Puerto Rico school feedback?

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Anyone out there have info on the school in Arecibo, PR? It is a 24 month program that begins in August.

I'd love to hear anything, thanks.

zzzzzgirl

Oh, and just to give you another idea about how laid back and mixed up things are here, most of the doctors don't make appointments. They give you a specific day to come, and you have to get up at the butt crack of dawn and write your name on a list, at like 5 a.m. Then you come back at around 8 a.m. and pray that your name was one of the first on the list so you don't have to wait ALL DAY LONG to get seen. I first found that out when I was pregnant. I wasn't supposed to eat because they were doing a blood test, and I got there around 7:30, hadn't eaten anything, and we didn't get called until 3:30 p.m. My hubby went down at 5:30 a.m. to sign us up too. I seriously felt like I was going to faint, not eating anything all day. The doctors say that they don't make appointments because people don't show up for them. Nice, huh?

That is hilarious! I can laugh at it because it reminds me of some of the third world countries I lived in, like Malawi. Come to think of it in Malawi I could see a doctor straight away. You didn't make an appointment but there was not a wait. I lived in a small village.

Though, I don't think it would be so funny if it was me having to wait all day.

designer-mommy keep posting these things and maybe if there is any competition they will read stuff like this and decide they don't want to live in a pseudo "developing country." Then we will no longer have any competition.

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Well,i know that as part of your nursing program you will be learnig spanish( i have seen that they learn fast and so will you) and if you can get by english alone?? ...well the answer is yes and no,but if i were you i woud be at least learning the basics of spanish

Most people here seem to understand english but not everybody is fluent,It really depends in what area of the island you are,but since you are going to the metro area(were the inter is located)you shoud be fine,but plzzz make the effort to learn spanish..sooner or later you will have to use it.You can also make friend who are bilingual once your are there, it will be of help.........o and french and spanish are not alikeeeeeeeeeee i take class with a french speaking canadian and i can tell you that i can barely understand what she is saying whe she speaks in french(but she says that is easier for her to learn spanish...so who knows).....PS sorry for the english, i am not a good english writer

Oh of course I will learn Spanish if I live there. I have never lived in a country and not attempted to learn the language except Malawi. But in Malawi everyone speaks English as it was colonized by the British. And they have many languages. The official language was not even spoken in the village I lived in, they spoke a really hard dialect that was only used in the north. Even the courts were conducted in English. A local fiend was falsely accused of something and I went with the rest of the community to support him. I was shocked to hear only English in the court.

Even when I was in Indonesia for several months I learned some Bahasa Indonesia. That has got to be the easiest language on the planet. I could have full on conversations with locals. The language only has one tense. Forget about past, present, and future, there was only one tense. I ate. I am eating. I will eat. I will have eaten. Etc. Only one phrase to say the same thing.

Anyway I totally plan on learning Spanish but I studied French for over 10 years and received my BA in French before I actually felt like I really spoke French. However I did not move to France until I had been studying the language for many years. This will be different. I will be thrown into it.

I just wish I had figured out in advance that this is the route I was going to take and I would have already started studying Spanish. I don't have time now as I am still applying for schools, writing entrance essays, preparing for interviews, flying to Universities (when I get called for interviews), volunteering at Stanford University hospital, and working full-time. I was going to take a class when the Spring quarter begins in April but I may have to miss to many classes when I leave town and I don't even know if I am accepted.

Anyway, I do totally plan on learning Spanish but obviously with a full-time nursing load which is my purpose of being there I will not be completely devoted to the Spanish. My priorities lie in obtaining my BSN.

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Oh of course I will learn Spanish if I live there. I have never lived in a country and not attempted to learn the language except Malawi. But in Malawi everyone speaks English as it was colonized by the British. And they have many languages. The official language was not even spoken in the village I lived in, they spoke a really hard dialect that was only used in the north. Even the courts were conducted in English. A local fiend was falsely accused of something and I went with the rest of the community to support him. I was shocked to hear only English in the court.

Even when I was in Indonesia for several months I learned some Bahasa Indonesia. That has got to be the easiest language on the planet. I could have full on conversations with locals. The language only has one tense. Forget about past, present, and future, there was only one tense. I ate. I am eating. I will eat. I will have eaten. Etc. Only one phrase to say the same thing.

Anyway I totally plan on learning Spanish but I studied French for over 10 years and received my BA in French before I actually felt like I really spoke French. However I did not move to France until I had been studying the language for many years. This will be different. I will be thrown into it.

I just wish I had figured out in advance that this is the route I was going to take and I would have already started studying Spanish. I don't have time now as I am still applying for schools, writing entrance essays, preparing for interviews, flying to Universities (when I get called for interviews), volunteering at Stanford University hospital, and working full-time. I was going to take a class when the Spring quarter begins in April but I may have to miss to many classes when I leave town and I don't even know if I am accepted.

Anyway, I do totally plan on learning Spanish but obviously with a full-time nursing load which is my purpose of being there I will not be completely devoted to the Spanish. My priorities lie in obtaining my BSN.

I apologize in advance for the following sarcasm Chanel Number 5, but your last post reminded me of a sketch my comedy group did back in college called "Abroad Guy". Where the guy was retelling his stories of surviving in "the Kiber desert with a flint knife and a 2 kilos of saffron rice whilst writing his thesis on the Guangasi tribe; With occasional Jaunts piloting a '56 Cessna 150 back to Pretoria to pick up the antibiotics and guaze for the treatment of minor leopard attacks."

