Nice Day

Hello Fellow COC students: I'm about to start my third semester so let me know if you have any questions. First semester was definitely the most difficult. You will have 4 days of lecture/clinical and depending on your instructor's or the hospital requirements, you may have to go to your hospital another day to research your patient history/meds for clinical the next day. Second semester through the end of the program you will have only three days of school, one 10 to 12 hour clinical day and two days of lecture. Lectures are usually around 3 hours. For those of you who have a lecture professor who's last name begins with the letter -------, you are lucky. She is AMAZING! Good luck to all.

Don't waste your time/money taking another math class. Get "Basic Math and Pre-Algebra Workbook for Dummies" and practice on your own. I did and it really helped. You just need to remember how to do the math and it will come back quickly since it sounds like you have already taken the classes. Not that this really applies, but I am a 47-year-old nursing student about to start my third semester.

I was accepted last semester with a score of 83, but declined my seat to attend a different school. You should be in for sure with a score of 90.

Would you rather be 57 years old with a nursing degree or 57 years old without one? Follow your dream.

I have a friend who works at the LA County Hospital at Olive View in Sylmar. She said the entire staff and management is concerned about the implimentation of Universal Healthcare and the number of patients dropping drastically at County facilities. What she told me is that when more people have health insurance through Universal Health Care, they will most likely opt to go to "better" private hospitals instead of Olive View. The prediction is that only individuals who are in this country without proper papers (illegal immigrants/vacationers from other countries) who are not eligible for insurace will be the only patrons at County. People who have been going there for years might stay with their regular doctors but the numbers are expected to fall and not as many nurses, doctors and other medical staff will be needed. Anyhow, my friend is worried she may lose her job. I don't think this will affect students, maybe just people hoping for a job at a County hospital. Any one have any additional information/input.

I've never been to Holy Cross Hospital so I don't know which specific floor we will be on but I believe for first semester we will be assigned to a Med/Surg unit.

Add my name to the Holy Cross list too. I have ---- for my instructor there. By the way, I was accepted at County too, but chose COC instead mostly because I prefer to be closer to home and my family. If I had accepted County I would have to drive from Santa Clarita to Downtown 2 days a week and already have an issue with getting my girls to school on time. Can't wait to meet all my fellow COC students.

Tuition is much less at COC, and if you search the LA County program on this site there is a post from an individual who is/was enrolled at LA County and she said that compared to other programs, County is unnecessarily stressful. With that being said, County has a reputation for providing a greater diversity of experience due to the variety of patients the hospital accepts. Does County guarantee a job to all graduates?

Just got my letter of acceptance and need to respond by Monday also. I have decided to attend College of the Canyons instead and will be declining my seat. My letter did not contain points cut-off information but I had 83, or 84 points if they count my internship. Good luck to all of you who have not heard yet and congratulations to the person who will get my seat.

Has anyone received an actual letter yet, or is it just word of mouth that the cut-off is 82?

They will raise the cut-off to something like 83 if that many people have 80. That's why an 81 is a nail-biter because we don't know what the final cut-off will be.

Hi again, At MSMC you can get a BSN in 1 year? Do you already have a degree? How many hours/days a week are you in clinical/lecture? Do you have a family/kids to take care of? Another statistic to compare between the two programs is their respective NCLEX pass rates. You seem to have good reasons for choosing both, but I personally shudder at the thought of being $50,000 plus interest in debt. Here is my plan, I'm going to get my RN first, take a job, any job, and get my BSN while working. I have a husband, 2 kids and a dog and so an accelerated program would not work for me. Have you been accepted at MSMC? I have already been accepted at College of the Canyons and they have a BSN program through National University that is available after completion of the RN. Still waiting to hear from County, but will probably stay with COC because it is closer to home. Good luck.

Valley Presbyterian in Van Nuys. Going to College of the Canyons RN program in August.

Anyone? I'm a COPE CCE right now and starting RN school in August. Just wondering if I might have a better chance of getting hired at my hospital after finishing school. Heard many hospitals are only hiring BSNs as new grads.

Hi Everyone, I'm Jamie's friend and I just got my phone call and e-mail that they have an empty seat for me. So excited and scared and relieved!! I have friends in the program and they are really stressed, but in the end it will all be worth it. Good luck to all those still waiting. I also have a friend who got her call 2 weeks before the program began last semester, so there is still a chance for many more to get in. COC is one of the first schools to announce who is accepted and many who have been accepted at COC may prefer to go to other schools that they haven't heard from yet. For example, I applied to the LA County School of Nursing and won't hear from them until June, but now someone can have my seat there if I get one. Anyhow, good luck to all, and have a... Nice Day.