Mirashu

Hi hlee, I'm not really sure which classes are included for the core sciences classes. I think it varies depending on which program (Accelerated or Traditional) you are applying to for admissions. -Mirashu

Hi hlee, I really can't say whether something would be deemed too controversial. I think that's up to whoever is grading it, however, I was told that the essay is mainly used to check for grammar, style, and structure. They need to know if you are good writer because you will be writing a lot of essays. The other thing I can say is that the essay, program GPA (not overall GPA), core sciences classes, and TEAS score are rated on a points system. From what I remember the points system goes something like this....the essay is given 1 point if it met criteria (mentioned above), you get points from 1-10 based on your program GPA, 1-10 points based on your core sciences grades, and 1-10 points based on your TEAS score. They add up the points and then take the highest. I know that you do not get points for being a second degree student, having work experience, or having extra curricular activities. Now, they may take all those things into consideration if there is a tie between two students...but that is just my speculation. My advice to you is to go talk with an advisor, bring a copy of your transcript, and have them explain the scoring system in detail for you. In this way, you know what to focus on that will increase your score the most. Don't worry if you have a low GPA because Georgia State has a wonderful policy about being able to retake classes for a better grade and only looking at your most recent grade for the class (so they won't factor in previous low grades). I hope that helps! Let me know if there is anything else I do to help you. -Mirashu

Hi mybebe001, Yes, as far as I know either sequence (biology, chemistry, or physics) will qualify for admissions into the nursing program. There are no added benefits to taking one sequence over the other. I took the biology sequence and was admitted for the Spring 2011 class. If you want to be positive, you can contact Angela Corely in the nursing department. She is very nice and always helpful. -Mirashu :-)

Hey all! If you've sent me your e-mail through a private message or posted your e-mail on this website, then I have sent you some more info about the ACE program. Let me know if you did not receive it. And feel free to e-mail me if you have any other specific questions! Have a happy 4th!!! -Mirashu

Hey guys!!! I hope everything is going well...I'm busy busy busy....but here are the books for pharmacology and the chapters that the previous Spring class was assigned to read. I bolded the books that the majority of students used frequently. Also, a book that is not on the list is the Pharmacology Reviews and Rationals that you can get on Amazon (I made a previous post about this book). I'll post the other classes later on, but this is one of the more time consuming classes. Just keep in mind that they may or may not have updated the books...sooo use your own judgement when purchasing books and get the official list from ULearn. Required Aschenbrenner, D. S., Cleveland, L.W., & Venable, S.J. (2009). Drug therapy in nursing (3rd ed,) Langan, J.C. & James, D. C. (2005). Preparing Nurses for Disaster Management. Recommended Aschenbrenner, D. S., & Venable, S. J. (2008). Study guide to accompany drug therapy in nursing. (3rd ed.) Pharmacology: Thomason Delmar Learning's Nursing Review Series (2007) OR Straight A's in Nursing Pharmacology 2nd edition. (2008) CHAPTERS Ch 2 generic and trade names Ch 4 Terms from class Ch 5 Adverse Effects Ch 6 Pediatric Considerations Ch 8 Elderly Considerations Ch 23 Severe Pain Ch 24 Moderate Pain Ch 25 Arthritis. Ch 34 Immune Ch 45 Viral Ch 46 HIV Ch 38 Principles Ch 39 Bacteria Ch 40 Protein Synthesis Ch 41 Miscellaneous Ch 42 UTI Ch 43 Mycobacterial Ch 44 Fungal Ch 26 Lipids Ch 32 Coagulation Ch 33 Hematopoiesis Ch 27 Urinary Output Ch 28 BP Ch 29 CHF Ch 30 Angina Ch 31 Rhythm Ch 48 Upper Respirator Ch 49 Lower Respiratory Ch 16 Muscle Spasm Ch 17 Movement Ch 18 Anxiety Ch 19 Mood Ch 20 Psychotic Ch 21 Seizure Ch 13 Adrenergic Ch 14 Cholinergic Ch 54 Male Ch 55 Female Ch 35 Corticosteroid Ch 52 Blood Glucose Ch 53 Thyroid and Pituitary Ch 50 Upper GI Ch 51 Lower GI Ch 10 Lifestyle, habits, CAM Student Postings Langen Ch 6,9, 10 Review of relevant antibiotic therapy

Hey guys! I promise to post something soon about what chapters to read and return e-mails about syllabus' that people want. Summer semester has been lots of work, but I hope to have some time to make a post in the near future. For the meantime, i suggest looking over pharmacology and the prototype drugs and doing the study guide. Oh yeah, the review and rationals books for pharm, patho, and other classes are not listed in suggested books, but are super helpful. Here's an example: http://www.amazon.com/Prentice-Hall-Reviews-Rationales-Pharmacology/dp/0132437104/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1307628924&sr=8-1. I'll make a list of the study guide i thought were helpful, but for sure the reviews and rationals books is something the upperclassmen recommend to me. Also, the study guide that goes with the pharm book and the study guide that goes with the main patho book. Hope that helps! -Mirashu

