Hamilton32

Yes, it was sent to my TCU email account. We have oreintation on August 16th from 8am-1:30pm in Bass Building Room 105, and then we have practicum oreintation on Monday August 20th from 9am-12pm in the same room. Bring picture ID. If you want me to forward you the email, just send me your email address in a private message... Yep, the books are rather thick. The fundamentals book and the pharmacology book are probably the biggest, but I flipped through them and they look like they read easy. A lot of the books are lab manual type books that have question/answer sections. Its a lot of books, but I don't feel overwhelmed somehow...I think they all tie together nicely and as long as we keep up with what is going on, we should be fine :) I am more overwhelmed about how I am going to transport all of said books to different classes!! Ha ha!! The UPS guy had to carry them in my house because the boxes were so heavy. LOL. You just have one more week of stats? That will be NICE to go to Arkansas!! I was going to try to go somewhere for a little vacation pretty quick but my daughter has so much going on with cheerleading (she made the freshman team at her high school) that I don't know if I can find time to get away!! I need a beach, and some sun really really bad!!! I just have one more week here at work, then I will have three weeks off before school starts, so hopefully I can get away somewhere for some relaxation :) All I have been doing all summer is working. What part of Arkansas are you going to? Such a beautiful state...

YAY!!! Did you get the email about orientation? I received my books yesterday via UPS...I started flipping through a few of them. Some of them are VERY large books. LOL. So how is stats going?? How's your summer? Exactly a month from today classes begin!! Can you believe it???

I wouldn't think that we needed a book for practicum but then again, I have no clue really. LOL!! I would think that the things we learn in Fundamentals lecture and lab would be from the text books, and that the practicums are more "hands-on" learning. But again, I have no idea. How much were your books? Have you started flipping through them? What's the material like? I am going to try to get mine soon - I've just been holding off waiting to hear from Stephanie, but I guess she got busy. Anything else going on? This is my second to last week at work and I am really starting to get nervous :)

Good to hear...I took it over the summer too, it makes it go a lot faster :) I am ready for August 20th myself!!! Woo-hoo...we are TCU nursing students!! YAY!!!!

No, I haven't purchased any yet. I was waiting on Stephanie to assure me that we needed ALL of them before I bought ALL of them. LOL. I am sure what they say is required is actually "required", I've just had such a bad experience in the past with buying books, not needing them after all and then being unable to return them. Frustrating!! LOL. Thanks for double checking about the name badge, I didn't know either so I just put first and last. I am glad you were able to get yours corrected!! Have you bought any books yet? How's summer going with the girls? My kids just left for Mexico with their dad for a week Sarah - how's statistics going? Having fun yet??

Excellent question, Amy - I was wondering the same thing myself. Should we start reading ahead? Also, do we REALLY require ALL the books the bookstore says we need for our classes? I have my 6:30 am class on Wednesday...it is going to be interesting being up at school that early in the morning!! :) P.S. I put my first and last name on my name badge...should I not have done that?

Hey Stephanie!!! Thanks for replying to our thread...yes, we are all giddy!! They had 174 applicants and they only took 24 of us, so it is a great honor!! Although the wait for the acceptance letter was torture! How is it going?? Well, you answered my question about the scrubs, good to know, I was confused as to whehter we had to wear them ALL the time or just for clinicals/labs. And thanks for clearing up about the shoes. So....questions about the program itself then. How difficult is it? What's testing like? How much would you say you study any given week? And - is it a "friendly" environment, or are the girls catty? LOL. I asked Z.J. that question in my advising session and she laughed and said "It's a little of both...". Tell us what we can expect academic-wise. You must have been the girl I read about in that thread I read for last years applicants, that got in just a few days before school started!! That MUST have been interesting...I would have freaked out!! Glad you got in!!! ~ Linda

Ha!! Exactly. At least it's just the price of an expensive car, and not a 5-bedroom house in the Hamptons or something :) It's definitely an investment, but we will be so proud to have TCU on our degrees when we graduate :) I wish they would send us some info on when orientation will be...Have you gotten to meet with Z.J. yet? How's your summer going? Nervous, anxious, worried, elated, ecstatic?? I am all, so I am hoping I'm not the only one

I keep telling myself "It's all going to be worth it!!!" So, each semester costs roughly what a small Kia would cost. It's all good, right?? LOL!

