get these clearances again unfortunetly. But, if you get accepted last minute for March, you will be glad you have them allready.

There is little he will get from the information session. All that is discussed is as you quoted from my previous post. Stuff such as classes and books will be given to you later; I am going to assume around January or February. Joanne or Natalie will have to tell you whether he can come or not. There is no classroom tour at these sessessions. In all honesty it really would be a waste of his time.... now seeing that you are from Morgantown, lunch downtown with him after the information session could make the trip worth it. Let me know if you need some suggestions for some good grub. When it comes to comparisons, remember several big things. This program is very heavy in clinicals; a lot more than most programs. Many associate programs, especially community college programs, lack a clinical experiennce that adequately prepares you for the "real" world. The experience you gain in them will be with the best healthcare entitiy in the tristate area, and one of five schools in the United States to earn the designation of NLN Center of Excellence this year. ( http://www.nln.org/excellence/coe/designees.htm ) Please don't think I am sour grapes to places outside Pittsburgh .. My mom graduated from WVU, and my first degree was from a school in Ohio. I just did a lot research before considering dropping 10K on a program that I could get otherwise get paid for by unemployment offices if I went the community college route instead. Let me know if I can help more ... If you like Sushi I strongly suggest you hit Sushi Kim on Smallman Street before heading home. LOL. I know a lot more places if raw fish swimming off your plate is not your thing

The letter I received after a long wait informed me that all seats had been filled for the fall classs. If I was interested in applying for the Spring class, my file would be given priority. To be considered for the Spring class I had to return the letter provided signed by some date (was like a couple weeks).

Basic List: ID Badge (you can still get these in December check your packet for dates) (I would post them here but .... I am sure the school doesn't want random people showing up and trying to get one.) Setting up date in February to meet and review all these requirements Finacial aid / Tuition Forgiveness. Parking/Shuttle Schedules Sign up for Chathum College enrollment What a Passing grade is: IE: Not your typical 70% its higher. GN vs RN and how it applies to the forgivness program. Health insurance A bunch of deadlines to get the following: (sheets provided to be filled out as applicable)(Deadlines also include earliest you can take it IE: must be within 90 days or 30 days prior to entering the program. A drug test from 6 months ago is no good.) Physical Titres Vacinations PPD Skin test CPR Certification Dates Drug Test Alleghany General Hospital for low income help on some of the above. There are two dates left for information sessions. Call them first thing Monday and get in one of those. The sooner you get all this information the better, as you have to get appointments setup with your own doctor for some of this stuff. Good luck. And best wishes for you ACL! Eeeek! You need someone to "nurse" you back to health. Yea I know pun intended.

i do not have the exact date in front of me, but it was before any of the information sessions. i just went to the information session, so the date is now past due. things learned at the information session that have gone unanswered but questioned in this forum .... capacity of the class is approximately 100 people. classrooms are not that big, but the "class" is divided into several sections and class schedules made for each section. ie. a & p for one group may be in early morn, late morn for another group and afternoon if there is a third and so on. however on a side note, those accepting now have a whole new set of deadlines .... clearances background checks physicals vaccinations .. etc .... clearances have to be back january 4th. sooo..... a small surmise may be that if those with acceptances now fail any of said clearances by january 4th, then there is still time for other perspective students waiting for letters to be accepted and still have time for physicals, vaccinations, their clearances, and a cpr class if any of that stuff is needed. that is a big big big surmise though... just trying to figure out why the january 4th deadline myself for the clearances... in the letter it says clearances may take 4 to 6 weeks to get back. this letter was sent to us a little under 8 weeks from the deadline. considering letters were held up by upmc for tuition confirmation, this really puts a crunch on getting these back on time, especially over holidays, when government employees are taking extended breaks. i am not thrilled about it .. but i sent out everything overnight in hopes to get it al back in time. the lettter stated that if clearances are not received by the deadline that the extension of your acceptance will be revoked. eeek! ... praying whoever gets my case file at the fbi and child abuse centers does not choose to go on some 3 week vacation. side note ... signup list for my information session had about 20 some names on it about 17 showed up .. so i think 4 or 5 may not have shown .... this may be good news as potentially early withdraws ... however it was the first session of four and they may hustle to make one of the other sessions.

