Hi all soon to be fellow classmates! I just wanted to start this thread up so we didn't have to go weaving through all of the older stuff on the old threads.
I am really excited about starting school come January, really nervous though too. I have a lot to get done between now and then and sometimes I just don't think there is enough time in the day. Oh well, I plan on enjoying the holidays and working my buns off to save some money so that isn't an additional stressor during the first semester.
So lets post our questions, our thoughts and hopefully just get to know one another! And again....CONGRATULATIONS!!!!
I'm sorry to butt into this thread, but I was searching around for info about Maryland's CNL program & was wondering if you all might be able to help me. I've already applied for this fall. What I'm wondering about is your class schedule-- what times the classes start, when your day ends, when the clinicals are... that kind of thing. I'm a single mom of two elementary school-aged kids & if I need to piece together additional childcare to swing nursing school, I will need to get on that. I also have a 45 minute commute, going to Baltimore from Takoma Park.
CNL schedules are the same as BSN first semester. At the end of the semester we have 4 days of clinical, one day per week. We haven't had that yet but clinical are either on wednesday, thursday or saturday...we are assigned and we don't know what we have yet but they have to be on a day we don't have class. All students have one day without class built into the schedule for this purpose but it's nice because we've been using it for open lab and studying for now.
Here's a sample schedule, the main big classes will be the same.
Monday: 8am-11am and 11-1 and 2-4pm
Tuesday: 8:30am- 11am
Wednesday: 12pm-3pm
Thursday: off
Friday: 8:30am-3pm (patho lecture)
Latest you're out is 4...but that's only those who have lab all in one day...like me. It's not a bad schedule at all, there are a lot of individual's with children that seem to get along fine since most days they can be home and might need additional help for an hour or two 1-2 days/week.
Thanks for replying! You gave me a good idea of what I'm in for... I think I'm going to have to arrange morning help to be able to get to school on time, and I wanted to start figuring that out sooner rather than later. :)
I don't know about CNL but for the BSN it is all consuming. I am at the Shady Grove campus (which is closer to you). We start classes usually no earlier than 10am and go to 7pm on mondays, 12pm-7pm on tues, 10am-5pm wed, 11am-3pm thurs, 7am -7pm for clinical on fri or sat. The days you have class you are in class for usually 6 hours with time in between. However we have Gss at our campus which is organized extra help. They are very helpful so you try to go to every one. I am at school usually every day from 8-8:30 every day to 6 or 7pm. You also have to make sure you get to open lab to practice the skills.
I have one little girl but I only see her when she wakes me up at 5:30-6 and at night when we put her down around 7:30pm. I used to study at night but the schedule will force you to change your habits and do whatever you can to learn the material.
You have to factor in traffic( students , teachers often get stuck ), keeping up with the changes(tons of ppt's and information for each class, changes in schedule, administrative glitches- it all takes time to organize), study time, practice time, sleep, and most importantly the unknown factors that can throw everything out of whack. You can be a parent/spouse too but you really need that support system. DO they know and understand while you will be killing yourself for the next two years. They better. It all depends on the student. How smart you are. How fast you learn. Your previous experience. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. It is intense but it will be worthwhile when you make it through. I would only advise to not underestimate the process. Respect it and fear it even, but know that the students, teachers, faculty(super nice) are all very supportive and know how hard it is too and want you to succeed.
I had to work during 1st semester BSN at shady grove. it's do-able, but if you can avoid it, it would be to your benefit not to work. many of my classmates also had jobs - few worked more than 20 hours, but some logged full time hours on night or weekends. if you have a non-traditional schedule, or like myself - a very flexible boss, you can balance both. sleep will suffer and you will not have a enough time to study, but if you HAVE to work - it can definitley be done
For those of you who got into Maryland, is anyone willing to tell me their TEAS score? I'm taking the TEAS on Tuesday and I'm curious what the average is for the accepted student. Thanks! :)
I have applied for the Traditional BSN program to start in the Spring (still waiting to hear anything). I was wondering what the typical schedule is for the 1st semester. I am a planner and really want to figure out what my weeks will be looking like. Debating working part-time as it would be tight financially not to work at all.
Hi all! I am currently a second semester junior. First semester is pretty intense, we usually had class Mon-Thurs and then during the semester you do have clinical for 4 weeks. I do work part time at a retail store. It's doable but hard, and I am fortunate that my management is flexible with my schedule. I don't necessarily recommend it, but it can happen. I know that Pathopharm is usually on Monday and Tuesday nights, Health Assessment is usually Monday mornings, Research is on Wends and then Intro to Nursing is on Wends or Thurs. You do have labs for Assessment and Intro to Nursing and those times vary throughout the week.
Also at Shady Grove we have these wonderful sessions called GSS. They are basically review sessions every week for each class. I highly recommend going to them and they make sure that the GSS times do not interfere with class time. Also make sure you leave plenty of time to study because Pathopharm and Assessment are large amounts of information. Hope this helps!
beach it
48 Posts
what quiz are you guys taking about? I just got an email about the patho quiz not being up until school is open