Okay guys...got to view my ez-bill on my.tcu.edu this morning. The total is $17,775. Tuition is $17,250 and the rest of the charges are fees for the drug screen, standardized testing, liability insurance, etc.

Well, sounds like we have a lot in common then! I am a mother of two, daughter Danielle, 14, and son, Christopher, 12 (I am single though, been divorced since 2004, married right out of high school, but mine didn't last :) I live in North Richland Hills. I have been working ever since and about two years ago I started back at TCC NE and Trinity River. I work 40 hours a week and was going to school T-Th at night and a couple of days a week during my lunch break (my boss let me take an extended lunch :) So I figured if I was going to do this, I wanted to do it big, so I applied to TCU. :) I was shocked as well to get such a big scholarship, and the grant money covered just about the rest, but as far as the actual cost, I still don't know that for sure. The first invoice won't come out until sometime in July. I am assuming with lab fees, testing fees, insurance (I will have to get insurance through the school since I am single and will be unemployed), it will probably be closer to $40,000 a year, rather than the $34,500. Then of course, there's the text books. $1,000. Cha-ching. LOL. Anyway, I can imagine that being a stay-at-home mom the schedule might overwhelm you, but I am very much looking forward to it. From working full time, attending school full time, this will be a welcome change for me having about a 26-hour week!! Plus a 3-day weekend, woo-hoo!! :) My kids have been very supportive the last two years, but it will be nice to be able to be with them every single evening and not be stuck in a classroom at night. But, there are 4 different schedules we had to choose from, and the other three drew it out over the whole week and had day and evening classes (Monday-Friday) so that might be a better option for you. I wanted it compacted...doesn't start til noon on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday are full days, Thursday I am done by 10:50, then I will have a 3-day weekend. To me, it will be like a vacation - that I will have study A LOT during Scrubs: you can view the Student Handbook if you go to the Harris College webpage, click on nursing, then current students, there is a PDF of the handbook and it goes over uniforms, and everything else, including the additional fees that are required by the nursing school/Harris College. Z.J. said no particular brand or specific amount was required, they just had to be purple. But I am quite sure everyone gets them at the Scrubs Etc. place where we get our patches. White (or mostly white) tennis shoes, and white or purple socks. The only question I have is...do we have to wear the scrubs every day or is that only for clinicals??

Hey Amy - first off, I would talk to financial aid as soon as possible. I don't know what you have to do in your situation, but mine was taken care of and all I had to do was accept/decline on the my.tcu.edu site. Have you gone to that site yet? Anyway, I would definitely want to get paying for it squared away first just in case you have to get any private loans or anything like that. Second - I am taking 15 hours. Actually will have 15 hours every semester except for Senior II (the last semester, which will be 12 hours). We transfer students have to take the survey of nursing and teaching concepts classes in conjunction with everything else (these classes are taken sophomore year by students already attending TCU). I also have to take a religion course and a "cultures of the world" course to meet TCU core requirements so those are plugged into my Junior II and Senior I semesters. Z.J. does all that for you so no worries. Basically, the schedule I opted for is as follows: Monday is clinical (12:00-6:20 pm), T-Th Fundamentals 8-9:50am, Pharmaco Lecture 10-10:50am, Tuesday only Pharmaco Lab 12:00-2:50pm, Genetics 3-3:50pm...Wednesday is Fundamentals Lab 6:30am-12:20pm and Survey of Nursing from 2:00-4:50pm. No classes on Friday. As far as what you need before we start, other than what you listed...nothing really, except have a nametag made at the bookstore. I don't THINK they require you to do that, but I did just because they look cool. LOL. And as far as stethescope - don't buy cheap, don't buy expensive, that's what Z.J. says :) Where are you transfering from? How old are you, if you don't mind me asking. I am 34. Z.J. said there was a lot of age diversity in the transfer students so was just curious. So far, out of me and Sarah - I am the old woman. HA HA! And feel free to ask anything you want!! We are all here to help each other out, so anything I can provide I will be glad to pass on!!

Ha ha!! I feel the same way...I wanted to lose 10-15 pounds over the summer, but now it's so freaking hot outside I can't hardly stand it. Oh well, maybe the heat will allow me to sweat the 10-15 pounds off!! I thought the CPR class was a great deal - the American Red Cross class was only held in Dallas, cost $150 and was 6 hours long?! Anyway, I am very surprised myself how fast the summer is flying by. I sent my application in right after the fall semester was over in December, so from then until April felt like FOREVER!!! I guess I am just catching back up to normal. LOL. Hope you don't suffer from the humidity in Houston!! Ha...I bet it's miserable there. Does your mom work at TCU? One of my friend's was a professor there but she moved up to TWU.