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hello, i am new to the forums and i also am beyond the point of annoyed by u of pr. i am def. excited about attending this school this august but, no1 has contacted me back e has been out of the office for 2months i've been on the run around and yet nothing!! is the nursing program only 2yrs? (english program.) also, i know spanish but not that fluent so will i be able to make it threw this program, i just have a little worry because i haven't heard anything back from anyone.:mad:

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is the nursing program only 2yrs? (english program.)

i have been told it is 6 trimesters. however it took me 7 weeks to get that much info. i didn't dare ask if they could be more detailed with that info. all the accelerated programs i know go straight through. i have a feeling this one takes the summer off but i don't know.

i have emailed several people asking their nclex pass rates and even the head of nursing can't provide this information.

i recently got called for an interview at louisiana state university health and science center in new orleans. i currently live in san francisco. so new orleans would be a whole other experience.

lsuhsc accelerated program (care) has a 97% pass rate since inception and the last two classes have had a 100% pass rate.

these things are really important. if no one in the school can tell me the pass rate it is just one more thing that leaves me lacking confidence.

i would love to study in pr but everything i run into is pointing me away from this school.

i am sorry i am always so negative on this board. you should see all my dozens of positive, happy, encouraging posts on the lsuhsc thread.

well i am not throwing in the towel yet and i want to leave my options open. but every interaction with the school pushes me farther away.

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I am also going to take a trip out there to visit the school (and surf) the 2nd week in March.

Hey Mike, did you ever take a trip to PR?

Opps just realized we are only in the 3rd week of March so you may still be there.

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chanelcinq--

oh, wow.... well, that was one of the reasons why i really wanted to attend u of pr if the program was about 2yrs and the cool fact that i didn't need any pre- req's and no waiting list...i am so excited to attend. i am going to keep trying to get in contact but the sad part is i haven't sent in any apps etc yet, just because i am really lost!! hmm, i def.

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My 2nd attempt to get in contact with "E" and they told me he was currently at lunch..I'd really like to get something accomplished by the end of the month atleast or I might have to take a trip out there..

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Just got home last night. Visited the school and talked to a few people that went through the program. Everyone I dealt with at the school was very helpful. I spoke with the Nursing director, the head of the English Trimester Program, and the head of admissions.

As far as the quality of the program, I heard what I expected to hear. What you put in is what you get out. The girl I spoke to worked extra hard and passed the NCLEX on her first sitting in 45 minutes. She said if she had done just enough to get by she wouldn't have had a chance. The program is for sure two years, if you have a BA already.

One interesting thing I found out is that you can actually get permitted to work halfway through the program, since you technically have an associates by that time. The downside of that is that nurses make half of what they make on the mainland, and the working conditions are pretty bad.

The island itself is amazing, a true tropical paradise. San Juan however, is big, busy and crowded. I still haven't decided yet. One thing that is a concern is that the school is being reviewed for thier NLNAC accreditation in October. The director made it sound like something routine and not to worry about, but the student I talked to said that It wouldn't surprise her if they lost it.

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One thing that is a concern is that the school is being reviewed for thier NLNAC accreditation in October. The director made it sound like something routine and not to worry about, but the student I talked to said that It wouldn't surprise her if they lost it.

That is really scary. That is enough for me not to go. I applied at several schools around the country and I am just playing the waiting game right now. I have no idea which ones will pan out and which will not. So right now I will not cross IAUPR off my list but it is most certainly at the bottom.

It would be really cool to live on an island in the tropics and learn Spanish but the whole purpose is to go to nursing school and pass the NCLEX. So I think I am way better off in New Orleans with a school that has a proven 100% pas rate in their accelerated program.

By the way if any one is reading this and will be applying in about a year check out LSU in New Orleans. OK I know San Juan and New Orleans are worlds apart. When I was applying for schools I wanted accelerated programs in warm destinations that do not have out of state tuition rates AND places I would want to live. I was not planning to go some where like Alabama (sorry to anyone who lives in Alabama).

Anyway, LSU and IAUPR covered all the categories I wanted and LSU is about 15,000 in tuition for the 21 month prgrogram and that includes 900 per semester because I am not a resident. 900 extra per semester is pocket change.

Anyway, I am just saying that it is a good program and people who are looking to start in Fall 2011 should look into it. By no means are the cities the same but they are both different and quirky in their own ways and I come from a quirky, wonderful city.

OK enough of my rant.

Mike thanks again for the info. Can you confirm the time frame for the program. You said it is two years, an administrator said 6 trimesters. Does that mean the summer in between there is no school for a few months? No one can confirm this information.

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That is really scary...No one can confirm this information.

The program in a nutshell, perhaps?

It's very much a shame. In my opinion, the concept of private education is to avoid the bureaucracy of the "lowest common denominator" and to ferment competitive practices which allow for more efficient practices. Interamericana seems to fail big time in this regard. I love the idea of waking up in my over priced studio apartment in Old San Juan to the moist tropical breeze from a recent thunder shower with the smell of fresh empanadillas wafting through the window; but apparently that's not gonna happen.

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... I love the idea of waking up in my over priced studio apartment in Old San Juan to the moist tropical breeze from a recent thunder shower with the smell of fresh empanadillas wafting through the window; but apparently that's not gonna happen.

I was totally thinking of living in Old San Juan if I could find a place with parking. It looks so cute.

Everything in this country is cheaper then San Francisco except maybe New York so I am looking forward to an awesome apartment in an awesome neighborhood no matter where I go to school.

Oakley where else did you apply to?

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