The first semester is tough. If you've seen the number of books you are required to purchase, you can automatically tell that there is not enough time to read all of the assignments. Don't worry though because as you progress and make friends with upperclassmen, you will see that there are some tricks to knowing how to study smart. Yes, it's very difficult to make A's in all of the courses because it requires a lot of stamina and learning how to not let stress conquer your thought process. However, the majority of students made A's and B's. I can't say for sure, but I think maybe 1 person might have made all A's. The first 7 weeks of class are by far the most difficult and most stressful and many students consider switching to Traditional, but my suggestion is to stick with it. If you are concerned about not making all A's because you are trying to get into graduate school, don't worry. Most graduate schools look for a GPA from 3.3-3.5 in your nursing courses, leadership opportunities, and experience. All of which are completely obtainable. My spring schedule went something like: Classes from around 8-5 on Mondays and Wednesdays. Everyone is off on Tuesdays and you will have either lab/clinical on Thursday OR Friday. On Mondays and Wednesdays, most people were too exhausted to study once they got home and opted to do the easier assignments or make notecards. On days off, the students that tended to make the better grades studied from about 9-12 hours a day (Tuesday, Thursday OR Friday, Saturday, and Sunday). My free time amounted to about 2 hours a night to relax before going to bed. After the first 7 weeks, my free time slightly increased to about 3-4 hours a day because we no longer had the mini-mester course or Math Dosage Exams. NSGS is the nursing organization for students at GSU. The organization offers a lot of opportunities for community service, opportunities to refine nursing skills, guest speakers that will help you understand nursing as a profession, and the opportunity to go to state and national conferences. It's a great way to get leadership experience if you hold an officer's position and for opportunities in networking. In my opinion, networking is a must for this profession! NSGS also has a mentorship program where new students are matched with upperclassmen to be their mentors. Having a mentor is key for excelling in the nursing program because you will learn how to study smart. As first semester Ace students, many of us felt that there was not enough time to participate with NSGS, but my experience has shown me that I actually saved more time by joining NSGS and being mentored on how to study smart. There are several positions for board members and the responsibilities vary greatly. NSGS will be there on orientation day where you can ask each board member about their responsibilities. My recommendations would be to just focus on the first 7 weeks and don't give up, you will survive through it, and the rest of the semester will seem more reasonable after that. If you want to make your life easier, then I highly encourage you to get the books and start reading at least 2-3 weeks before classes begin. If you haven't gotten the course syllabus yet, then I would be more than happy to provide you with what chapters you should read first based on my previous semester...just send me ur e-mail. I hope that helps and let me know if you have any other questions.

Hey everyone! Congratulations on everyone that got accepted to the program! You are all really going to love the program that you are in and all of the staff involved. I'm an Ace student and I started in Spring 2011 and I'm currently into my summer rotation. I've been through a lot, but have learned a great deal about the tricks to make this program work for you. Please feel free to contact me for any questions you might have. I'm currently part of the NSGS (Nursing Students at Georgia State) board too, so if you have any questions about joining this group and getting involved in your community please contact me. Good luck to all! I can't wait to meet some of you in the Fall for orientation! -Mirashu

Hi, The admissions committee has a point system for the way they evaluate who gets accepted or not. Unfortunately, there are no points given for previous degrees earned or job experience. I'm also a second degree student and I found this out the hard way. But don't worry, GSU let's you retake classes for better grades. Your academic evaluation only shows the grades for the most recent class you took. And....your program GPA is based only on the classes included in your nursing academic evaluation. So if you don't get in this semester, then retake some classes and eventually you can have a higher program GPA. Also, if you've only taken the TEAS once, I highly suggest taking it again. Use the study guide provided by ATI Testing and if you can remember some of the questions on the previous exam, then look them up (you might see them again ;-)). -Mirashu

Oh i don't know if I explained this well, but I believe that you must finish all of the prerequisite classes for your nursing program (either Traditional or ACE) before you are allowed to take the first nursing course.

Hi Kel3 and GSU11, Let me see if I can clear up a few things people have been wondering about. When the nursing committee evaluates your application, they ONLY evaluate you based on your program GPA, not your overall GPA (it does not matter if you are a second degree student or not). Your program GPA includes all of the courses listed under your “Academic Evaluation”. The academic evaluation can be found when you sign into PAWS, click on the One-Stop-Shop tab, go to Student Records, and choose View Academic Evaluation. Also, Georgia State has this wonderful policy where they only look at the grade you made for the most recent class you took. So let’s say you are a second degree student and the first time you made a “C” in chemistry, but you decide to take it again at GSU and make an “A”. The academic evaluation only shows the “A” you made and the nursing committee will never know you made a “C” the first time. I should also note that the nursing committee does see that you will need to finish prerequisites before the start of the nursing program. You may get an acceptance letter based on the prerequisites that you have already finished and what is currently on your academic evaluation, but they will be looking to make sure the you finish the rest of your prerequisites with good grades before you start the nursing program. So, no need to be worried/concerned…just finish the prerequisites on time and with good grades (C or higher I believe). It typically takes about 2-3 weeks to send out the first batch of letters. This can vary depending on the number of applicants and if they are short-staffed. The syllabus’ are not posted on ULEARN until about a week before classes begin, but if you contact your professors I am sure they will have no program e-mailing you the syllabus early. Also, the books don’t really change that frequently over the semesters…so whatever is at the bookstore now will more than likely be the same books you have. If you get into the nursing school, you can message me privately on here and I can e-mail you a list of the books you might have. -Mirashu

