jlm311

No letters of recommendation or essays/personal statements. It's on the application but not required to submit it. Simplest application I've ever done.

I applied for the Feb start and had them transfer my app to April cause I've had so many issues with them processing my application. I'm not gonna lie, I'm really worried about the student support if I can't even get assistance during the application process. I know people who completed the program and they say the hardest part is finding a preceptor the last year because you have to find one yourself.

Does anyone know if the gpa requirement is overall gpa or nursing school only gpa? I took non nursing classes at UTA (and did horribly, my gpa took at hit). Then left and did an associate nursing program. Came back to UTA and did the RN-BSN program. So based on the first time around at UTA, my overall gpa is awful, but BSN gpa is 3.2.

Does anyone know if you are allowed to stack 3 - 5 week nursing courses at a time? I am wanting to take 3 classes beginning on 4/11 in order to complete the program in 9 months. I haven't had any difficulty doing 2 classes at a time, and it's only 5 weeks long so I think I can manage. Any advice appreciated!

I just finished my 1st semester! My advice would be to stay ahead! There will be all kinds of assignments overlapping, so try and get any small assignments out of the way if you can. Make sure to READ over and over again! Form study groups, even if you feel like you understand the material, once you discuss it with another person you'll discover that you missed something. Most people say to get a planner, but I bought a tablet and put all my assignment due dates on the calender, there is a widget app on my home screen that shows all upcoming appts on my calender a week in advance so I had it there in front of me at all times (I'm a very forgetful person!). I also was able to download all powerpoints and view them on the tablet, but it isn't helpful if you have to have the actual printout in front of you, I just prefer to save trees. If you work and have the option to quit your job, then quit your job. This is your career and you've worked hard to get accepted, don't possibly throw it away because you were too tired to study. For those of you who have to continue working, it IS possible! I worked during my first semester and it was extremely tough, be prepared to never sleep again! I stressed way more than I should've, and I made it out alive with 4 B's...but I've decided to quit working for 2nd semester as I have heard the material gets harder. Good luck to all of you!

Congratulations on passing!!! I'm so glad I came across your post as I'm sure it will serve a good purpose when I finally finish nursing school! (I'm barely starting my 2nd semester!) Your story is such an inspiration, and I'm so glad you were able to pull through all your hardships. There is no better revenge than proving people wrong! Good luck in your new career, and thanks for all the helpful advice.

No problem! Also, if you need to have any titers done (for either Hep B or Chickenpox), you can go online to requestatest.com, it's pretty cheap! You select a LapCorp clinic near you and get your blood work done the same day, and your results are available as soon as the next day online to print. My Hep B shots weren't taken within the right time frame (I think I took the 2nd and 3rd dose more than a year after the 1st) and the school required me to get a titer done. Make sure your Hep B is taken care of if you haven't already, it's the only one that can prevent you from starting.

I was able to get my physical at CareNow, it was only $10 :)

I'm not sure about a 2 hr elective, I don't think I've ever seen a 2 hr elective offered, but if you choose one of the 3 hr electives on the list then you should be covered :)

I am in the Wed clinical group and I live in Fort Worth, which is about 1 1/2 hour drive. There is also a student from Irving in my group, as well as several people from Lewisville. Most students that live in Denton are either in Thurs or Fri clinical group. I heard that they do try to accommodate students with childcare needs, but I'm not sure how that works. We were told we would have to go to our clinical site the night before to choose a patient, but luckily our instructor is awesome and understands that a good handful of us have to commute to school, so she doesn't have us do that. But we were told that other instructors in later semester may have us go the night before.

We have class on Mon 8-5.Tues 8-9 for lecture and then the class is split in half, 1st half is in class from 9-12, 2nd half has class from 1-4 but there are days when they give the 2nd half the option of staying for the 1st half, it just depends what we are doing that day. There is one clinical day, either Wed, Thurs or Fri. I know the Wed and Thurs clinical groups are from 6:30am - 1pm, and the Fri group is from 3pm-11pm, although I've heard from some people in the Fri group that they do not actually stay that long. From what I can tell, it seems that the people who live the farthest get the better schedule, like the 1st group on Tues and either a Wed or Thurs schedule. Hope this helps, let me know if you have any other questions.

