Austin404

Congrats! If she gave you the ok, you're golden. Good luck to all of you this fall! I wish you all the best.

I am pretty sure that they specifically want a BSN degree. I graduated with several people who already had degrees and they are all having to do the RN to BSN. Any college you're interesting in should have a web page that will tell you all about their pre-reqs. UT has them listed on their nursing website under the RN to BSN program. They also have an advisor that you can contact for specific questions. I did not work while I was in the program. However, I know that quite a few people in my class did work as a CA at the local hospitals after level 1. I think it is definitely good to do that. It kind of gets your foot in the door and allows you to get experience. If I remember right, ACC gave us a form when we finished nursing skills that we could take to an employer showing what skills we knew. Don't know if they still do that. I don't really want to comment specifically on employers, but historically many of them have offered incentives to finish education.

You're very welcome! I am currently working right now, and I am trying my best to get comfortable in that before I start school again. The first year on your own after school is the hardest. So much to learn as a new nurse. I will say that ACC was an excellent program and it really prepared me as best as I possibly think that they could have. I cannot thank ACC enough for that. I do plan to start my BSN next fall. I think I am going to apply to UT Austin. Many of the employers around town are getting strict with ADNs and requiring them to complete a BSN degree within 5 years of hire, so I pretty much have to. My best advice to those of you still waiting to get into the program is to get your pre-reqs for a BSN degree done as soon as possible. Many are still hiring ADNs, but they are really starting to show preferential treatment to new grads with BSNs when it comes to getting hired.

X41133127x, As a recent CEC graduate (May 2014) of the program, I will tell you that it really depends on the instructor you get for clinical. Some of them are a little lenient on the dress code and others (most) are 100% not. My instructors were somewhat lenient with us in level l, level 2, and level 4. However, in level 3, they were very strict and everything had to be by the book. There is always that one instructor in each level that is tougher on their students than the others. Never fails. lol Honestly, I would play it safe until you get to know your instructors. Some of them would probably have a problem with those. If you get these, it might be wise to have a backup pair that you keep just in case you get one of those instructors that wants everything exactly by the book. There is nothing worse than getting sent home from clinical because you are not in appropriate dress code. Another problem you might have with those is that the clinical sites really want the students to be color coded by school. There are going to be times when you will be with other schools at the hospitals, including UT Austin. They wear orange to clinical. As ridiculous as it sounds, I could see someone saying something about you wearing orange.

Just wanted to wish all of you the best of luck this round! I will be graduating from the program on Wednesday. I have to say that you guys are in for an amazing ride that is worth every single laugh, cry, and accomplishment. The ACC ADN program is an excellent program, and you will learn so much. Good luck!

JK4185, Personally, I would purchase the ones in Level 1 and Level 2. You can probably get away with renting the ones in Level 3 unless you want to do specialty nursing when you get out. The Taylor book you will only use in Level 1. However, most of your skills are in that book, so it is very handy as a reference throughout the program. You are going to use the Lewis textbook in Level 1, Level 2, and Level 4, so I would buy it. I tried to buy previous editions in Level one, and I ended up purchasing the current ones after the third week. They do update really important information with each edition. The issue that you're going to run into is with readings. The instructors are going to assign different pages for you to read. Different editions have different pages numbers. The second problem you're going to run into buying older editions is the professors are always going to say "we go by whats in the textbook." Well, if the new edition has updated information in it, the older edition isn't going to help you very much and it may negatively impact your grade. As far as the Nursing Diagnosis Handbook, I have used an older edition all through the program. It has worked just fine. I have compared mine (8th edition) with several of the newer ones and I don't see a difference at all. Another handy hint about the NDH is the Elsevier website has a "careplan constructor" that is free and you can access 3/4 of the handbook on there.

I think you are right about that. They are trying to incorporate more of those questions in their testing. I think they have always had the "select all that apply" on the N-CLEX. However, ACC was never able to get the software they use for testing to do "all that apply" questions. They did give us some questions like that in Level 3, but they did it using A, B, C, D options where one was "all of the above" kind of stuff. The best helpful hints I can give you: 1. Try to relax and enjoy the experience. Looking back, I think I freaked out way too much in the beginning. 2. Don't listen to all of the rumors that get spread around about the program or job processes afterwards. People start so many of them, and 95% of them wind up being not true. I have stressed so many times only to find out that I had nothing to worry about. 3. Every Level has it's challenges, and everyone has different opinions of which ones they think are the most difficult. In my opinion, Level one was the most stressful so far. Everyone is new and they don't really know what to expect or what they're doing. It seems like there are checkoffs and tests happening every week to get you ready for clinical. If you can really focus, go to class ( 4. One thing I really wish I had done in the beginning is bought the Saunder's Review. The 6th edition is the current one. It is published by Elsevier who also publishes all of the textbooks ACC uses. You can get it online of at the ACC Bookstore at Eastview or Round Rock. Starting in 1341 (second half of Level 1), it will be incredibly helpful to you. Most of the people in my class use it to study for exams. Using it has definitely brought my grades up. It is also a great thing to use to study for the NCLEX. It breaks down the subjects and focuses only on what the nurse needs to know without all of the fluff that is in the textbook.

