nickasarbata

I'm also sorry you had a difficult time. My whole enrollment process has been a breeze too, and they were very generous in their credit transfer policy, even accepting old classes I took at Ashworth College (which my RN program absolutely did not accept). I was very happy to find that they accepted all of my prereqs and my RN degree, and I'll be starting in December with just 31 CUs. If you're having an issue, talk to your enrollment counselor or ask for a different enrollment counselor. Before WGU, I tried at Texas Tech and UT Arlington here in Texas, and both schools seemed incredibly unorganized. WGU has been a breath of fresh air -- so far! I'll let you know how I feel once classes have actually started!

I'll also chime in. I'm also graduating in December. In my experience, one thing I would have liked to know is that the calendars are hugely deceptive. Our calendars (especially in level 1) would show that we had class two or three days a week and then clinicals three or four days a week. Just know that you'll do somewhere between 12-16 hours of clinical per week pretty much every semester, and that's always done either on one 12hr day or split up into two six or eight hour days. You'll have classes one or two days a week (usually two) and you might have labs on additional days, especially in levels one and two. Your calendar may show four clinical days each week, but that's because there are many clinical groups. You will NOT have four days of clinical! You can also swap clinical sites with classmates if there's another group that works better with your schedule (as long as somebody from that group is willing to trade with you). Finally, it's all relative. In my opinion, level one was the hardest and it got progressively easier after that. We're busy in level 4 but I certainly don't think it's the hardest. But again, each student is different, and we have three/four separate campuses with different instructors so we all have slightly different experiences. Good luck!

Thought I'd chime in since I'm also a guy who moved to Austin from NYC. I did my CNA certification there and then immediately moved to Austin and jumped into nursing prerequisites. Pretty much what everyone else said is true. It's a great city if you can handle the insane heat, the ridiculous traffic, and say goodbye to at least 50% of your salary just by moving here -- if not more. For me, it's absolutely worth it, and I really love love Austin. Pay for CNAs is crap here. I work at a hospital and my base salary is $11.50/hour. They pay a dollar more on weekends, about 85 cents more for evenings, and something like a dollar more for night shift. So if you play your cards right, you might make $14/hr if you work weekend nights -- that's about as much as you can hope to make. We also have no unions here, so be prepared for dangerous patient loads! I work on a med/surg / IMC unit, and the CNAs are "supposed" to have 12 patients, but we always have more - I usually have 16-18, and I've had as many as 23. It is dangerous, not to mention impossible to manage. We're not a peaceful nursing home, we have very ill patients, and it's just too many (our nurses have six patients when everywhere else they'd only have 4-5 with this level of acuity). I'm two semesters away from graduating from nursing school. I blasted through all my prerequisites in two semesters, but most people need three. I had a 4.0 GPA and still had to wait THREE semesters before being accepted, because basically everyone has a 4.0. I didn't waste time though. I did all of my BSN prerequisites while I waited. I'm finally in and the program itself is fantastic. I'm at ACC, and you'll hear all the time how hospitals love hiring ACC grads over UT grads -- but that's an argument for another forum! Also, what was said about in-state tuition is absolutely true. I paid out of state tuition my first three semesters here, and ended up paying about $14,000 for one academic year at a COMMUNITY college. I didn't want to wait since I knew how long I'd have to wait AFTER being allowed to apply to the nursing program. But yes, it can add up! I will say that now that I pay in-state tuition, ACC's program is only about $900/semester. Very manageable. Finally I will say I tend to agree about the New Yorker thing -- it doesn't impress people around here. NYC work experience is really only something that employers in NYC require and/or are impressed by. I got my very first ever CNA job with no experience in a hospital not because I did my CNA course in NYC but because I spoke Spanish and had experience working in luxury hotels and they wanted staff that was customer-service focused. So go figure! (If you do happen to speak Spanish, let them know! It's immensely valuable around here!) Good luck! I think you'll like Austin, despite the warnings! Just be ready for the heat!!

