Recommendation from Online Instructors

Is it possible to get letters of recommendation from an online instructor? Yes! I recently requested letters of recommendation from three professors, two of them being from online course instructors and at least one agreed to submit a letter of recommendation on my behalf! Honestly the interactions (at least for me) in an online course is almost identical to that of a brick-and-mortar course. The main difference obviously is the mode of communication but it goes to show that the quality of the interaction is more important than the type. As long as you "stand out" in some way the instructor can remember you. It also doesn't hurt that I received an A in the course either. I am kind of relieved because I have been very hesitant about requesting a letter of recommendation from my place of employment. It's not that I think a recommendation from my job would be bad or anything (in fact it would probably be very good I think) it just seems so awkward requesting recommendation from my employer when acceptance into the program could mean my potential resignation as well as me "spilling the beans" before I am ready to.

I was accepted...

but I was accepted into Lehman's generic nursing program, not the accelerated. I wasn't exactly surprised especially since everything I have heard and read up to now indicated that I needed roughly a 4.0 GPA in my prerequisite in order to gain admission into the accelerated program. In any event I decided to postpone/defer my application for Fall 2017. This will give me enough time to get some things in order (like finances and childcare), as well as put in my application for SUNY Downstate accelerated program for summer 2017. I really would rather do an accelerated program anyway but if the generic is all that is available to me, I would have to accept. At least I was accepted somewhere and the generic program may allow me to work part time and/or during the summer.

SUNY Downstate Accelerated Nursing Program

The SUNY Downstate application is massive! In addition to letters of recommendations, I need to take the  TEAS V exam, complete a personal statement and upload a whole bunch of stuff like transcripts, resume, etc. Volunteer experience seems like a big deal as well but I simple don't have any (at least not recent experience) so I am hoping that my long term work experience, even though its non-healthcare related, would suffice. I am also planning to get BLS certification (which I would need anyway as a nursing student) so at least I have something "medical" to include in my application. My plans to do EKG/phlebotomy training may be on hold because honestly its costly and I already have to pay for HIN 269 which I am taking in the Fall at Lehman as well as register for TEAS V exam, which is $115! That's over $1000 for both course and exam (not including books for the course) and all of this I am paying for out of pocket! EKG/phlebotomy is certainly not necessary for entrance into nursing school but I don't think these skills are stressed upon in nursing school. I do NOT want to be the nurse who continually pokes my patients with a needle because I don't know what I am doing (I had a nurse like that before and let's just say it wasn't pretty).

The HESI A2 Exam

I have only a couple of weeks before I take the HESI A2 exam and I am so nervous! I bought the Elsevier practice book and have tried taking practice tests both in the book and online but I still have some work to do, especially in anatomy and physiology which is my "weakest" science to date. I was actually not sure if I was going to take the test or not since I was on the fence about applying to Lehman's nursing program this year for personal reasons, but I only have one prerequisite course left (currently taking organic chemistry) and would be therefore eligible to apply for Fall 2016 generic nursing programs (both the accelerated and the generic). I spoke to someone in the nursing department and they assured me that my HESI score would be good for next year (assuming I pass with 75% or above) so about two days before the deadline, I registered for the exam! The math and the reading seems to be going OK (forgot some math formulas though) but the anatomy, not as much. For starters I took A&P I and II almost 2 years ago and I already forgot a lot of things, not to mention I struggled in both courses simple because I had difficulty memorizing the volume of information. With organic chemistry its hard to put as much time as I would like to practicing for the HESI but I have to find a balance because I paid over $100 for the exam and I am not taking it again! I am just going to have to work it out. The good news its a long weekend and I am OK with organic chemistry so far (got Khanacademy for backup just in case) so I can focus most of my time on HESI practice. I just need to make sure my kids stay occupied and quiet, which basically means they will be on their tablets half the weekend.

