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Hi Nurse Beth, I thank you for reply to my question. An update for you: I stayed in acute care and, although it's not free of challenges, I love it! I also changed specialties.

I am gonna wear something simple. I usually wear a lot of v-necks and jeans/shorts or workout clothes if I'm headed to the gym at some point. Probably some flats or sandles. How about you?

I also would like to join a study group. I have never been in one before so it will be a new experience.

I just bought the bundles. I went ahead and purchased them because they are "custom" (this is what I was told at my old school) and it would probably take forever to look up all of the parts. The prices are steep! Spent more on the two bundles at the bookstore than I spent on all other textbooks (and an additional drug reference) on Amazon combined! Craziness...

The TB tests are pretty standard. Get the first one done ASAP because you have to wait approx. a week in between. As far as vaccinations, ask about titers (basically a blood test to determine if you have immunity) since you probably already had most of the vaccines. I never had the varicella vaccine, but because I have had the chicken pox, I am immune. A positive titer means that I did not have to have the vaccine for nursing school.

I volunteered at a pretty well-known cancer center that was located on my college campus. I did have to answer some short and long answer questions and provide two letters of recommendation. The hospital's employee services provided my TB tests and flu shot ( was mandatory for me around January). I was given an assignment and I absolutely loved it. I got to interact with patients a LOT! Some of my duties included bringing pts back to their bays (waiting room was far away), cleaning beds and putting new linens on them, helping nurses transport pts to x-ray/CT/etc., bringing patients food/drink if nurses asked me to, giving out (lots of) directions to pts and family members (get to know the hospital), and running specimens to the lab. Of course there are more that I just can't think of, but it was a wonderful experience! For the record, I think they put you through so much writing, etc because they want to see if you are intelligent and have good intentions in being there. Plus, it is probably a way to limit the amount of people who volunteer (at least where I volunteer, there was almost competition because so many people wanted to do it).

Anyone have a lab Friday from 8-11? Health Assessment, I believe, but I'm not near my laptop to check right now.

Wow, thanks for that info^! Very exciting.

I was only a pre-nursing student there, but I can tell you that the faculty members are so nice and caring! I was able to attend a meeting with a club where some of the faculty were present and they were very kind and encouraging. Time and time again, they reiterated how they WANT you to succeed and that they are there to help you do that. I heard from actual nursing students that the program is awesome. The accelerated program is even more competitive than the traditional BSN because there are fewer spots, but you can also apply to the traditional BSN as well, I believe. I don't know the amount of applicants/accepted for the accelerated program, but the traditional program accepted about 72 out of 500 or so applicants for Fall 2013. Keep in mind also that they generally accept fewer people for the summer semester.

Just a piece of advice for if you decide to take the TEAS: relax a little. Honestly, I'm not a "fly by the seat of my pants" kind of person, but for this test, I had very little time to study due to school related reasons and because I scheduled the test 3 weeks out from test day. The night before the test I started with a practice book which just tested what I know, rather than teach the material. I worked on that, and then I went to bed at around 10 because I think resting is important before a test. I said a good prayer the morning of and just told myself to breathe, rely on the knowledge I have, and focus. I was shocked to find that I scored in the 95 percentile. Again, the moral of the story is to relax. You have worked so hard to get to this point, and you have surely learned so, so much. Believe in yourself, take a deep breath, and trust yourself this time even though you didn't don as well the first time. Also, we all know that the science is the hardest part. They're gonna throw those questions that you will just not remember the answer to (and yes, I think my math exam may have had one or to without a correct answer choice so I just picked what I figured was the best one) so do your best on those. To make up for the tough ones that you already know will be on the science, have you practiced your reading comprehension/ grammar? Personally I feel that these sections have boosted my scores on various tests over the years. You are scored on these tests too, so know these also. If you do well on these, they can bring up your overall score. Best wishes to you on your next try!

I'm really excited too. I have heard that your classmates/clinical groups become family to you, and I am excited for that aspect of school. Plus, I also know no one, so I obviously would likes to make some good friends. I will be commuting from about 30-40 minutes north until I can find a decent place to live.

I had the same experience. Hopefully they update it if we do have a textbook for that class.

That sounds nice! I'm debating on whether or not I should go shopping lol.

What are you guys wearing to orientation? I know some programs require you to dress up, but we did not receive a dress code. I was thinking something sort of dressy-casual.