Ready to Apply CT Community Colleges- Nursing Program 2011

I really WISH that I had direction straight out of high school... the mistakes of my past are haunting me now, and it's disappointing. I was always very smart, just really lacked direction and organization skills. I have it now... all of my current grades are stellar.

I agree. I'm a 29 yr old stay at home mom. Looking at my high school transcripts I was a C/D student who didn't care about school and certainly didn't apply myself. I scored awesome on SATs... decided college was going to be a waste of time and didn't go.

Fast forward 11 yrs.

Now I have a 3.9. If I new this was my calling before I had kids, I would have gone the BSN route. Now I'm looking at UConn's BSN sample curriculum everyday wondering if we could swing it without having to put the kids in daycare.

Unlikely.

Remember that they won't accept teas 4 next cycle, regardless of when it was taken. Teas 5 only. Would have been nice if they told me that before I took the teas 4 last year

Yep, I saw that. Fortunately I decided to wait until after this semester ends before taking the TEAS, so I didn't end up getting screwed on that one. But still, if you took the v4, chalk it up to "practice"

I spoke with one of the directors, and the v5 is supposed to be MUCH more difficult than 3/4, and they are anticipating average scores to be 10-15 points lower next cycle. The minimum score for v5 is like a 58% or something around there! So basically, for those of us applying next year, we have to keep that in mind when looking at stats. If the average TEAS scores this year is, say, 78, then we could probably expect next years averages to be 68 or so. At least, that's how I'm looking at it.

I agree. I'm a 29 yr old stay at home mom. Looking at my high school transcripts I was a C/D student who didn't care about school and certainly didn't apply myself. I scored awesome on SATs... decided college was going to be a waste of time and didn't go.

Fast forward 11 yrs.

Now I have a 3.9. If I new this was my calling before I had kids, I would have gone the BSN route. Now I'm looking at UConn's BSN sample curriculum everyday wondering if we could swing it without having to put the kids in daycare.

Unlikely.

ME TOO!! The Comm College program would allow me to do it part-time, without having to sell my house to pay for childcare (and tuition!), haha. I really wish that I had realized my calling and gone the BSN route straight out of HS too.

One of the other options is to finish up my bachelor's and then go for one of the Master's Entry into Nursing, or even a 2nd Bachelor's degree in Nursing... I'll cross that bridge if/when I get to it though. For now, I just focus on doing as well as I possibly can and hope for a seat.

I think the CT community ranking system is unfair and suck. Don't take me wrong that i raised my voice because i am a bad stuident. Sor far i am a straight A student, with few more classes to go. Some of my classmates told me that to avoid dropping my gpa, i should take the tough non-nursing courses after i have submitted my nursing application. They are right because the more classes you take the more likely your gpa will drop. During the nursing info session, the teacher highyly recommended we finished the pre-req's and the non-nursing classes to avoid overload during school. Like i said before, after taking all non-nursing classes, I don't know if i can hold on to my 4.0 GPA. The unfair part comes when i will compete with the applicants with less classes taken and have good gpa.

I think the CT community ranking system is unfair and suck. Don't take me wrong that i raised my voice because i am a bad stuident. Sor far i am a straight A student, with few more classes to go. Some of my classmates told me that to avoid dropping my gpa, i should take the tough non-nursing courses after i have submitted my nursing application. They are right because the more classes you take the more likely your gpa will drop. During the nursing info session, the teacher highyly recommended we finished the pre-req's and the non-nursing classes to avoid overload during school. Like i said before, after taking all non-nursing classes, I don't know if i can hold on to my 4.0 GPA. The unfair part comes when i will compete with the applicants with less classes taken and have good gpa.

YES I know exactly what you're talking about. I think they should probably assign a points system that also incorporates HOW MANY courses you have completed for the nursing program (non-nursing, pre/co-requisites.) There are many other state's programs that do that... maybe they will incorporate that aspect into the ranking system at some point.

But on the positive side, beginning next cycle they are accepting 75% based on rank, and only 25% on lottery. So MAYBE the GPA cut-off for rank will drop a little bit. Also, with the lottery, I think there is a small percentage of students (who aren't dead-set on being a nurse) who do just the bare minimum, because as long as your GPA is a 2.7 and meet the minimum req's you still have a "chance" of getting in... so, less of those slackers will be getting lottery seats next year.

what puzzle me is that what is the point of having a lotto system. I don't see this kind of system in any schools i know of (e.g., med, physical therapy, master or Ph.D.) Seems to me that the community college has a world of its own. I think i am complaining too much here

I think I read a publication somewhere that said the point of the lottery system was to encourage "academic diversity" -- in other words, to avoid having an entire nursing class full of Type A perfectionists, lol. (nothing against Type A perfectionists, I AM one myself!)

I got into BHSN in December I like that they look at your whole background, etc. Where did you find out the average GPA? I'm trying to stay busy for the next few weeks and not worry too much.

I got into BHSN in December I like that they look at your whole background, etc. Where did you find out the average GPA? I'm trying to stay busy for the next few weeks and not worry too much.

I called one of the offices and asked for all the stats of accepted students last year. There are tons of rumors that float around, so I go directly to the source to find out straight from the horses mouth.

I called gateway not long ago, and they told me the average was gpa 3.4. I don't know it is the average from the total of rank and lotto, or rank alone. They refused to give any more info. It is difficult to get goodies from the hourse mouth:)

Was 3.4 this for year? Its difficult to get much of anything from them.

I called gateway not long ago, and they told me the average was gpa 3.4. I don't know it is the average from the total of rank and lotto, or rank alone. They refused to give any more info. It is difficult to get goodies from the hourse mouth:)

I know... in fact, one person from my school (who shall remain nameless) didn't even "know" if they could give that information out (total BS, btw, it falls under freedom of information act, I believe.)

I called the main hub to get the state-wide information. I do plan on calling again once this cycle is over to get this year's stats. Someone will give you the information, it's just a matter of finding the person who is a.) competent at their job, and b.) willing to take the time (a whopping 30 seconds) to look it up for you.

Personally, I think they should publicize the data and post it on the CCCNP website... people have a right to know if they're a valid candidate or not. Think about it, high schoolers have access to college admissions statistics in order to find the colleges they want to attend -- SAT/ACT scores, HS GPA, as well as % breakdowns of everything from race, gender, in/out-of-state residency, etc, etc. So, in theory, prospective nursing students should have access to admissions statistics as well... it would save the admissions contact people A LOT of time fielding phone-calls/emails if they would just post the statistical report on the website.