@lailamarquezzz Hope you're ready to conquer this semester here in a couple weeks!! You're gonna do great! Feel free to reach out for assistance if you need anything along the way!
Finally, someone explained it very well. Thank you! There are so many resources available in this program. Seriously, you should make a video on how to study the GCU ABSN way :)
Starting the program September 9th. About 12 months to knock out prerequisite and the take the HESI A2. I found your channel you got a new subcrisber. Thank you for this video.
Thank you for this! I'm supposed to start Tucson in the Fall and was getting a little antsy from the lack of info available. This video is super helpful! I second the request for a study tips video if you have time, it would be super appreciated.
Thank you for making this video!! I start in the fall for this program! I just have two questions, how long is each semester? My other question is roughly how many days a week are you on campus or completing clinicals?
each semester is 17 weeks long I think? Give or take a week or two. Clincial days completely depends on the semester but usually once or twice a week and on campus once or twice a week. There are times where this is more often for both
Hi, I’m also from California and going to AZ west valley campus, but my main concern is the loans, did you have a big balance remaining that financial aid didn’t cover for the clinical portion. How are you going about it
Fellow CA student sweet! I did not have any remaining balance after loans and my own funds. FAFSA and private loans did the trick for me. I’d have a detailed conversation with your counselor about this.
Thank you so much for this video! I am looking to start the program in January. I had a few questions if you have the time. I am also coming from CA and looking to return to CA as an RN. I've seen a few people say that the CA BRN only accepts in-person prerequisites? Did you have to do yours in-person? Also, are there enough clinical hours to fit the CA requirements? I asked GCU, and they said it should all be fine since they're nationally accredited, but I'm overthinking for sure. If you have any advice, I'm all ears. Thank you!
Hi Lela! All of my prerequisites will apply and carry over, as it has for all the previous GCU grads who had done the program and pre-reqs here and then gone back to CA to work as an RN. I did some of mine online and some in person but it all works out through GCU. I cannot speak to other universities unfortunately, especially if it specifically says "online" on your transcript. Clinical hours are not a problem either. I was in the same boat prior to coming into this program with overthinking and all that, so you're not alone in that! I know several people from my hometown who did GCU nursing and are now working as nurses back home, so you'll be just fine like the rest of us! Hopefully that helps!
They’ve been slowly expanding their ABSN programs to different states, which has been pretty cool to hear about. I think I heard that they are moving into the midwest recently too. It’s a slow process, but you know how GCU is, they’ll get there eventually! Clincials in other states at this point would be miserable in my opinion. I couldn’t imagine having to fly out to another state to do 3+ clinical shifts or something lol
I'm confused on what the schedule is like. Say you have all the pre reqs done. You come into the absn program, what's the weekly schedule look like? Are you having to go somewhere for either a lab, clinical work day or class every day?
It is confusing! Each week is different. All lectures are recorded online and for you to view on your own time. You come in person to campus for labs, exams, etc., not for anything else. Then you go to your assigned hospital for clinical shifts. So week 1 you may have 2 labs back to back on Monday. Tuesday, Wed, and Thursday you are studyign yourself and doing homework, then Friday may be clincial. Then the next week may be a bit different. We have access to a updated calendar for our cohort once you get into the program, so you will know more when you get it, but it really has a super varied structure on a week-to-week basis. Majority of your time will be spent studying and doing homework throughout the week. Hopefully that helps but if you need more clarificaiton feel free to let me know!
Hey Sarah, Semesters are around 15 weeks long and then there is a short break between semesters depending on the schedule. Winter break is around 2-3 weeks long, Spring break is a couple weeks, and fall break is a couple weeks. The breaks are enough to recharge you so you have some time to mentally prepare for the next semester. Its actually pretty lenient in my own opinion! Hope this helps! Also we have a few days off for Thanksgiving and other holidays that are interspersed throughout the year. If you Google the GCU Academic Calendar you can find a pdf of these holidays :)
Thank you for the information! My question is how long are the break between each semster i stat in september. Is there a summer break or winter break ?