Its been a few months since I took the test ... but ... I scored a 94 I think in the science portion .. that being said my last A&P class was over 10 years ago, and I was a hazardous materials major with mostly chemistry as a background. The Science portion of the test seemed focused on nutrition (which I never had), and stuff like ATP Krebs cycle, etc...... more on the physiology end of things. I do not recall any anatomy on the test at all. There may have been even some simple organic chemistry that any high school student would know .. H2O is ... When it came down to doing well on the test I did well not from knowning the right answer alot, but being able to rule out a number of the choices. Maybe a little luck too. Good luck on your test .. I was nervous as hell and worried myself sick looking at practice exams the week before I took the test ... I was royally failing the practice exams .. soooooo..... Fate maybe ..who knows .. anyhow good luck.

i all ready asked work for the nov 18th session off. as for lost mail .... eek!.... concerned myself but no horror stories ... i was still going to mail it, but am going to send it certified with delivery receipt. that way i know whether it got there monday or not and can act accordingly. i have read and reread that draft promissory note and admittedly it makes e nervous as hell. but i guess everyone signs it and goes that route. anyhow .... gratz to you both ... look forward to seeing you in march.

Hi KBM318 unfortunetly looking aorund briefly I seem to have misplaced my paperwork from before.... I am sure I will find it tomorrow. My total average was 97 for the four sections. My science was my lowest with a 94 if I recall correctly. I followed the submision process to the letter having my references send in the letters themselves. However I provided each with addressed stamped priority envolopes. Later, nervous myself that they would not arrive on time, I talked to Natalie. (I tested and applied the last week possible). Natalie told me the same as you, that I could send the letters in myself, or even drop them off. However, to answer your question I checked the "I give up my right". If your confident in your references providing a positative review of yourself, then you have no worries either way. Purely hypothetically speaking, if you check "I do not give up my right", one may surmise that you feel one or more of your references may provide less than favorable reviews. Doing so could show some doubt in yourself and how your viewed by your peers. I don't think there is a "right or wrong" answer for the question, but the human psyce responds to such thing in many different ways. Its all individualized and often subjective to the individual reviewing your references, and thier own personal experiences. Anyhow .. good luck. Feel free to IM me if you want to talk specifics more. Good luck :) Side note: I believe also I gave out four reference letters to ensure that at least three made it in time.

Well after a long long wait (applied for the fall 09 semester this past spring) I received my admittance package today for March!!! Yay!!!! For those still waiting and still curious about tuition forgiveness, it remained the same as the fall. You will have to come up with 10K over 6 payment periods. It did not increase to 15K as some feared. Anyhow . YAY waiting is over, I can stop looking at jobs in the paper and wondering if I am passing up other potential careers for something I really really want to do. Sooooooo...... Anyone else starting in March .. drop me a line and a friend request ... Can't wait to see you all. PS. Oh yea .. for those who just took the test . I was on a waiting list from the fall.... so admision letters for those just testing may not be sent out until acceptance letters are returned by the deadline to the school and they have actual numbers for empty seats for those that tested this last round. (This of course is just a theory.. do not take it as fact ..)

well after a long long wait (applied for the fall semester) i received my admittance package today for march!!! yay!!!! for those still waiting and still curious about tuition forgiveness, it remained the same as the fall. you will have to come up with 10k over 6 payment periods. it did not increase to 15k as some feared. anyhow . yay waiting is over, i can stop looking at jobs in the paper and wondering if i am passing up other potential careers for something i really really want to do. sooooooo...... anyone else starting in march .. drop me a line and a friend request ... can't wait to see you all. ps. oh yea .. for those who just took the test . i was on a waiting list from the fall.... so admision letters for those just testing may not be sent out until acceptance letters are returned by the deadline to the school and they have actual numbers for empty seats for those that tested this last round. (this of course is just a theory.. do not take it as fact ..)

In reply to those torn between schools whether it be Mercy or CCAC ... There was an article this weekend in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. Now, I have not yet been accepted for March, so probably should be discouraging everyone away from shadyside ..... but ..... Shadyside has been rated in the top five nursing schools in the country. So.... its the best of the best in Pittsburgh. Its whether you want to spend the money to do it, and have what it takes to get in. My lowest score for fall entrance was a 93 and I had an overall average of 97. But I took testing on the last possible day. So I am on some priority list for March. They assure me not to worry, but until they say I am in, I will be nervous.