bababowman

Hello, I am a recent graduate of the elmn now absn/elmn program at csula. If you have any questions, let me know. I was not aware they added a second cohort that starts in the fall quarter, that's cool. In my day there was one cohort that started each summer. Good luck to you all, you are gonna need it!

You will get the list of textbooks at your orientation in May. I'd wait until then to see what you have to buy. Personally I'd read pathophysiology and the nursing fundamentals book. I would hold off on assessment. Dr Barkely (the instructor) for assessment has a method for teaching the class. he tells you in lecture what you "need to know" vs. what's "nice to know." That will make more sense in about 3 months. Good luck!

I'm actually heading into my last quarter ever at csula. I did the elmn portion of the program 3 years back and now I'm finishing off the msn after taking some time off to work as an RN. To answer your question, you have class 1-2 days a week and clinical 1-2 days a week depending on the availability of faculty and clinical sites. So you have 3-4 days a week off but your clinicals could be on weekends so don't count on having weekends off. Congrats to all of those that have been accepted. You are out of the frying pan and into the fire now!

Well if anyone is working this week, it's her. She's a breed apart that's for sure.

Yea it is spring break this week. we took finals last week so most of the professors turned in grades already and are not on campus this week at all. I would not get your hopes too high for a call this week. Sorry, I don't want to sound mean but that's the truth. Also if you don't get accepted initially, don't loose hope. I was wait listed initially but someone else turned down thier spot and I got in.

ACNP now AGACNP

Good luck to all of you. As an elm-er heading into my last quarter before graduating I can tell you that if you go all the way through the masters, this program is going to be more work then I can really explain. I had no idea what I was getting into when I started. It's an endless parade of lectures-reading assignments-tests-research papers-presentations-labs-clinicals-ati tests-soaps-care plans-logs-preceptors-study groups, the list goes on and on. They only way to really understand what it's like is to live it. That being said you can work if you want (I did) and you can still have time to goof off (I certainly did). It's not all consuming like some people make it out to be. It's hard, don't get me wrong, but it's hard because it's a large volume of work that has to be done at a very fast pace.

Yes, it's been changed for the incoming class this summer. Thy are finally awarding the BSN now. Not because they finally realized they were doing a disservice to their students but not awarding the BSN, the new dean of csula mandated it so that finally motivated the faculty to make the change.

You will be cohort 10 if I am not mistaken. Congrats to those that have been accepted. It will be a lot of work but if I can do it, you can too. Once you get used to the laconic pace of quarters instead of leisurely pace of semesters it gets easier.

Hello All, I wanted to say that it was a pleasure meeting all of you on Saturday. It really dawned on me on my way home from your orientation how much I have learned and how far I have come in the last year. I know the program seems intimidating to you right now, that is how I felt at my orientation last year but it's really not as bad as it seems. The program is a lot of work, especially the first quarter when you don't know anyone yet, you are getting used to the workload, and the fast pace. You are also tacking 2 of the hardest classes content wise in your first quarter with health assessment and pathophysiology. Overall, it is not that bad, there is time to have a life outside of class once you get the hang of the program and you will be amazed at how fast time will fly by. A year from now you will go to cohort 9's orientation and realize just how far you have come. Anyway, you all have my email now on that handout we gave you, feel free to email me if you have any concerns/questions. I will be on campus Monday nights and a few select Wednesday afternoons in the summer quarter so perhaps I will see you around. Good luck! Brian

I took it online at West LA College. It is listed in the family and consumer studies section of the schedule.

I was admitted off the wait list last year. I never got an interview in the first round, I got an email from Kathy mid April last year telling me I was on the wait list. I emailed her back expressing my strong desire to be a part of the ELMN program asking her what I could do to make myself the #1 on the list. She sent me a list of things to do which I did right away. She then invited me to her office for a "meeting", which turned out to be a formal interview for the program for which I was very underdressed but it went well anyway. Kathy emailed me the next day saying that she was impressed by my liked determination and liked me enough in the interview to make me the #1 alternate on the wait list. About a week later, I got another email from her saying that someone had turned down admission and she offered me the spot.

