UMASS accelerated BSN program

did you ever find out the cost for the second bach. program??

They tell you it's going to be about $20K for the whole thing... I'd recommend you take into consideration the HUGE cost of books, AND the fact that they require to take some classes online... and the cost of online classes is ADDITIONAL. It's probably more like 25K.
Take it from someone who is about halfway done with it.

oh! i had calculated 32,000 for everything...i must have misread something on the website.

how do you like the program? the online classes? the clinicals? do you commute very far to class/clinicals?

thanks!!

I absolutely hated the first summer. It was a gawdawful waste of time! But it does get better. I love, love, love this fall's classes. They're hard, but very rewarding. All of my clinicals have been right around Boston. They have some on the South Shore, I think - too.
They do have scholarships - and you probably would get one. Just keep in mind, they just started this program in Boston - so they're still working out some kinks. If you can put up with a little red tape, it's a very good program to be in at about half the cost (or less!) than others in the area.

Are you talking about Amherst or Boston? I'm going to be applying to Umass Amherst in the spring! I think the clinicals are usually around the Springfield area which is about 30 mins away from Amherst. I was actually looking for information about the overall cost of the program - It's a bit more expensive than regular undergrad at Umass-- so thank you for the post.

I've spoken with a couple of nurses who graduated from the program and they said that you (luckily) spend MUCH of your time in clinicals, which is very grueling, but they said they felt better prepared graduating from the program than some other recent graduates who did other accelerated programs - apparently the other program (they forgot the name) the faculty focused much more on just book learning, not experience. It's always good when you hear positive things from people who actually did the program

I was wondering if anyone else thought it was a little wierd that their application is due in APRIL when you won't even begin the program until January 2010???

Hello!

I am currently in the 2nd Bach Nursing Program at UMass Amherst and will be graduating in May!

In regards to clinicals... a lot of the clinicals were in Springfield... a lot of people also drove to the Berkshires... and to Worcester. Luckily, my classmates were all willing to switch and I think most people were generally happy with their locations. For our Psyc rotation I know that there were some people that drove to Brattleboro, VT but that's not a very long drive from Amherst and some people were actually from Vermont so that worked out nicely.

In regards to cost... I had to move up to Amherst from CT so I ended up spending a ton of money. I think I took out a total of 38,000. I'll have to see if I have the paper with the breakdown of all the costs. Our online class (there was only one... a research class) did not cost extra, it was the same as the other classes.

In regards to the application deadline... I heard that there are going to be two deadlines for those starting in January 2010. The April one is only for those that have all of their requirements done... like completely done... you can't have a final in May and then be done. The other deadline, I think, is September. That's when most of the people apply. For that deadline you can have two classes in progress (which I took advantage of when I applied).

The program is accelerated... it's tough. They tell you that you won't be able to work or have a life really. In reality, you are able to work... I kept it to around 20 hours on the weekends (since I didn't have clinicals on the weekends). The amount of work is overwhelming, but you learn to team up with people and tackle it. However, I can't say that I've had much of a social life in the past year.

Currently, we have over a month off before we start our internships...which I heard a lot of other programs don't have. It's 320 hours and luckily I got a placement back in CT where I'm moving back. It's seems like a lot of people are going to Baystate or heading out to Boston. There was even an option to go to Martha's Vineyard, with free housing, but I don't think anyone in our class took that offer.

If I can be of any further help, let me know!

Has anyone here done the UMass Boston online RN-BSN program?

With regard to the Accelerated BSN program in Boston - to those who applied last year, when were you notified of your status? And was the due date the same as this year (February 1st)?
Thanks!
-G

This is great information! Thanks so much.

Can you please tell me about the age range in your class? I plan to apply and I'm wondering how many "older" second career people are in this program. How do you like living in the Amherst area? I would need to relocate, and I have a 7 yr old daughter and I'd have to find a spot with good schools. Thanks for your help.