Tri-C in Cleveland

rrmitch2000 · Apr 13, 2010

I'm with you. I took the A2 on March 18th and haven't received anything yet either. I will post as soon as I do. When I called they told me that it takes 4-6 wks to get the scores, so I wouldn't be getting anything before mid-april at the earliest. Love how they tell people different things -- others have said they get all the scores for the previous month after the first of the following month -- not what they told me.....post when you get something.

foreverLaur · Apr 14, 2010

I'm another person that was told (by both Tri-C and the testing center) that scores are send as a group at the end of each month and then Tri-C reviews the scores and sends out the application to the people that passed. I received my application I believe early in the 2nd week of Feb... maybe around Feb 8.

AgentBeast, MSN, RN · Apr 14, 2010

Maybe I got on some sort of super fast track list or something for being a man going into nursing, because I got my letter to take the HESI test the day after I called. My official application letter to apply to the nursing program maybe a week after I took the test. And the placement letter maybe a week at most after I sent that application in.

AssociateDegree · Apr 14, 2010

ScottE, your being male had nothing to do with it. We have lots of men in our program.

The office strives to hold to certain dates for sending things out. However, remember that the office staff is not only sending out application material, but dealing with accreditation visits, other student issues, etc. Also realize that they are human and have family emergencies and deaths in the family just like the rest of us do. Sometimes things just don't go as smoothly as they'd like.

AgentBeast, MSN, RN · Apr 14, 2010

Apparently sarcasm is wasted in these parts.

foreverLaur · Apr 14, 2010

Wow, someone sure is an advocate for Tri-C. Apparently there just happens to be at least 3 of us who happened to have multiple bad experiences and we are to believe these are all rare?

rrmitch2000 · Apr 14, 2010

I can tell you that Tri-C, while being a pain, is still a decent place -- it is just so large bureaucracy gets in the way. In my former career with my English degree, I worked for Prentice Hall and sold textbooks to local colleges and universities. Tri-c always had the most red tape in terms of adopting new textbooks for programs and classes -- a hierarchy of committees -- this was due to size of the place. Three main campuses, corporate college etc. Lorain and Lakeland were far more easy to navigate and deal with. What I can say is this -- most of the professors I called on at tri-c (this was primarily the business faculty) were caring, professional and dedicated to their students. I found many of them to be extraordinarily bright as well. I guess because I have been on the other side, I keep giving tri-c the benefit of the doubt....but I can see how many students just say forget it and go elsewhere. For me, the affordability and their recent 100 percent passage rate on the NCLEX, force me to deal with the dreaded bureaucracy.

foreverLaur · Apr 14, 2010

I just typed out a very long response and allnurses.com crashed when I tried to submit. Very angry. Will edit and repost in a bit...

foreverLaur · Apr 14, 2010

(1) I've had to correct my pharmacology professor (an EMT) on nearly every quiz and despite having convincing evidence, he still argues and refuses to ever accept he is wrong. Apparently, fever is not a sign of infection and Zyrtec is no longer an allergy medicine since it became OTC. Issues like this come up on EVERY single quiz.

(2) My anthropology professor is so slow. I submitted an assignment on March 23 and it has yet to be graded. I've sent 6 e-mails in the past 1.5 months and only one has been responded to and that was yesterday. I've even tried resending from other e-mail addresses.

(3) Financial aid - AWFUL. I had to take out a personal loan to cover spring semester 2010 tuition because Tri-C doesn't give you your federal loans until a month after classes start. I called the office to see if there was any other route to go (as that seemed rather unfair) but they simply told me to attend another school if I didn't like their policies. REALLY? I called back a week later and talked to someone else but was told the same thing. I later found out you can sign a form to not pay tuition and not be dropped until financial aid goes through... why didn't anyone in the department offer me that? They were so quick to dismiss me and send me elsewhere for my education

(4) The nursing department - rude. I can't get anyone to even let me finish a sentence there. It is very unfair to students to revoke admissions due to a new procedure - it should only apply to students who have yet to be admitted. I cannot afford $85 right now - I didn't plan that into my budget. I thought I had 7 months to do the background check and they spring a 3 week deadline on me out of nowhere. Plus, I'm not sure if I'll pass now because I didn't set my court date to have it all dismissed/expunged until July thinking I had time, but nobody will even speak to me about the issue.