You are welcome everyone, it is my pleasure. I wish someone had taken the time to talk to my cohort like this last year when we were in your shoes. It would have made our transition into the program much easier. Hopefully one or two of you will pay it forward and come on here to talk to cohort 9 this time next year. FYI: The dinner after orientation is casual, we went to Marie Calendar's. I thought the school was paying for dinner but that was not the case, we paid for our own meals. If you go to MC this year bring cash, they won't let you split the bill across more than 2-3 credit cards. No one told us any of this in advance and it was a problem.

Get on financial aid now and get on the medical clearances now as well. There are a lot of things you need to do in order to be ready to go at the end of June.

That sounds right on cost for the first 5 quarters, we pay SLIGHTLY less but the cost of the ELMN program has gone up every year so take comfort in the fact cohort 9 will pay more than you. :) Its a little complicated how the ELMN program works so I will do my best to explain it. You are in sort of a grey area with the school during the first 5 quarters, you take classes through extended education, you pay a much higher tuition rate then traditional BSN or MSN students because you are classified as a "conditional" student. It's too long of a story to explain why this is here. Becuase you are conditional, you cannot get the full federal financial aid of $20,000. They most the feds will give you for the first year is $12,500. To get this money, you have to fill out a FAFSA. If you have not done it, do it ASAP today, the deadline was March 2nd. You can still qualify but might not get the full $12,500 since it is after the deadline. To make up the difference, most people in my cohort took out private loans. I have a medcap loan from wells fargo. Most major banks offer student loans as well. You will become an official student once you complete the first 5 quarters and get your RN license. When you start your NP track, you tuition will drop to the standard graduate student rate and you will be classified as a traditional graduate student. This will allow you to borrow the full $20,000 per year from the federal government to pay for school. If you need more than that you will need to do a new private loan with your bank for each year you are in grad school. When it comes to paying for school each quarter you have a few options. You can take a copy of your financial aid package to extended ed each quarter and they will register you without paying. Then when your money comes in, they will deduct your tuition and send you a check for the difference. If you are like me and have a credit card with a high limit, you can charge tuition and pay off when you get your aid check. This gets me lots of points on my card and paying for school like this will earn me a free vacation by the time I finish my MSN. Your other choice is cold, hard cash. A rep from financial aid will be at orientation to explain everything in more detail but this is a quick thumbnail of how it works.

Just to be clear, you will NOT be given a BSN at the end of the first 5 quarters. There was some confusion about this with my cohort and we had multiple discussions about it with the faculty. There is also no plan to offer ELMN students a BSN at the end of the first 5 quarters so don't waste your time trying to get them to change their collective minds. What you do get is a letter from CSULA stating you have the equivalent of a BSN. Some hospitals will take it and others won't, unfortunately here is no hard and fast rule about it. Again, worry about this a little later, there are a lot of other things you need to do first to even get to the point where you will have your RN. I would highly advise getting a CNA job ASAP after you complete the first quarter. Some hospitals will hire nursing students to be a CNA without a CNA license. Then work you tail off as a CNA while you finish off the RN portion so when you have your RN, you manager and co-workers will help you get an RN job at the hospital where you are already working. That is the best way to get an RN job and that is what I am trying to do.

Umm, funny you should say that. Most likely she'll be there and so will I.

Fill out a FAFSA ASAP and talk to banks. I have a decent amount of money in savings and I got $12,500 in federal loans (some subsidized and some not) and made up the rest of the tuition costs with private loans. Personally, I refuse to spend my savings to make myself poor enough to qualify for fully subsidized federal loans. I would rather have my savings safety net and pay a little more in interest on my loans than be screwed if something unexpected happens because I spent all my savings on tuition. One thing you can count on in life is something unexpected happening.

