Drexel University-ACE Program Fall '09

Hi everyone,

I'll be graduating next year and would love to apply for Drexel ACE program. Can anyone please tell me when is the best time to apply? I only have to take Micro this summer and will be completed all the pre-reqs but I need to do really well in the fall semester in hope of bringing up the GPA to the 3.0 mark. Will it be too late to apply after the fall semester (around December)? Thanks in advance!

For the following fall or for the spring? Probably too late to apply for the spring, but not too late for the fall. It's past the priority application deadline, but I keep seeing people on the boards here apply late and get accepted, so it seems like it is on a somewhat rolling basis.

Hello All!
I am in my 3rd Quarter of the ACE program now. Other than getting all the things they require of you done here are a few suggestions from me:
1) Review your A&P as much as humanly possible. They do not review and you need to know whats what. If you went to CCP, there are 2 profs who's teaching at CCP will kill you in this program...if you had them you know this already so REVIEW!
2) Go on to the Drexel Ace page on FB- you will get REAL answers to your questions from actual students dealing with the insanity that is this program. Don't get me wrong it IS 100% do-able..just listen to what we/they have to say.
3) Take a nice, relaxing vacation before you start...if you can give yourself a few wks of from work or school to clear your head and spend time with loved ones.
This is FAST FAST FAST and yes its hard, but you can do it. Like I said if you want more than one perspective on it check out the FB page.

GOod Luck

Thanks so much! I'm trying to apply for fall. I still have one more year to go for my current BA. I really want to apply as early as possible but my GPA isn't that impressive right now. Do they really just look into the cumulative GPA in the last 60 credits? In that case my GPA would be much higher (a 3.4). Do you think I'll stand a chance in getting accepted to their ACE program?

I think prerequisites and last 60 credits are weighed more heavily than overall GPA. My undergraduate GPA was a 2.795, and I got As in all of the prerequisites I took after my degree by the time I applied (both A&Ps, Chem, Dev Psych, Sociology, Nutrition; I had the English and Ethics requirements completed with my previous degree so applied with 9 courses complete). I think that brought my overall cumulative GPA up to a 3.18, but my undergraduate transcript still looked pretty bad.

If you're going to do really well in the fall and will be able to get your final transcripts in soon, it might be worth the gamble to wait to apply until after your fall semester- or at least apply but wait on sending transcripts? I highly recommend going to a Q&A session on the ACE program- it was really helpful in answering a lot of those questions.

There's always spring semester too. There were 84 of us that started in March. We're down a few people already due to various issues. I think they take around 120 to 130 people in the fall classes.

UMDNJ-School of Nursing has a campus across the river in Stratford NJ. It is a 15-month, full time Accelerated BSN with no entrance or exit testing, only prerequisite requirements. Housing is cheaper than in Philadelphia. The program has a 99% pass rate on the NCLEX. Tuition and other costs are very competitive.

My undergrad did not assess GPA but my graduation thesis was reviewed with highest honors. I earned a masters with a B+ average. My pre-rec classes had a cumulative GPA of about 3.4. Hope this helps in your decision. My classmates here at the Drexel ACE BSN are real go-getters!!!!!!

Hi Juniataeml06,
If you don't mind, I have a few questions..

Where were most of your clinicals? (the area)

Also, how was the social aspect of stiles hall? Is there an orientation for students to meet? The main reason I would choose to live in Stiles vs. an off-campus apartment is being able to be in a community. Do you think that Stiles provides more of that than an off campus apartment, for example?

Thank you!
Fayemotui

Fayemotui,

I'm just about ready to finish my 1st quarter. I've only had one clinical site so far which was Lankenau Hospital, on the outskirts of Philly (actually in Wynnewood, PA). I drove but others road the train with some walking involved. Next quarter, I will be in the 3 different hospitals three times a week and only have class mondays and tuesdays. I haven't found out where I'll be going for mental health, adult I, and women's health yet though.

I moved into Stiles Hall at the end of march two days before the spring semester started. There are only 3 or 4 of us from the ACE spring start that live in Stiles. There are however a lot of other ACE'ers that live in Stiles that are farther along in the program. They didn't have any orientations associated with Stiles Hall in the spring but maybe they might in the Fall when most people move in. It is a mix of ACE students, Rad Tech students, other graduate students, and students trying to get into Drexel med school. It's a very quiet building. No parties or much socializing. There's definitely an "academic" err to the building if you want to call it that. Everyone is really serious especially the kids trying to get into medical school. It's like a hotel. You never really see a lot of people walking around. There is a social lounge room on the first floor that a lot of people use.

If you're around the campus, you can arrange for a tour of the building if you're considering it. It's just so convenient for class compared to living anywhere else, especially since it's only for 11 months.