Hi, thanks for the video. I was wondering if you knew anything about which AZ ABSN campuses are more popular, etc.? I was interested in Chandler but West Valley or Sun City also seem cool.
Hey there! More popular? I haven't heard of anyone going off of popularity but its usualyl whatver campus is closest to home for them and whatever one has open seats. Sun City is the orginal for the ABSN program. West Valley is on main campus so its going to be a lot fo traffic and whatnot to get there, and Chalnder is in a nice area from what I've seen driving around that area. It all depends on what you are looking for. If you are going off of popularity, then I am a bit confused to be fair, could you explain what you mean by that?
Hey is the ABSN program even accredited? I am working with the Idaho site to apply there and I was looking around and cannot find anything about graduation rates, NCLEX stats, etc.....
The GCU program is accredited, but the Idaho site is new, so you’ll be one of the first groups of students up there. It’s the same process and everything no matter where you do it, so don’t stress too much about that. Expect 40% of people to graduate, and NCLEX stats can be found online if you look up the program. Hope that helps!
This helped a ton, so thank you! I’d love to not work, but unsure how to move out there without working. For living expenses, did you entirely use loans? You might have mentioned but I wanted to clarify.
Working is still doable, just makes it a bit harder and you’ve got to figure out if you are capable of juggling that. I used a mix of loans and funds I had saved.
4 semesters straight through. So right now I’m in block 3, summertime, and still going. It’s nonstop with a week or two break between semesters. Hope that helps!
@@lauricemullenax2369Yeah I have! We are wrapping up Semester 3/4 and it’s going well. We are at around 11 students in my cohort, down from the original 21 at the start. The Vegas site is pretty good from what I’ve heard, but I also haven’t heard much so take that with a grain of salt. Hope that helps!
The HESI exams are essentially practice tests to eventually prepare you to take the NCLEX. They do count towards your overall grade, but there isn’t really any solid way to study for them so it’s a bit of a weird situation. You are tested on all the material from your normal classes so if you’ve studied well then the HESI isn’t really a problem. Failing those isn’t an issue, it just takes away points from your overall class grade. Failing an actual exam means that you have to work harder on the rest of the exams in order to keep your exam average above the passing of 76%. Hopefully that is what you were looking for!
@@dawsoneslinger4880 i appreciate all your input. Im feeling alot more prepared going into semester 1. Counselors have given me so many mixed signals, i was feeling extremely misled. I also seen on my share point calendar, that i have labs before an exam then following an exam. Is that normal?
@@micheleelliston257 The counselor situation is actually very common, we all had that issue ourselves, which led me to make these videos. And that schedule is unfortunate but not uncommon. There will be some weeks where you have no idea how you will get through it and manage your time, but you will! Welcome to nursing school and the wonderful adventures of chaotic schedules!! On a serious note, it happens to all of us, but you’ll be perfectly fine :) You’ll get very good at time management throughout these next 16 months!
Hey Sev! It went really well! A few close calls and one exam that I bombed, but I was able to make up for it all by just grinding and studying more and harder for the following exams. Clinicals were really unique with OB and Peds so it was overall a really fun but hectic semester (hectic applies to all semesters actually). Ended up with a mainly Bs and one C+, but those are all A's and B's on a nomral grading scale so it was pretty solid in my opinion. Are you in the program or looking to apply?
You are doing MANY things in person, so you have to relocate to whatever area you’ll be at. I relocated to Glendale area of Phoenix close to the Sun City site.
How many hours a day is each class and the work each day while doing it from home? Im just trying to see what my schedule is going to be like and if its manageable
Hey Virginia, This is a complicated answer since it varies so much day to day, week to week, and class to class. Some days you may just be in the hospital for clinical from 7am-7pm, while others you may have time for homework until noon followed by lab from 1pm-5pm. It’s very variable, but a rough estimate would be like 2-4 hours spent on homework or studying per day at a MINIMUM. It’s usually much more. I know that’s a roundabout answer but that’s honestly how it goes, so hopefully that helps!