Dear Wrightnurse, Here is my 2 cents: I got accepted to the program but I am now having doubts that I'll be smart enough for the program. I do have a GPA of 4.0 but that does not necessarily equate success in a nursing program. Did you have any fears in succeeding in the program? Does anyone ever fail? I don't want to tell you that you will be fine because that would be providing false reassurance (a nursing joke you will understand in a few months) Obviously, you are smart if you have a 4.0 (much higher than my undergrad GPA FYI) and you understand how to get good grades. I would think that as long as you keep up what you have been doing, you would probably continue to see the same results. If you could compare your current classes to those you took during undergrad studies, is there a big difference in difficulty levels? What is the hardest part academically? I agree with Inntchka, the hardest part is the volume of information you have to learn in a short period of time. Also, the tests in nursing school are very different then any I have taken before. You don't just memorize info and regurgitate it on a scrantron. Questions generally are a scenario where you have to consider many different things and make a decision about what to do. Generally two of the answers are correct and it becomes about being able to determine which one is MORE correct and which one is the distractor. It took me a couple quarters to get the hang of it and now that I have the difficulty level seems to be going up so I have to step up my game even more. Do you study from morning through night (as in MSMC ABSN) or you actually have time for other things as well? No, I am a slacker when it comes to studying and I think there is time to live your life because I certainly do. It's all about time management. Personally, I generally prefer to use my ATI books instead of the text books to study (you will learn more about ATI at orientation). Most professors give us a study guide before the test as well so I make sure to learn everything on the study guide backwards and forwards before the test. That and I rely on my ability to think through the questions to get decent grades. I don't have the highest GPA in the class but I don't have the lowest either and I am comfortably over the 3.0 minimum. How popular is the ANP track? Again, Innatchka's summary is right on. It's probably a smart choice though given our aging population in america. Geriatric care is going to explode in the next 10 years. What is the reality when trying to get a job as a new grad RN while completing the NP track at the same time? How do you juggle both? Kathy did state that sometimes you need to pull out of the program for a little while while working as a new RN grad. It is going to be hard I'm sure and I will let you know if/when I am in this situation. I am currently looking for a CNA job and they are very hard to come by for someone like me with no medical experience and 3 quarters of nursing school on my resume. I think an RN job will be tough for me as well. It's just the reality of job market right now. It's tough in every field right now but things will change, they always do. On the upside you are 18 months away from getting your RN license, focus on school for now. Take things one step at a time and when you get your RN license hopefully the market is different than it is now. Can you study NP track part-time if your new RN grad program does not fit with school schedule? Yes What is the schedule in general for NP track? Bunch of other schools have once a week class for NP track. Classes meet once a week and you usually have class 1-2 days a week. Lenght of class is determined by the # of units and it is generally 1 hour of lecture per unit each week i.e. a 3 unit class will be a 3 hour lecture one day a week. What are the job prospects for grads in CSULA program? I was told at CSUN that I may not find a new RN grad program for up to a year. It's that tough out there. Again, this will be determined by the job market at the time you get your RN license/NP license. You can't predict the future but this recession can't last forever. Study hard and make good connections with your classmates, instructors and the people in your clinicals/preceptorships. That's how you are going to get a job in my opinion.

I would say leave your husband at home, he'll be bored at orientation.

Yea, I would bring a car. Inntchka gets around on public transportation but she also gets a lot of rides from her classmates like me. LA's public transportation system leaves a lot to be desired and personally would not want to have to rely on it to get around.

I don't know where to tell you to live if you want to be close to campus. The neighborhoods around the school are not part of LA that I have spent much time in. Personally, I lived on the westside of LA, which I absolutely love and miss, and now I live in Long Beach, also a good place to live. I would say look in south pasadena, alhambra, pasadena, or any of the neighborhoods north and northeast of campus. They are all close and pretty safe. If you don't mind a longer drive, I can help you with places on the west side. Personally I love downtown LA but it is extremely urban/industrial down there and lacking some basics but it has a lot of character, hip bars, etc. It's what realtors would call a "transitional neighborhood"

In contrast to Innatchka, I am great at wasting time and I generally wait until the last minute to do things. I do get stressed from time to time but overall, it's not that bad. Of course if you would have asked me this question earlier this week when I was studying for finals, I would have probably answered it differently. I'm generally a pretty mellow, easy going guy though. I work a lot harder in this program then I ever did in undergrad. It is a lot of work but I really enjoy the subject matter.