Mr. Beef

I would say you should start applying as soon as you are available and have completed the pre-req's for the school(s) you want to attend. Depending on the program you could take all your Pre-Req's at once at the Dallas County Community Colleges [DCCCD] and have them done in one semester if you want to attend an ADN Program in the DCCCD. That's not vary realistic though because you could burn yourself out way to fast. I would advise taking them 2-4 at a time depending on where you plan to go, and then adjust up or down in hours depending on how you did the previous semester. For me, someone who has not been to college in a really long time, I'm going to take my Pre-Req's 2-4 at a time depending on how many hours I feel I can take a semester. If I need to take something like Anatomy then I might take one other "easy" class [Like speech or english] so I can focus all my study time on two classes instead of four. Don't take a major science class in a short semester like summer. You may get it done a lot faster, but you will know a lot less. At least that's how it was for me, and it hurt my GPA. Hope this helps, Mr. Beef

If I could, I would take my Pre-req's one class at a time, but with only 4 of them for most of the ADN schools around me, I figure I can handle 2 at a time and get them done in two semesters and take the summer off, and apply then rather than having to wait a whole 2 years before applying. Summer is just insane to take something as major as Anatomy & Physiology that really needs a bunch of weeks to get all the stuff you need instead of 5 weeks. I admire your dedication to the cause. I'm young and single with no dependants and still have to do them two at a time. Mr. Beef

It never crossed my mind to go to TWU. I guess that something to look into. Thanks, Mr. Beef.

Sounds like generic writing. I can do that in my sleep. I scored a 5 (out of a possible 5) on the TASP writing portion and I know that was not my best work. In twenty minutes I could write on just about anything, and edit it. I did not take any AP classes in High School and I have not taken Micro at all so I don't have to worry about either of those. Thanks momto2beauties, Mr. Beef

I know about the whole hospitals paying for your education thing because I have a friend in Houston who did that same thing many years ago. I'm expecting to either go into debt for a BSN or minimize my debt with an ADN. With the ADN I can go RN to BSN in the future once I have a few years under my belt, but with the BSN I can do anything I want, and right now I'm thinking of going into the Air Force, Navy or Army Nurse Corps. Thanks, Mr. Beef

Congradualtions on your passing the NCLEX, and doing something that I can only dream about. Geez, if I'm competing with at least 799 other people I guess I really need to make myself stand out. I know a 3.14 GPA is not the best in the world, but that's about the best I'm going to do without taking most of my classes over again. I have to look at the Mapquest to get to UT Arlington. I'm thinking it's I-30, and as long as I don't get too caught up in rush hour traffic then I should be okay. Also If they don't close I-30 between Dallas and Arlington for too long than I should be good. Looks like I'm not going to avoid the HESI A2 so I might as well take it and see what I get on it. I'm going to need to take the Math and Anatomy or Chemistry and Anatomy (depending where I go) and then go from there. The Anatomy thing is kind of daunting because I took Anatomy in High School and made mostly C's in it, except the 'A' I made in the Circulatory System. Thanks Heather, R.N. for the info. Have some cake or cookies and coffee. We have decaf and regular on the coffee. Mr. Beef

As long as I don't have to get up at some really early time of day just to take it, then I can probably make a decent score on it. For the The SAT and TASP I had to get up really early (7:00am) and I was out before noon, and on the SAT I made a 1010, and passed all the parts of the TASP with flying colors except the Math part that I had to take devlopmental classes. I have a slight math test anxiety, but all the others I kick backside in. I have to take all the classes over again so I would not be taking the HESI A2 for a while yet. Thanks for the help. Mr. Beef

What kind of writing sample, creative or technical? If it's Creative, then I shouuld have no trouble because I took Creative Writing in the Spring of this year and got an A in it. If it's Technical, then I really don't know how to handle that sort of thing. I can probably take a Technical Writing class in the spring just to see how things are in the Technical Writing field. As for interviews, Brookhaven does interviews of the top 60 canidates and invites the top 40 back to be in the program based on those interviews. Thanks momto2beauties, Mr. Beef

