any advice for choosing a grad scholl?!

[NPs4health]

Could some current grad students tell me about your graduate school programs?(Pros and cons) And if you have to find your own clinical sites at your school and if the skills/assessment courses are really large and informal/online ect...

Reading course descriptions and curriculums online is not helping at all in deciding which schools are good. I don't really even know what to consider when choosing a nursing grad school, I just know I want to be an adult NP.

Any advice?

[Spacklehead, MSN, NP]

Pros:

I really like my school because all of the courses are on-campus and for me, that was an important factor in my decision of where to go. That may be a con for others, but I get more out of learning by being able to hear others' experiences and to ask questions of my professor with an on-the-spot reply.

I also like the fact that they set up all of our clinical experiences but give us the option to find one on our own if it would be an easier commute.

Our classes are kept small which is nice because I feel like I have a close bond with the other students in my classes.

Our courses are taught by NPs who also currently practice, so it is nice to receive up-to-date, real world information from them.

The professors make themselves very available if you have questions, problems or need assistance.

Cons:

My school currently does not offer any summer courses so it does take longer to complete a degree there when compared to other schools in the area.

Some of the clinical sites can be far away (about 1 1/2 to 2 hour drive).

Regarding the assessment course, ours included all of the NP students (Adult and Family) as well as the clinical nurse leader students, so we probably had close to 20 in our class. We had class/lab combined so we would have a lecture for the first hour or so and then practice our skills the rest of the time on eachother. We also had practicing NPs come to our labs who would walk around to each group to make sure we were performing the skills correctly. They were a HUGE asset to the course because it was much easier to have someone demonstrate the proper way to perform skills on such an intimate level. Our school also hires human models to come to the assessment course when it is male/female genital exam day. They were very good at explaining what to do and look for while you were performing the exams on them.

I probably wouldn't be very happy with a school that had its assessment course on-line - unless they did lecture online with on-campus lab experiences weekly; but that's just my opinion.

Good luck! I hope you find a school that you will enjoy! :)