rad sugar

I was in the 2nd cohort, graduating in July '10. I don't have a job as a nurse, but I did move to Hawaii right after nursing school were I found a VERY competitive nursing market that wasn't too keen on hiring military spouses and out of state newbs. I just moved to NY last month, and I'm transferring my license over. I did pass my NCLEX on the first try, so that was nice. I felt like I was really prepared to become a nurse, the program was SO CHALLENGING. Sleepless nights, more studying than I've ever done, lots of pressure... the clinicals we got in were great, varied, and really allowed us a lot of exposure to all kinds of nursing. Some of my classmates were expelled, some failed out. Two were expelled a couple weeks before graduation and lost all their money. The stress of the debt I'm in is now tough on my husband and me; RCON was the first time in my life (college, MBA and all) that I ever had to pay for school, I've always gone to public schools, I had a full ride to college the first time, and when taking my MBA (I didn't finish, only did 2 terms) it was through a special program at my then-job, and they payed for it all. Of the classmates that graduated with me - some are happily working away as RNs and loving it, some did get their dream jobs. But I'm not the only one to have never found a nursing job. The personal BS, drama with the staff, changing rules, and lack of boundaries (like RCON trying to tell me what I could and couldn't do in my personal life) rude staff, problematic staff (that's since been fired) all left a bad taste in my mouth. I know that being there in the first year the school was open I took a risk, I was a guinea pig. I sure hope things are smoother, better now. Anyone with RCON questions can feel free to shoot me a PM. I try to be fair, but still honest and even though my personality is super glitter, rainbows, smiles and puppies... I don't always feel that was when discussing the back-breaking, bank-breaking, crazy year I spent at RCON. Good luck to all going through the school now and starting up next month!

I feel like a manager should be mature enough to understand that people change jobs, people come and people go and to not hold it against you personally. Is there more than one manager you work under? Are there managers on other shifts or in other departments that you work with that could/would vouch for you? If you think your manager will falsely depict you to potential employers, can you talk to HR? I also like the idea of using supervisors from clinicals as references.

I did an accelerated BSN program in Florida - and I have really mixed feelings on what I did. There are often times I wish I had just gone to a regular school. I had a previous BA from a state school in FL, which I had attended straight out of High School on a full ride. About five years after graduating I realized I wasn't fulfilling my passion. Long story short, my heart led me to nursing. I got a 3.8 my first time through undergrad and it was a breeze. Nursing school was THE HARDEST thing I've ever done academically. The rushed pace of an accelerated program was SO STRESSFUL. I made myself so ill with stress, it was crazy. To cram in all the classes we'd have 8 or 9 hours of lecture by day, clinicals by night... sometimes going for 36 hours straight. It was downright nuts. And now I owe $30k in student loans. It was impossible to work during the program I attended. It was a 1-year program, broken into 4 quarters that are 12 weeks each. When I'd done my first degree, the state school had 15 week semesters - so it was almost like cramming 4 semesters into a year - but the classroom hours were not proportionally the same. I mean, 5 days a week of classroom lecture + 2 or 3 clinicals a week. It was insane. If you have your heart set on doing it this way - I say go for it! But if you're worried about finances... just consider the MASSIVE difference in the traditional route (during which you can likely still work, at least part time and the overall price is MUCH MUCH lower) vs. not working for an entire year and then coming out with massive debt. There's no guarantee you'll have a nursing job right away to make up that debt. Sorry to be Debbie Downer- just offering you my POV. I wish you luck in whatever direction you go, it's a wonderful journey and a noble endeavor!

I'm trying to transfer a license from Hawaii to NY - and in another thread about transferring licensure, I saw this link: NYS Office of the Professions - State Education Department I originally did some research on the topic over a year ago, and I know that there are additional classes needed, and that usually they can be done online. I have an email to myself with these links that I had saved: NYS Nursing:License Requirements OP:Training:Mandated Training Related to Infection Control NYS Professions - Child Abuse Identification & Reporting Providersope this helps you out a bit. As I'm researching for myself - I'll let you know if I figure anything out. You can always email me, [email protected] to chat about it what info you're able to find.

are you getting married before y'all move? will you be on his orders? if you're married before the move, and thus on his orders - you can get preferential hiring at any military facility. there's a big clinic on k-bay (the base he'll be stationed at) and they're actively hiring experienced nurses right now. i'm married to a Marine, but i'm not on his orders (he was already stationed here when we got married) - so i don't qualify for any pref hiring. its a major bummer. having some experience under your belt should really help you. the other replies gave you good advice about hospital's sites to check out.