Hello ashleyj2011, congrats on doing well on the Kaplan! First semester so far isn't too unbearable, but the class assignments and tests dates are now starting to overlap so it gets a bit overwhelming. Just make sure you stay ahead on the reading and don't wait til the day before to study. Scrubs for class need to be Landau brand in red...you might want to buy them a size bigger cause you more than likely will gain some weight, unless you are big on exercising but you might find that you no longer have time to do that once school starts. On orientation day, they will announce that they have extra scrubs donated by the upperclassmen that have graduated, which really helps if you can't afford them right away, especially after having to pay all this money for immunizations and background checks and all the other things you need before school starts. Hope this info helps, let me know if you have any questions...Good luck!

Perfect! Thanks so much for the info.

I have heard from other nursing students (at other community colleges) that after the first semester you will be able to apply for jobs as a nurse assistant...has anyone else heard the same? I'm wondering if NCTC offers the same.

I saw on the NCTC website that the Gainesville and Corinth campuses are down today with no phones or internet, that probably has something to do with not being put into our classes yet. Hopefully it comes back up soon.

I received my letter today also, looks like I'm in group 1 with clinicals on Wed. If anyone lives in the North Fort Worth area and wants to carpool, let me know!

Hello everyone, I just took the Kaplan Nursing Entrance Exam this past Tuesday, and I'm happy to say that I got accepted to North Central Texas College in Gainesville, TX! I just wanted to post information about the test in case there's anyone out there like me who went crazy trying to find information about the Kaplan but didn't. I used the Kaplan Nursing School Entrance Exams and feel like it is a very good study tool for Reading and Math sections. The Reading section is the same format that will be on the test, extracting main ideas and summarizing each paragraph. I scored an As for Math, there were a lot of fraction problems; adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing fractions. Also make sure you are very familiar with percentages. For the dosage calculation questions, there were fairly basic problems and maybe 3 or 4 on the test. There wasn't any that involved X grain (I had to google X grain when I saw it on the practice question). The only dosage calculation problem I remember was a situational question...A nurse has to administer a medication twice a day, at 10am and 4pm. The first dosage is 3/8 oz and the second dosage 2/7 oz, she only has one oz of the medication. Will she have enough for both doses? In which you have to find the least common denominator and in order to add fractions together and the decide if it is more or less than the oz available... For the math portion, I also bought a dosage calculations math book from Barnes and Noble, it has a lot of situational problems that closely resemble what was on the exam and will more than prepare you. Writing was by far the most annoying section of them all. The Kaplan study guide does not reflect what is on the actual test. In the Kaplan study guide, you will have a section for vocabulary and spelling only, neither of which are on the test. I take that back, I had one question on my test where it asked which sentence had an incorrectly spelled word, and it was very obvious. The word was "roll", in which is was the wrong form of roll. The correct spelling was "role", as in "role model". The Writing section was in short story format, each sentence numbered, and it would ask questions as far as grammar, structure, or punctuation - which sentence has a comma where one isn't needed or which sentence is repetitive and not necessary in the paragraph. There were few questions that asked which sentence has an incorrect usage of a verb or which sentence has a subject-verb that doesn't agree. Mostly there would be a question with either a sentence, or even a whole paragraph, that asks where would be the best place to insert it within the short story, those were the hardest for me, I tend to be an over analyzer! The science section was by far the hardest, and even now I'm not sure of the best way to prepare for it. I used A&P for Dummies, which was of little help. There were mostly questions about the Cardiovascular system - the pathway of a blood flow through the heart is the one that I remember most because that was one of the only questions I was completely sure of! Which system is responsible for regulation the pH? What is unique about the cells in the nervous system? Which organ of the digestive tract does the most absorption of nutrients? These were the easier questions that I can remember, the hard ones I can't even think of because in the moment, you either know it or you don't. I had taken A&P I and II about 5 years ago, and I decided to retake A&P I this past Spring in order to get my gpa higher. The systems that were mostly on the test - Cardiovascular, Endocrine, Digestive - are covered in A&P II (well, at least that's the way it is in Texas). So I think taking A&P II the semester before you test would be beneficial. My overall score is an 80, not bad considering I did horrible in the science! Hopefully this information is of use to you, and good luck!

