RaRa310

An art for sure! I think I will try talking with my department head and see if she can offer something new. My instructors have all offered what I am already doing. Thanks for the input!

Thanks, I may need to buckle down and try this approach. Depending on the semester it may or may not be doable. Last semester we were test on about 40 concepts, so 10 each test give or take. Reading all the chapters was almost impossible. This semester is much more focused and I have read the chapters for some concepts and merely skimmed for others. Our instructors do ppt slides to go along with lecture which is where a lot of the information gets lost in lecture. Some points are harped on, others barely acknowledged so it does get chaotic trying to study. I will try reading as much as can to hopefully gain more understanding of the bigger picture. Even guessing more accurately would be helpful.

Hello Nursing world! I am looking for suggestions to help me be a more productive/proficient study-er! My first semester was a huge learning experience for me! I really had to learn that what you do in the classroom isn't always exactly how it happens in the clinical setting. I had to learn to answer test questions based on this and leave out the "real world" stuff. It took most of the semester to learn how to answer nursing questions appropriately. That in and of its self is a skill to learn! I started my second semester with relief and a more balanced approach. I have changed my study habits completely! I work with my clinical group 3-4 days a week for about 2 hours, one on one with another student for about 3 hours on Saturdays and spend Sundays reviewing. Our programs do not do any quizzes to test your understanding as you go through the semester, so I use ATI practice exams, complete the questions for each concept in the NCLEX book and do the chapter review questions. I do really well when I test my knowledge and I keep with my peers in group study well. (I don't find myself not participating due a knowledge deficit, haha). I feel confident going into tests but continue to do really poorly on each exam. I'm not really sure what else to do to try and get more information in. I feel like the school exam questions, while relate to our concepts, are always on the few things we didn't discuss or were led to focus on specific things and are then tested on items that were not directly lectured on. The questions don't seem to fall in line with NCLEX or ATI. My program does not allow study guides, so basically know everything, and we are only able to review the tests silently, no discussion or elaborations on the rationales. I am curious if anyone out there has any tips or other suggestions that I haven't tried that they'd like to share! I am feeling really frustrated and discouraged. There is no other option than to just keep trying and pushing through but it would be nice to come out of test feeling just as good as I do going in. Any and all suggestions are appreciated! Thank you! -Upside down Nursing Student

I think you'll be fine. Its my understanding that Fall is usually more competitive because more people apply. It sounds like you have done well in all your classes with points in that range and did really good on your TEAS so you should feel confident going into Spring. (Of course nervous too, can't help that but confident)! Good luck!

I waited to apply after all the pre-reqs were complete and had completed my teas testing before applying. I knew it would just be easier to get all of that done first and then only have NUR classes to focus on if I got into the program. Plus it would allow me to gain the most amount of points before applying. I had a total of 159 points from all my pr-reqs and only got a total of 6 points on the teas for an overall total of 165 points. If I had taken more time to really study for the teas I would have easily gotten in the 12 pt range. Anyone who is on the fence with points the teas can make or break it. So please study for it! I think I got lucky as far as getting in with the points I had. Its not necessarily hard or complicated questions it more reviewing and making sure you remember how do basic math, (algebra, chemistry, fractions/decimals/percents, word problems), grammar, reading comprehension and sciences (chemistry, earth, anatomy and micro).

Hi everyone! I've been following this post for about two weeks now. I found this forum while searching for some news and updates prior to acceptance letters being mailed. Like everyone else, I was nervous and looking for "insider info". I feel very fortunate to have been accepted in to the program for Fall 2016. In reading over everyone's posts I just I thought I would share my experience. I started at Wake Tech in the summer of 2012. I had never taken college courses and I was on a one way track after finally deciding to pursue a career in Nursing. I have worked full and pat time through most of school with the exception of one year I only worked full time. I was so lucky to land a job in a pediatric therapy office working 10 hours Mon-Thurs so this gave me some flexibility Fri-Sun. I didn't qualify for any grants because of my job but decided against taking loans because I didn't want any debt. So I worked part time also and took one class a semester. (except one semester I took two). I took everything online except Micro. which was a hybrid course. I did everything through Wake Tech and didn't even consider another school. (Like I said one track). I completed all my pre-reqs prior to applying. I wanted to ensure I had enough points and knew with work and just the way I am I could only focus on so many things at once. I have no idea how people take a nursing course with a pre-req course, I think it would be a really overwhelming work load. I cleared all my English and Psy courses, then my Humanities course and Chem qualifier course before focusing on the sciences. I completed my CNA course last spring on Friday nights and Saturdays. Then after passing the certification I began to focus on my teas test. I still had the luxury of taking it three times, I think now its only two. I recommend reviewing the basics of the test. Check out a practice book from the WTCC library and be familiar with the types of questions they will cover. After you take it once you will have a good feel of what to expect the second time and the print out report will tell you where to focus and improve. There is no reason not take it twice even if you did well, you can always push for better to gain the extra points! No matter what you have going on keep pushing and you will get there! It took me four years to complete 2 years worth of pre reqs but the time is going to pass you by regardless. For those of you still taking pre-reqs at WTCC. Dr. Frear was a really good teacher for A&P. Dr. Leverton was pretty good for Micro, but her tests are really hard and the study guides were kind of ridiculous. Betty White was the best CNA instructor if you take the course through WTCC and Nantz was good teacher for Humanities. Best of luck to everyone in the future!