gyggles579

Just to wrap up my post I wanted to make a brief comment on 4th semester. In my opinion it was the least challenging of all the semesters. There was only Med Surg III to take which allowed for greater focus. There is still a lot of content to cover as in every semester. The schedule is similar, class 2x per week for I believe 3 hours then 12 hour clinicals on the weekend. Sometimes clinicals are on both Sat. and Sun. and sometimes just one day a week. Practicum is the last 2.5-3wks of the semester. In that time you have to get 100 hours of practice, it might have been 120 hours. Two weeks before practicum begins you get a list of possible sites and get to rank your top three. There may be multiple hospitals offering space in ICU and ED but you only get to choose one location since those are high demand areas. Typically you get your assignment one week before you start. If you are still working it doesn't give much time to change your schedule with your employer so it's better to tell your employer ahead of time that your schedule will be variable for 2-3 weeks and hope they will be flexible. After practicum you come back to campus one last day for wrap up and then you are done! Almost everyone in our cohort has found employment so don't feel like an ADN won't get you a job. Even still, it's always good to look toward getting as BSN as well. Even though WEA is no longer offered I believe Day Accelerated is similar except the classes are in the daytime, I believe 9am-12pm. I hope this information is useful to those who come across it in the future!

There are no online Science labs offered, even if there were no school would accept them. One option you can consider is to take the CLEP exam for Chemistry. You would have to see if the school you want to attend will accept CLEP credit. It would give count for your theory and lab. If you can manage to have the same day of the week off, you can take the online lecture for Chemistry at Baltimore City Community College with lab one day a week for 3 or 4 hours. That's what I did for A&P I and II.

First semester it's split, half the semester is at an Assisted Living facility and the other is in long term care. Lorian and Brightview were used for assisted living, both are in Bel Air. LTC had a location in Havre de Grace and another in Bel Air but can't remember names. Thus far all clinicals have been located in either Bel Air or Havre de Grace with the exception of one mental Health faculty at Perry Point.

