bsnbear

Yokara (and others), I have a potential opportunity to be in a similar situation to yourself - I am a recent grad, brand new RN, in Thailand. I have no experience as a paid nurse, curious in the last 2 years what progress you made towards nursing. I would be in Bangkok, so this "might" make my plight a bit easier than you, but curious if you or anyone else has any helpful advice. I would be moving with my wife being posted to Bangkok, due to here role, acquiring a work visa would not be a challenge. Any helpful advice would be appreciated!

niburs was just checking the sight to see if new acceptance was finalized yet...congrats to those that are in. I am 3rd semester BSN at shady grove... no time to reply to all your questions in detail right now... silver spring is great location for clinicals. some are in DC, many in shady grove, occasional in Balt or fredrick. they change every semester so it is difficult to say for sure...i will mention that you do need a car (some folks try to carpool, but it's not easy), I have tried the public transit route from pg county, can be done but difficult. and you don't always get your first pick for location the program is excellent. I am a second degree student and am overly impressed with the attention we receive at shady grove. i can't send individual emails - system won't let me...i know they have aquota of miinimum posts before we can do so.

SBW4RN, I was checking into the site and saw your question and figured I might be able to save thumbs a minute while I procrastinate from studying :). I am a 2nd semester junior right now at shady grove (started school last spring). I am assuming your schedule will be fairly similar to ours, and i just looked on the registration site to see what schedule is looking like for spring - and it looks similar to our 1st semester - labs are not listed. in addition to the schedule listed below, you will find out your lab assignments at orientation. You will have a lab section for health assessment and intro to nursing I personally had lab on Tuesday 10-12 and thursday 1-3 (in addition many students use the open schedule friday to attend open lab -- i often went on saturday) Note: 1st semester is the heaviest load of scheduled time on campus. 2nd semester is challenging but less structured schedule since focus is on clinicals and online class. I hear 3rd semester is apparently the busiest and most difficult to manage in terms of schedule. I am scared to think about last semester - trying to pass classes i have right now if you were wondering schedule in regards to working -- it can be done - i worked too much ~25hours/week, but had a very flexible supervisor. Monday: 10am-1pm Health Assessment 5-7:30pm patho Tuesday: 5-7:30pm patho Wednesday: 2-5 Research lecture 10-1 Communication Module (only four weeks of the semester - actual 4 weeks are determined at start of semester) Thursday: 11-1 intro to nursing Friday: no class, but four fridays out of the semester spent in clinicals - anticipate full day between hours and commuting to location

I had to work during 1st semester BSN at shady grove. it's do-able, but if you can avoid it, it would be to your benefit not to work. many of my classmates also had jobs - few worked more than 20 hours, but some logged full time hours on night or weekends. if you have a non-traditional schedule, or like myself - a very flexible boss, you can balance both. sleep will suffer and you will not have a enough time to study, but if you HAVE to work - it can definitley be done

graceland, in terms of text books...were there some that were totally indispensable that we should definitely have before school begins (other than warnings I have heeded in reference to med-calc). or others you get the impression we would want to buy new and keep for many years. have had a lot of different advice on these pages in terms of waiting to buy from students that are selling used, buy now and be ready, buy from the bookstore during orientation, etc. I am just looking at the daunting amount of money to spend, especially when including "recommended books" and don't want to act too soon even with discounted books that may be tough to return (I am usually eager to have books in hand before school starts). your opinion, fresh out of first semester, would be appreciated!

umbismylife $70 is fair you can def find it cheaper. I think PG community college was $80 when i looked into it. and I have paid $60 in the past. I will be heading over from hyattsville as well - hoping to rely on some public transit, but will occasioanlly have to drive. didn't want to drive cause transit time is quality study time, but maybe we could quiz each other on drive:idea: some of the space between classes offers time for open lab practice or just general study...and we don't have all of our lab times listed yet..I think sched will get filled pretty quickly

bluelilmunkie/PPD: I saw on an earlier post (way early, like page 5) that mentioned a place in gaithersburg that offered walk in vaccinations at reasonable cost. I found one closer in hyattsville - much closer to me. try googling: american vaccination centers - i am sure there is a walk in clinic near you even if this organization isn't close. the office i went it was actually a pediatrician's office - i might have been lucky on the day i went, but i was in and out in a few minutes