i'm a new grad out here in hawaii. i graduated from school in FL, then moved out here and took my NCLEX in hawaii. i sent off the check and paperwork to get my license over a week ago, and i haven't gotten anything back yet. (i passed my NCLEX, so i sent them back the license paperwork they mailed me with my report that i had passed). as far as new grad jobs go... if you hear of anything let me know! i've been looking for months and keep coming up with nothing. there seems to be a lot of home health jobs here, but i'm not sure how keen they are to hire new grads. some of my friends with experience are having a really hard time finding jobs out here now.

wilson home care is hiring CNA's - i had an interview last week, but cancelled because i really want to find RN work, not CNA. but i know for a fact they're actively hiring now, on oahu. they pay $10/hr, and if you don't have experience they'll train you. http://www.wilsonhomecare.net/

please be careful when reading reviews for "remington college." remington is a franchise and owns many different schools, from beauty to welding - and yes - to nursing. the nursing school in lake mary, florida is a fully accredited college that does offer a BSN degree, and will get you a seating pass for the nclex-rn if/when you graduate. all the stuff you can find online about the hesi exit exam is VERY true though. a score of a 900 or higher is required to walk, regardless of clinical hours completed or grades earned. here's a C&P of a review i wrote about RCON 6+ months ago on the site the PP linked for remington reviews: COLLEGE OF NURSINGS be careful when you read reviews of this school. the remington franchise owns many different schools, but there is only ONE college of nursing. RCON is in Lake Mary, FL and I am a current student in the one year BSN program. this IS a real college, and it is tough. I graduated magna cum laude from a state school for my first BA, and in high school i was an IB student with a 3.9 gpa. being at RCON is ten times harder than any academic program i've ever attempted. the classes are rigorous. an immense amount of outside studying is required to get by, and given the program is accelerated and condensed, finding "extra" free time to study is tough. I got 3 B's and a C my first term. It was the first time in my LIFE that i earned anything less than a B at the collegiate level. The clinicals are intense and you're thrown right in. Our reputation at our area hospitals is outstanding, as we are usually far better prepared and educated than other local students (our school requires us to pick up assignments the night before and research our patients' conditions and meds. other schools do not do this, thus we always come in far more prepared at morning report). the reason i would not recommend this program is because of the stress. the full time schedule is hell. there are no traditional breaks like other school, and due to the quarters being off-kilter with the calender year, we take our finals at times when other students are at easy points of their semesters. Its hard to explain to people why you can't make plans because its finals week in the middle of october or in the third week of january. the program is VERY expensive. the faculty and administration seem to be a bit unorganized (its a brand new school) and if your background is in established higher education, you will be frustrated with the lack of infrastructure. if you are smart, dedicated, and willing to sacrifice a personal life for a year- this program is feasible. but if you like to see your family and friends, and if you hate studying around the clock, consider a longer program that gives you time to breathe. oh, the hesi exit exam thing is true. we had NO IDEA when we signed our contracts and entered the program that we'd be required to earn a 900+ on the hesi exit exam in order to graduate.