Yes, is definitely going to be different, actually stuyding. LOL. So did you check out the CPR website? I am probably going to go down to the scrub store this weekend and get some scrubs and my patches. I got my nametag at the book store...it says my name and "Harris College-Nursing" on it. Of course, it's purple You can get those made online by the way....I can't believe it's already almost July. Seems like yesterday I was freaking out waiting to find out if I got in or not!

I am taking it at a place called CPR Training Services in Keller. It's American Heart Association certified for all types of CPR, including Health Care Providers. It's $50 and the class is from 6:30-8:30pm next Tuesday (July 3rd). Check out the website www cprtrainingservices dot com. My friend (who is a dental hygenist, graduate of TWU) has to have the same certification we have to every year and this is where she goes. Yeah, I am really weary about buying books ahead of time since I got burned last semester with buying a book I didn't need and then not being able to sell it back. I would think that if there were any reading assignments or anything we should know prior to coming to class, they would let us know. But again, that's just blind faith. LOL. Yeah, online at the TCU bookstore website you can enter your class sections and it automatically brings up a list of what you need and a subtotal. The list was LONG. The book prices were very reasonable, it's just that we require SO many!! At least, that's what the bookstore says according to my schedule. I want to ask someone but I don't want to sound like an idiot. "Yeah, this is nursing school darling. You need all those books"... I can hear it now. Ha ha!!!

Hi Amy!!! Welcome!!! Glad you got pulled from the waitlist in a reasonable time period!! I was reading one of these forums from last year and a girl got notified she got in off the wait list 4 days before school started!!! Anyway, welcome welcome...so glad to meet another fellow Frog :) We transfer students need to stick together!! I am about to take my CPR course next Tuesday and then I will have everything complete. Sarah is right, I believe orientation will be August 16th, so plan your vacation before then if you can. That date really sucks for me because my neice is getting married in Memphis, TN on August 18th, so looks like I am going to make a REALLY short trip to Memphis that weekend!! At least my first class doesn't start until noon on Monday :) Anyway...also, I checked out the books - looks like we are going to be required to have a lot of books for each class. I don't know if I feel comfortabl waiting until the first week of class to get them or not. It seems like overkill, but you never know. Looks like we are going to need at least 2-3 books per class, and the subtotal came to around $1,000!!

Well, thank you for the info!! I am glad the patches are cheap, I figured they would be more expensive. How do you prove that you're a TCU student to get the 15% discount? The scrubs don't sound too expensive either. I may try to go up there tomorrow. Do you know if they are open on Saturday? I suppose I could google all this information, but this way is more fun Which campus are you taking stats at? I took it at the NE campus. I really enjoyed it, some of the concepts are a little difficult but its not a "hard" class, especially if you are good at science. Its not really like any other math class (algebra, geometry), but does delve a little into calculus (not hard, don't be scared). Just let me know if you have any questions, I am not the best "tutor" in the world, but have a bit of a photographic memory which helps a lot when it comes to recall. :) BY the way...I have been meaning to tell you this since we started talking and I keep forgetting to mention it. My daughter's name is Danielle :) Is that your middle name?

Oh man, that stinks!! But I love statistics, it's a fun class!!! I took it last summer. That is a bummer only because we won't be in the same section AND you'll have classes 5 days a week. Some prefer to spread them out, I'd rather have the 3-day weekend. But that's just because I am old and I need the rest. LOL. I still haven't been down to the scrub store yet, what is called again?? How much did everything cost? And you're definitely not crazy, I can't wait to get started either!!! I watched the clock this morning and as soon as 9 a.m. got here, I signed on and enrolled in the classes!! LOL! Are you taking stats at TCU?

Sooooo....how did it go????

