NIUnurs2be

Just want to thank everyone for the great responses!!

Hello Everyone! I want to thank you for any help in advance. I know there a lot of study/note taking threads on the site and I have looked through most of them, but none of the threads really get at what I am looking for. I am reading all of my chapters for Fundamentals and I only highlight what I find MOST important but everything seems important and highlighting 80% of the text is counterproductive. For past courses, I make study guides from the textbooks by outlining everything and including important information; however, for two chapters my study guide is already 42 pages. It takes me all day to get through one chapter and make these study guides. So for the next two chapters I tried index cards, even though I am not fond of index cards, in question and answer style but for one chapter I had 125 index cards, by the time I read all of the chapters I will over 700 of them and that doesn't seem very efficient. With my work load, I really want to study smarter not harder. Do you have suggestions? Any methods that work best for you? And just a piece of info, I do have to read all of the chapters, are professor says anything in the textbook is fair game and past students testify this to be true so I can't just focus on the powerpoints. THANKS AGAIN!

From someone starting a BSN program this fall, I too have a wide range of emotions. More than anything, I just want to start already!! I am such a nerd and am so excited to cover nursing material, even though I have heard the theory can be a little dry. But I am also beyond scared that after I graduate I won't be able to find a job and pay off my increasing school debt. Plus, I am book smart but my common sense can be lacking. So I think it's completely normal to experience all kinds of feelings before starting such a big chapter. Best of luck to you : )

I hear this question time and time again. I began my college career in the hopes of becoming a speech language pathologist and three years later decided to pursue nursing. Most people think I am out of my mind and especially since I have a twin sister who is entering pharmacy school. "You're too smart to be a nurse." "The hours are horrible and the doctors treat you like garbage". "You have too much school debt, a nursing career doesn't pay that much." The list goes on... Granted I am just starting nursing school, but I am not entering it with any fantasies. I think a lot, not all, but a lot, of college students enter a nursing program and get their first job as an RN without ever having any solid experiences in the working world besides a few part time jobs. Truth is, there is politics wherever you go. I don't care who you work for or what you do. There will always be some type of administration thinking they know best and constantly trying to "improve" things. Policies change by the minute in order to make up for budget cuts or match up to new standards. I for one, am amazed by the human body and spirit. I want to be apart of someone's recovery. Even if every other patient on my case load thinks I'm a dumb nurse who can't do anything right, I firmly believe that "that one" patient can make all that difference. And I, in return, hope I can be "that one" person for someone else. I think nursing provides a little bit of everything I am interested in, I love to educate, I love to counsel, I love knowing that one day I will have the tools to heal or alleviate someone's pain and suffering. I love science and interacting with all different types of personalities. I know the job comes with poop, vomit, back-breaking shifts, inferiority, perhaps not good enough pay, but at the end of the day, it's all frame of mind. I am firm believer that you get what you put into things. Look through like from a negative angle and anything and everything will appear negative. And hopefully one day when I do become an RN and I question my profession, which I am sure someday will happen, I can look back at this post and remember : )

Hello there, Although I am not currently enrolled in an ABSN program, I did extensive research and talked to a lot different schools in the Midwest area, before deciding to go into a regular 2 year BSN program. Every school looks for something a little different, and the average gpa of accepted students ranges from year to year depending on the applicant pool. Most of the schools I spoke with look heavily at your science gpa while others looked more specifically at your last 60 credits. Overall, I was told that if I maintained a 3.5 and above I should be okay. However, with your educational background I would think that even if with a gpa between a 3.0-3.5 ( which by the way is still amazing), that you should still be a strong candidate especially with your strong science background. Basically, these schools want to ensure that they select students who will succeed in the program and can handle a rigorous program. That being said, I would get a hold of each school you are interested in and talk to them about what they are looking for, some of them require some pretty different pre-requisites, and will judge an applicant using a variety of different tools. Hope this helps! Good luck : )

Thank you all so much for the replies : ) I really do appreciate everyone's input and advice