No problem! I wish I could've found more info on the test before I took it, so I don't mind helping. It's called Kaplan Math for Nurses, A Skill-Builder and Reference Guide for Dosage Calculations 3rd ed A&P II should help you with the science portion since most of the systems on the exam are covered in II. I took A&P I and II about 5 years ago but retook A&P I this past Spring in order to get my PP's up. I'm sure I could've done much better had I taken A&P II over also.

I made it in also! Congrats to everyone who also made it in! To TWiersch, the grading scale that is on the NCTC nursing website is 90-100 = A 81-89 = B 75-80 = C 66-74 = D 65 or lower = F, and you have to get a C or better in every course while in the program. In regards to the Kaplan exam, I used the Kaplan Nursing School Entrance Exams and feel like it is a very good study tool for Reading and Math sections. The Reading section is the same format that will be on the test, extracting main ideas and summarizing each paragraph. As for Math, there were a lot of fraction problems; adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing fractions. Also make sure you are very familiar with percentages. For the dosage calculation questions, there were fairly basic problems and maybe 3 or 4 on the test. There wasn't any that involved X grain (I had to google X grain when I saw it on the practice question). The only dosage calculation problem I remember was a situational question...A nurse has to administer a medication twice a day, at 10am and 4pm. The first dosage is 3/8 oz and the second dosage 2/7 oz, she only has one oz of the medication. Will she have enough for both doses?... For the math portion, I also bought a dosage calculations math book from Barnes and Noble, it has a lot of situational problems that closely resemble what was on the test. Writing was by far the most annoying section of them all. The Kaplan study guide does not reflect what is on the actual test. In the Kaplan study guide, you will have a section for vocabulary and spelling only, neither of which are on the test. I take that back, I had one question on my test where it asked which sentence had an incorrectly spelled word, and it was very obvious. The word was "roll", in which is was the wrong form of roll. The correct spelling was "role", as in "role model". The Writing section was in short story format, each sentence numbered, and it would ask questions as far as grammar, structure, or punctuation - which sentence has a comma where one isn't needed or which sentence is repetitive and not necessary in the paragraph. There were few questions that asked which sentence has an incorrect usage of a verb or which sentence has a subject-verb that doesn't agree. Mostly there would be a question with either a sentence, or even a whole paragraph, that asks where would be the best place to insert it within the short story, those were the hardest for me, I tend to be an over analyzer! The science section was by far the hardest, and even now I'm not sure of the best way to prepare for it. I used A&P for Dummies, which was of little help. There were mostly questions about the Cardiovascular system - the pathway of a blood flow through the heart is the one that I remember most because that was one of the only questions I was completely sure of! Which system is responsible for regulation the pH? What is unique about the cells in the nervous system? Which organ of the digestive tract does the most absorption of nutrients? These were the easier questions that I can remember, the hard ones I can't even think of because in the moment, you either know it or you don't. Hopefully this information is helpful to you, and good luck when you apply! Let me know if you have any questions.

I'm so nervous for the cut off score to be posted today! I scored an 80 overall on the test, but since they are testing 100 students, I guess any cut off score could be possible. The AP portion threw me for a loop as well, but it makes me feel a little better that so far the test scores have been kind of low. Does anyone know if the cut off score has ever been below 70?

I got my letter yesterday and I'm scheduled for the 25th! I was hoping for the 27th just to have that little extra time, I'm just glad my 10 pp's was good enough! Good luck to everyone who's testing!!!

Thank you amandacam, it's good to know that it is possible. Do you have any advice as far as the Kaplan exam?

Does anyone know whether or not you will be able to work while in the program? I'm just trying to plan ahead in case I do get accepted. I know nursing is very difficult and time consuming but if I could stay working then that would be great but at the same time I don't want to jeopardize school. Any advice?

I went to Gainesville yesterday to apply, I'm so nervous! I have 10/12 priority points so hopefully I get invited to test. I bought the Kaplan study guide from the bookstore so I'll start studying for the test soon. Good luck to everyone!