mommybear9

Congratulations ADN Class of 2014!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have been praying for you and I am SO excited for you. I remember crying and laughing as well. I think it took me until about half way through the first semester to accept that I was really in and that I didn't have to work to "get in" any more. I just needed to work hard to finish well. I am SO happy for you!! Jackie ADN Class of 2012 (Graduating in 31 DAYS!!! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!) President

You guys are giving me goose bumps!! Just FYI.... and this is no guarantee of course because I am just a student, not part of GTC faculty... but the way a lot of us found out was by the change from Cert to ADN as well. Oh my gosh!!!!!! Keep watching for those emails!!! It should be any time now. Let's see..... first semester.... I will share a little about our first semester with you, but every semester they change things up a little based on how things went and how they can improve. The first semester is a bit bumpy because all of the sudden you have a ton of reading and you really have to begin the process of "thinking like a nurse". It's so different than the way we all normally think. Cool thing is.... WE DID IT!!!! It took a while, but our class finally wrapped our heads around it and it is SO rewarding. Clinicals for us were at some extended care facilities first. After that we were at Eastside and GMC. I think that the junior class started at Eastside right away. During our program my class as been at GECC, Delmar, Eastside, GMC (Duluth and Lawrenceville, John's Creek, CHOA, North Fulton, Peachford, Summit... and I think there might be others I may be forgetting. Again... it will change every semester based on the hospital available, but the list seems to be growing each semester as we are establishing a great reputation in the hospitals. It's SO exciting!!

Okay doke..... so..... we found out by email (the current senior class). I'm not sure exactly how they are doing it this year, but I believe this is how they have done it the past two years. GTC compared to GPC....... I applied to and was accepted to both schools. I had taken my prereqs at GTC and yes... I do love the school. I did some research and you may want to do the same so you will have it when you make your decision. I found that the percentage rate of students that actually complete the program is significantly higher at GTC. I have heard that at GPC that is not the case. In my own personal experience, our instructors at GTC have worked incredibly hard for me, fought for me, and encouraged me. I have personally witnessed an instructor belittling a GPC student in clinical. It was awful! It may have been an isolated incident.... but then I had a family member at CHOA tell me how wonderful she thought our instructors were and how she had seen an instructor from GPC really get on their student in the room and she told the student she was marking her grade down from one level to the next because she didn't have the exact answer to something. Our instructors usually talk to us in private when something needs to be addressed and usually use it as a teachable moment, not a scolding.... if that makes sense. I would recommend that you do some research, maybe see if you can get some feedback from current or previous GPC students so you can get their direct opinion. I am afraid that I may be biased because I love our school. :) Good luck!!

Thank you so much. As of today we have 30 more days until our last final! It's crazy and exciting. It has been a tough but rewarding journey. I never "worked" in the lab. My friends Grace, Terri, and Kim C. did though.

Hi guys. This is Jackie from the current senior class at GTC. I remember this day and I am so excited for you! Praying that you all hear soon!

Hi Class of 2014 hopefuls! My name is Jackie and I am the President of the ADN Class of 2012. I am so excited for each one of you and you have been on my mind a lot. Our class cannot believe that we have only 41 more days until we complete this journey. It's crazy! I remember being right where you are and I know how incredibly hard it is to wait. I just wanted you to know that it is the most awesome, challenging program you will ever experience and it is SO worth it! Good luck and God bless.

Welcome Class of 2013!!!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are SO happy for all of you and I cannot wait to meet every one of you. If you want to shoot me any questions (I am currently in the first year of the ADN Program), please do and I will try to answer them if I can. But for now... RELAX! ENJOY! CELEBRATE!!!! YOU MADE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi Melissa. I can answer that. I am in the first year of the program now. With our class we really didn't get that information until a while after we found out. What you need to prepare yourself for is to just breathe and relax once you know that you are in. Once you are in, you're in. It's kind of an odd place to be after you've become used to working hard every single day to get here. Don't worry.... you'll be working very hard when you start. ha ha You will receive the information that you need in plenty of time, but if it is anything like it was for us and for the seniors..... it's not immediate. Our class will be available to you to answer any questions that we can. Don't rush into buying anything because you really do want to wait to assure that you get the right things for the program. We order our uniforms from a particular company. They will give you that info. You'll need a stethoscope. They will provide you with a book list. That's probably the biggest financial hit. They probably will NOT give you the reading assignment until very close to class starting and that is intentional. They want you to spend time relaxing and focusing on your family before you start the journey. Hopefully this information helps. If y'all want to know anything else, let me know and I'll answer if I have the info. I'm excited to congratulate all of you once you here so I am watching on here for the celebrations to begin. I hope they get the info out to you on Monday. You guys know about the "status" change clue, too... right? I saw that in your feed. Keep an eye out for that. That's how I found out and so did a few others. The emails go out about the same time the statuses change.