In my program, everyone is required to take a basic nursing skills course (basically a CNA course) before being accepted into the program. So in first semester's clinicals we were expected to be able to do all of those basic skills from day one (baths, vitals, toileting, transfers, etc.) In our first semester we learned physical assessments, non-parenteral and parental meds (including all types of injections), catheterizations, NG insertion/removal and NG/PEG meds/feedings, and (basic) wound care. They put all of our checkoffs in the first 6 weeks or so of the semester and as we were checked off on a skill in lab, we were from then on allowed to do it in clinicals. Every program is different, but you'll never be thrown into a patient's room alone to do something you don't know how to do - nor should you be. Now not knowing how to do something and being nervous about doing something are different things. Most people in my clinical group felt very much out of their comfort zone quite a bit during the semester, but that's how you learn and grow!

lejpej - Just now seeing your message so you may already be retaking some classes. Their system is pretty ridiculous, but it's because we're now competing with so many other schools for clinical sites. I had the max 56 points my first time applying and didn't get in. Don't forget that once you apply and take Nursing Skills, that will also count to your points, so everything will be multiplied by 11 instead of 10. So my first application I had 56 and the second I had 65. I'd advise against retaking classes over at this point with the score you have. The reapplication points plus the nursing skills class should give you enough to get in. I'd start working on BSN prerequisites while you wait. I had three full semesters (including the summer) between finishing my last ACC prerequisite and starting the program, and in those three semesters I got ALL of my BSN prerequisites done which will make for a quick transition to the BSN. Work on those and you'll be in the program before you know it. Don't waste time and money retaking classes to give you a quarter of a point higher on your reapplication points. The days of needing perfect scores are over, they're not enough anymore. You need reapplication points, so just work on BSN stuff in the meantime and soon you'll be in the program!

Does anybody know what we're supposed to wear to orientation on the 10th? Scrubs, business casual, or whatever we want? Also, where did you guys get your patches sewn on? I got the patches, but the lady at the scrub store basically discouraged me from having "their person" do it... she said it was expensive and took a long time. If they were iron-on I could do it myself, but I'm not going to attempt to sew them on myself!

It is pretty overwhelming to take all three, but it can be done. I did all three plus human g&d and still got all A's. Things are different now - perfect grades are no longer enough, reapplication points are required. So I'd say do it, get that first application in as soon as possible. Reapplication points will mean way more than the tiny difference between an A and a B.

I got CEC, my first choice! Excited to begin! Annoying that they've still got delays, but I sent my CBC today and working on all the medical stuff next week, so it feels like things are starting to happen! Congrats to all, excited to meet those of you who'll be at CEC, and soon it'll be time to review for that skills checkoff and try to remember dosage calculation which I completed more than one year ago!

Has anyone received their campus placement email yet? They were supposed to arrive yesterday right?

I got in!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Chose CEC, Hybrid, EVC, RRC CONGRATS to all who got in, and to those who didn't, don't give up!! With ACC, it's not a matter of IF you'll get in, it's a question of WHEN.

Thanks michellemc! I hope you're right, but with ACC, I'll believe it when I see it!! Where are our letters?! They can't send them all out at once since each email is personalized... (or maybe acceptance letters aren't and they'll send them all out at once?!). Can they just send them already?! They've got 38 minutes left. What if we don't get them today?! :-(

We don't have rankings until we get the letters (and even then I don't know if they "rank" the people who actually get in. Last time when I didn't get in I had 56 points and was ranked 167). This time I have 65 points, so unless they lied to us, we should all know our ranking within the next 42 minutes!!

Tick tock, tick tock... :-/

Good luck to everyone tomorrow!! The day has finally arrived (again)! I had 56 points last time and really thought I would get in, but alas it wasn't so. This time I've got 65 points so that better freaking be enough! I agree with everyone that it's totally ridiculous how tough it is to get into this program. Something's gotta change. I remember last round of applications everything was so delayed because they said they were trying to hire more professors to be able to take in more students. After all that extra waiting they ended up taking even fewer students than ever. I guess we lost some clinical spots to Texas State and Concordia. So it gets more and more competitive and takes longer and longer. At this rate people will have to take all the pre- and co-requisites with perfect grades and then still wait around for two or more years before they get in. I worked my butt off and did all the pre- and co-reqs in just two semesters, managed to get all A's, and I really thought that would mean something. Apparently not! I finished last December, so with perfect grades working in hyperspeed, you'll still wait two full semester (three if you count the summer) before getting in. Totally crazy. Luckily I've spent my "downtime" working on all my BSN prerequisites, so by the end of this semester I'll have everything required to jump right into UT Arlington's online RN-BSN bridge. So not wasted time, but I don't exactly feel like I'm working toward becoming and RN when I'm studying Texas Government, British Literature, statistics, etc. Oh well, I guess it's part of the process. Once again, good luck everyone, hope to hear good news from you all soon!

Good luck to everyone! Emails coming today or tomorrow!! Crossing fingers for us all!!