So.....almost a year later I finally got around to posting an update. In some of the past older posts I found that once students were accepted into the program activity on these threads would die and you would never know what it was like to actually be in the program. So here I am to give my take on WEA. Thankfully everything worked out with my transcript situation. I showed my cc receipt to prove I included my scores with my application. Since it couldn't be found I had to resubmit them at $25 for a new one plus $20 for a rush order. Oh well, just one of the many costs of nursing school. Anyhow, today was the start of the 2nd half of third semester. I will try to share all the information I wanted to know when I was applying to the program. First I will address the question that I wondered most about when applying, which is can you work and complete the program. I will say that thus far I have worked full-time while in the program and managed to get As and Bs. There are a few other students who are working full-time as well and doing okay but the vast majority either are not working or work part-time. I will admit that I don't have children and am not married so my responsibilities outside of work and school are limited but again I know of at least one person who is married, has 3 kids, works and is doing the program. In fact one classmate became pregnant while in the program and is doing great. I would just remember to factor in commute times when making your decision because the further you have to travel for class and clinical the less time you have to study and complete assignments. In the summer there is a lab class which takes place one day a week before lecture from 2pm-5:30pm so I had to get a schedule accommodation. Two other times I took off from work to participate in a daytime activity including an Operating Room observation experience during 2nd semester in the Fall (this was optional) and a mandatory community health presentation at an elementary school for Pediatrics during the 1st half of 3rd semester. Otherwise all other functions thus far have taken place during the nights and weekends. I will say that 3rd semester was very tough to manage while working because there are 1-2 exams every week. During the last week of Peds/OB you will take your last unit exam and final on the same day. So we had two exams on Monday and another 2 exams on Thursday. Clinical for OB were 12 hours long (7am-7pm) but for Peds they were 10 hours long (7am-5pm). The only nice thing is that clinical is only one day on the weekend (either Saturday OR Sunday) and not both like in previous semesters. For Med/Surg 2, which we are taking the 2nd half of this 3rd semester we will be back to having clinical on both weekend days. Now another item I was concerned about was cost. Do not count on the "healthcare shortage" program reducing your tuition to the in-county price. The school is going to charge you out-of-county rates but will give you a rebate for the in-county vs out-of-county rate difference ONLY if the State refunds the school first. I ended up moving to Harford county so I was only impacted for the first semester but as far as I know my other classmates have yet to get a rebate. During the first semester, outside of tuition, we had uniform costs (shirts ~$16 each, pants ~$20 each, lab coat ~$22). The school will give you a list of pre-approved styles that you can purchase from Scrub Pro. They say you are not allowed to buy online from a 3rd party vendor but I did after buying one shirt from scrub pro. I just made sure the styles were similar looking. Books were $300 for a bundle. Realistically you could just rent the Fundamentals textbook from Amazon for $30 and you would be okay. The bundle includes the Funds physical textbook, a Dosage calculations book, Real Nursing Skills access code - provides access to videos of skills you will practice in lab like inserting a catheter but you can find similar videos on YouTube, and a MyNursing Lab access code - gives you access to the textbook online and some practice study materials. Considering you only use the Funds book 1st semester I would just rent it from Amazon and find free online study questions from places like quizlet or prenhall. You will be told that you will use the Funds book throughout the program but I have yet to crack it open since 1st semester except to use it as a reference for a hand washing project. You will also need to purchase a Nursing Diagnosis handbook ($48 on Amazon) and stethoscope/penlight/clip board. Second and 3rd semester the extra costs are just books. I bought the Med/Surg book for $50 on Amazon which is half the cost of the school bookstore. PrepU access codes are now sold separately from the book so I don't know what the cost for that will be or if the school will still require it. Since book prices change as editions change you can always just go to the school bookstore to look up the current price. Transportation is also a cost so if you don't live in Harford County just keep in mind the you will primarily travel to Bel-Air and Havre de Grace for clinical. During Mental Health some groups had clinical at Perry Point VA Center. The last talking point on my very long post is regarding scheduling. I touched on it a bit earlier. First semester class is 2x/wk (Tues& Wed) for 3 hours (6pm-9pm) and clinical Saturday and Sunday for 8hrs (7am-3pm). There was also a 3hr lab on either Tues OR Wed from 2:30pm-5:30pm. Second semester Med/Surg is 6pm-8pm 1x/wk (Thurs), Mental Health 7pm-9pm (Mondays) along with Contemporary Nursing (Mondays) 6pm-7pm. Clinical was again 7am-3pm with Med/Surg being on Saturday and Mental Health being Sundays. The first half of 3rd semester is Peds & OB. OB was on Mondays from 6pm-10pm and Peds was 6pm-9pm on Thursdays. Clinical alternates so one weekend will be OB and the next Peds. You will only have 3 of each. Again clinicals for OB are 7am-7pm and Peds are 7am-5pm. We are just starting the 2nd half of 3rd semester but the calendar lists class as taking place Mondays and Thursdays 6pm-9pm (there is an extra class on Wednesday the first 2 weeks) as well as Leadership class on some Tuesdays from 7:30pm-9pm. Clinicals start with some orientation days of 9am- 4pm but then move to 7am-7pm. Luckily we don't have clinical the day before an exam. I'll try to come back and posts about schedule, etc for 4th semester. I know this post is long but this is all the information I wanted before starting the program so I would have an idea of how to set up my schedule for the next 1.25 years. Unfortunately I hear the school is suspending WEA. I don't know if it is just for next year or indefinitely. Either way the information is here in case someone in the future needs it.

Thanks Onose! Since I can't prove the AP scores were attached, except by showing my receipts from College Board that I paid for them and the fact I listed AP scores in the application space for list attached transcripts, I feel like its going to be a lost cause. : ( But I'm still going to try. Still I'm glad that you all got it! We've been writing about this for the past year and now the time has finally come!!!