@@dawsoneslinger4880 Thank you so much yes I will be starting the program in September and I was told for the first year it was online and than hands on I do currently work from home as a medical assistant and was wondering what a day consist of
@@virginiamadrid8407It’s in person and online for the entire program. So you’ll have maybe 2-3 days of in person lab, exams, clinical, etc per week. Sometimes it’s more sometimes it’s less, the schedule varies a lot. But if you work from home you could definitely make that work if you can arrange it!
How was level 3 for you? I start level 3 in like 1 week. We lost some people in our cohort in level 2 from mental health. I’m a bit nervous for nervous level 3, no lie. 🫠🥹
You’ll be alright, losing people is normal unfortunately :/ I’ve noticed that those of us who don’t have a “plan B” or at least think that way, will MAKE it work and pass regardless of intellectual ability or motivation. If you think or actually don’t have any other career options then you will be between a rock and a hard place, essentially pushing and forcing yourself to succeed. Prepare for some difficult material in Critical Care, like Cardio was difficult for myself, and in OB it can be very confusing, but you’ll do just fine!
Dude seriously life saver, im starting the ABSN program in September and this is so helpful rather than going in blind
@lailamarquezzz Hope you're ready to conquer this semester here in a couple weeks!! You're gonna do great! Feel free to reach out for assistance if you need anything along the way!
Thank you for this video. This helps a lot with my unanswered questions.
Finally, someone explained it very well. Thank you! There are so many resources available in this program. Seriously, you should make a video on how to study the GCU ABSN way :)
Glad it was helpful! I’ll work on a study video once I start prepping for our first exam this semester :)
Decided to take your advice finally and make that video :)
ua-cam.com/video/TBg4X2xdnn4/v-deo.html
Starting the program September 9th. About 12 months to knock out prerequisite and the take the HESI A2. I found your channel you got a new subcrisber. Thank you for this video.
Glad I could be of help! Any assistance you need along the way feel free to reach out :)
Potential Idaho student here, thank you for this video! They need to hire you for marketing and admissions! 😊
Thank you so much, I really appreciate that!
Thank you for this! I'm supposed to start Tucson in the Fall and was getting a little antsy from the lack of info available. This video is super helpful! I second the request for a study tips video if you have time, it would be super appreciated.
I’ll work on one when I get some downtime, which could be a while😅
Thanks so much for this video! You’re a life-saver; very clear and concise.
Thank you for making this video!! I start in the fall for this program! I just have two questions, how long is each semester? My other question is roughly how many days a week are you on campus or completing clinicals?
each semester is 17 weeks long I think? Give or take a week or two. Clincial days completely depends on the semester but usually once or twice a week and on campus once or twice a week. There are times where this is more often for both
I just checked and the semesters are 15/16 weeks long with a week off in between semesters. Sorry for the wrong info initially!
Hi, I’m also from California and going to AZ west valley campus, but my main concern is the loans, did you have a big balance remaining that financial aid didn’t cover for the clinical portion. How are you going about it
Fellow CA student sweet! I did not have any remaining balance after loans and my own funds. FAFSA and private loans did the trick for me. I’d have a detailed conversation with your counselor about this.
Thank you so much for this video! I am looking to start the program in January. I had a few questions if you have the time. I am also coming from CA and looking to return to CA as an RN. I've seen a few people say that the CA BRN only accepts in-person prerequisites? Did you have to do yours in-person? Also, are there enough clinical hours to fit the CA requirements? I asked GCU, and they said it should all be fine since they're nationally accredited, but I'm overthinking for sure. If you have any advice, I'm all ears. Thank you!
Hi Lela! All of my prerequisites will apply and carry over, as it has for all the previous GCU grads who had done the program and pre-reqs here and then gone back to CA to work as an RN. I did some of mine online and some in person but it all works out through GCU. I cannot speak to other universities unfortunately, especially if it specifically says "online" on your transcript. Clinical hours are not a problem either. I was in the same boat prior to coming into this program with overthinking and all that, so you're not alone in that! I know several people from my hometown who did GCU nursing and are now working as nurses back home, so you'll be just fine like the rest of us! Hopefully that helps!
