[Asherah]

Hello all! I wanted to start a thread for any of us who may be applying to the Mount St. Mary's College Accelerated BSN program in Los Angeles, for the Summer 2008 or Fall 2008 cohorts.

I'm applying for Summer 2008 (to start late-May) and am finishing one of the Religious Studies pre-reqs as well as Public Speaking. I just bit the bullet and submitted the online application this weekend, now just need to order all the transcripts and get those rec's in.

Good luck to any other hopefuls out there, MSMC isn't my first choice, but I hope it will be one of my options in any case If you're also applying, make yourself known...we can suffer the pressures of waiting for notifications until December, together!

[nakeliku]

hi there! im in the process of applying for the MSMC Summer 2008 AccBSN program too. I'll hopefully be submitting my application this coming weekend, and have already started requesting transcripts. good luck!

where else are you applying?

[Asherah]

Hey there Nakeliku, glad to hear there is at least one other person around here attempting MSMC. Did you attend their information session, what did you think of the vibe of the school and the program? Initially, I was a little hesitant to attend a private, religious school, but they really seem to have everything in order in terms of their nursing program and the loan forgiveness parternships they maintain with various hospitals. A friend of mine in the UCLA MECN program says she often encounters MSMC ABSN students in clinicals at the UCLA Med Center and they are always on the ball, very knowledgable.

I'm wondering when the notifications are made for interviews (I think they said something about mid-December) and then when final admissions decisions are sent out. I'm really not very patient when its comes to all of this stuff! If accepted, have you considered a loan forgiveness opportunity for the 25K tuition reimbursement?

I'm also applying to Johns Hopkins (BSN/MSN), Columbia (BSN/MSN), Samuel Merritt College (ABSN) and Oregon Health & Science University. What about you?

[Kensington]

I would sooo be applying to this program if it didn't begin in the summer, when I'm planning to finish up prereqs by taking micro. If there is anyway I could take physio and micro in the spring, I really would have!

Good luck to you both!

[Asherah]

Kens...there is a Fall cohort of 40 students, check out their website!

[nakeliku]

hi asherah,

nice to hear back from ya. I went to the MSMC information session in February, and I LOVED the campus...even though its in the heart of downtown. They really do seem to have their stuff together, and its nice to hear that the students are on the ball! I am most definitely considering the loan repayment option - it's really the only way I'd be able to afford this program! The price is a huge setback, but I told myself I wouldnt let that get in the way of obtaining my goals, so I'll do whatever it takes. The religious aspect doesn't bother me. I dont think they're too pushy about it, and i've got the prereqs done for that already.

Wow, so you're looking all over the place! I'm just applying to MSMC and perhaps CSULA's EL-MSN. Kinda hard to relocate cuz I'm married and all. Otherwise, I would definitely apply all over!

So where and when did you get your first degree? I graduated from UCSB last year...BA in Anthropology. I kinda always wanted to do nursing, but was too overwhelmed when first applying to college to know what to go for. but here i am, going back for more!

[lilly1980]

Hi Guys,

I know I'm joining this conversation a bit late, but thought I'd share my 2 cents. I am applying for MSMC's May 2008 start. I will actually still be finishing up some pre-reqs in the spring, the admissions people said as long as the classes do not overlap with the start of the nursing program you can still be taking them at application time.

Also, I got my undergrad at MSMC and absolutely loved it! Granted I spent my years at the Chalon campus, the professors are fantastic and both campuses are equally beautiful. I previously attended a cal state school and I prefer the private school vibe. They are not at all pushy on religion, the only difference for an undergrad degree is that they require a few more units in the religious studies, but you can choose what type of classes to take. Because it is a Catholic school around Ash Wed and during Lent more students observe it, but that's really the only difference.

Good luck to everyone!

[Asherah]

I truly hope the program itself is more organized than their admissions office. I had to notify them that someone else's recommendations had been attributed to me (as I could see via webadvisor) and call them repeatedly to have it corrected.

Now, I can't even get them to acknowledge that they received the final recommendation letter and they told me my professor needed to send it again. I'm quite sure the first letter is sitting in a pile of incoming mail over there. Their policy of having documentation sent directly to them by schools/recommenders is rather nerve wracking, every other school I've applied to would have rather had supporting documentation sent in one large, organized package.

/rant

[lilly1980]

Trust me, I feel your pain. I had to go to Chalon campus to request my transcripts from MSMC sent to the admissions office at Doheny. You'd think they could just pull it up on their computer. Then the office wouldn't even print me an unofficial transcript, they made me come back the next day and wait the one day processing period when I knew all they had to do was push print. When I came back, they couldn't find my request and ended up just printing it for me then and there. Just a bit frustrating.

From what I have heard though other nurse friends of mine is that this program is held in very high regards among the nursing profession. It is a well known school for its various nursing programs and the accelerated BSN has the highest NCLEX passing rate (mid/high 90's) amongst their other programs like ADN or traditional BSN. Which was nice to hear at the info session. I also really liked the nursing program director from a first impression at the session.

[Asherah]

nakeliku & lilly1980,

Have you received interview invitations yet from MSMC? I phoned Araba Blankson recently and she stated that they'd be sending them shortly as they were still planning on interviews in late December (which is now two weeks away?).

Heard anything?