Rio Salado Community College

Hi

This is my first post here... but I've loved reading things on here for a while!

For Rio Salado...

I have taken all my pre-reqs there. At first, I was going to put them as my first choice school, not anymore! I have had a few good professors and a ton of bad ones. Its the luck of the draw. The ones who are not helpful could make an involved course like A&P more stressful than need be. My experience in that one, was I got no questions answered and my work was ungraded for weeks on end. Of course, not all my courses are like this, but I also went to a university where I never had this type of experience in person (at least, to this degree). You do get to fill out a survey about the course at the end... but who knows if it does anything.

As far as advising goes... they are really nice, but not so helpful. I asked to speak to a nursing adviser twice and never got one. The regular advisers couldn't give me the details of their program. Plus, I am still in the dark about the requirements... do I need a CPR card before I apply? Yikes I'm glad I just saw that. Its this lack of support that really scares me. BTW, I am coming from a "75%" completeted physics degree at UC Berkeley, so I would like to think I am not too stoopid;) (I left b/c of major health issues... so happy that happened... I don;t know what I would have done with an undergrad physics degree besides teaching)

Basically, I am getting all the info for nursing on my own. A lot on this board. This is after 3 in person advising sessions and one over the phone. They couldn't tell me anything about other schools in the district either, not even basic info. But, to give them credit, they were extremely nice.

As far as registration goes, its a breeze. The easiest process I have encountered. They are very helpful. I have registered via phone, in-person, and in "chat" on their website. Even with pre-reqs, with transcripts from other schools, they never needed to see me in person. A big plus if you are busy with young children, job, etc.

The classes are hit and miss. A&P was *extremely* physiological sided. The lessons are pretty broad, and its the first time I read every page from a text book for a class. You do virtual dissection which is a far cry from the real thing. For me, there is something to take from being able to touch a real bone, feeling and seeing the landmarks for yourself. I took A&P I in person a real long time ago when I was in school. In comparison, I learned a lot of at Rio, but if I came across lab slides, bones, a cadaver in real life I wonder if I could actually identify all the structures.

I did very well in all my classes at Rio, but I truly miss lecture. I thought I would NEVER say that. During lecture, when questions pop up, either your own or another students, its so nice to have them answered right then! Especially questions like, is this an area to focus on for the exam?... or questions to clarify material.. How many times have your classmates asked questions that you were not planning on asking but glad THEY thought of it?? Again, never in a million years thought I would miss that!

My instructors at Rio have explained that they do not get to see their own final exam! I was always irritated by that. What if there is a mistake... (and indeed there were a couple in one class)? You have to write it down, go home, email the prof, who emails the dept.... etc. It got resolved, but if I were in person, I could have asked the prof, and gotten an answer right then and there.

Overall, the quality of the material is average to good. Don't be fooled into thinking it will take less time. This is a misconception. I spent more time with these classes than I have with almost all my other classes when I was in school. I am keeping the local starbucks in business . Homework at Rio is designed to equate both lecture time and homework time of in-person equivalent. They are absolutely right. Other students (I'm not quite sure which forum topic though) have commented on the time commitment, as well. It was nice to read that so I knew I wasn't alone on that one. You have to have EXCELLENT time management skill and commitment.

This is not meant to proclaim that Rio is a bad school. By all means, its not. Its just good to know what you are getting into...especially if you applying to NS and have no experience there. Rio is a great--it allows students who couldn't otherwise attend class in person to get their education! That is always awesome! But, if you have doubts of being compatible with this type of learning, it would suck to find out part way through nursing school. Personally, while I did very well at Rio, I am going to scrape up all the money I can, apply for scholarships and loans to pay for childcare for my one year old so I can attend an in person accelerated program. Rio is still on my choices, just not first anymore.

(Just thought of one more thing!) A lot of the classes require you to buy the books from the RIO bookstore ONLY. They are bundled with specific software, etc. This is pricey. I use to always get my books at the lowest price possible, either online or the really beat up ones at the used bookstore. Another thing to consider, especially since I have heard that nursing books are money, money!

I, too, though, would love to hear a detailed experience of someone who actually completed it. If you got really thorough clinical training and hands on practice, and were able to form study groups with fellow classmates, then I might reconsider...