(5) Four people from high school are in the program and aren't too fond of it. They've stated the program is very disorganized. Plus, what nursing school offers zero acute care experience? The head of the program herself e-mailed me and said students may get a day of observing in an ER or ICU but that's as close as you'll get to critical care. Columbus State offers rotations in ICU, ER, Trauma, PICU, etc in addition to the traditional Peds, OB, Psych, Med/Surg I/II, etc so you get a much more broad education. Plus, the students at CSCC seem happier and the hospitals seem to be VERY fond of CSCC grads. When I worked at Grant, all but one nurse was a CSCC graduate, despite OSU, Capital, Otterbein, etc being in the area. Is the proportion that high at Cleveland hospitals?

SA2009 · Apr 14, 2010

Well, if you think Tri-C will be such a horrible (although I have heard of many new grads being hired straight once they passed the boards), why not leave your seat to a student who might appreciate it a tat more?

rrmitch2000 · Apr 14, 2010

Hey...didn't mean to make you more mad than you already are with Tri-C. Believe me, if I could afford Huron that is where I'd be going. Like I said, I can see why people get fed up and go elsewhere. I have a friend that transferred to Lakeland to get her ADN after starting at tri-c since they wouldn't give her credit for English Comp 2 -- she has a bachelor's in English from YALE!!!! She lost it and drove directly from Tri-C to Lakeland one day and spent a few hours and got herself admitted to Lakeland's program the same day. This of course was back in the day of no wait lists. She tells me all the time to drive out to Lakeland or Lorain instead of Tri-C...because she knows I will get fed up. But, on the other side of the coin, she works at a local hospital and has contact with new grads from Tri-C and says they are well-prepared to work her floor which is of course a medical floor.

If I were you, I would go elsewhere most likely. You are young and have many options -- are there any direct entry master's programs in Columbus? I am getting so old and have three young children to think about -- I would love to take out the loans to go to Huron, but then I think of the cost, our family's bottom line and the children's college education.

I am actually going to take Micro out at Lorain this Fall because they have a beautiful childcare facility and I can bring my youngest with me. They were so helpful over the phone with everything -- no need to make an appointment with a counselor like at tri-c.

I am sorry that you have had some problematic professors -- I have really lucked out with mine -- even my introductory soc prof was timely and available. I was able to get credit for English Comp I and II from my bachelor's in English by simply calling the head of the English department...helped that I knew him from my textook days though....

With the one professor, perhaps a call to the ombudsman is in order? We all have personal issues....and they should never be excuses for not doing our jobs. I spent a week in Akron Children's hospital with my five year old who had bi -lobar pneumonia and a right pleural effusion -- I had two tests, two papers and a discussion board assignment. I brought my laptop and did my work -- all while being hideously stressed and exhausted -- my child was knocking on death's door for god's sake -- he was not responding to meds, infectious disease was called in etc. etc. I did not even make mention to my professors of my situation -- your professor's personal life should remain as such. IMO her behavior is truly unprofessional and she may need a leave of absence. You are paying good money for this course.

All that said, you WILL be an excellent nurse. Your critical thinking skills are top notch and you are truly motivated...I actually wonder if you might end up in teaching one day. The clinical instructor at Akron Children's on my son's floor was amazing -- a top notch nurse and a top notch instructor -- she cared so much about her students it was unbelievable. She, of course, was a clinical instructor for Kent which has a great reputation and program.

That's all for now....I have another interview for a nurse tech position tomorrow...wish me luck.

AgentBeast, MSN, RN · Apr 14, 2010

Tri-C like most colleges is hit or miss on professors. You'll get professors that are there to collect a pay check, basically just read the powerpoints ect... Then you'll get those that really enjoy teaching and go out of their way to make sure you understand the material and make class enjoyable. This site has been helpful, http://www.ratemyprofessors.com/SelectTeacher.jsp?sid=1951 although you sort of have to weed through to figure out if the student that wrote the review was just bitter that they got a bad grade or whatever. I can't really comment on the nursing department since I haven't taken any of the classes yet, and any paperwork I've submitted has been responded to in a timely manner. Although I do find that actually getting admitted to the program is a moving target. That is rather disconcerting.