MY EXPERIENCE TAKING THE NCLEX...

I took my exam at a Pearson Vue testing center in Downtown Jersey City.  Across the street from Newport Station.Very nice building. I went in.  I gave security in the lobby my passport.  They gave me a barcode swipe.  I swiped myself in and went up to the 16th floor.

I walked into the office and a woman greeted me.  She handed me a sheet with the exam rules written on it.   You can't take your cell phone into the exam.  No bracelets.  No calculators.  No wrist watches.  They have lockers with keys.  They will place your cell phone in a sealed bag.  They give it back to you and you put your sealed phone in your locker.  When the exam is done, you hand them your sealed phone.  They will cut the seal open and hand you your cell phone.  

The only thing you will end up walking in the exam with is your ID.  And even that will placed in a plastic ziplock bag.

Before you go in the room they will make you turn your pockets inside out.They will have you place both your hands on a hand scanner numerous times.  They will have you sit down  and take a picture.  They have cameras everywhere recording you.  They have microphones everywhere recording you.  They will provide you with a set of disposable earplugs prior to taking the exam.  

They will give you a 1'x2' laminated board with a marker.  You are not allowed to erase anything from the laminate.  You are not allowed to write on the laminate until after you finish the exam tutorial.  If you fill up the laminate, which you probably won't, but if you do, you will raise your hand and the proctor will walk in and replace it with a clean one.  You can take a bathroom break when you like.  You raise your hand.  The proctor comes and pauses the exam.  They will give you two opportunities to take an official break.  At 2 and I think 3 hours.   

 When you go on your break the clock is still running.  

The exam is max 6 hours long.  And that includes your break time.  Any bathroom breaks you take.  I took none of the prompted breaks.  I ran to bathroom at one point.  When I returned from the bathroom.  I had to scan my hand in again and roll up my sleeves and pull up my pant legs for the proctor.

I can understand why it cost $200 to take the exam.  It is like Fort Knox in the testing center.  But at the same time you can't really cheat anyway.  The content on the exam is only somewhat similar to what you studied in exam books.  So to try and cheat would be a total waste of time...

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Getting An Acceptance Letter

I received an e-mail recently from someone that was worried about whether or not they were going to get into Downstate's program.  They didn't hear anything, but other applicants already got their letters of acceptance.  

My only word of advice to you is to not give up hope until about a week after the program starts.  They will eventually send you a letter if you didn't get accepted.  And they will send you a letter if they have you on their wait list.  So if you are wait listed, all hope is not lost.

In my particular graduating class, one guy got in about a week into the semester.  Sometimes people enroll and decide at the last minute to withdraw from the program and a spot opens up.  So don't lose hope!!!

$$$ GETTING THAT JOB $$$

So after graduating you won't be able to sit for your boards for a good month or two.  It takes time for the school to process the paperwork and for everything to get put through.

If you are worried about passing the NCLEX.  Don't!  You will have plenty of time in the one to two month lag between graduating and when the school processes your paperwork to study.  If you are super worried.  Just shell out money and take the Kaplan course.  If you got in the program and you take the Kaplan course after you will pass with little to no problem.  I say that because in order to get in the program you have to be smart.  So a smart person doing Kaplan should pass.  I am not employed by Kaplan.  And if you take the Kaplan course and fail I will not be held responsible or liable.  But I think you get the point.

Out of my classmates many people got jobs within one to four months of passing their state boards.  

The people who had the hardest time finding a job where those with little to no real work experience.  By real work experience I mean people that never worked jobs with a lot of responsibilities.  Former school teachers got scooped up fairly quickly.  Former health care workers like PCTs etc were grabbed fairly quickly and will likely start at better pay.  

If you are a male it is much easier than if you are a female.  Males are severely underrepresented in nursing so they will get snatched up relatively easily.

If you leave New York City it will be much easier for you to find a job.

Of all the hospitals hiring, Methodist seems to be the one that absorbed the most Downstate grads.  Again if you can volunteer at Methodist I recommend doing it.  The two classmates who did their nurse externship at Methodist were hired immediately after passing their boards.  

One classmate was hired directly into the ICU at Maimonides Hospital.  He was a guy and he made this happen for himself by making connections while in the program. 

One classmate was hired directly in the Emergency Room at Woodhull Hospital.

You can also get a job working at a top notch hospital like Presbyterian by starting out working as a PCT.  That is a way you can get your foot in the door after graduating.  

Some of my classmates at this point are still looking.  We are about four and a half months out of school at the time I'm posting this.

I remembered a lot of people being so nervous about the NCLEX and so nervous about finding a job after graduating.  Don't be.  Instead of worrying, do something while you are still in the program.  Like volunteer at a hospital or try to get a job working at a hospital.  Or more importantly get an externship.  Everyone that I know of that got an externship was eventually hired after they got out of the program