For the people saying its a personal thing - I agree. Some people find this program ridiculously hard, and other's find it passable, but just time consuming. Its been a very different experience for each individual. I decided to come to RCON because of the appeal of being done in a year. I'll be graduating before I'd even start my first classes are other are schools because of how long their admissions process takes. To me, that was a huge draw; I'll be earning income as a nurse before I'd be taking my first test if I went another route. I'm not an academic slouch. My credentials are legit, as well as those of my classmates. It is not easy to get into this program. So if you've been accepted, consider that passing a pretty big hurdle. Everyone's personal lives are different. Different demands, dynamics, situations, etc. For some of us who are young, not working, and don't have kids... its a lot "easier" to manage and juggle the schedule than it has been for the people who have kids and work part-time. There is a lot of test anxiety. Sometimes passing or failing a course comes down to one test, and that gets really stressful. I've only gone to public schools my whole life, and I've never paid for my education before. All of a sudden, if I'm doing poorly in a class - or worried about a test - I see it in dollar signs as well as a gpa. Its weird for me to have this added pressure of finances a part of the equation. Do I like the way the faculty treats the students? Not so much. Some teachers have been great, others have been difficult to deal with. This is a personality thing though. Some of my best friends in the program loved a professor I couldn't stand, a vice versa. Everyone is different. As far as getting jobs: A LOT of my classmates are getting job offers. Its been awesome, and I'm excited for them. I think I could get a job in the area, but I'm moving out of state after graduation. This is a BSN program, which is very important now. The economy for nursing jobs isn't what it used to be. The physical shortage still exists, but hospital budgets have been trimmed down. Positions remain unfilled. Overtime is discouraged at a lot of local hospitals, etc. But we've been able to make great relationships with the hospitals we have done clinical work at, and many of my classmates are using those relationships to help them get jobs. Some have had interviews. A couple students have already found jobs out of state. We are well educated, don't underestimate that. If you can get through the program, you'll have earned your BSN, and you'll be able to prove that in any interview. Via test results, scores, and other assessment tools. Most of us are getting very positive feedback from our preceptorship nurses. The year itself is just hard to get through. You have to put your life on pause and just buckle down. There are a lot of sacrifices. My husband and I will be paying down my student loans for years to come. But it was what we were willing to do for me to get it done in a year and be able to get into the job market as an RN, and as a BSN, which is much more competitive than being an ADN right now. I've only posted here my interpretations of my experience. The good and the bad. A lot of my classmates have different feelings than I do, I'm sure. Some agree, and some disagree. Are we well educated? yeah, we certainly are. Was it super hard to get here? yeah, it really was. And please, I understand that all nursing programs have high attrition rates and that 100% of a starting class is very likely to finish together. In the condensed one-year format though, it just hits you a little harder. You're all together 5 or 6 days a week. In our class, there are less than 30 of us. So when someone doesn't make it on - you feel that loss. And you know how hard they did work, and yet still didn't quite get there. It makes the losses harder on everyone. For many people, this is the ideal program. Get in, keep your nose down, work hard and get through. For some people, this is a bad idea. Its very hard to focus your life sooo much on this one goal. The allowance for life outside of school is very minimal, you really have to make the program your whole world. But its just for a year.

