FutureNurseNYC

Congrats! Seems like things are going well for you! I shadowed a Physical Therapist the other-day--which is also something I'm very interested in. The thing is, my two in a half years of college I have now won't do anything towards my nursing major, and I wont be able to apply for the nursing program until 2015 after I'm done with all these pre-nursing classes. The adviser showed me that I could use my two years of college towards a undergraduate degree such as psychology or health science, and than apply for the DPT program for Physical Therapy. The way the sequence works, I will have a DPT in PT the same amount of time I would have a BSN in nursing. I guess it still comes down to what I would really want to do, but I would honestly love doing both.

Oh I see. Thanks! If you don't mind me asking, are you in a nursing program now?

Thanks for all the detailed information, Fireman! From the sounds of it they only accept 4.0 students. I have a 3.9 now, but I think it will be slightly lower by the time I actually apply. When you said "Hours of experience" do you mean shadowing/volunteering? I'm also taking chem and pre-calc at Nassau over the summer. Hopefully that won't look bad on my application, but it's a lot cheaper and will speed things up. You're making me worried, however! =P Also, I heard they put a lot of thought into your personal letter/statement. I have a pretty out of the ordinary story, so I'm hoping that will play in my favor.

One or two students from SBU? Wow. Maybe things have changed since then. I've read on a few other forums and talked to a few people here at SBU, and they said you're more likely to get into the nursing program as a current SBU student because you're well aware of how hard the classes are. I'm also seriously considering getting my undergraduate degree in Health Science and then going into the PA program.

I actually love Stony Brook. I'll be sure to stay away from that Biology class, however. Can anyone give me some insight about what a realistic gpa is to get into most nursing programs?( preferably Stony Brook) After this semester, I am looking at either a 3.5 or a 3.8 if I really do well on my last two exams. I'm just so anxious. I could blow one test and ruin my chances for the program here.

I just have a quick question for anyone on here. I am thinking about taking pre-calculus online over the summer, because in the Fall I have to take calculus here. I would consider taking it in the classroom, but it's cheaper this way and I do have to work. Would anyone advise against this?

Thanks for the encouraging words, ProfRN4. I ended up taking out a loan and I am now a full time student at Stony Brook University. I'm living on campus so it's quite different, but so far I like the experience. Today I was slightly discouraged, or maybe upset is a better word. I have been doing very well on all of my midterms--especially my papers. Yesterday, my teacher came up to me out of a class of 250 and told me my writing was wonderful. She actually gave me a lot of extra credit, which put me well above the average class score ( I don't mean to brag, this is all just really exciting for me). However, like I said before I did poorly on one midterm, as did the entire class. The average was a 42 if I remember correctly. Anyway, I saw three answers on my test that were marked incorrect even though they were the right answers. I went to the teacher during office hours and he gladly fixed them. Out of curiosity he asked where I attended high school. All I responded with was, " My high school experience was quite different from most, and my mother wasn't the greatest teacher." He became very interested and started asking questions about my curriculum. I gave him a little information (not much) and he kept saying, " Oh, so you're at a disadvantage than most students here", or " Just do the best you can, you missed the part of your life where you were supposed to be plugged in." It wasn't the what he said exactly, it's the way he said it. He made me sound like some case he could work on, and he was very pretentious and almost condescending. It doesn't help he graduated from Yale. As silly as this sounds, I was dying for him to ask my GPA so I could tell him I was a straight A student. Every time I see him now he looks at me as if I don't understand the material he is teaching, even though I am constantly helping other student understand concepts. Maybe I am over reacting and being too self absorbed, but it actually made me upset. Anyway, sorry for ranting. I can't exactly talk to fellow students about all of this. Sometimes it's nice to come on here and just talk. BTW, someone messaged me, and I was unable to message them back. If you're reading this just know if I can do it, you can too! = )

Thanks, Missnurse01!! I actually don't as bad now. The way the class point system works made me feel a lot better. Two fellow classmates I have met actually got below 20's on the test. It is still possible for me to get an A, however. I spoke with the teacher about a better outline of what to focus on during our readings and he helped me a lot. On a better note, I have been doing very well on my English and electives classes. I'm worried about pre-calc that I am taking over the summer, though. I'm also considering going to see my mom over the summer and volunteering at the local hospital there. If I do volunteer on the weekends every summer, figured by the time I apply for the actual program I will have good references letter and such. I just wish I was a nurse already!