I really wish Gcu could do other states and have them do clinicals in those states, I'm Gcu alumni
They’ve been slowly expanding their ABSN programs to different states, which has been pretty cool to hear about. I think I heard that they are moving into the midwest recently too. It’s a slow process, but you know how GCU is, they’ll get there eventually!
Clincials in other states at this point would be miserable in my opinion. I couldn’t imagine having to fly out to another state to do 3+ clinical shifts or something lol
I'm confused on what the schedule is like. Say you have all the pre reqs done. You come into the absn program, what's the weekly schedule look like? Are you having to go somewhere for either a lab, clinical work day or class every day?
It is confusing! Each week is different. All lectures are recorded online and for you to view on your own time. You come in person to campus for labs, exams, etc., not for anything else. Then you go to your assigned hospital for clinical shifts. So week 1 you may have 2 labs back to back on Monday. Tuesday, Wed, and Thursday you are studyign yourself and doing homework, then Friday may be clincial. Then the next week may be a bit different. We have access to a updated calendar for our cohort once you get into the program, so you will know more when you get it, but it really has a super varied structure on a week-to-week basis. Majority of your time will be spent studying and doing homework throughout the week.
Hopefully that helps but if you need more clarificaiton feel free to let me know!
What is the academic calendar structure of the GCU ABSN program? Are there week long breaks in between the semesters, etc.?
Hey Sarah,
Semesters are around 15 weeks long and then there is a short break between semesters depending on the schedule. Winter break is around 2-3 weeks long, Spring break is a couple weeks, and fall break is a couple weeks. The breaks are enough to recharge you so you have some time to mentally prepare for the next semester. Its actually pretty lenient in my own opinion! Hope this helps!
Also we have a few days off for Thanksgiving and other holidays that are interspersed throughout the year. If you Google the GCU Academic Calendar you can find a pdf of these holidays :)
And Ty! For the video!
Thank you for the information! My question is how long are the break between each semster i stat in september. Is there a summer break or winter break ?
You usually get 10 days (give or take) of break between semesters. No full summer break or anything - straight through.
Hi, thanks for the video. I was wondering if you knew anything about which AZ ABSN campuses are more popular, etc.? I was interested in Chandler but West Valley or Sun City also seem cool.
Hey there! More popular? I haven't heard of anyone going off of popularity but its usualyl whatver campus is closest to home for them and whatever one has open seats. Sun City is the orginal for the ABSN program. West Valley is on main campus so its going to be a lot fo traffic and whatnot to get there, and Chalnder is in a nice area from what I've seen driving around that area. It all depends on what you are looking for. If you are going off of popularity, then I am a bit confused to be fair, could you explain what you mean by that?
Are you allowed to dress how you want to class?
We wear normal clothing for exams, but every other time we are in the hospital or on site, we wear scrubs
Hey is the ABSN program even accredited? I am working with the Idaho site to apply there and I was looking around and cannot find anything about graduation rates, NCLEX stats, etc.....
The GCU program is accredited, but the Idaho site is new, so you’ll be one of the first groups of students up there. It’s the same process and everything no matter where you do it, so don’t stress too much about that. Expect 40% of people to graduate, and NCLEX stats can be found online if you look up the program. Hope that helps!
@@dawsoneslinger4880Thank you very much! Will be starting this Spring in AZ
This helped a ton, so thank you! I’d love to not work, but unsure how to move out there without working. For living expenses, did you entirely use loans? You might have mentioned but I wanted to clarify.
Working is still doable, just makes it a bit harder and you’ve got to figure out if you are capable of juggling that. I used a mix of loans and funds I had saved.
Thanks for your service.. not sure if you covered this but do ppl take summer classes too? Or is 4 semesters the only way it’s broken down ?
4 semesters straight through. So right now I’m in block 3, summertime, and still going. It’s nonstop with a week or two break between semesters. Hope that helps!
Did you make it through more of the program? How was it? How many people graduate? Have you heard anything about the Vegas location?
@@lauricemullenax2369Yeah I have! We are wrapping up Semester 3/4 and it’s going well. We are at around 11 students in my cohort, down from the original 21 at the start. The Vegas site is pretty good from what I’ve heard, but I also haven’t heard much so take that with a grain of salt. Hope that helps!