Excuse me??? There's a big difference between expressing your own observations and reflections of the experience, and slander. I have never failed a class, and had a teacher "fix" my grade. That's never been a privileged that's been granted to me. I really have no idea what you're talking about. I think its sad that you're making personal attacks, when we've been discussing this program the whole time. Huh. Giving grades to white students??? Are you out of your mind? That is such a bold, unfair, unproven, unfounded statement. I think you're out of your mind. And I really resent the fact that you'd insinuate I didn't earn every passing grade I have through heard work. I did. I've always defended the academic integrity of the school. I'm offended that you're attacking it. This program is by FAR the most rigorous program I've ever been through. That standards to get in are very high, and the standards to keep up are even higher. Its a tough program. We aren't buying our education - we are EARNING it. The standardized testing is proving that. So far, RCON has 100% NCLEX pass rate. The HESI exam scores of the majority of students speak volumes to that. I've never experienced any racism or bias based on culture, ethnicity, or color go on at our school whatsoever. I think that if maybe some students of a certain denomination failed out and feel slighted - that's an issue they should pursue legally and investigate if they really feel racial bias is what allocated the grades. In my opinion, from where I'm sitting - I've worked hard, studied, busted my butt at clinicals, and I've EARNED every grade I've brought home. And despite the chaos and cluster of the administration, despite the way the faculty can handle issues... I have never, ever doubted for a moment that my grades were "given" to me. The tests are there. My papers are all on file. SO have the state or the nursing board or whoever you want pull them - my academic integrity is something i do NOT mess around with and I'm appalled at these accusations. I was never in danger of failing the 3rd quarter. I had a rocky start in OB, like many of my classmates did. But I was getting A's on all of the psych tests. I did really well in community too. And once I was able to start pulling up my peds grade, I was fine. I scored well over the 900 mark on all of the HESI tests that term. So your false accusations have nothing to do with me. I should be kissing the faculty's ass? I'm grateful to the teachers for the education they facilitated. In an accelerated program, the onus is on yourself to study more, go the extra mile, and do extra preparation work outside of school... all things that I have done. It's my impression that other students who have been successful have done the same things too. Is the administration a mess? Yes. Does the schedule change all the time? Yes. There is a certain amount of chaos, a lack of organization and miscommunication that impacts the day-to-tday of how the school is run. Do I like getting scolded like a child because a few members of the class can't check their email? NO. Do I appreciate the way that the administration seems to make lots of changes on a continual basis that are frustrating? NO. But I've never questioned the academics. Its no joke, and we all know that. Every clinical site we work at has complimented us on being the best prepared students from any of the area schools. Those of us making good impressions - we are showing what we know, and its a lot. We're getting props from the nursing educators at the hospitals we work at because of how well educated we are. There's a big difference between griping about the chaos that comes along with a new school. About the small things - like graduation being scheduled weeks after classes are done... and claiming that the grades are fixed, and they're fixed in favor of "white" students. That's just an utter lie, and I'm appalled that someone would create an account just to come on here and make such statements, and attack me personally. I've been giving feedback and my observations - good and bad - all along. This program has been hell. The classes are hard, and all stacked on top of each other. The clinical hours are demanding and the scheduling is less than idea. That's what happens at a new school - you take the shifts you can get because you aren't established yet. I know I'm graduating in a few weeks, and I'm proud of my hard work and accomplishments. I know I have studied, prepared,learned and demonstrated that work through evaluations. I write excellent papers. I do my own assignments. I put a lot into everything that I do. I study for tests, and I've been preparing for the HESI and NCLEX for months. To say that I was "gifted" my grade because of the color of my skin is demeaning, humiliating... and honestly it portrays you (whoever you are posting this) as bitter, disgruntled, and as someone who couldn't hack it academically and would like to falsely use the aspect of race to explain your lack of success in this program. I'm sorry you feel that way, and I'm sorry that's your interpretation of this program. I think if/when you're being honest with yourself... you know that's an excuse, and has nothing to do with the grade given to those who have worked hard and earned them. is the school a mess? yeah. its hardly a year old. what do you expect? have i warned people about the size of the school? (its small, we have no ombudsman or HR dept; we don't have multiple classes at different times). is the schedule very demanding? yeah, its a nightmare. its a one year BSN that's brand new. i think a lot of things could have been handled better... but the third cohort seems to be piping up and saying that it IS getting better for them. maybe the bugs are getting ironed out? maybe routines are being established and things are getting better? for the sake of the school, i surely hope so. i want to be proud of my degree and the institution i EARNED it from. but don't you dare accuse me of getting handed my grades. i have earned each and every passing mark, every A paper and A+ test grade. I've done the work on my own. And I hope those that cheat, plagiarize, and don't pass get the grades they have earned. Its the harsh fact of nursing school: not everyone will pass, especially those who are dishonest. Judging by the flagrant dishonesty of your post here - the accusations you've made, the personal insults you've slurred - I'm not surprised if that's a reflection of what you bring to the classroom and what reflects on your scantron at the end of the day.

the schedule is always changing. some days are really light, and then there are just weeks from hell. last tuesday we had a 14 hour clinical shift that was 75 minutes away from my house. then, last wednesday i had to go to school and take a 160-question HESI exam (that you have to pass to graduate, its an exit exam), then i went to 3 hours of clinical, and then i had to go do a 3 hour CPR class to get my re-cert done. it was a looong day. thursday is a 9 hour lecture day. so yeah, last week was brutal. (i'm in the middle of 4th quarter now, fyi). the first quarter is really light, its classroom daytime learning 5 days a week. the second quarter we had class 4 days a week, and then a 12 hour shift (day shift) every friday. we had an online class also (nutrition/genetics/health promotion and assignments were due mondays). in the 3rd quarter we had day classes 3 days a week, day clincals 1 or 2 days a week for community nursing, 3pm-11pm shift for psych clinicals, and night shift (7pm - 7am) for OB and peds clinicals. it was a nightmare. you'd work all night friday night, and then have to be at school 8am monday. for me, switching back and forth between nights and early mornings is hard! 4th quarter is weird. its a "front loaded" term. so you do all of your classes in the first half of the term, for double the time. 12 weeks of class are crammed into 6 weeks. with clinicals happening twice a week for gerontology. then, the 2nd half of the term (weeks 7 through 12) we have our practicum. we get matched up with a nurse and work 180 hours with her. all of the hours are due by the monday morning of the 12th week though, so we have to fit 15 shifts into 5 weeks - which is only 3 shifts a week. we have a paper due in a week, a lot of paperwork and care plans for the practicum shifts, and some case studies... then we have a management final and a management hesi in the 12th week. weird, huh? 6 hours a night? most of the time, yeah. but it all depends on what else you have going on, how much you commute, etc. Quarter 1: essentials essentials lab health assessment health assessment lab pathophysiology pharmacology Quarter 2: nutrition/health promotion/ genetics (online) med-surg med-surg clinical case management research methods (evidence-based practice nursing) Quarter 3: OB/peds (combo class - 6 weeks of each, so not enough! YIKES!) psych nursing community health OB/ped clinical psych clinical community clinical Quarter 4: Leadership and Management Gerontology Gero clinicals Transition to Nursing (this is the name for the practicum 180 hours + paperwork) Senior Seminar (subject area HESI exams, the comprehensive HESI exit exam, and 150 practice NCLEX questions due every week - this is a pass/fail class, and you must pass the comprehensive hesi exam to pass this course) -all classes require a 75% average to pass, as well as a 75% test average -some classes require attendance and participation, some don't -every dosage calculation exam requires a 90% or higher, and you must pass them to stay in the program (the contract for the program says 3 a year, but we've already had 4 and we have one more tomorrow) -all clinicals require 90% attendance, if you miss more than 10% you're out - and all hours must be made up (even if you've missed less than 10%, with make-up clinicals, case studies, or lab days)

