Samuel Merritt ABSN Fall 2011

bluejaiye20 · Aug 19, 2011

BLujay: Im not not facebook, am i the only one? Might have to join.

Hey scarlettm you should get a FB account just to join our group. We are already getting to know each other and it is sooooo useful to ask questions since we are all going through the same things. Also, the school has their own student group for all SMU students with its own alerts and announcements and such. It's a convenient way to stay in the loop. Message me personally if you have any questions. I'm a FB whiz!

jlntcn8 · Aug 21, 2011

Gandi, what number were you before?

Gandi · Aug 21, 2011

Jlntcn8- I was #22. She also said she thinks I have a good shot getting in. But can't celebrate until it's official.

jlntcn8 · Aug 22, 2011

Jlntcn8- I was #22. She also said she thinks I have a good shot getting in. But can't celebrate until it's official.

Wow, Good luck to you! #10 is really good! When did you get the update? Did they send you an e-mail about it? I've been trying to contact them to see if I've moved, and also about the apps I had sent in for spring 2012 & I have received NO response whatsoever & I've been trying for the past few weeks. I hope I've moved up.. last I checked I was #19 & that was in July.

Gandi · Aug 22, 2011

jlntcn8-I actually called last week and spoke to counselor. She understands that we are all anxious to find out.

Becky965 · Aug 26, 2011

Any news for anyone??

Gandi · Aug 26, 2011

nothing on my end...

bubbles313 · Aug 27, 2011

hi everyone- i'm excited for all the new groups coming in! i'm currently a student in the Oakland ABSN cohort that just started in May. it's been amazingly crazy lol. i just wanted to offer myself to you all if anyone has any questions i'll try my best to answer it. i know when i was in the waiting game i had a lot of questions myself & we had a couple past students who would jump on here to help us! but okay... congratulations to everyone and don't give up :)

Vickan · Aug 27, 2011

hi everyone- i'm excited for all the new groups coming in! i'm currently a student in the Oakland ABSN cohort that just started in May. it's been amazingly crazy lol. i just wanted to offer myself to you all if anyone has any questions i'll try my best to answer it. i know when i was in the waiting game i had a lot of questions myself & we had a couple past students who would jump on here to help us! but okay... congratulations to everyone and don't give up :)

bubbles313- Hi thanks for making yourself available for questions:) Would you say there is time for a part-time job? Did you take student loan, if so, was it enough to cover school and living expenses? How many days a week are usually spent on campus? thank you!

bubbles313 · Aug 28, 2011

hi Vickan good question. let me start by telling you a little bit about the schedule... all of the classes are 5 weeks long with the exception of about 3 classes which are 10 weeks. the order of classes depends on which campus you go to & of course i'm sure it slightly changes for every cohort. so we're talking Oakland here k... the first 5 weeks, we were on campus 4 days a week (2 only being half days) - but don't underestimate your free time, the workload was very heavy. the next set of 5 weeks was crazy - we started clinicals 2 days a week, 1 day in skills lab (also on campus) and 2 days in class for 11 hours. don't forget this only applies to my oakland cohort... however i've talked to other students from different cohorts and they agreed the 2nd term is usually the heaviest bc of it being your first clinicals & having health assessment lab at the same time was time consuming. anyway... timing wise it does get better from 3rd term and here on - generally 2 days in class, skills lab one day, and 2 days at the clinical site.

as for getting a job - i do know quite a few people, including me, who worked part time during the first 5 weeks, it was doable but it did take a lot of time out of studying (which trust me you'll need!)... then that next 5 weeks we all took off work due to time restraint. we just started our 3rd term and i haven't decided how many days i want to work this month... those of us that do work, we're lucky to have a job that is very flexible with our schedule, i can pretty much pick and choose my days even if it's only 1 or 2 days a month. so if you have a job that's willing to work with a change in your schedule every 5 weeks, it's not a bad idea. but don't take on a new job or volunteer work until at least after the 2nd term when the schedule tones down a bit and you're used to the pace of the program. oh can't forget - keep in mind there is a test about every week, maybe get lucky and have one week here and there off... but it's pretty much every week. if you're not as anal like most of us wanting the straight A's - i think having a job is definitely manageable and be able to pass the program, just give yourself days off to study (and relax too!)... the way i look at it tho is - i'm paying a crapload of money so i wan to do my best and get the most out of this experience without working so much... which leads into the next question...

student loans. the tuition is a lot of money ~60k, but you really get your money's worth in terms of time & resources. when you apply for financial aid, the school includes enough money in the budget to tk out that will support a student living on their own. but i suggest you plan out approximately how much you're going to need and budget yourself for the next year (plus maybe an extra couple months after graduation) & you should be fine :)

Vickan · Aug 28, 2011

hi Vickan good question. let me start by telling you a little bit about the schedule... all of the classes are 5 weeks long with the exception of about 3 classes which are 10 weeks. the order of classes depends on which campus you go to & of course i'm sure it slightly changes for every cohort. so we're talking Oakland here k... the first 5 weeks, we were on campus 4 days a week (2 only being half days) - but don't underestimate your free time, the workload was very heavy. the next set of 5 weeks was crazy - we started clinicals 2 days a week, 1 day in skills lab (also on campus) and 2 days in class for 11 hours. don't forget this only applies to my oakland cohort... however i've talked to other students from different cohorts and they agreed the 2nd term is usually the heaviest bc of it being your first clinicals & having health assessment lab at the same time was time consuming. anyway... timing wise it does get better from 3rd term and here on - generally 2 days in class, skills lab one day, and 2 days at the clinical site.
as for getting a job - i do know quite a few people, including me, who worked part time during the first 5 weeks, it was doable but it did take a lot of time out of studying (which trust me you'll need!)... then that next 5 weeks we all took off work due to time restraint. we just started our 3rd term and i haven't decided how many days i want to work this month... those of us that do work, we're lucky to have a job that is very flexible with our schedule, i can pretty much pick and choose my days even if it's only 1 or 2 days a month. so if you have a job that's willing to work with a change in your schedule every 5 weeks, it's not a bad idea. but don't take on a new job or volunteer work until at least after the 2nd term when the schedule tones down a bit and you're used to the pace of the program. oh can't forget - keep in mind there is a test about every week, maybe get lucky and have one week here and there off... but it's pretty much every week. if you're not as anal like most of us wanting the straight A's - i think having a job is definitely manageable and be able to pass the program, just give yourself days off to study (and relax too!)... the way i look at it tho is - i'm paying a crapload of money so i wan to do my best and get the most out of this experience without working so much... which leads into the next question...
student loans. the tuition is a lot of money ~60k, but you really get your money's worth in terms of time & resources. when you apply for financial aid, the school includes enough money in the budget to tk out that will support a student living on their own. but i suggest you plan out approximately how much you're going to need and budget yourself for the next year (plus maybe an extra couple months after graduation) & you should be fine :)

bubbles313- thank you soooo much. This was really helpful! :)

73ss86 · Aug 30, 2011

EB emailed me I'm number 28 still far up there