hurricane bells - this is a guess, but one reason 85% classified as commuters is that some people choose to live all over the city because UMB has little "on campus housing" - if you live 4 blocks from campus you are still technically a commuter...and then i agree with previous posts - it is all about the bonding with friends in school - but it seems you get that from your follow-up so i won't harp on it...just say i am getting the sense that we are about to bond through some serious suffering:eek: umbismylife - i am bound for SG. orientation: Wed/thursday Jan 20 and Jan 21 (9am-4pm i think - but i know the dates are correct) i think uniforms, vaccinations, text books, and cpr were covered in previous/recent posts registration: dont get too stressed - there aren't any "sections choices" at Shady grove and there is space for all. I don't doubt you may have a hold up with registering, so just do your part to stay active on it...between snow storm and holiday break coming (including some mandatory furlough days for state employees), i would guess that you may not be able to register til early january....but give it your best shot to get it done. there are a couple steps to the process - all limited by the baltimore campus receiving your $400 deposit in conjunction with your signed "intent to attend" - if you are overly anxiuos you could likely drive up and hand deliver on lombard street in baltimore (but call ahead to make sure they are open and willing to accept it that way). there are several followup stpes that are explained pretty well in the packet, but none of the steps can really be followed through on until UMB processes your deposit. if you want to see the times of your lecture sections (we are apparently assigned labs) check out this page we will be taking 304,315,320,333 (your packet may say 405 instead of 320...but we were told that was incorrect): http://www.shadygrove.umd.edu/students/current/schedule/2010/Spring/#umb as cumbersome as it may seem, many of the questions that you may have will be answered here on the previous 13 pages of posts, including: what to rush and get done (vaccinations and CPR) and what may not have to be as rushed (books and "equipment") to other posts: i'll be at the lax games as well - just a fan someone out there mention PG county? headed to baltimore has MARC train options, headed to SG there is a FREE UM shuttle with WiFi that leaves from the student union in college park. not sure how reliable but i plan to chekc it out...may work well in mornings (6:30am is first departure and beats sitting in traffic), but doesn't run in late afternoons:sniff: and may have to suffer through long metro ride - but that can be time to study.

see the bookstore website: http://umb.bncollege.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/BNCBHomePage?storeId=34553&catalogId=10001&langId=-1 on the left is a very user-friendly system for entering our classes 304,315,320, 333...it will spit out the entire list including recommended books and equipment needs

minds12 and umbismylife...I was waitlisted for shady grove in last go round (fall'09)- accepted this time. This is only my opinion but I highly recommend getting immunizations done. I also see worth in having your doctor fill out the sheet that can be downloaded online (see page 2): http://www.umaryland.edu/health/medform.pdf this is not too much a factor for some of them, but you will have to have your Hep B's done at some point if you don't already (i am "more experienced" i.e. old, so i hadn't gotten Hep B), Hep B requires 3 vaccinations spread across a minimum of 7 months. the TB test has to be completed 2x's in year prior to your start of school, so that is another one that is worth knocking out regardless of when you are admitted. CPR is always worthwhile repeating, and because the waitlist can be determined right up til 1st day of classes, I see worth in having it done rather than scrambling for a weekend class last minute. so is it worth it? i think so, but make the doctor appointments and schedule CPR for after your exams, and focus on school for the next two weeks. good luck with waitlisting - it is nerve-racking, but don't be discouraged!!

Grey Lady, thank you for ALLLLLL of your input. and others - thanks for asking the questions i had and hadn't thought of yet. bunch of questions...anyone: if i am being redundant from previous posts feel free to just direct me to another part of thread Grey_lady, a few questions for you and/or current students who might be checking in occassionally. 1) in an attempt to be financially savvy...are we pretty safe to assume that the VERY user friendly online bookstore has up to date and accurate book lists. before i go searching for a great deal on a book I want to be sure I won't have to look to make returns. 2) does the book store at shady grove campus carry all course materials and uniform needs? or will there be occasional needs for trips to B'more 3) any current students out there have any thoughts on "recommended materials" for your courses 304/315/320/333 we have had folks comment on preparatory materials like med-calc review, but wondering more about class specific recommendations 4) thoughts on uniforms - start by buying two tops and rotating wearing a shirt under each day? 5) sorry to ask - but how serious is the white shoe thing (i.e. are small insignias in other color okay or totally taboo) - might sound bit simplistic, but my feet are important and i want to be comfy while adhering to the rules:specs:

repurifyfantasy...got my call last night after 5pm (shady grove, BSN) and still "committee ready" this morning (saturday)...so don't feel down and out - 80+ for balt and 50 for shady grove...that's a lot of calls to be made even if split amongst several admissions peops.

I trust everyone on here - and sincerely appreciate GreyLady's input, but I needed my own varification - in case I didn't hear anything tonight or tomorrow...:smackingf so i called admissions today - "we extended the deadline and are working through those add'l applications. You will know an answer BEFORE THANKSGIVING." that's a direct quote. As a result, i have come to the conclusion that the word "Shortly" means less than 11 business days...in our case - 2 weeks/15 days of uncertainty. So as my hopes for admission feel a bit fleeting i am consoled by the fact that if i am admitted and am short on cash, I can now tell the registrar that my check is in the mail and my tuition will be there "Shortly":jester: if the sun is out where you live -- get out and breath

"wanna'be" bsn admittee/second degree/shady grove applicant here - eml2412 - THANK YOU! :thankya: as my interest in my local community college grows with each repeated UNRESPONSIVE status check, your letter made my night - even if it is only for your own cathartic expression placed benignly this sight. I have been sitting on the sideline - partly because i didn't want to add any more stress to the thread:sofahider...thanks to all of you for sharing your thoughts. wishing us all great patience...namaste:zzzzz