"Point earner" what does that mean? Is it like the way Brookhaven does it by assigning points based on standardized tests and GPA. Some It seems like most places go by Pre-Req's rather than anything else. Looks like I need to get off my big backside and register for Spring 07 classes as soon as possible. Congradulations on your acceptance into the UT Arlington Nursing program. Have a big slice of cake and a giant cup of coffee. You deserve it. Good luck to you on the road ahead. You're a lot closer than I am. Thanks, Mr. Beef

Here's a link to one of the Colleges in my area that has a Surgical Technican degree program: http:// http://www.elcentrocollege.edu/Programs/HealthLegalstudies/SurgTech/stdescribe.htm It should answer most of the questions that you have. Granted it's what you can do in Texas as Surgical Tech and in your state might be different. Med/Surg is more taking care of the patient pre-op and post-op so you don't get to actually work in the OR. A Surgical Nurse is something you might be intrested in if you want to work in the OR. They help with all aspects of the surgery and do all the scheduling of surgeries and doctors and all the stuff that Surgical Techs can't do. There's only a so-so job demand for Surgical Techs (at least around here), and what jobs there are fill rather quickly. You might get a job in Central Supply in a hospital instead of working in an OR with a Surgical Tech degree. The whole 10 Month thing is if you go to a Technical School. If you do go to a Technical School then what you earn there in the way of credits will not transfer to any other College or University anywhere else. If you have your heart on being a Nurse than stick with the LPN program. Work as an LPN for a while and then go into a LPN to RN Bridge program in one of the colleges in your area. With an RN you will get more responsibility and will get to work the OR like you want to, or you can go ahead and quit the LPN program and go directly into an RN program, but that might be a bit sticky considering that you are only 17 since most RN programs are college level. Nursing gives you all sorts of flexibility in the medical field rather than just being in the OR all day. I know for me I need to see the sun every now and then, and not just when I go to work and go home. Hope this helps, Mr. Beef

Hi Everybody, I was just wondering something, and that is, how do schools handle OB/GYN rotations for Nursing students that are male? OB/GYN is something that makes me rather uncomfortable. I don't want to go into OB/GYN in the future, but something like Endocrine, Med/Surg, or anything besides OB/GYN is something I'd be willing to look into. Thanks for filling me in, Mr. Beef

Considering that Denton is a 35-40 minute drive up I-35E another 30 minutes is a lot further than I want to go. Thanks for the help. Have a chocolate chip cookie, and coffee. Thanks, Mr. Beef

I've got it down to either El Centro or Brookhaven. El Centro has the lead because it's a lot easier to get into (pre-req wise) than Brookhaven, but Brookhaven is closer, and the college credits I have so far are from there. The point system is a lot better than just GPA on Pre-Req's like they used to do. You still need to pass all the classes with at least a 2.75 GPA for them to even consider you though. The HESI exam kinda scares me. I don't do well on standardized tests, and the HESI is one of those. I went to the web site yesterday, and looked up all the pertenant information, and I'm planning to go to the information session next week so maybe we'll meet there. It's going to be packed out so I plan to get there early. Thank you lex, the only luck I need is the kind you get to get into the program. There's a little bit of cake left as well as some yummy chocolate chip cookies for you to have with the coffee. Thanks, Mr. Beef

I'm mostly sticking with Dallas County because I can get affordable In-County tuition at the Community Colleges, and it's not a commute like some of the others in the tri-county area. Ellis County is just a bit far out of the way since I live in North Dallas than South or East Dallas (my brain does not want to do geography right now.). Collin County might be a lot closer than UT Arlington, but there's the whole sticky thing about tuition. What's TCC; Tarrant County College? If it is, that's about as far as I want to go. Actually scratch that I just did the Mapquest thing; an 80 mile round trip just for class is a bit much. If I can get closer than I'll take it otherwise I'll take it as a last resort. Everybody here seems to sing El Centro's praises. I did a little bit of research and it looks like a good program, and it's a lot easier to get into than Brookhaven's. I'm going to have to take all the classes over again just to improve my GPA. I figure I can take two in the Spring and two in the Fall, and be ready for Spring admissions. Looks like someone needs a caffine boost. I just brewed up a fresh pot, and have some chocolate chip cookies while you're at it. Thank You, Mr. Beef

I don't have any links to support my theory, but I must agree with you and I would have said Aleve as well. Half of the answers were not NSAID's, and I thnk Motrin is not an NSAID or is one of the older ones. It could not be something easy like Advil could it. Just my opinion, Mr. Beef