Georgetown Accelerated BSN Fall 2010

Pokytrokyt · Jul 19, 2010

I'm curious about how males are in the program. Also, do you mind sharing your undergrad GPA and major?

My undergrad majors were in Computer Science and Business Admin. Before this program, I worked in IT management and IT software sales. In my case, I don't think they looked much at my undergrad GPA, as it was too many years ago to be relevant. They did look at my pre-reqs, which I crammed in full-time last summer and fall - and I probably had about a 3.7 GPA in those, with A's in A&P I and II and Microbio. But they don't just look at GPA. They look at what career you've had, if any. They look at any background you have in healthcare (employment or volunteer), and I'm sure they look at your essay, and your in-person interview. Bottom line: there are about 8 applicants or so for every slot in the program. They're really looking (I think) for people with a fire in their belly to become a nurse.

I can only speak for my own cohort of 57 students who started in 1/2010. There are 9 guys in the cohort, including me.

hellomellow · Jul 20, 2010

Pokytrokyt,

Can't thank you enough for your response -- you really went above & beyond!

#1: If accepted, I think I'll definitely be in the boat of students who questions whether or not they're good enough to survive the program. GU comes off as cutthroat, so it's comforting to hear that you felt supported enough to approach semester #2 w/newfound confidence. Did you and your cohort work together on study guides and such? Or, did everyone pretty much work independently?

#2: Agreed; graduating from a school as prestigious as Georgetown definitely carries significance in today's economy.

#3: I read a few posts that described the university professors as "too busy" and "unavailable" for quality time w/students, which was a huge concern for me. Nice to know you feel differently.

#3: Do you hangout with your cohort at all? It sounds like it's a pretty diverse group.

#4: "Learning the material so you don't end up killing someone :-) is more important than just GPA." haha - I definitely try to approach my prereqs with this same mentality!

New question #1: Where do they typically send you for clinicals?

New question #2: My mom's paranoid about the crime in DC. Do you feel safe?

Pokytrokyt · Jul 20, 2010

#1: GU comes off as cutthroat, Did you and your cohort work together on study guides and such? Or, did everyone pretty much work independently?
#2: I read a few posts that described the university professors as "too busy" and "unavailable" for quality time w/students, which was a huge concern for me. Nice to know you feel differently.
#3: Do you hangout with your cohort at all? It sounds like it's a pretty diverse group.
New question #1: Where do they typically send you for clinicals?
New question #2: My mom's paranoid about the crime in DC. Do you feel safe?

#1. I don't know why people would think that GU is any more "cutthroat" than any other nursing program. GU does not curve grades. So if you get an "A", that doesn't mean someone else has to get a "C" to keep a normal bell curve. If you get invited for an interview, you're already nearing acceptance. My numbers may not be 100% accurate, but guesstimate that 450 people apply for the ABSN program, and 100 get invited to interview. Of those, 75 will get offers and about 60 will decide to attend.

Especially the first semester, some students form into study groups. There also tend to be a few group projects. Some professors issue study guides for their exams, others don't. Like traditional undergrads, you will be taking a few non-nursing electives (I had to take a Religion and an English class).

#2. Since you're not a first-time undergrad in the ABSN program, you're expected to be a self-starter. If you want to study with others, go ask them. If you want extra help from your instructors, you have to make an appointment to see them during office hours. This is hard if you went to a small liberal arts school where the teachers do a lot of hand-holding. Nurses learn to be independent thinkers and manage their own patients care. No school is perfect. When you graduate, you'll look back on the experience with a measure of love/hate. But look at the stats: the GU ABSN program has a 100% first-time pass rate on the NCLEX RN licensing exam. They must be doing something right.

#3. Younger/single cohort members hang out together A LOT. You'll tend to become very close to the people you take your clinicals with. A number of ABSN students end up sharing an apartment.

New question #1: First semester, all WHC scholars take their Health Assessment clinical at WHC. Everyone else takes that clinical at Georgetown Univ Hospital. Starting in 2nd semester, there are a lot more clinical hospital choices for non-WHC scholars. There are two clinicals per semester in semesters 2/3/4. WHC scholars continue to take most of their clinicals at WHC - except peds, and mental health (and maybe public health).