You're welcome! No more white shoes is definitely a good thing! I can't wait to get rid of mine. One of the best things for you guys is the fact that they have changed the grading scale for Spring. It used to be that an A was a 91-100, a B was 83-90, and a C was 75 -79. Thankfully they have changed it to a more traditional scale. Now, an A is 90 - 100, a B is 80 to 89, and a C is 75 - 79. This will definitely help you guys be more competitive in four year universities by helping to boost your GPA. The old scale definitely put us at a disadvantage with students at other schools.

I just wanted to wish all of you entering the program in the spring good luck! You guys are going to do great. This program goes by so quickly. You guys will be done before you know it. I will be in Level 4 in the Spring at CEC. So ready for graduation in May!

Sungal, The teal scrubs are mandatory for clinical. You have to be in them at all times while you're in a hospital. I bought three pair before level 1, and they have lasted fairly well (I'm going into level 3 this fall). I have yet to even purchase a white lab coat. When I was in Level 2, one of the clinical instructors made their students wear them to the hospital when they went to go get patient information. However, my instructor didn't make us do that. I know that you have to have them for graduation, so I will probably rent one at that point if I don't need them in Level 3 or Level 4. It's good to buy all of the textbooks. You're going to use them all. In Level 1, you use Taylor mostly for 1413, and then Lewis for 1341. In Level 2, you primarily use Lewis. Level 3 has their own books. In level 4, you'll be using them all again, so you kind of have to keep them over the semesters. As far as advice: Practice your skills and dosage calculations as much as you can. Also, get some rest and enjoy your summer. :) The first part of Level 1 was pretty intense. It seemed like there were checkoffs and tests left and right.

Carmelite, In all honesty, I would take Nursing Skills as quickly as you can, because when the next cycle comes around, it will boost your score. Instead of them counting 10 classes in the rank, they will count 11. So, it does get figured in. If you take it in the fall, it most likely will not be counted for the spring cycle. When I was waiting to get in the program, having nursing skills was what lead to me having a high enough score to get in. Without it, I would've had to wait another cycle. Another thing to keep in consideration is you still may get accepted for the fall. There are people who decline admission and others who don't pass background checks. When I was waiting to get accepted, there were several people I knew who were not accepted during the first round of letters, but they were accepted during the second round. If you haven't taken Nursing Skills, they won't let you in the program. As far as taking all of that during the summer, I would try to lighten the load a bit. That is a lot to do during the summer. Nursing skills requires a lot of time to read the book and practice your skills. I don't know how intense the Intro to chem class is, because I took General College Chem I. However, if it is anything like Chem I, I don't recommend taking it in a summer format. That class was so hard, and to this day, I still don't know how I passed. lol

You're very welcome. Thank you! Good luck to you as well. You're going to do great.

You're very welcome. That's awesome! Stats is a very interesting class. I go to CEC, which I cannot recommend enough. I have really enjoyed being there. I can't say enough good things about the instructors. All of them in Level 1 and Level 2 were amazing. They were helpful and really kept the best interest of the students at heart. All of Level 2 met the instructors for Level 3 at CEC a few days ago, and they all seem really awesome as well. All of the instructors are listed in the course schedule. If you're looking for online reviews of them, there are not very many of them on the web, but there are some on myedu.com if I remember right. I have heard in the past that there were some really tough instructors that would belittle students and so forth, but in all honestly, I haven't run into that as of yet. I can't really speak for the other instructors at other campuses, because I don't know them, but I'm sure that they are just as wonderful as the ones at CEC. I completely understand your fears. I felt the same way when I was waiting to get in. Looking back, I really wish I hadn't worried so much. It isn't as bad as we all make it out to be. The program is designed to help the student grown from the very beginning. As long as you always keep patient safety in mind and you prepare, you'll have no problems. I know it's hard, but for right now, I would just focus on nursing skills, dosing calculations, and anatomy and physiology. Getting that stuff really cemented in your brain will help you so much when you get into the program. When you start Level 1, the instructors will teach you and guide you through everything you need to know. Hope this helps. :)

ACC has the skill check off sheets posted on the ADN website. They're listed under the "Skills Lab/ Video" section. If I were you, I'd follow those, because you'll be expected to do skills the ACC way when you get into the program. The videos on Youtube are helpful, but they tend to differ from the way ACC wants us to do things. The textbook that is used for Nursing Skills and Foundations of Nursing Practice comes with a set of videos that are very helpful and are a good reference. One issue you might run into is getting supplies. In order to do the skills, you'll need a kit. You can order those online, but half of it is shipped directly to the school, so you wouldn't be able to access it. Other than that, I don't really know what else you could do to prepare. Another option would be a get a job as a tech in a hospital to get experience working with patients and doing things like blood draws, patient hygiene, vitals, and so on. That is probably the best thing you could do to prepare. The best advice I could give you is to take classes for your BSN before you get into the program. It will help you so much to get that out of the way now while you're waiting.

Ruddergrl, I'm currently in Level 2, going to Level 3 in the fall. I have to say that I absolutely love the program. ACC really does provide an excellent nursing education. It's really awesome to hear the nurses at our clinical sites say how much they love ACC students and complement on how much we know. The program does tend to consume your life while you're in it. This is to be expected. I would say that most of the people in my class are enjoying their experience. In my opinion Level 1 has been the hardest. Probably because it is so new to everyone, and there are tons of checkoffs and tests in Level 1.