CUNY Lehman College

 I have been officially accepted into the Spring 2016 semester at CUNY Lehman College, bringing me another step closer to applying to their BSN nursing program next year (I have to be accepted into the college prior to applying to the nursing program). I am not completely shocked by the acceptance since I already have a degree and I basically applied as a transfer/second degree student. Nonetheless it is an accomplishment, especially since it has taken me a long time just to get to this point. Lehman College requires organic chemistry and another course HIN 269 (I believe this course can be taken after admissions though) in order to be accepted into program so I will work on registering for those courses once the course/credits that I am transferring in gets evaluated. I know that the accelerated program is really competitive and right now my microbiology grades are in the A- range (my current prerequisite GPA is 3.68) so I do not know if my GPA will be competitive enough for acceptance so I am going to apply to both the one year accelerated program and the two year program when the time comes. The two year program is very competitive as well but the average GPA is a little lower and their are more seats available so I may have a better shot. Honestly I think the two year program is probably a better option for me because it may be less overwhelming but it is twice as long and I don't know how my family would do financially without my income for two years, although part time work is more doable in the traditional program. I will see. I visited the campus recently and the drive is reasonable (about 40 minutes one way although there is toll) and I liked the campus so I definitely would not mind going to Lehman but I still think I will apply to Downstate and possibly Stonybrook accelerated programs as well just in case. It really sucks how difficult the CUNY/SUNY nursing programs are to get into (my husband is convinced that I am really trying to get into medical school or something). I truly believe I will be a really good nurse one day but that doesn't matter if I can't get the education I need to get started. I will persevere though because I have come this far and there is no way I am stopping now! 

Stony Brook Bachelors of Nursing Information Session

I recently attended Stony Brook for the Bachelors of Nursing Information Session and while I knew a lot of the information beforehand, I still think it was a good idea that I went. The session included information for both the traditional and the accelerated BSN programs and the session ended  a half hour early than stated on the website (which I wasn't too pleased with given that I took the day off work and had to drive a good way to get there), but nonetheless it was a good session. Here are my pros and cons of the accelerated BSN program at Stony Brook:

Pros:

Very good program- At the session a prospective applicant asked why should he attend Stony Brook and the moderator replied "because its Stony Brook!" It may have been a bit corny but the fact is Stony Brook does have a reputable nursing program and the vast majority of the reviews about the program are positive.
Cheap- The estimated cost of the accelerated program is about $18,000 which is good compared to other programs. I have no interest in owing $80,000 to become a nurse especially since I have children who themselves may attend college one day.
12 months only- The accelerated program seems like torture but the torture would only last 1 year and its over!
School is in the hospital- The School of Nursing is literally in Stony Brook University Medical Center. If that isn't a great opportunity for learning then I don't know what is!

Cons:

Too far- It took me about 1 hour going and 1 hour to return. This does not take into consideration potential heavy traffic so basically my daily round trip would be 2 hours minimum. The moderator also stated that clinicals can take place as far west as LIJ (which is great) or as far east as Riverhead (which is about 1 1/2 hour drive so that is bad) so I would have to leave my house as early as 5:15 a/5:30 a for clinicals. I also burned at least a 1/4 tank gas just for that one trip so I would have to fill up at least twice a week if I were driving to Stony Brook daily.
Unpredictable clinical hours- The moderator stated that clinicals for the accelerated program could be either day (7a-7p) or night (7p-7a), twice a week on any day of the week. Night clinicals is a no go for me and I would ideally like to do my clinicals in the week so I can be with my family on weekends. Also I may possibly need childcare arrangements on the weekends if I had clinicals on Saturdays.
Parking- Driving to Stony Brook means parking in the hospital parking garage and paying parking fees. The last thing I am interested in doing is incurring additional expenses when I would no longer be working.

All and all I would love to attend Stony Brook but that daily commute would be a real &*@#$ pure and simple. Nursing school is already hard enough without adding additional stress to my life. If I applied to Stony Brook and actually got accepted, I would only go if my other schools of interest do not accept me into their programs.