New question #2: Your mom is right - parts of DC are scary-ville. Don't live in those neighborhoods and you'll be fine. Georgetown is a fairly safe/high income area of the city. Try to either live within walking distance of the campus, or near a Metro station. GU has shuttle buses that run every 15 minutes from both Dupont Circle and Rosslyn metro stations to the GU campus. You can also live in VA or MD if you're near a metro station. You'll spend more days commuting to campus than to clinicals, so focus on your home-to-school commute.

hellomellow · Jul 21, 2010

#1: Thanks for the stats (even though seeing the numbers made my stomach flip). Do you know how many applicants were chosen for the WHC scholarships? With all you seem to know about nursing and such, the competition must've been fierce!

#2: Are students required to take free electives? And do you know anyone who took patho. before entering? If accepted, I was hoping to take it beforehand (on-line).

#3: Good advice. I guess I've just heard a lot of talk about Georgetown not providing enough of a "cushion" for its students. I totally get that nurses need to be self-motivated, independent, and etc., but because nursing is still so foreign to me, those type of reviews are somewhat disconcerting. I want to be at a school that provides a strong sense of support and community, not one that leaves its students out to dry. (Although from what you've expressed, the latter doesn't seem to be the case at GU.)

#4: Great to hear the clinicals are so close to the university. I'm from the West Coast, and very unfamiliar with DC; any thoughts on where would be an affordable and safe place to live? Sheesh, I love how I'm talking as if I've already been accepted or something! :rolleyes:

Another question: Does the university help its ABSN students find jobs? I've heard mixed things. I know that the WHC scholars are automatically hooked-up with positions at WHC, post-graduation?

Pokytrokyt · Jul 21, 2010

#1 Ask your WHC counselors about that when you're here for interview. It changes as their needs change, semester by semester.

#2 Re: electives. The ABSN pre-reqs are 11 classes, of which you have to complete at least 7 before admission. Any pre-reqs you don't finish before admission, you have to take while in the program. If you finish all 11 pre-reqs before admission, you get to take 4 electives in anything you can fit into your schedule. If you've only finished 7 (like me), you have to finish the rest after admission.

Finding jobs: that's a bit too complicated to answer here, since there are a lot of factors involved. At a minimum, the school has a huge job hiring fair where potential employers come to find new hires, about 6 months before graduation. You counselors also give advice, for those folks not going to WHC. Other stuff may happen based on the recovering job market. Good news: today GU was holding their welcome aboard orientation for the latest batch of new nurses they've hired for GU Hospital. There are 80 new nurses starting at GU today, and 79 are brand new grads from various schools, including GU grads. New hires are going to many different departments.

CAL05699 · Jul 24, 2010

Pupule Malika, I graduated from the program recently. Let me add some answers to your questions.

At least when I was there, students were required to take Patho at Georgetown. If you took it prior to entering, you had to take it over. That is because it is such an important course, they want to be sure you take it with them. Taking it before hand is not a terrible idea though if you have the time -- you'll be able to get through it easier. It is a difficult course.

As to the job assistance for non-WHC scholars, there is none. There is no "job fair." I am not sure what the other poster was referring to. There is a campus-wide placement center, but not a single hospital came on campus to interview students. Because jobs were so easy to find prior to the last few years, the school never needed to do anything with respect to job search and has no program in place, so you are really left on your own. Professors will help out if they have a background at that hospital, but its up to you to ask for help.

As far as the 79 new nurses hired by Georgetown Hospital, not a single one is from my cohort. Their hiring process started in December 2009 and no one told us about it. I applied there in February 2010 and was told they had already hired their entire summer 2010 class. That is a good example of where the school failed its students with respect to job assistance. Had they alerted us to the hiring dates, we could have applied. Had they alerted us to the general fact that Georgetown Hospital (and other hospitals) start their process so early, we could have been on the lookout for the announcement.

Georgetown Hospital and University are only losely affiliated. The University sold the Hospital years ago, and the two entities don't necessarily like each other. Most non-WHC scholars in my cohort did not have any clinicals there; I had one.

I hope this information helps.

hellomellow · Jul 25, 2010

Hi New DC RN,

Thanks for taking the time to provide more insight into GU's ABSN program. I must admit, I'm really disappointed to hear there was little to no job placement help for non-WHC scholars. And I was surprised to read that the university didn't even notify ABSN students of when the hiring process for Georgetown Hospital began. From the posts I've read thus far, it sounds like each GU ABSN grad has his own unique take on the program (which is to be expected, I guess). I've read reviews where grads complain that it was the worst year of their life, because the university did not provide enough resources and support, but I've also seen posts where WHC scholars and students claim the opposite. I'm not quite sure what to make of the program anymore; these mixed reviews have me stumped.