Hi all, I am currently in my first year in the ADN program at GTC. I am really excited for each of you and man I can remember how incredibly stressful this particular waiting period can be! You've done your part already so now is the time to let go for a few days and wait for the best roller coaster ride of your life. Some people seemed concerned about how things seem to change or information does not always seem concrete. I have to tell you that you really need to accept that that will be a part of your future in any nursing program, especially a good one. As a nurse, you have to be flexible. Every single experience brings with it many variables so you have to be able to roll with changes. .... is the most wonderful director that we could have. She is amazing. They line up X amount of people to interview. Basically, they want to assure that they have met each of the top XX students (based on the GPA and test scores). They also want to assure that they have interview enough people because what tends to happen is that they offer the positions in the program to (in our case 40 people, in your case it sounds like 60) a certain number of students and not all of the students will accept. Some have chosen to go to another program, some have had life situations come up or change. You'd be surprised at home many of the original chosen 60 will actually decline their positions. So they need to make sure that they have a good base of people so if that happens they can pull from the next person on the list that has already been pre-interviewed. Does that make sense? As far as the dates changing.... I understand how absolutely crazy that makes people feel. Again... I was there! But as ..... is given more information as far as when we can move into our new building, when she interviews and locates top notch staff, that allows her to increase the number of students so it's worth waiting a few days so more people can come in, right? Again... once you get in you will need to learn to take the information that you are given and ROLL WITH IT. Seriously. Our class leans on each other heavily. We have a blast! We work our tails off, but we laugh a lot and learn a lot too. Our hope is that once all of you have been excepted we will be here in case you have questions, need help, or just need encouragement when things get bumpy. I hope this helps. We're so excited to meet you and to help you to have the best experience possible. Let me know if you have any questions. Oh! One more thing!! YES!!! Take the summer off!!! I am SO one of those people who has a hard time letting things go and who wants to get ahead of the game, but there really isn't much you can do. Give yourself some time off, have fun, love on your family and friends because once you do start it is intense, but WAY worth it. Take care!

It was really nice to meet some of you today. So.... what did you think of the interviews?

Hi everyone. I am currently in our RN Program at GTC. We graduate in May of 2012. We are so excited for all of you. We keep asking when the interviews will start, etc... We don't know any more than you do, but I wanted you to know that we are thinking about you, praying for you, and we are crazy excited for you. It's crazy to think that we were in your shoes one year ago. Things happen so quickly and it is just the most awesome, amazing journey. I just wanted to say "Hello" and we wish you the very best of luck. When you receive your email for your interview, just be yourself... be open and honest... and just take in the experience. Our class is ready to be here to support you and encourage you as you join this wild ride called Nursing School. Congratulations on everything that you have done so far and good luck!!! Oh.. and by the way... the hair color conversation. CRACKED ME UP!! Y'all are dealing with stress just like we do. We talk about the most random things when we start to "crack". Take care and see you all soon! ADN Class of 2012

Hi Blessed78. I am currently in my first year in the ADN program at GTC. Congratulations on your success so far! That's excellent. As of last year and I assume this year.... GTC takes your GPA and counts it as half of your total "#" and they take your score on your entrance exam and count that as the other half of you total "#". So... if you have a GPA of 4.0 for example you would have 50 out of 50. Then when you take your entrance exam you would have ___ out of 50 for a total score of XX out of 100. They do not take into consideration where you took your prereqs. They take the top 60 people based on GPA and entrance exam into the interview process. It's scary, but actually pretty fun because you know that you are one step closer and that you are looking at many of your possible future classmates. The interview process is really for us as much as it is for the faculty. It is an opportunity to get a better picture of what to expect and what is to come. After that process, they notify the top 40 people. If anyone does not accept, then they continue down the list until they have 40 students who have accepted. I love GTC and am so happy that I am in our nursing program. I wish you and everyone else on here the very best of luck. I hope that this information helps. I'm sorry if I have made it more confusing. Please let me know and I will try to do better to explain.

sk8inghunny, I am so glad that this was helpful. Any time you have a question, just post it and I'll try to get back to you as soon as I can. Stay focused and you can do it!!!

Hi there. Sorry it has been a while since I have checked this. We are in the thick of finals so it's a bit crazy. Let's see... first, focusing on the entrance exam. Whatever resource Mrs. G tells you to use, know it inside and out. We had the Hesi, but I believe they are using Kaplan this year. So just spend at least a little bit of time to a lot of time each day so it feels comfortable. The reason that I say this is that the more it feels "comfortable" and "familiar", the less you will "freak out" when you sit down for the actual exam. I hope this makes sense... basically, this is what I have found works best for me. They directed us to the sections that we needed to prepare for and I studied them inside and out. Next question... our schedule. I'm kind of laughing.... it's crazy, but it's doable. As of right now we have lecture one day a week (Tuesdays). We also have some form of class time on Wednesday and Thursday. At the beginning that might be lab time where you learn skills. Eventually that becomes clinicals (LOVE clinicals!!!). So the time that we are committed that we HAVE to be available for "class" right now is Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. However...... you need to consider this a full time program. When you're not in "class", you're either reading, studying, writing a care plan, memorizing, etc... etc... etc.... To give you a small picture of the diversity of our class, we have one student who works full time (CRAZY!!), many that work part time, some that do not work at all. We have some who have children and some who do not. Some are married, some are not. We have a wonderful mixture. We all have different study styles to make it all work. You just have to find what works for you. It's actually kind of fun to find your nitch. For me, my favorite time is when my son has his 1-1/2 hours of soccer practice twice a week. LOVE that quiet time in the car reading!! We all pull for each other and try to help each other any way that we can. We have been thinking about all of you and I have been praying for our incoming class!! So... keep doing what you're doing and soon you will be here. Let me know if you have any questions... I hope this helps. Back to the books. I just love Finals... NOT!!!