Hi highschoolfuturenurs, Yes, that is a good course load. Focus on grammar with English and use the writing center to help you learn how to edit your papers. College algebra is easy and it will cover everything you need to know for the TEAS. A&P and biology require reading the material before class, taking good lecture notes, and reviewing your book/lecture notes 3-5 times before an exam. Always talk with your professors about any questions you have. Sometimes they will drop hints about what areas are really important to them (i.e. test questions). Make a reading schedule that gives you enough time to read a chapter in detail and at a good pace (2-3 hours per chapter depending on the number of pages). If your professor speaks to quickly to take notes, then get a voice recorder and ask your professor if you can record the class. Also, the nursing program gives you the option of taking the biology, chemistry, or physics sequence. Pick the sequence you are most comfortable with (which was easiest for you in high school?). I know they say that the chemistry sequence is strongly recommended, but when they evaluate your transcript, they give you “points” based on your grade and not which sequence you took. Thus, you don’t get more points for taking chemistry over biology. You must have all of your prerequisites completed before you start the nursing program classes. However, you can apply to the nursing program before you complete all of the classes. There will be a place on your application where you can write which classes you will be completing before the start of the nursing program. -Mirashu

Hi CocoM411, As far as I know, the acceptance committee only looks at the GPA you have based on what is on the nursing program transcript (in your case your 3.82 GPA) when you turn in your application. If your application is competitive enough for acceptance, then you should get a letter. However, you will still need to turn in your final transcript that says you have completed all of the prerequisite courses with good grades. I believe you need to pass the courses with at least a "C". -Mirashu

Hi gentlerain, As a student in high school, you do not need to worry about applying to the nursing program yet. Just apply to Georgia State University, get accepted, and start taking the pre-requisite courses for the nursing program. Make sure that you work hard and get A's in all of your science pre-requisite courses and very few B's. At the moment, a program GPA of 3.7-3.8 is competitive enough to get into the program. This link (http://chhs.gsu.edu/nursing/falltraditionalplan1.htm) will tell you which prerequisite courses you need before you can apply to the Traditional nursing program that lasts 3 years. Your counselor at the university should be very helpful in planning your schedule for the year. The school of nursing also offers an Accelerated program that requires a few more prerequisites, takes 1.5 years to complete, but is very demanding. If you are in no hurry to graduate from college, then I highly suggest the traditional program. This will give you time to read at a regular pace, have time to volunteer at hospitals, and have time to gain leadership positions in nursing groups at GSU. Study to learn and not just memorize because you will need all of the information from your pre-requisite courses in order to pass the nursing entrance exam (TEAS) with a score of 90 or above. If you are a good student and make A's and B's in your pre-requisite classes, then you will think the exam is easy. The questions are not tough and pretty straight forward. The nursing program is very possible to get into if you know how to manage your time wisely, keep up with all your reading, and are motivated to learn. I hope that helps. :-)

Hi everyone! I know this can be a very exciting and anxious time for all applicants so I thought I would try and offer any advice I can for all of you. I am currently a first semester ACE student and really wished I had someone to guide me through the first few weeks. I’m here to help so if you have any questions please ask and I will try to respond quickly. The first letters sent out for Spring 2011 applicants were for people with a TEAS of 90 and above and a GPA of 3.7 and above. Of course, that can change depending on the number of applicants and how high their scores are this semester. I was told that the essay is evaluated mostly for style and grammar. As long as you have good recommendations, then you get all the points for that area. If you are accepted into the ACE program, be prepared to work hard. There is a lot of information to read in a short amount of time. To give you an idea, we have to buy roughly 15 books (none shorter than 200 pages) for the first semester and are expected to read all of it. It’s almost impossible to read all of the material in the allotted time. I suggest that you strategize and find out which classes to read the book for and which classes to stick to the power points and use the books as references. If you are really concerned about getting A’s your first semester, then I highly recommend buying the textbooks and start reading before classes begin. I do not mean to scare you, but the first 7 weeks are rough and I wish someone had told me this information so that I could plan better before being thrown into the wolves. I’m not too familiar with the Traditional program, but from what I know the work load is not as bad and a motivated student can complete all the reading material in a timely manner. I hope that helps some of you out a little. If you have any questions, please let me know.