Hope this helps

oops, one more thing... the passing percentage of 70-76% on both final and midterm is true. If you have test anxiety, you might freak about this considering that if you don't meet these requirements you cannot pass the class.

Did you finish? I have just been placed at Rio and am worried about working a mon -fri job. What block did you begin clinicals and where did you do clinicals with Rio?

Tinae you were just placed at Rio? Well keep us posted because there are not many people on here that have been in that program! I'd be interested to see how it goes. I took all my pre-reqs their but am at Gateway.

Good luck!

Thanks for the reply. Yes, Rio. What block do clinicals happen at Gateway? I have all of my pre reqs and co reqs done, so i am assuming that I only need to do Nurs 151, 171, 251, 271 and 291...am I correct? I will be contacting an advisor, but can't wait to get info...I am too excited.

Tinae,

I'm just about to finish Rio's program in a month. Don't know about Block 1 & 2 because I started in Block 3 with the Advanced Placement program. For Block 3 in the Fall we had clinicals Saturday and Sunday, 3 weeks at a time for each subject with a weeklong break in between. The other section had clinicals during the week last semester. You can't choose - they just placed us. This semester we had clinicals 3 Fridays in a row for Psych and then Tuesday and Wednesday for Critical Care. So it's really all over the place, and we had to take what we got. It would be really hard to work a 9-5.

Also, I would buy the Saunders NCLEX review book now. Great to use to study for the class tests. If you know those review sections inside and out you'll ace the tests. And you can buy an older edition on Half.com for a couple dollars. The last edition is just as good as the newer one.

I also bought the older versions of all my books online and save a whole lot of money. Didn't really hurt me.

Also, apply for the Rio nursing scholarships every semester. I think they have a lot to give and not many apply. I got one last fall.

Good luck.

Say hello to Bill and Becky.

I just finished the online program at Rio two days ago. They changed the program in September to the Evolve program. I heard from students that are currently in that program, that they have combined both pharm and process classes together. Our classes were separate. I had to wait one year on the MCC waitlist but got in last January. For both classes, you would have weekly quizzes and all of the reading was assigned in the weekly lessons which were to be like the lecture. The last two blocks the lessons plans were really bad. The biggest thing about the program is you have to be very disciplined to get the reading completed by the due dates. I was able to work 30 to 36 hours and complete the readings as well. Clinicals were held at the VA Hospital, Phoenix Baptist, Hacienda Health Care, and St. Joseph's. The nice thing a lot of our clinicals were held on Saturdays and Sundays, but we did have some clinicals during the week.

Hope that helps. Good Luck.

Hello:

I have been on the waiting list for one year this October.

If there is anyone who has gone through Rio's online nursing program (Blocks 1 thru 4), can you please shed some light on the program for me?

Are the classes "over-loaded", meaning does Rio require more than other 9 nursing MCC programs?

Can you please describe the clinicals, times, days, etc?

And how does the program work with regards to teaching you about lab work, such as drawing blood? Do you read about it first, then learn the "physical" work at a clinical setting? Or do you do this type of learning at a lab?

What do you think about your experience at Rio? Was it a good learning experience?

Sorry about all the questions, but I am seriously considering selecting Rio as one of my choices and possibly my first choice. This October, I will have been on the wait list for one year. And I have taken all my prerequisites through Rio, therefore I am familiar with their program.

Thank you so much...I really appreciate it.

Was just placed in Glendale Weekend Day for January, but Rio was my first choice. (I was only able to give those two choices) I need to defer placement till the next round, and am now second-guessing leaving Rio as my first choice. I need to work 4 days a week, and can manage either program time-wise, but would appreciate any input on which program is actually better (I already have a B.S. in Biology and have all the co-req's completed) I've read a lot of people say at Rio you're stuck just reading all the text without getting input of the most important info, and I'm starting to think actual classes may be more helpful in streamlining the studying process, since I don't have a ton of extra time. I can't imagine going through many of the upper level classes I took in undergrad without any input from instructors. I would have spent every waking minute memorizing hundreds of pages of text:) Anyway, just battling with this decision now, so appreciate any comments. Thanks!