OMG! I got a letter form the school saying I don't meet the min requirements because I don't have ENG 101 complete. Wrong. Not only does my unofficial transcript show that I have Eng 101 but I also paid $25 to College Board so I could have a transcript of my AP scores from 10 years ago and I included with all the other transcripts I turned in with the application! What the heck, I'm calling the school on Monday. I don't even know what can be done. Its not like they can say oh we made a mistake, and take a seat away from someone else who has been offered one. I'm just hoping that I can work something out where I can be at the top of the waitlist, I had 25 points! Usually at least one person declines their offer. Sooooooooo upsetting.

Give it until Saturday. Maybe Onose lives in Harford county. Laurxoxo, are you in Harford or another county?

So I called the school today and was told the same thing....letters would be mailed by Friday. I didn't bother to reply that others had been told the same thing last week. At any rate I really just wanted to know when the orientation would take place as I feel I will be accepted based on the points of others that were accepted. The lady who answered asked what track I applied to so I think this info is only for the accelerated program. I was told there would be a Nursing Success session on Tues. May 5th from 12pm-3pm then the actual orientation will be Tues. May 12th from 8 or 9am until 3pm. Considering that May 5th is only 3 weeks away you would think acceptance letters would have been sent. Especially since there is probably of checklist of things we need to do before classes start....scrubs, textbooks, immunizations, CPR. Oh well, what can we do. Hope this information is helpful.

Hello Onose....welcome! Did you call Ms. Day or did you have to go the campus to talk with her? It always goes to voicemail when you call her number and her message just says that letters will be mailed Mid-April. Only one person so far has called and reached her. Another person left a message but got no reply back. How many points did you have?

I agree. The wait is annoying. I'll be moving if I get in and I thought I would have more time to get everything together. Plus I'm trying to sneak in a trip before classes start because I'm sure nursing school is going to own me for the next 1.25 years. I might just go in person. They can't send you to voicemail in person! Lol. Good luck everyone. Congrats kmurdy. We have the same points so I think I'll be there with you but I won't believe it until the letter is in my hand!

I think it will be another 2-3 weeks before we hear anything. I don't even know how they contact you...letter, email, phone? Someone from last year posted they received a call around the end of March. I'm not sure if a phone call is the first method of communication or if they only do that when the college hasn't heard back from a person. Impatiently wait and see is all I can do for now. Sigh.

Hello all. Just wondering how the Fall/Spring courses are coming along. Pretty soon I should be hearing back about the 2015 WEA program. I'm sure I'll have more specific questions if I get accepted but then I'll have less time to be on the message board. Sigh. Any warnings/advice/information you could give to the incoming class would be great. Thanks in advance! You guys are almost done!!!

Looking at old posts it seems like people hear back mid-March or later. That makes sense considering you can turn in an app through mid-February. I was hoping there would be more buzz by now, wanted to try and connect with others who might be starting. I guess I'll have to wait until orientation...assuming I get in. My points are looking pretty good so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. As far as CCBC goes, I saw a thread from 2012 which had several pages of comments so I thought it might be a popular program. If fewer people apply to HCC's program then it works out better for us anyway. Good luck to everyone!

Hi cmg9311. Don't get too discouraged, there are people who get accepted that don't take the seat due to a number of reasons. Also, if you are flexible to complete the day accelerated then you have more chances. Thankfully Harford lets you select multiple options....unlike CCBC. Anyhow, I'm surprised more people haven't commented on this thread. Usually when the app opens in November more people start posting on allnurses.com. I guess everyone is going to CCBC or BCCC. Good news for us I guess. Perhaps once decisions are made more people will write so we can all connect a bit before classes begin. I'm getting so excited. Only a few months away from finding out if this 10yr old goal of mine is going to be fulfilled in 2015!

Hello Sarah. From what I've read on previous posts and at the Information Session on campus, the WEA gets the most applicants. It seems like you need at least 21 points to have a good chance of acceptance. The higher your points, the better your chances. I think I read that HCC takes the highest TEAS. Depending on where you are points wise you may not need to take it again. Also, I learned at the Information Session that your application must have copies of all transcripts even though the college may all ready have it on file. I don't recall if you have to do it even if you took all your prereqs there, I took mine elsewhere so I was paying more attention about transfer students. Hope this was helpful.