Well, thank you, thank you I totally agree about the books, if we can get them ANYWHERE cheaper then I am down for that. Last semester I was taking an American Lit II class, and the book was $200. Turns out I didn't even need to buy it because the professor posted all the stories that we were going to read on our student system for us to access. When I went to sell the book back, they wouldn't take it saying they were changing editions. OMG. Really?? HA!! Anyway, TCU gave me a scholarship and the rest of the tuition is being covered by grants and federal student loans, but if I can save on books, then I am most definitely going to do so!! I have never been to half price books, but have gotten a text book on amazon.com before. We will just have to see what we are required to have for our classes. So you go meet with Zoranna tomorrow?? You must keep me posted on how that went...she cracked me up, I think you will like her :)

Oh, yeah, I didn't even think to ask about text books! Let me know what you find out about that too...I don't want to fall behind either. Sounds like you have plenty of experience though, and you seem very intelligent, I doubt you're going to have a problem!! :) I don't think they mention anything about the books in the student handbook, but I could be wrong. I didn't read it verbatum, just skimmed through it.

That's my goal, too...4.0!!! :) So med/surg is boring?? I guess I can see how it would be. Labor and delivery just seems fun, the doctors are goofy, and even though the patients can be a whiney pain in the butt (LOL), they are really happy afterwards. It would just be hard for me if there were any kind of complications with the babies, but they would go to the NICU nurses then. That is one thing I am not sure I can do (NICU). But I think really, if I want to do the CRNA then I just need to resolve myself right now to the fact that I will be working in intensive care for the first year :) As far as shoes go, she didn't say anything in particular about them. She just makes you aware of the student handbook which is exclusively on-line (so they can save paper). If you go to the Harris College page and then click on current students, the handbook is there. I have already browsed through it, and it is full of a lot of information. The stethoscopes that switch from adult to pediatric are great...I am going to get me one like that. My mom always used one of those and hers was pretty light weight, so I am sure you can find one that is a little ligther for you.

I have done some rotations at JPS in the emergency room, and I liked the face-paced nature of it, but I have always wanted to work in OB/GYN. My daughter was born very prematurely and I was only 20 when she was born, so I was young, and afraid, and my OB/GYN nurse at Baylor was the most awesome person and I just always wanted to try to do that for some young scared girl. But, I am interested in doing the CRNA program or maybe nurse practitioner, so I might end up in either the ER or the ICU. It just depends. I haven't done any med/surg rotations but could definitely see myself in the OR. I guess time will tell!!! Ha ha!! All I know is that I definitely want to work in a hospital in downtown Ft. Worth... That's really cool that you enjoy the psych patients, and you're right, a lot don't. I had to deal with a few that came through the ER at JPS, but I was so young when I dealt with them, I was scared, they were combative, some were even under arrest, so it can definitely be a challenge. Let me know how the scrub shopping goes!! I am going to try to go this weekend and see what I can see. Oh, and I asked Zoranna about a stethescope. She said she always tells the girls don't get the cheapest one, but don't get the one that cardiologists use, because you're not a cardiologist!! HA HA. She is quite funny :)

I know, I absolutely love purple!! My office (where I work now) is not far from the TCU campus so every time I am around the campus getting food or whatever, I would see the girls in the purple scrubs and say to myself "That's going to be me someday!!!"...When I decided that I was going to apply to TCU last year, I decided that that's where I wanted to go and if I couldn't get in there, it wasn't meant to be, so I didn't even apply anywhere else. I wear a TCU t-shirt probably three times a week and even rock purple eyeshadow!! HA HA!!! Anyway, I am with you, I can't wait to get into the purple scrubs. Have to go shopping down on 8th and Pennsylvania (that's where we have to go to get our TCU patch and they sell the scrubs there). So what field would you like to specialize in? Any ideas?

Well, happy early birthday!! :) And thank you so much, I have always wanted to be in the medical field, it was just very hard to go to school and work full time when my kids were smaller, so the last year and a half I have been back in and there ya go!! My grandmother and uncle live in Austin, my parents both went to UT so I am trying hard not to do the Hook'em horns sign on the TCU campus, ha ha!!! Haslet is an awesome area, it's beautiful up there. I live in North Richland Hills. Well, as far as the clinicals go, I am excited to get started with all of it, I feel like a big kid!! LOL. They have 9 different sections, but they have four sections available for transfer students, because we have to take an additional class that the TCU people have already had. It won't mean anything to you now, but when you go to advising you'll understand...I am in section 100/110 so if that one is still open, take it!! I took that one because you don't start until noon on Monday and no school at all on Friday. Long weekend. :) When do you go meet with Zoranna?