Duke University ABSN Fall 2013

U.S.A. North Carolina

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Hey everyone! I submitted my application to Duke University's ABSN program for fall 2013 a few weeks ago, so I wanted to get some conversation started! Is anyone else applying?!

Anyone know if the Facebook group is only the people who are for sure attending or if you could join it and then decline later? Just trying to get a sense of the class size as of this week. :)

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I would respectfully disagree with dieselpuma. I am graduating next month (!) from the Duke ABSN program and I feel like it's been worth every penny. The professors are top-notch, the research being done is incredible, and the new building is going to be awesome. I've heard from people who graduated in December and last May that they feel more prepared and ready to hit the ground running at their first job as compared to their peers. I and many of my classmates already have jobs.

Just my two cents.

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I am a current Duke student, and overall I think the program is great. HOWEVER....all the current students got an email today from the dean, stating that the tuition reimbursement program for ABSN grads at Duke Hospital has been cancelled effective July 1st.

Meaning, the people currently in the program (and your cohort) will NOT be eligible for those funds. If you were factoring that $25K + into your admission decisions, you may want to reconsider. They stated that some new grads working in "select areas" of the hospital may be eligible for a different program reimbursing $5K/year for up to two years...otherwise, nada.

Hopefully someone in admissions will have the integrity to tell you this before you enroll, since they hype the reimbursement so much during Duke Days. I notice they changed the information on the web site, but you might not be checking the DUSON web site at this point in the process. So, letting you know just in case.

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ooops...meant to say the Loan Repayment program for ABSN grads (not tuition reimbursement)...you knew what I meant...

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Someone in the FB group noticed the change on the website today and posted it...of course everybody was upset and posting like crazy. A Duke Admissions person) did respond to it all and confirm it. He also mentioned the possible 10k reimbursement which is...a drop in the bucket for a school like this. So it has been announced and it is disappointing and now I don't know what to do!

Staff note*****please do not post names of school personnel as per site ToS***** thank yoi

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Thanks for the update. I didn't apply for the fall, but attended the info. session in March for Spring admissions and they even talked about the tuition reimbursement at that.

I am a current Duke student, and overall I think the program is great. HOWEVER....all the current students got an email today from the dean, stating that the tuition reimbursement program for ABSN grads at Duke Hospital has been cancelled effective July 1st.

Meaning, the people currently in the program (and your cohort) will NOT be eligible for those funds. If you were factoring that $25K + into your admission decisions, you may want to reconsider. They stated that some new grads working in "select areas" of the hospital may be eligible for a different program reimbursing $5K/year for up to two years...otherwise, nada.

Hopefully someone in admissions will have the integrity to tell you this before you enroll, since they hype the reimbursement so much during Duke Days. I notice they changed the information on the web site, but you might not be checking the DUSON web site at this point in the process. So, letting you know just in case.

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Definitely disappointing, especially for those of us halfway through the program with no realistic option to change schools. They really, really hyped the tuition reimbursement thing - it was brought up repeatedly by admissions staff, students on the Duke Days panel, during the tour, etc. And budgets in huge hospitals don't change from one day to the next; I imagine they knew this was coming for some time.

The letter they sent out didn't help matters, either - written exactly in the style of a corporate memo announcing "redundancies" or something. Just awful.

Back on a favorite soapbox: Even though I think Duke has a good program, I would never recommend that anyone go deeply into debt for a nursing degree....if you stay in NC, you're going to start at a very low hourly pay compared to other regions ($20ish plus differentials). It doesn't make sense to go $90K into debt for a $40-$50K/year job. The folks who graduate from Durham Tech ($69/credit), NCCU (maybe $150/credit in-state) and from Duke ($1,111/credit) all receive the same pay as RN's in area hospitals. Some places do give a slightly better hourly rate for BSN's - but we're talking maybe a buck. Many of the staff nurses who work as "CIA's" at Duke Hospital graduated from NCCU or other much less expensive programs, and they are supervising Duke students in clinicals.

You might want to buy a house or start a family before long...and you won't want to be stuck for years with loans as expensive as a house payment! And finally, I guess I'm a cynic, but it's a good reminder to have a little skepticism about information you get from recruiters or admissions staff (at Duke or anywhere).

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Hi everyone- not to beat a dead horse, but I'm also a current 2nd semester ABSN student (hi laflaca!), and I basically agree with everything she has said. When I decided to come to Duke, I definitely wasn't banking on getting tuition reimbursement... even though they talked about it a lot, they always said it wasn't guaranteed. Everyone in our cohort is pretty upset though because most of the people who just graduated in December and got jobs at Duke are getting the tuition reimbursement, so I think we all just thought it would still be an option for us. I feel like it's weird timing to announce this, but maybe not...

Bottom line, I also don't recommend doing any nursing program anywhere if you're going to be 100k in debt. I have no idea how you pay that off on a nurse's salary. Duke's program is great and we're all being trained to be amazing nurses, but nothing is worth that kind of financial hardship (IMO). If you have the funds (or the majority of the funds), go for it! Also keep in mind (and I have posted this before)- when the tuition reimbursement was an option, you got about 9k a year back and were maybe making 30k a year. It wasn't a ridiculously good deal if you crunched the numbers.

Also keep in mind when reading these boards that there are Bitter Betsys out there, and not everyone has had a great experience at Duke... but there are people like that everywhere. Not every class is going to be well organized or stress-free, not every professor is going to be on the ball, and not every test is going to go in your favor... but that's school for you! Expecting Duke (or any program) to be perfect no matter how much $$ you're paying isn't realistic. Having attended public schools all my life, I can absolutely say that you get things at Duke that you will never find anywhere else. To me, it has been more than worth it. :)

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Hi Prospective Fall 2013 cohort!

I'm a member of the Spring 2013 cohort and wanted to give my two cents.

No one can deny that the financial responsibility is great, but besides affordability, you have to make the decision based on what type of learning environment is best for you. If you need a non-competitive environment where the faculty is genuinely invested in your success, then Duke is for you. Our cohort is supportive of one another, and if you put in effort on your end, the faculty will do everything they can to help you succeed. Upon graduation, my loans will total around $25k and I would pay it again in a heartbeat. I love the Duke School of Nursing. It's not perfect, by any means, but no school you could attend will be perfect. Above all, Duke has helped me realize that nursing is truly my passion, and they are giving me the tools I'll need to be an amazing nurse.

If anyone has any specific questions, please feel free to PM me. I will answer as best I can.

Good luck with your decisions, and congratulations!

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Has anyone heard about waitlist status? When do you think we will hear about open spots in the cohort?

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Vandydani- Today (April 9) is the last day for first round to accept their spots. I imagine you should be hearing something soon! :)

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Thank you! I got mixed up and thought it was yesterday. :)

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