Forminsko

This trend is alive and well in the hospital where I work, too, though there are a lot of veteran nurses on my MICU. It's like you said: the new nurses coming in aspire to NP, etc. I think it has to do with the perspective the new nurses have. I am relatively new, myself, so I have watched it, and maybe my experience is similar to others' (though I do not want to be an NP, myself.) When I started my pre-reqs for my ASN, it was still a viable option to just have an associate's degree, though of course the move toward BSNs was already starting. By the time I finished my ASN, several years later because it was almost impossible to get into the prerequisite classes because they were so in demand, it was clear that a bachelor's degree was going to be a necessary next step. I went ahead and got mine, but by the time I finished that, (this past Spring), it started to look like the only way to open up any career options for one's future--whether near or far future, mind you--would be to get a master's degree. It's like the goal posts keep being moved. This trend is a little discouraging to me as someone who came to this career as a second career later in life. Still, bedside nursing, I am sure I needn't tell you, is so taxing, physically and emotionally.

May I ask what city you work in? That sounds just awful to me. I've worked virtually my entire nursing career in the ICU. I would be totally lost on the med-surg floor. It's a totally different type of focus, a different type of nursing practice. Just as I would not expect those nurses to be able to step into the ICU, I cannot step into their environment simply because I'm trained to work with more critically ill patients. Terrible policy.

Now THAT is a useful post about how to approach preparation for the NCLEX. I am not sure I will be able to follow all your advice about how to prepare, but I am going to try. I can't thank you enough. (And congratulations!)

@Snookie: Thanks so much for the words of encouragement (and sympathy!) I took two classes this semester so I'll be golden for the Spring with 6 more points for those and 1 point for having applied before. So I'll see you in the Spring, I hope! Best wishes to you!

I got my letter of "rejection" today. I missed by one point. If I said I was not upset, I'd be lying, but I can't do any more that what I did. We'll see what happens for the Spring term. Best wishes to everyone.

Snookiejc: Thanks! You really are so sweet and supportive. I am actually super close to the cut-off this time. I still have some dim hope that enough people will decline that a few people under the cut-off will get in--like me, for example? Last year a friend had 79 and got a very late offer to the program, though she'd gotten into LACC by that time. So it can happen. And Sociology and Speech are done now. If I don't get in for the Fall, I'm taking U.S. History and Nutrition to get them out of the way. Still, maybe I'll see you there! Keep your fingers crossed and work hard so I see you in the Spring, if not the Fall!

Congrats Cabion & Snookie...I am really happy for you--I know how long this process is! Alas, it doesn't look good for me this semester. I'm taking Sociology & Speech this semester and should have A's in both, so next semester, my points should be high enough to assure my acceptance. Good luck to all the people still waiting to hear! Keep us posted.

I don't get why different people are getting different answers. Why was I told that they've already started sending out letters when "cabion 666" was told they're not ready to go out? I would love to have someone just respond to me in a sort of friendly way, much less "invite me to call back" like Snookiejc... Snookiejc, is there someone in particular you are speaking to when you call or some particular question you ask? I can just hear it in their voice how SICK TO DEATH they are of these calls--I've called twice in the last month, myself--but seriously, the next two years of our lives hang in the balance. It's more nerve-racking on our end, I'd say.

I just called County and was told that they've already started sending out letters...Has anyone heard? The woman would not tell me what the lowest points would be for acceptance into the program, so if anyone gets in, could you please share what your points are? This has really been horrible being made to wait. (I also asked if we would get letters telling us one way or another if we got in or not and she said that we would.)

I followed this thread all the way through and I hope it can keep going so we can all start hearing what the cut-off points are, etc. I heard the cut-off last semester was 80 and I have a (nail-biting) 81 points this semester. Next semester I'll have 87 because I'll have taken two classes that I'm currently getting A's in and one extra point for having already applied once. But this semester...Ugh. I just am having such a hard time waiting. (I wish they wouldn't have posted that May 15th was the date they'd start sending out letters. Clearly it isn't that early, normally.) I can't believe it's become this extremely competitive. Clearly there are a lot of us wanting to go into nursing school, but this many got straight A's in pre-reqs and HIGHER than 75% on the TEAS V? It tells you how high the caliber of students is going to be in the class, for sure! Best of luck to everyone.

Actually, I called them at the beginning of May and--unless someone has heard differently since then--they told me that May 15th was a little early. It will probably be, "closer to the beginning or middle of June," according to the woman I spoke to. For someone like me who has 81 points it's VERY nerve-wracking because that was right around the cut-off last year, I think...

Well, I got my results for the TEAS V and I got an 88%. I was thrilled with it, but have to also say that I studied incredibly hard for the test. A lot of people on this site talk about how easy the test is and I'm not sure why...honestly, I think it really depends on what your recent schooling has been. Although brushing up on Algebra was enough for me to do well, I have had VERY little Chemistry EVER so that was not something I was able to teach myself quickly. Getting a grasp of what this PARTICULAR test looks for in terms of READING COMPREHENSION and their use of terms like "theme" vs. "main idea", etc., really helped me do better and better every time I took a practice test. So I recommend it. I wish I had studied DNA/RNA and the VERY detailed processes involved in Meiosis & Mitosis. My test required very comprehensive understanding of those topics and I wasn't there! Good luck to people taking the test!