A few questions for you:

1. What did you think of the faculty? Were they supportive/available?

2. What was your cohort like?

3. How many of clinicals are ABSN students required to do?

4. Have you found a job yet?

5. Would you do the program over again? Or, knowing what you do now, would you have applied/enrolled somewhere else?

I'm torn between my alma mater (which is ranked lower than GU, but is still a top 50 nursing school) and Georgetown. Of course, I have to get in first (haha), but it would be nice to know which school is a better fit for me.

Pokytrokyt · Jul 25, 2010

As to the job assistance for non-WHC scholars, there is none. There is no "job fair." I am not sure what the other poster was referring to. There is a campus-wide placement center, but not a single hospital came on campus to interview students. Because jobs were so easy to find prior to the last few years, the school never needed to do anything with respect to job search and has no program in place, so you are really left on your own. Professors will help out if they have a background at that hospital, but its up to you to ask for help.
As far as the 79 new nurses hired by Georgetown Hospital, not a single one is from my cohort. Their hiring process started in December 2009 and no one told us about it. I applied there in February 2010 and was told they had already hired their entire summer 2010 class. That is a good example of where the school failed its students with respect to job assistance. Had they alerted us to the hiring dates, we could have applied. Had they alerted us to the general fact that Georgetown Hospital (and other hospitals) start their process so early, we could have been on the lookout for the announcement.

During my first semester, I took a class called Core Concepts of Professional Nursing. One of the topics in that class was about the process of applying and interviewing for our first RN jobs. That's where we learned about the career days held by major hospitals/employers. It's a general topic, since a lot of ABSN students are not from DC and need to look on their own for jobs elsewhere once they finish at GU.

For students who are seeking to work in the metro DC area after graduation, there will be a Health Care Career Fair sponsored on 12/1/2010 by NHS for healthcare students graduating next Spring. Check out:

Georgetown University Nursing Health Studies

The fee mentioned for attendance is paid by the potential employers who attend the career fair, not the students - for us it's free.

GUH held a New Grad Open House in February this year for new summer grads. You had to apply on their website early to get one of the RSVP-only invitations.

http://www.georgetownuniversityhospital.org/documents/Nursing/open%20house.pdf

WHC does the same sort of thing for non-WHC scholars, called Dream Day.

Dream Day - Washington Hospital Center - Washington, DC 20010 - MedStar Health

GUH is not owned by GU (it's part of Medstar), so they're under no obligation to hire any new GU nursing grads. But hiring conditions for your cohort - two years from now - will likely be entirely different than what's happening today. Better, worse - who knows?

Yesterday one of my instructors told me the year she graduated back in the 70's was so bad, she had to work for a year as a hospital tech, despite her RN. The next year, she got a job in that hospital's ICU - because she had a year of seniority.

CAL05699 · Jul 25, 2010

A few questions for you:
1. What did you think of the faculty? Were they supportive/available?
2. What was your cohort like?
3. How many of clinicals are ABSN students required to do?
4. Have you found a job yet?
5. Would you do the program over again? Or, knowing what you do now, would you have applied/enrolled somewhere else?
I'm torn between my alma mater (which is ranked lower than GU, but is still a top 50 nursing school) and Georgetown. Of course, I have to get in first (haha), but it would be nice to know which school is a better fit for me.

Pupule Malika, I thought the faculty was really great, most are very dedicated teachers. My cohort was small (30) and had really great people. In my day you were required to do clinicals in (1) introduction to nursing skills, (2) peds, (3) adult med/surg, (4) mother baby, (5) mental health, (6) public health, (7) complex nursing, and (8) your practicum. I am not sure if any of that changed. Yes I found a job. I think that half the non-WHC scholars have found jobs at this point.

The program is extremely rigorous, and lots of people wind up with a love/hate relationship with the school by the end. I think that is probably the cause of the variety of responses you've gotten to your questions. If I was going to do it over, I would probably go to either Johns Hopkins or a local public university. If I am going to spend $80,000, I'd rather spend it in a truly elite nursing school with top facilities. Otherwise I'd just spend $10,000 on a local school. That said, the program certainly prepares you well to be a nurse.

The various job-related programs that the current student posted about were non-existent for prior classes. Hopefully the school is becoming more proactive and realizing that it has a responsibility for job assistance.