University of Miami

BH8844 · Jan 27, 2009

Yeah, I am looking for a place closer to campus. I can't wait to start! Have you heard anything else about the program? Do you know anyone who has been in the program?

lnzywilson · Jan 27, 2009

Ali,

Having a family will be very difficult for you. Especially a three year old. I hope you have a strong family network, because trying to leave school at school will be impossible. You run at a high stress level at all times, and trying to cook a family meal every night can be stressful.

In the summer session, there are 4 classes total (15 credits), 1 clinical day, and 1-2 days of Simulation. Classes are 4 hours long with 15 minute breaks.

In the fall, there are 3 classes (19 credits), but you might be able to drop NUR 400 Theory/Research if you can prove you have taken it un undergrad with a syllabus from the previous class.

If you aren’t from S. Florida, you must know that this is a Spanish speaking culture. Take a refresher course.

For your first term, refresh on pathophysiology. Buy nursing review books that help you with standardized questions. UM uses standardized questions for most of the tests, and for the HESI final.

My reduced nursing tuition was $11,000 per semester ($33k total), the tuition is rising for the next accelerated group.

I did not apply for the scholarship, as I do not plan to stay in florida. There was a 2 year commitment for our class, I believe there is a 3 year work commitment now. If you were from Florida, you could apply for the Succeed scholarship, and I believe there was one other $975 scholarship due in September. Other than that, there was very little I could apply for.

I took out private loans through Sallie Mae and federal loans through Stafford. UM does not offer Perkins loans to post-bac students because they are given to freshman first. I wanted Perkins loans because there is a federal program that pays a certain amount off the loan every year if you are in the medical/teaching/police workforce. Remember that there is a cap of $23K in federal loans for undergrad, and the ABSN is an undergrad program. Because of my previous degree, I could only take out a certain amount before I had to go to a private loan. My loans will total $37K and I am charging a lot on my credit card. I had $5k saved up, and I went though that the first term. All I can say is SAVE, SAVE, SAVE!

BH8844 · Jan 28, 2009

Thank you so much for all of your help "followme". I am super super nervous about the program. And anxious and just feeling so many different feelings. My main concerns right now are making sure I can get the full funding, even if I go to a private lender and making sure I have somewhere that I can afford but is kinda nice too. I am hoping to only spend about 600.00 a month in living expense. Do you think I am way off? I know its such a little amount but I just want to know what I should budget for. Thanks =)

alibell254 · Jan 28, 2009

I know exactly what you are feeling about finding the money to pay for the tuition and expenses. That is my concern right now also. Since the program is only 1 year, I wasn't sure the maximum amount of federal loans that could be taken out. My credit isn't the best, and I'm not sure I would qualify for loans from private lenders. Thanks for any input.

BH8844 · Jan 28, 2009

I feel like I am in the same situation. It is really difficult. Are you paying rent for an apartment? Are you the one who said you were thinking about moving to Kendall?

ice2015 · Jan 29, 2009

Hello followmefearie,

This is Ice2015, I was wondering if you could give me a rough idea of your summer and winter daily schedule. I don't mean class by class but more like when does your day start and when does it end. Is everything Monday thru Friday or are some clincals on the weekends. We understand that the summer is only 4 days. Is that true? But I am more concerned about whether the days are long, what time class or clincals start and when do you get out. It gets a little confusing about the class and the clinicals such as do you do both in one day or are the clinical days separate. Also, if certain days are longer than others or are they about the same amount of hours? Do you find that you have adequate time to study or are you always cramming.

swimincatz · Jan 29, 2009

Hey BH8844 I currenlty live in Kendall and the rent at my complex is $1260/month for a 2 bed/2 bath apt (that does not include utilities). Kendall is definatley a cheaper option than Coral Gables and it's very close to Baptist Kendall if you happen to choose to do clinicals there. I can't wait to start the program!

lnzywilson · Jan 31, 2009

BH8844,

Yes, I think 600$ a month is unreasonable for rent. Miami is expensive to live in, even in the ghetto. You have to evaluate how close to school you want to live, and how much time you want to spend in traffic. There are cheaper areas the further out you get, but it takes longer to drive, and rush hour can be a real pain. For me, I would rather pay more, and get to sleep that extra 30 minutes than to spend it in traffic.

My typical summer day was a 4 day week, with an optional Friday open lab that I always went too. Classes went from 8-4, clinical was 630-230, and we had a 4hour simulation lab. Open lab was a typical 2 hour time slot, where most people stayed for 3-4 hours to try and relearn the material for the week.

