Re: FREE TUITION - FREE BSN - University of Arizona
All,
I heard through the grapevine that 130 were INVITED to interview, but that roughly 100 actually did so, and these are just estimates. The final number interviewed is probably +/- 10 from that 100.
Anyways, I was rather disappointed in how the UA administration handled the notification of Carondelet's withdrawal from the partnership program. Apparently, they had the news for upwards of a week and opted not to say anything until the Friday night 'info. session.'
The interview, I felt, was very straightforward and predictable. My panel was composed of 3 women, of which 2 were faculty and 1 was a hospital HR rep. They were all very professional and smiled, but were maybe a little less than creative than anticipated. They just asked their questions, listened to the responses, and drafted notes. No follow up Qs or delving deeper for more profound responses. I was surprised how little actual dialogue or informal chatting there was between candidates and the panel. They just seemed hellbent on checking off questions and ending the interview on time.
I was little impressed. I've interviewed with other schools, and found them to be more personable, probing, and seeking a good institutional match for their candidates. One school I had a telephone iview with lasted 45 minutes and the admissions officer opened with, "Your qualifications speak for themselves, so we don't want to discuss grades or previous jobs. Let's talk about what attracts you to nursing and why your previous experiences on a holistic level lead you to nursing at this point in your life." That was it. I was pleasantly floored and it was a great conversation.
Anyways, the chance to meet with the current students post-interview was the only real value for me, and from their comments, I am more confident in the academics and clinical experience. I just wish we could have had contact/communication with the students Friday night pre-interview, rather than Saturday post-interview. That made grand zero sense to me, if only to bolster the likelihood of retaining candidates who do get accepted.
So I ultimately conclude that the program is demanding, but doable, and the clinicals seem to be the best part, according to the students I spoke with. The only shining negative is that the program administrators are somewhat subpar in terms of things like internal communication, timing, scheduling, organization, and coordinating concurrent classroom/clinical learning so everything is properly synchronized. Still, in the end, I think this is one of the better ABSN programs in the region, although I think that the first impression made (from the information sessions) leaves much to be desired, although it could be intentionally designed that way to discourage mass applications from students with casual interest.
I'm sure we'll hear more in the next 2 weeks or so. Good luck to you all!
GF.
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