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FAQ

High School Transcripts Required for MEC Admission Applications: Request Them Early!

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As we begin the next semester, it is an ideal time to reflect upon your educational goals and to think about how you will go about achieving them to make this your most successful academic year yet. For those of you interested in applying to one of our Medical Education programs, one of the success strategies you may wish to employ is early preparation of your Health Science or Nursing application package, which for some means gathering a few extra required documents.

If you were not already aware, a couple of the programs offered at the Medical Education Campus require that students submit additional documentation along with their admission application. In particular, Dental Assisting and the Nursing program require submission of your high school transcript showing the date of graduation and, for Nursing, specific coursework with final grades. To answer a common question we advisors frequently hear: Yes, submission of a high school transcript for these programs is required regardless of whether or not a student has previous college credit or has already earned a college degree.

Because there could be a delay in obtaining your high school transcript for any number of reasons, you will want to begin this process early so that you will have a complete admission package when it comes time to apply to your program of interest. Those of you who have graduated from a high school within the United States will want to begin by contacting your high school and inquiring about the steps you need to take to have an official transcript mailed to you or how you may be able to pick one up. If you earned a GED and need to request the certificate, you will want to contact the Department of Education in your home state and request an official copy be mailed to you.

For international students, you will also want to begin by contacting your high school and inquiring about the steps required to request and obtain an official transcript; however, prior to submitting them to NOVA, you will need to have them translated and evaluated for U.S. equivalence by one of the agencies listed in our FAQ.

*NOVA will only accept international high school transcripts that have been translated and evaluated.

We understand that in some situations it may be difficult to obtain your international transcripts and to have them evaluated for U.S. equivalence. Under these circumstances, a student will need to take the General Education Development (GED) test and, if you are applying for admission to any of the Nursing tracks, complete the following courses either by taking classes at NVCC or through Nursing ABC: BIO 101, CHM 101, and MTH 154 or higher.

Further information about studying for and taking the GED is available at http://www.vaged.vcu.edu/

To explore the opportunity to complete courses through Nursing ABC, please visit: www.nursingabc.com.

Some of these high school level course requirements can be met by taking the College Board CLEP Exam. Free preparation courses for the College Board CLEP exam are located at www.modernstates.org

So, remember: plan ahead, prepare early, and make this your most successful academic year yet! Best of luck in all of your academic endeavors!

 

MEC Nursing

ALERT: Student Services has completed processing Nursing Applications

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Student Services has completed processing Nursing Applications. Please pay close attention to your student @email.vccs.edu email account as you may be contacted for further information.  Admissions decisions for nursing will be made the first week of May at the earliest.

The program will start ranking students than send out their admissions decisions. Every applicant marked eligible will be reviewed and ranked by the program. Those not marked eligible will not be ranked by the department or considered for admission.

Application related questions should be sent directly to applymec@nvcc.edu or they should be CC’d for the quickest resolution.

Spring 2020 application details can be located at www.nvcc.edu/medical/apply

FAQ, MEC Admissions

Getting Into your Program of Choice

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Over the coming weeks, programs will begin ranking students and making their final admissions decisions.  Given the competitive nature of each of our programs, some will fall short of their goal.  We understand the pressures and demands that face many of our students.  Admission into a program can often be life-changing for a person seeking a better life for themselves and their family.

RANKING

Students are ranked based on a spectrum of indicators. Not surprisingly your performance on your prerequisite courses, specifically your science grades are the most critical factor for most programs at the Medical Education Campus. Other factors include your results on the ATI TEAS test.  Our post, “Am I a competitive applicant” delves into the competitive criteria for programs at the MEC.

Meeting Minimums

Having the minimum requirements for any program places a student on the margin. Meaning that if the applicant pool is competitive, they will be the first to be passed over.  Because our programs do not have wait-list, an applicant competes every year they apply.  If that student does not improve a grade, or a TEAS result or acquire more hours or complete co-requisite courses, they will not move themselves up on the rankings.

Applying without meeting the minimum requirements

Students who apply and do not satisfy the minimum entry requirements will be rejected automatically.  You may have an impressive GPA or TEAS results, but if you are missing a requirement or attachment, an application will be denied.

Visit our post on what might get your application rejected to learn more.

IMPROVE

If you were not accepted and are planning on applying again, ask yourself where was I weakest?

The categories that different programs look at can be distilled into the following list.

  • Grades
  • Test Scores
  • Co-requisite course completion
  • Clinical observation hours

Improving on one or all the above will increase your applications chance of acceptance in the next cycle.

 

FAQ, MEC Admissions

Why your application might get marked ineligible

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Applications are compared to the criteria established by a program by Student Services staff. If an applicant does not meet the minimum standards, an advisor will mark that application ineligible. This excludes that applicant from the ranking and pool of applicants that will be considered for admission into a program.  It is essential that an applicant satisfies all minimum criteria before they proceed with any application.

Reasons your application may have been flagged ineligible include:

A required prerequisite course was

    • not taken

OR

    • if taken did not meet the minimum grade requirement

OR

    • if taken at another college not transferred

OR

  • if taken at another college than not transferred as the required course ( student assigned BIO EEE for example)

OR

  • College Science course is more than ten years old

Failure to provide required documentation along with your application

    • Attaching ATI TEAS results TO the application
    • Attaching wrong ATI result to the online application
    • Failure to attach requested high school documentation (Nursing and Dental Assisting)
      • International High School Documents not evaluated by an evaluation agency such as www.ece.org or www.ierf.org
      • Required high school courses grades below C ( nursing only)
    • Did not submit OTA observation hours via the online application
    • Did not Submit PTA observation form via certified mail

Did not meet the minimum number of observation hours

For programs that require observation hours failing to meet their minimum will result in an application being marked ineligible.