Hello all! I am probably going to come off sounding like a huge nerd, because I know it is summer and I am supposed to be relaxing but I am one of those people who like to stay busy and engaged at all times. I am starting nursing school in the fall and recently received a list of required textbooks, for the past week I have been debating on whether or not to order the Fundamentals of Nursing book and do some early reading. I know a lot of people will suggest enjoying my free time while I still have it, but I have already done all of my leisure readings and I have brushed up on dimensional analysis for meds, and some topics in anatomy and physiology. Will it be worth my time to get a head start on the book or should I wait for the assigned readings of the syllabus? I would appreciate any feedback at all. I hope everyone is enjoying their fourth of July weekend : )

It is a BSN program to achieve your liscence as an RN. I go to Northern Illinois University. I think it is pretty strange also, I don't know of any other school in the state that combines the two courses, but the program itself has a decent reputation and has been producing nurses for a while, so I imagine it is legit.

In almost every other univeristy I know, you also have to take A&P I before A&P II but for whatever reason, the school I attend combines both courses into one full semester. I don't think that type of course would transfer anywhere else to a different college, but that's how things are done at the state school I am enrolled at, which is why I am concerned, because two semesters worth of material are crammed into one.

I was just hoping to get some input from other students who have taken either A&P I and II in one semester or have completed the sequence in general. For my spring term I am finishing my pre-reqs in hopes that I will be accepted for the nursing program in the Fall of 2011. I waitress about five nights a week and my course load for the upcoming spring semester is the following: A&P I and II, (which has two labs), Intro to Bacteriology (one lab, at our school this can course can be taken instead of Micro), Medical Terminology, and Individual and Social Patterns of Drug Use. Is it feasable to do well in these courses while working during all throughout the week or would it be wise to cut back to just weekends? I know everyone handles work loads differently; however, I was hoping to get some perspective, because I have a tendency to think I take on the world and then end up feeling like I have been hit by a semi by the the end of the term : ) Thank you in advance!!

That's actually really funny that you say that, because I had already finished my third year at Augie and everyone tried to tell me to finish and graduate, then go onto get my second bsn in nursing. I was so worried about whether or not I would be eligible for any financial aid considering I would be a 2nd degree student, that I transferred to NIU. BIGGEST MISTAKE EVER! Now, I just wish I would have taken out the extra loans and stayed at Augie : (

So, I am hoping for some input by fellow illinoisians. I recently transferred from Augustana College to NIU in order to enroll in the nurisng program. However, I am really dissatisfied by the state school atmosphere, feeling like just another face and not really having that one-on-one time with the professors, so I also applied to University of St. Francis in Joliet. Although, acceptance into the nursing program is not guaranteed yet (I have a few more pre-reqs to complete), does anyone know how the two programs compare to one another? The tuition at the private school is of course more expensive, but I would rather take out more loans and have an enjoyable college experience than be miserable for the next few years. Apart of me says that if I get accepted into the NIU nursing program that things will get better, the class sizes will be smaller and the students will be more academically focusd, so should I stick it out or apply elsewhere? If anyone has attended either program or heard anything, I would be extremely appreciative of the feedback : )

So, this question may be a little broad. But I recently transferred to NIU (Northern Illinois University) from a private college to hopefully get into the nursing program. But I am really disappointed by the general atmosphere of the campus, the classes are extremely large and impersonal, which I understand is necessary in such a large state school; however, now I am second guessing whether I should enroll in the NIU nursing program if I am indeed accepted or if it may be worth my while to look into a private or smaller bsn program. I was wondering if anyone had any experience with the program itself or have heard good things about it. Also, I would like to know how people feel about the differences between private school nursing programs or state school programs. Is the cost difference worth it? Thank you in advance : )

My twin sister goes to Loyola for pharmacy, and she is actually a great Chemistry tutor, so if you need help you can go the Sullivan Center, she had done wonders for me. Good luck with everything, I am sure you will do great.

I was just curious. I noticed you are looking into nursing programs in illinois. I am currently a pre-nursing student at NIU and I was just wondering which university you are attending, because I just recently transferred there in hopes I will be accepted into the program for Fall of 2011. I did thorough research on practically every school in illinois, so perhaps I could help.