Again, thanks the positive feed! I was hoping for a bit of advice, however. So, I am doing well in my classes. I've been acing my quizzes and got a 104% on my midterm paper. However, I am taking a class with absolutely no structure and the teacher is awful. The class average was a 48 on our midterm. It's history class about medieval times. I took it as a elective, and I am very much regretting it. I got a 44 on the exam, ( it's a point system out of 90 points) and I was very disappointing. The teacher is going to curve our grades since he cant fail an entire class, but do you think I would be better of withdrawing from the class? I'd rather have a W then a C. I am living on campus, though. I feel like only taking three classes would be a waste! Any thoughts?

Thanks for the feedback, guys! So far the classes I am taking aren't that bad and I have been getting good grades. My only concern is my one history class. There is only two exams, and the are worth 90% of your grade. I went to TA today, and she asked me so many question on the test I didn't know. It's not even hard material--it's just the fact that the class has 300 students, and there is no structure at all. Last semester the class average was a 72 during midterms. I feel like if I recieve a C in this class I will ruin all chances of getting into the actually nursing program!

So, I never go instate tuition, but I did get a private student loan. I started classes yesterday ( Mostly electives and general ed classes) and so far they seem like they are fairly easy-- except one of teachers has an extremely strong Russian accent and I have a hard time making out anything she is she is saying. I am kind of worried I might do bad in that class and recieve a bad grade and not get into the nursing school. Also, I found out today if you do bad in a course, if you retake it, you still have the bad grade in your gpa, so that is kind of scary. haha.

Hey which_path, I will check out that website. It sounds very useful. You can do it! Have you tried going to an Adult Learning Center instead of getting a GED? In my opinion it seemed easier and there was less testing involved, but it might take a bit longer. That is how I got my diploma. When I started community college, I had the option of taking the refresher classes in Math and English. It doesn't give you college credits or count towards graduation, but it gave me a much better foundation for other classes. So, I am still fighting to get instate tuition. I have been living in NY for almost two years now, and I have filed independent taxes here, and I also have the w'2s and pay stubs to show that. They are saying anyone under 24 are put under where their parent's reside. The reality, however, is I have been living independently in NY own my own for over a year. I am not under a lease, but I rent out a bedroom from my brother. I also do not have a NY license. It was foolish of me to not change, but I am thinking of doing that Tuesday. I figured showing bank statements, w’2s, and paystubs would suffice. They mentioned another option if I could not get the instate tuition, it was a Parent Plus loan. My parents have horrible credit and a tax lien so that is not an option. I would ask my Grandfather to cosign but I do not think that is an option. They also mentioned that if you are denied the Parent Plus you are loaned an automatic 4000 to help, but I will still not have enough especially if I have to do that each semester. Has anyone been in a similar situation? What are my other options besides a student plus? I already have a federal loan and financial aid, but it does not meet my needs. I assumed my needs would be met by loans, because Stony Brook is a relatively cheap school, and I didn’t think a lot of people had huge chucks of cash lying around. If it doesn’t work, I will do one more semester at a community college, and apply for a lot of scholarships. I am told I will get a lot due to my strong gpa. Any suggestions or thoughts?

So, I was enrolled in classes, I was going to start on the 26th, but ]unfortunately after a very long process, I will not be able to attend Stony Brook after all due to complications with instate residency and so on.In order to attend, i have to pay 9000 dollars out of my pocket by feb 15. My only other option is a Parent Plus Loan, but my mother has horrible credit and actually is in trouble for not paying her taxes or something. It is a real heart breaker since I felt extremely ambitious and excited to attend, but nonetheless, I am determined to not let time and circumstances make me lazy. I will make it work some other way, I suppose. Hopefully it is not to late to register for some classes at a community college. Bleh! what a blow to the head!

I found the calculus thing weird, too. Anyway, I am not taking any math courses this semesters, just some basic pre-req classes that are required for the Nursing program. This summer, however, I am taking chemistry and pre-calc! If you transfer over pre-calc you dont have to take the placement test at Stony Brook. I don't want to have to take a math assessment because I know I will not be placed in calculus, but feel I will do just fine in the course. Since I am transferring over chemistry, I will not have to take calculus as a pre-req. I am thinking of doing this at Nassau Community College over the summer. It will be tough, but I think it will be worth it--plus it will speed up the whole process. What do you guys think?

Thank you, guys! So,I just got off the phone with an adviser... Apparently before you take chemistry at stony brook you have to complete calculus? Yikes! I've never even taken pre-cal. I had an idea, however. During the summer I plan on taking classes. I'm eligible to take chemistry at a local community college. I am thinking I can make sure that chemistry reaches Stony Brook's requirements and I can skip calculus and chemistry at Stony brook. I was panning on taking chemistry over the summer alone anyway. Any thoughts?