i'm glad you don't hate our school and that things are going better for your class than ours. our class is just so over it, and i think the administration is over us too. today we got yelled at (and i mean emotional, raised voice, legit and unprofessional yelling) because the school has totally messed up our preceptorships. one professor sent out six emails yesterday (a day off for us) and she was fuming that we haven't replied, even if/when we have no new information for her. (she wants us to update our schedules, but half of us don't have any schedule info because the whole preceptorship matching has been royally botched, and we're supposed to start on friday, oopsies). there are 2 teachers in charge of our preceptor class and one was frantically yelling at us, "i don't know how to make this any more clear! you have a computer virus, that's why my word document didn't upload properly! why didn't you get my emails?!?!" and the other teacher said, "i don't know why you're bending over backwards to help them, they aren't babies, let them figure it out." real nice, huh? its just this whole crappy disrespectful attitude that we get treated with, that i'm over. i know its a new school, and i know there are growing pains. and the one aspect i'm really confident in is our academics. i KNOW i am learning and i will be a well-educated BSN RN. but the drama, and the getting yelled at and treated like a little kid... the plans and rules always changing, things falling apart and not coming through, rubrics and schedules changing and changing and changing - i'm just over it. it would be a LOT easier to roll with the punches if i wasn't talked down to and belittled all the time. its a one year BSN, you know its not going to be fun or awesome. that's a given. but the manner with which the administration treats its students, the attitude the faculty have - the disrespect - to me that tips this over to unbearable. i think if anyone has a BSN option other than RCON, they should take that. if RCON is your only choice, and you have to be a nurse... then i say go for it, but just be ready to hang your head low and take the verbal beatings like a chump. because that's how this school rolls. the bottom line is that you are a pay check and a meal ticket to these people. the longer they string you along, and the later in the program they fail you - the more money they make. there is no care, comfort, understanding or reliability from the administration. if they change the schedule with 12 hours notice, you better cancel what you had and show up to get yelled at. if they want to add a bunch of exams to a syllabus at the last minute, you better open up the book. the rules about clinicals change ALL the time, the schedule for clinicals changes, and if you can't bend over and take it... it falls back on you. they will simply kick you out and take your money. this is a business that is for profit and its very obvious every second of the way. i mean, 10 people were in danger of failing 3rd quarter and they didn't issue books until the first day of the 4th quarter because they didn't want to give books to people failing out. so therefore, no one could read ahead. in your class and for new students - if you miss a clinical day, you have to pay out of pocket the money it costs for an instructor to lead a make-up clinical. it makes great business sense, sure. but i was hoping to go to a school, not invest in a business that has no regard for my well-being after i've sunk my money into it.