Winter term: 2 days of class, and 3 days of clinical. Classes were 2-3 hours each, simulation lab was 2 hours, and clinicals varied depending on site. MedSurg was 630-230, and Ped/OB was 630-1230. The reason to go so early is so you can get out early and beat the traffic, which never happens!

Don’t get caught up on how my schedule is, and what to expect because it can change. I can tell you guys that your schedule will probably be different from ours, because our schedule was different from the last. Our simulation schedule is different this term (spring term) from last term due to feedback. We have a full day of simulation twice a semester instead of coming to campus after class for two hours 4-6 times a semester. You do not have class the same day you have clinical. You might have sim lab on the same day of class, but scheduling can vary next year.

It’s not that the days are terribly long, it’s just that they take a lot out of you. You are always lacking sleep, and then running on adrenaline all day wears you out. Finding time to study takes discipline. The stress can get to you, I thought Fall term was the hardest (so far) because you had quizzes/tests/something due almost everyday in class, and then you had to do client sheets with research about the disease, etc. due for every clinical.

Having a good computer is key, especially a lightweight computer! I thought a PDA was very helpful so I didn’t have to bring the big drugbook to clinical that never fits in a pocket. UM changed their policy midway through the year about their laptop requirements stating that their final exam HESI program wasn’t compatible with Mac’s, even though they were fine in the beginning of the year. Go figure. By the end of the school year, you will have learned a great deal of patience and not to let things stress you out because it’s pointless to get worked up about them.

NOTE: Most all lectures are in powerpoint format, and if you prefer to takes notes by hand, I would invest in a laser printer that prints fast. UM doesn’t offer free printing anymore, they offer UPrints and that lasted one semester for me with all the printing I did.

Keep track of your immunization records, CPR/BLS because they can expire without you realizing it! Tb testing is every year for nursing students (might switch to every 6 months, but who knows).

My first term of books for summer was $700 after buying books through amazon.com and Half.com. What we did was get a group together to buy the bookstore mandatory bundle and then share the discs (the school didn’t know that the summer books cost over $1000 if you bought them new through the bookstore, so anyway to save money will help).

If you have a MyUM account you can look up the classes:

Summer:

NUR 307- pharmacology

NUR 304- fundamentals, Clinical for this class

NUR 315- health assessment, SIM for this class

NUR 314- pathophysiology

(15 credits)

Fall:

NUR 308- Adult Health II, clinical for this class, SIM for this class (2-4 times throughout semester)

NUR 400- Research, online class

NUR 318- Peds/OB, clinical for peds, clinical for ob, SIM for peds, SIM for OB (2-4 times throughout semester)

(19 credits)

Spring:

NUR 411- Adult Health III, clinical and SIM for this class

NUR 417- Psych/Community, clinical for this class

NUR 450- Role Transition, clinical for this class

(21 credits)

ice2015 · Jan 31, 2009

How do they prepare you to take the nclex?

ice2015 · Jan 31, 2009

what pharmacology and pathophysiology books do you use?

lnzywilson · Jan 31, 2009

As of right now, I don't know yet. Supposedly they are having open labs this semester to try and help us prepare... Chad is the person who basically taught us pathophysiology because I had Diego Deleon, and he would skip over 15 slides because he "didn't have enough time," and Chad might be giving a May refresher course to those who stay in Miami, but all the documents are posted under blackboard so I am not sure how beneficial it will be. Other students from other schools recommended the Kaplan course, and it offers a guarantee which makes it sound like a good program.

For pathophysiology, we used Essentials of Pathophysiology, Porth 2ed. I think that book has changed since then. This book sucked, and I read it for the first 4 weeks and then stopped. For pharm we used Drug Therapy in Nursing, Aschenbrenner 3 ed. This book was good, but it listed every side effect for the drug in no particular order (you think they would list the most frequent first and then the life threatening ones, but i don't think they did). Plus, I had Kauschinger who gave very throrough lectures, so I only used it to read for quizzes on when she hadn't lectured over the material yet.

ice2015 · Jan 31, 2009

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer all of these questions. In the summer, does the nursing schedule have two terms like the university or do you take all four classes from may to august? Also, how does the final exam schedule work there? I saw on the university schedule that they have a finals week. Does every professor give finals or is it like my undergrad where some do and some don't?