Thanks for the link. I will definitely check it out. I just passed the CLEP exam for Developmental Psychology (Yay me!) so I'm slowly checking off those last few things I need to finish. I'll have to remember to come back to this site and post my stats and the acceptance decision for all the future cohorts that are tired of all the 2007-2010 posts that are outdated. Lol. I hope we get to be classmates in the future. Best wishes for Micro! : )

Did you study for the TEAS? I haven't taken it yet but I will in the next month or two. Im seeing a lot of posts that have a similar score range. I'm just wondering if I really need to carve out time to study for the test or if it's like the SAT which has a range of general questions that make it hard to "study" for the exam.

Thanks all! KatieJenkins I appreciate all the detail, it really helps when you're trying to plan how you will need to set up your life for 1.5 years! I was really hoping to stay in the Towson area but since most of the clinicals sound like they are in Harford county I will probably go for White Marsh or Edgewood. One other thing. When did clinicals begin? Did it start the first weekend after the program started or a little later?

Hello kmurdy, I will be applying to the 2015 WEA program. I have Dev. Psych and the PE classes to complete but that's it. If I cant take the PE classes at BCCC due to work then I found an online PE course similar to the ones offered at Harford...but they were almost half the cost. If you still need 2 credits of Physical education you can look at New Mexico Junior college. If you have to pay out of county rates at Harford its cheaper to take the course online at the NM school.

Hello all! First thanks for sharing all of your information, it was all extremely helpful. I had a few more questions for those in the program. 1. Where have the clinicals been so far? Are they primarily at Harford Memorial or are some of them in Baltimore? I ask because I will be moving from PG county if accepted into the program and wanted to pick a location central to school/clinicals/work. I feel like better jobs can be had closer to Baltimore so I was hoping to live in Towson, Parkville or White Marsh. All those locations are about 30 min from campus. If clinical will typically be in Harve de Grace then I may try for a location further East. 2. What happens if you are late to class? 3pm seems early for a N&W program but if its just for the summer I guess I'll manage, or I may just get a p/t job for the first summer then start working full-time again. 3. Do you know if it is possible to apply for a CNA license after the 1st semester or at some point in the program? I've read on some other posts people recommending this after the first semester with clinical in order to get some "nursing" experience for easier employment after the program. I think that's all the questions I have. Again, thanks for all the info!!

They don't have too many accelerated ADN! I'm just fortunate enough to live in a state with 2. Plus in Maryland you only have to live in the state for 3 months to get in state tuition at the Commmunity college. This only applies to community college, not the university. Its still a one year wait for a Maryland University. Also the community college charges more if you don't live in the county. But they will usually give you in-county rates because Nursing is a "shortage" area. I've seached alot and only found 3 other schools with an accelerated ADN. One was in South Carolina, one was in Oklahoma, and I believe there is also one at a community college in Virginia. To my surprise there is also an online, self-paced nursing ASN at a community college in Del Mar, Tx. You have to go in person to the clinicals but it gives you some flexibility to work so as to not take out large loans as others have mentioned. I have been looking at all options to go back for a 2nd degree in Nursing so I know how you feel. If I can help you not to have to complete the hours of online research I have done...I'm happy to do so! I don't have the school names handy otherwise I would post them, if I run across them Ill try to post the names as well. For the online nursing in Texas just google Eline Del Mar. The local university in Texas also has a similar online BSN, that school's name is TAMUCC. Hope this helps.

I don't have any kids but its good to know that I'm not the only one trying to take the leap into nursing.

I don't know where you live but we have an accelerated RN A.S degree at Howard Community college. Im thinking of going this route only because the tuition is lower than a 4 year college. The program is 14 or 15 months. There is another school in the Maryland area called Harford that offers an accelerated night & weekend program. As someone else mentioned you could complete a bridge program afterwards. Just a thought.

Pleasant read. I'll add this to my bookmarks.

I agree. The info from juliesnow was very helpful. You guys are getting close to finishing...Congrats!