KW-JAM, congrats. i seriously wouldn't reccomend this program to my worst enemy. this past year has been awful. i have 7 weeks to go until graduation, and i'm counting the seconds. well, i guess i mean until i'm finished with the program. our graduation is on a wednesday night, at 5:30pm, in downtown orlando (we had to work around the dean's vacation schedule, of course)... so none of my family can attend the graduation - same goes for about 90% of my classmates. so after all this, i won't even get pinned. not like i'd let a single administrator from our school come near me with a needle. i have to go get ready now. i got an EMAIL at 5pm last night saying that i have a mandatory lab today at school. that was nice of them to give us a lot of warning. RCON is a mess. academically, its a rigorous program. because of our location we're able to get some quality clinicals at great hospitals. but because the school is new, its the scraps of all the shifts. so get ready for a year of working nights and weekends. class 5 days a week on top of that. an administration that can't get their **** together to save their lives. and prepare yourself to be treated with the attitude that you are worthless, your $36,000 of tuition is worthless (yeah, its gone up... we got in at 30k), your previous education/work experience/life is worthless, your family and their needs are worthless, any interest or life you have outside the school is worthless, etc. here's one more anecdote for you. my gma was rushed to the ER in respiratory distress saturday. (turns out she has CHF and pneumonia). i live with my grandma. i was at a clinical that ran from 9am-5pm. it was my last gerontology clinical, i haven't missed a minute of any of the previous ones. my gma went to the ER around 3pm, and the teacher told me if i left 2 hours early - all the hours i'd been there since 9am would not count, and i would fail the course. nice, huh? get ready for a YEAR of that. good luck!

Nope! Its a different kind of nutrition class, and its a combination class that also goes into Health Promotion and Genetics. The nutrition component is specific for nursing, and I assure you its very different than a regular undergrad nutrition test. To my knowledge, the program is a block. Everyone takes all of the classes, together, with each cycle. I think there may be an opportunity to clep out of pathophysiology, but I've yet to see it happen. We have people who've been in nursing school before, and have masters degrees in microbiogy, and so far they've all been required to take and pass every class in the curriculum.

Wow. I don't even know where to start. I am so curious to know who even had the balls to post this? First of all, about the 7 hours - yeah, it sucks... and it gets worse. This term, Q4, we have 7 and 8 hour days back to back, with 14-hour clinical shifts on weekdays too. We'll get out of the hospital at 9pm on a Tuesday night, have HESI exams at 8:30am the next day, with class going till 5, and then an 8am -5pm lecture on Thursday, with more clinicals on Fri and Sat. So you ain't seen nothing yet. Now, your comment about nutrition? Do you even know the student? Have you even taken an exam in that class yet? Spoken like someone truly in the first 2 weeks of a class. The teacher that we had for nutrition is no longer an employee of the school. Her mid-term exam, although open book, took the average student 3.5 hours to take, with the window allowing for 5 hours if needed. That exam and the final were 2 of the hardest tests I've ever taken, requiring such specific answers - even if you googled and used the book - there wasn't enough time to research everything. The final had essay questions in there too. After the mid-term, the professor admitted that there were SEVEN incorrect questions on the test, out of 100 total - and she refused to change/correct/omit them. So. That was an automatic -7 for EVERYONE who took the test. The highest you could get was a 93, unless you answered one of those 7 questions incorrectly and chose the wrong answer she had indicated on her answer key. (this testing situation is probably a reason she is no longer school faculty). Furthermore, there were weekly assignments that she hand graded that required research in nursing journals, APA citation and answering dozens of questions. I spent the day after Christmas doing one at my husband's house (out of state, I was traveling for the holidays) and it took me 4 hours. We also had to write a genetics paper, that I earned a "C" on, due to APA errors. According to this professor, you aren't allowed to use italics on a Reference page. Clearly that's BS (in accordance with APA 6th edition), but it was just another symptom of the problem the school was having with this professor. By no means was it an easy class, and now with a different teacher, I hope your experience will hardly compare to ours. The student who "failed" nutrition did so because she didn't take the final exam. She logged on ten minutes before the online exam window ended, and wasn't allowed in. When she called the professor at 4:50pm (we had until 5pm to log in), the teacher didn't care and wouldn't grant her permission. So she received a zero for the final, making it impossible to pass the class. Was it her own fault? Yeah. But i assure you, it had NOTHING to do with intelligence. So maybe you should get your facts straight before you go off making errant comments on a public forum. You have a totally different set of circumstances, and seeing as you aren't even 15 weeks into the program yet... I'd tread carefully when making assumptions about students who are farther in the program than you are.