UH MEPN 2012

Nursing Students Post Graduate

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Is anyone looking at University of Hawaii's MEPN program for Fall 2012? I'm originally from Honolulu and would LOVE to go back and do this program. Especially since I would pay in-state tuition! :)

I've looked over the lengthy forum about the program from 2009. Is there anyone who went to UH's program that started this Fall? I would be quite interested to hear your stats (GPA, etc.) and to find out how many people applied and how many were accepted/matriculated this year. I will also be taking A&P 2 and Microbiology in the Spring and I am curious if that will hurt me since I am not done with all the prereqs. They say you just have to finish them by July, but I am wondering if that is really true.

Any info previous MEPN people can give me would be great. Thanks!

All programs of this nature have issues every single year. For example we did not have a program director for most of the first semester which caused a myriad of issues, clinicals weren't finalized till the week of, extra meetings and orientations required attendance with little notice, every clinical instructor and clinical situation requires different things which can seem unfair at times (ex: 1 clinical instructor may require papers due 2 days after clinical but the other 3 will give their sections 4 days - the clinical instructors have a lot of leeway) etc. etc.

The biggest issue we are fcaing is that the program did not tell financial aid till well into the first semester that the credit load for the entire year was dropped by 5 credits so we all recieved a significant amount less from financial aid to live on ( at the last minute) for semesters 2 and 3 - this is devastating to many of us since we are in leases and are unable now to pay basic living expenses. The program was unable to find a solution to their mistake.

The point is - stuff like this happens! in every MEPN program, so to get the most out of the program one really does need to be creative, flexible etc.

As far as paying out of state tuition, you will still get money for the same cost of living as residents so that should not affect anything. Living in Hawaii is expensive so it is important to come with some savings or to have someone you can borrow money from in a pinch. Some students are working 1 day a week but they are the exception. It takes about a year to get residency and they do not hold a place for you so if you get in this round I would take the spot because you may not get in next time. As far as when they will let you know I have no idea but it's ussually feb, march.

Hope this helps!

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I am in my second semester of my prelicensure year. And yes getting a job as an RN after year 1 is very difficult as Oahu alone is churning out over 300 new RNs a year and it is a small island. Most new RNs seem to be either working for free to get experience or working as CNAs etc.

As to wether or not I am happy with the program... that is a loaded question. The program does what it's supposed to do - it creates new RNs who will go on to become APRNs. Over-all I am satisfied with the program. We have some instructors, a director, a dean and some support staff who are extremely dedicated to us and to this program. The first semester was more difficult than I thought it would be but we have all found our stride and the students agree that this second semester is much more managable.

Good luck everyone!

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SusieNinja thank you so much for all your details and help :). It's great.

The department said they would be letting us know decisions by the end of March.

ALOHA

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Aloha!

So the interviews are no longer?? Do we know that for sure? And now we have to wait until end of March to find out if we were accepted?! Torture! :)

How does one know that there were only around 200 applicants? Is that less than the years before?

Its so hard playing this waiting game....

I love reading this forum! It lets me know I am not the only one who can barely stand all the suspense!

@ Bluecould

Did you contact the MEPN program and they told you they would let us know by end of March? I want to email them SOOO bad but am trying my hardest not to bother them...

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aloha!

so the interviews are no longer?? do we know that for sure? and now we have to wait until end of march to find out if we were accepted?! torture! :)

how does one know that there were only around 200 applicants? is that less than the years before?

its so hard playing this waiting game....

i love reading this forum! it lets me know i am not the only one who can barely stand all the suspense!

@ bluecould

did you contact the mepn program and they told you they would let us know by end of march? i want to email them sooo bad but am trying my hardest not to bother them...

"they told me if the program director wants to contact us for a specialty interview that they will do so in february and decisions are planned to be made and mailed in march."

that's an earlier post of mine, tarzzanaa. hopefully it will be sooner but who knows?! it's killing me, too!

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@tarzzanna,

yes I called them yesterday and they told me that they would notify us by the end of March.

They said that the director of nursing decided not to hold interviews, but that the head of each specialty might choose to interview us (and each specialty has a different preference as to whether to hold interviews or not). So there is a CHANCE of being interviewed but a lot of us will receive decisions without an interview.

I'm glad we can share on here so we don't all call and ask the same questions :).

ALOHA and GOOD LUCK :)

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Aloha all!

I'm new to this thread and I'm so glad that @bluecloud passed this link along! Thank you all for the info. Quite interesting about the interviews... I see that some of you are FNP applicants. What about everyone else? I applied for the ACNS track.

Good luck everyone!!

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Thanks again SusieNinja for your helpful answers. Thanks also to all of you out there that have called, found out and posted the responses to all of us about the interviews and when we should expect to hear decisions. I love this thread. It is especially helpful to know that if we do not get an interview, this does not automatically mean we will not get in. I have been feeling like if I don't get an interview by beginning of March, my chances for acceptance are out the window. This sounds like we just all have to hold our breaths till the end of March....this seems like an impossibly LOOOOOOOOOONG time!

Cheers and good luck to us all!

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Ironically, February is going to be a looong month.

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Hi all,

I am also new to this thread and have applied to the MEPN program. I applied for the APHN specialty track. I thought I would say hello since I have been reading this thread and am in agreement that February seems as though it is going to be a really long month of waiting.

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Hi j10eG!

So, nobody has heard any new news, huh? I'm getting so anxious! I been taking MICR 140 lab to try and get back into the school mind-set and its making me get more excited about the MEPN program. The suspense is killing me, but I guess there's not much we can do but wait!

...and the saga continues... ;)

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No I have not heard anything.......If you all receive invitations to interview or hear anything at all, let us know :).

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