Did not attend a mandatory in-person information session or provided wrong information session code

For programs with mandatory in-person information sessions, not having gone or not having gone within the last year, is grounds for being marked ineligible.

Did not meet a minimum testing requirement

  • ATI TEAS minimum was not meet for a specific program
  • minimum math placement scores not met

GPA below the minimum established by a program

  • GPA at last school attended and/or NOVA GPA below the established minimum.

ATI TEAS taken outside of applicable period

For Fall 2019 Nursing applicants TEAS scores must be from the period December 3rd 2018 to March 20 2019. Any scores from outside of that period will not be considered.

Test Scores are older than allowed for your program. Please check our ATI TEAS post for the time frames.

 

If your application was marked ineligible, it will have been for one of the above reasons. Students are invited to correct any errors they may have made and apply during the subsequent application period for their desired program of study.

Please review our FAQ to learn how to avoid any pitfalls that will prevent your application from being considered in the future.

You can learn how to be a competitive applicant here.

FAQ, MEC Admissions, MEC Health Science

Physical Therapist Assistant Application

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FAQ

The first priority period for the 2019 Fall Physical Therapist Assistant program opens March 15, 2019, and closes March 30, 2019.

Only submissions sent via the Online Health Science and Nursing Application will be processed.  Physical Applications mailed via certified mail will not be processed.

Attn: Student Services Room 202
6699 Springfield Center Drive
Springfield, VA 22150

You can access the Health Sciences and Nursing application HERE

Prerequisite Course Requirements

  • BIO 141 and BIO 142- Anatomy and Physiology 1&2 OR NAS 150-Human Biology with a grade of B or better
  • HLT 141 or HIM 111- Medical Terminology with a B or better
  • ENG 111 College Composition or higher with a B or Better

Observation Hours

In addition, you must complete a minimum of FOUR clinical observation hours with a PT or PTA.

Clinical Observation hours must be mailed via certified mail in advance of the deadline for the period you are applying to.

DO NOT OPEN AND SCAN OBSERVATION HOUR FORMS. They must be mailed in via certified mail.  Only Hours received by the priority period deadline will be counted. 

Testing Requirements

The program requires that you satisfy two different Testing requirements.

  1. Take and pass the VPT Math Placement test at the MT 154 level or higher OR complete developmental math to qualify you for MT 154 or higher OR transfer MT 154 or higher to the college.
  2. Take and pass the ATI TEAS exam with a minimum score of 50% in the English, Reading and Human Anatomy and Physiology subsection of the Science portion.
    1. It is important that a student submit their full results packet with their PTA application. Directions on how to download results can be found HERE. Failure to do so will result in a delay in the processing of an application.

Lastly, only students that have attended one of the mandatory in-person workshops within the last year will be considered for admission.

Attachments

The only attachment that should be included with your PTA Application is a PDF version of your ATI TEAS Results.  Please do not attach additional items unless specifically instructed to do so.

Competitive criteria can be found HERE

MEC Student Success

What’s “Mindset” got to do with it?

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Register: https://mindsetmattersalways.eventbrite.com

What’s “Mindset” Got to do with it?

Vicky Krug is an Associate Professor of College Literacy, Psychology, Critical Thinking and Freshman Experience at Westmoreland County Community College and the Community College of Allegheny County. Her most recent graduate degree is from the Johns Hopkins University, School of Education in Mind, Brain and Teaching. She is currently pursuing another Masters from Hopkins; this one in Liberal Arts. She has studied at Seton Hill University, The University of Pittsburgh, California University and Boston University in Education; Social Work, Psychology and Neuroeducation. She enjoys bicycling, kayaking, traveling, reading, learning and being with people. With advances in technology, neurological research findings, and ever-increasing diversity of our population, life seems ever more complex. Teaching, learning, leadership and living life can be improved and enhanced if we have the appropriate “Mindset”.

Topic: What’s “Mindset” Got to do with it?

Light refreshments to be served.


MEC Health Science

Dental Hygiene Program Looking for Patients

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FREE DENTAL CLEANING AND COMPENSATION

  • Haven’t had a cleaning in over 4 years?
  • Don’t floss and have VISIBLE calculus (tartar build up)?
  • Do not have decayed teeth? (small cavities ok)
  • Are between the ages of 21-35?
  • No missing teeth, no dental implants or crowns! (Missing wisdom teeth ok)
  • Do not have advanced periodontal disease (slight is ok)

If YES TO ALL OF THE ABOVE, YOU MAY BE ELIGIBLE FOR:

  • A free deep cleaning/ comprehensive evaluation (over $1200 value), free electric toothbrush ($100 value) and additional compensation upon approval/qualification.

 

NOVA College’s graduating Dental Hygiene students need Board licensing exam patients. Starting March 2019 every Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9-11:30 and 1-3:30 for screenings and X-rays and Friday, April 12th for the actual licensing exam) except during NOVA’s spring break 3/11-3/15

 

  • Potential candidates MUST BE RELIABLE and live in the Northern Virginia area; students, staff, family, and friends all welcome!

 

TO BE SCREENED PLEASE EMAIL:

Narges at novascleanteeth@gmail.com.

(After email, phone number of dental hygiene student will be given for an appointment time)

 

Address:

NOVA MEC Campus 6699 Springfield Center Dr.  Springfield, VA 22150