How did your test go? Where did you take it?

Buy the book. The sample test online is closer to the real test, but EVERYTHING that is tested is in the book. Everything. I left the test and thought for sure they had asked science questions that "I couldn't possibly know" and when I got home and looked more closely, those points were more deeply covered in the text. It's invaluable. My copy is dog-eared from paging back and forth in it.

No. Not the same questions. Well...I don't know. Not that I was able to recall. If it happened, it was VERY incidental. Not most of the questions, at all.

Get the ATI Study Manual. There are two practice tests in the book. But for myself, after I showed a lot of improvement between taking that first one and the second, I almost said, "Forget it!" and was going to not buy the online versions at ATI's website. I don't recommend that at all. The online versions were FAR closer to the difficulty level of the actual test. The real test was even harder than those so they prepare you better. They can be purchased individually for $35 or as part of a package with 2 of them and the study guide for...$85 (?). It's a good deal to get them all. I wish I had, like I said. Good luck.

I just took it the other day and I have to say, no one has it down better than POKEMON. Listen to POKEMON!!! Don't do what he/she says not to do and DO what he/she says to do. It's totally the way the test broke down. I was LOST on the S-phase, Interphase stuff and rattled by all the DNA, RNA questions. It is a tough test and I wish more people would talk about how challenging it is. It's not a walk in the park. I have an English degree and consider myself pretty proficient in grammar and punctuation but there were things I took for granted that I wish I had just glanced at before I took the exam:

How did your TEAS go?

The place I took it administered it in the paper/pencil version--which is nice when it comes to going back and checking work, etc.--so we won't get our results for a week. Pain in the gluteus. This whole process has already been an extended exercise in hard work ---> patience ----> focus ----> letting go of results. I'm not sure if the extra questions made it seem harder, but we'll see if that played into the results in a positive way. I really wanted to put it out there that it's not as easy as a lot of people make it out to be. Even if it happens that I did okay on it, very little of my reasoning was anything other than educated guessing through much of the science portion. Still...that can go a long way toward narrowing choices down on a multiple choice test, right? You're so lucky to have been able to get your results so soon!

I took it today and it was UNBELIEVABLY hard. To put it in perspective, I got A's in all pre-requisite classes for nursing school. I have studied diligently for a month and a half--took 2 practice tests in the ATI study guide AND bought and took 2 other ones online on their site. I thought I had prepared sufficiently. The real test, as far as I'm concerned, was MUCH more difficult. I don't know if the added difficulty had something to do with the "extra" questions they added on to each section, or not. (Are those "extra" questions more difficult or are they just being sampled to test their effectiveness? 20 questions just get dropped from the test and I sure hope it was the ones I was so lost on!) Anyway, if you haven't taken it, I urge you to prepare yourself! I have read countless postings on here about how much easier it is than people think it's going to be. I don't know what my score is yet, but it will be a miracle if I got above the 75% needed to get into the school I want to go to. Good luck, everyone!

Thanks, gc1010. I'm going back to my percentages--the practice test does break it down--and going from there. I made only a couple mistakes that I would term "stupid mistakes." One on reading, one on English (!), and a couple on math. That's 4 points, though, which really makes a difference on a test like this! So I will be taking more time with the real test. Someone on here mentioned the importance of reading EVERY answer before choosing. It's basic but sound advice, I find. The science portion, though...that part I answered each question to the very best of my ability, but missed 19, despite feeling prepared! I am concentrating on DNA/RNA, genes, chromosomes, Mitosis/Meiosis, and though I think it's probably going to yield diminishing returns, chemical properties of elements. I think the new test doesn't have geology stuff on it--my practice didn't, and neither does my official study manual--so I'm not worrying about that.

I can't tell you how much I needed to hear that. Thank you, Malefocker.

Thank you so much for the break-down. I am sorely behind on the deeper knowledge of Chemistry and some of the other things. I was surprised on the practice test how in depth the questions were. Off to study. Maybe I can learn a few things before Friday!

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! I'm taking the test Friday morning. I've been studying so diligently and am at a bit of a saturation point. This was exactly the list I needed to put things into focus for the next couple days. It's an excellent guide. Thanks again. Wish me (and all of us who still have to take it) luck!

I have been studying the ATI study guide for TEAS V and I did quite a bit better on the second practice test in that book than I did a week before on the first one. But tonight I paid for one of the online versions of the practice TEAS V and it was BY FAR AND AWAY more difficult. Wildly more difficult! The science stuff just blew me away and I just got done with all my science pre-reqs and got straight A's in them all! I was so discouraged and demoralized. I take the real test on Friday morning and I am overwhelmed with how to approach preparing the next couple days. (I got about a 85% on the book's practice exam and only a 76% on the online one. And that is REALLY cutting it close to get into the school I'm applying to; it requires 75%.) It's official: I'M FREAKING OUT! Any advice will be VERY welcome.