Thank you for all this! I start level one on September the 3rd. Can you tell me more about the hesi exams? And what happens if you fail an exam?
The HESI exams are essentially practice tests to eventually prepare you to take the NCLEX. They do count towards your overall grade, but there isn’t really any solid way to study for them so it’s a bit of a weird situation. You are tested on all the material from your normal classes so if you’ve studied well then the HESI isn’t really a problem. Failing those isn’t an issue, it just takes away points from your overall class grade.
Failing an actual exam means that you have to work harder on the rest of the exams in order to keep your exam average above the passing of 76%. Hopefully that is what you were looking for!
@@dawsoneslinger4880 i appreciate all your input. Im feeling alot more prepared going into semester 1. Counselors have given me so many mixed signals, i was feeling extremely misled. I also seen on my share point calendar, that i have labs before an exam then following an exam. Is that normal?
@@micheleelliston257 The counselor situation is actually very common, we all had that issue ourselves, which led me to make these videos. And that schedule is unfortunate but not uncommon. There will be some weeks where you have no idea how you will get through it and manage your time, but you will! Welcome to nursing school and the wonderful adventures of chaotic schedules!! On a serious note, it happens to all of us, but you’ll be perfectly fine :) You’ll get very good at time management throughout these next 16 months!
Hey Dawson. How did level 3 go?
Hey Sev! It went really well! A few close calls and one exam that I bombed, but I was able to make up for it all by just grinding and studying more and harder for the following exams. Clinicals were really unique with OB and Peds so it was overall a really fun but hectic semester (hectic applies to all semesters actually). Ended up with a mainly Bs and one C+, but those are all A's and B's on a nomral grading scale so it was pretty solid in my opinion. Are you in the program or looking to apply?
Do you have to relocate since it’s hybrid or is it doable to do while living in another state? Thanks!
You are doing MANY things in person, so you have to relocate to whatever area you’ll be at. I relocated to Glendale area of Phoenix close to the Sun City site.
How many hours a day is each class and the work each day while doing it from home? Im just trying to see what my schedule is going to be like and if its manageable
Hey Virginia, This is a complicated answer since it varies so much day to day, week to week, and class to class. Some days you may just be in the hospital for clinical from 7am-7pm, while others you may have time for homework until noon followed by lab from 1pm-5pm. It’s very variable, but a rough estimate would be like 2-4 hours spent on homework or studying per day at a MINIMUM. It’s usually much more. I know that’s a roundabout answer but that’s honestly how it goes, so hopefully that helps!
Do you know the opening dates? Or do you get accepted whenever?
You get “accepted” kind of whenever but Id talk with your counselor for exact details and dates!
How often do you take a dosage calculation test?
Once or twice a semester, but we also have 3-4 med math questions on every test. It’s not bad!
Hi is this the hybrid absn at gcu ?
Hey Virginia! Yeah it is! Any specific questions I could help with?
@@dawsoneslinger4880 Thank you so much yes I will be starting the program in September and I was told for the first year it was online and than hands on I do currently work from home as a medical assistant and was wondering what a day consist of
@@virginiamadrid8407It’s in person and online for the entire program. So you’ll have maybe 2-3 days of in person lab, exams, clinical, etc per week. Sometimes it’s more sometimes it’s less, the schedule varies a lot. But if you work from home you could definitely make that work if you can arrange it!
How was level 3 for you? I start level 3 in like 1 week. We lost some people in our cohort in level 2 from mental health. I’m a bit nervous for nervous level 3, no lie. 🫠🥹
You’ll be alright, losing people is normal unfortunately :/ I’ve noticed that those of us who don’t have a “plan B” or at least think that way, will MAKE it work and pass regardless of intellectual ability or motivation. If you think or actually don’t have any other career options then you will be between a rock and a hard place, essentially pushing and forcing yourself to succeed. Prepare for some difficult material in Critical Care, like Cardio was difficult for myself, and in OB it can be very confusing, but you’ll do just fine!