eris08

Hi @dianaju, yes I did. I graduated back in 2016.

Hi Ladies! I graduated from the program back in 2016. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me anything.

No problem :) and good luck to everybody! NJCU's program is really good, shortest and the cheapest :) oh btw for those that are minority students once you get accepted either to this program or another one apply for the minority nurse scholarship (it's through minority nurse magazine). The first place gets $3,000 and the other two runner ups get $1,000. I was lucky enough to win the runner up award so if you have any questions regarding that scholarship don't hesitate to send me a message :) good luck everybody!

Hey dianearc, Classes usually start at 9 am and the latest class finishes at 4 pm. Clinicals start at 7 am until 1 or 3:30 pm. I buy a semester parking permit at Lot 3 which is $130, but some people park on the street. If you decide to park on the street you need to keep track of the time because they do give tickets like its candy.

Hey dianearc! The school provided us with three books and the rest you have to either purchase or rent them. Personally I only purchased the fundamentals book and rented the other books. This semester I purchased the adult health and OB/peds book everything else I rented. The scrubs, stethoscope, etc are not supplied by the school. We had to purchase them from Flint O'hara. For testing I am not sure what you mean. We have at least two exams per class and a HESI for every class except theory, health assessment and patho. Before the pinning ceremony we need to pass the HESI cumulative exam. We have three tries to pass it. The HESI is a bit harder than the actual nclex. Usually the regular in class exams are worth 20 or 25% of your grade. You also have to do HESI case studies which depending the class are worth 10-20% of your grade. You also will have to write papers. Study time depends really on you. Last semester I usually studied two nights before an exam, but this semester I have been studying for longer and way in advance because the material is harder. On average I will say this semester I study/read 10-15 hours per week. Like this spring break I have 200 pages to read on respiratory for adult health. 30 pages for peds and 50 pages for pharm. Also, we have papers do soon so I will be working on those as well. So no real spring break haha Branchizio is my favorite professor from the program. She is so passionate about teaching and nursing that she will make you love what you learn. Yet, she is tough on her questions which is always good. This year we got new professors from the previous cohorts and they are good. They work with you and try to help you in every possible way to succeed. Regarding the program, it depends on your cohort. We have a good cohort where everybody for the most part gets along and we try to help everybody out. As we say, we are in the program to succeed not to compete. :) I hope I answered all your questions. :)

At orientation the professors told us to not work and do the program because it would be difficult, so I quit my job taking their advice, but I don't recommend you quitting your job if you know how to time manage and have a pretty flexible work schedule. The first semester was "easy" and I think it is possible to hold a part time job and finish the semester with good grades. Plus you don't have to worry about all your expenses if you have a part time job. Our schedule for first semester was: gero and theory on Mondays, Fundamentals and health assessment on Tuesdays, clinical at the nursing home either Wednesday or Thursday and mandatory open lab on Friday. Pathophysiology was an online course. The second semester is the hardest. We're taking 23 credits and have three clinicals. You have med-surg clinical either Tuesday or Thursday and your peds/OB clinical on Saturday or Sunday. The peds/OB count as two separate ones. The classes we're taking right now are: Monday either peds or OB (half of the cohort takes peds the first half of the semester and the other half takes OB and then we switch), Tuesday or Thursday you have clinical, Wednesday is adult health, cultural, and research and on Friday we have law and ethics (1 class) and pharmacology. Third semester will be capstone class (review for the nclex), adult health II, psych, community and one other class that I cannot remember. I will say though they are changing the schedule for next year and putting Pathans pharm together and it will be split between the two semesters. We all think that makes a lot more sense and it can benefit you guys a lot more. Also, my cohort is trying to get the program to not send students to the nursing home the first semester because it's boring and you don't get to do much. Regarding commuting, there are some people from NYC that come to the school and they take the path to get to jersey city then take a train to the school. The train station is about four blocks away from the school. For clinicals all the people that live in NYC will go to Jersey City Medical Center. The other hospitals are: RWJ, Clara Mass, and Monmouth. Please excuse any spelling errors since I am trying this on my phone haha don't hesitate to ask me any other questions. I was in your position last year so I would love to help out.

Hi guys, I am currently in NJCU ABSN if you have any questions for me. I found out last year on April 1st so you guys should be hearing from them around that time. The professors have had many meetings this week so I will not be surprised that they are looking at applications right now.

I guess it really depends on the area and the state. In my state they are trying to get rid of the associate degree programs all together. My professor says that by the looks of it the proposal might get passed. Idk I'm a non-traditional student myself. I went back to school and did the accelerated BSN program because people kept telling me about the new laws and regulations regarding the degree a nurse holds in my state. Yet, frozenflame22 you are right, it all depends.

Only saying this because it's what our instructors are telling us as well as the nurses who work at the hospitals that I do my clinical at.

Vfloo2 why not apply to a regular 4 year track BSN program? You will have to go back to get your BSN anyways because by 2020 hospitals will require 80% of the nurses to have a BSN. Also, it is extremely hard nowadays to get a job if you have an Associates degree.

I agree with SlinkyheadRN. If you don't like it quit and go for PA or MD/DO school. I decided to not go to medical school because even though i love the science behind it I prefer to actually get to know my patients and be there for them. That is why nursing was the best choice. Regarding your classes I am not sure, but my school expects you to know the basics or if not the advance topics in patho. My professor said, "we are not doctors, but having a knowledge of the process and effects of a disease can help us advocate and care for our patients as well teach them about their illness." In pharm we are learning important medications and how it works in the body. So there is no simple memorization.

Hey nursing221, I have an undergrad degree in biology with a 3.1 gpa. I applied to multiple programs and I was granted interviews and got accepted to other programs so don't get discouraged. I went with the program that was in my state because it was the cheapest option, but the school I go to has a really good reputation. Every accelerated program is different and I know there are programs that ask for a min of 2.5 gpa. My program required a 3.0 but some people in my program had gpas of 2.5 or 2.75 so I guess schools look at many things.

I am currently in the NJCU accelerated program if anyone has any questions. For us technically it is a 10 month program if you include breaks. The jersey city Cohort starts in September and graduates in early August. The wall cohort starts in May and I think they graduate in April.

Is the patient taking any psychiatric medications? Could it be Neuroleptic Malignant syndrome?

Hehe no worries I'm not sure about Rutger's but NJCU had a 100% rate and everybody in last years cohort (they graduated in August) already have jobs by early November. My friend who graduated from Rutger's ABSN took her 7 months to find a job.