UVM MEPN 2010 acceptance?

[VTskiier]

I applied to the Masters Entry in Nursing Program at UVM in October of 2009. I have yet to hear anything from UVM. I have called both their graduate admissions office and their Department of Nursing and gotten a different answer each time. First I was told we would hear back early January (deadline was December 1st). Then I was told end of January. Then I was told a phone call would be received end of January/early February. The latest I've been told is that letters are sent out at the end of February.

I'm at my wits end with this program as I have applied to others and been accepted. Unfortunately UVM is my first choice, and I have no idea if I even have a chance. I would like to start filling out financial aide information for other programs, but would really like to hear from UVM first.

Any insight? Has anyone applied and already heard from UVM?

[lrc13]

I also went to UVM undergraduate and love Burlington. I am currently a clinical research coordinator at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston (and I just got into BC so that is helping take the edge off waiting for UVM). I was interviewed by phone for the psych track at UVM but still not letter, we should know soon this is posted on the UVM website:

*MEPN 2010 Applicants*

*Thank you all for your interest in the Master's Entry Program into Nursing at the University of Vermont. We have completed the initial review of all applicants, completed interviews with the top candidates, and have made recommendations to the Graduate College about Acceptance offers. It will take a few days for them to process the recommendations and we expect letters will be mailed out the week of February 8th. Students who receive an acceptance letter will have two weeks to respond and confirm their interest. At that point we will begin contacting students from the Wait List until we fill all available spots. We had so many qualified applicants we regret that we cannot offer many more of you a seat in the class this year. If you have questions once you receive your letter, please contact the Office of Student Services at: [phone] and they will assist you in getting your questions answered.*

[eazye]

thanks so much for posting that, lrc13! during the interview they mentioned they would "keep the website updated" but i wasn't quite sure what they meant by that, and hadn't seen anything new posted recently...

i applied to the fnp track. i have a ba in community studies - kind of a sociology/social work mix - and worked in a residential treatment program for women with addiction/mental health issues and their children. i did psychosocial and medical assessments there, but have no health care experience beyond that.

i also applied to yale and ucsf - i was rejected by ucsf, and interviewed at yale but no decision received yet. i got 1360 on my gre. my gpa was good but most of my grades are in the form of narrative evaluations - don't know how the grad schools quantify those.

looking forward to receiving The Letter!

[vtfnp]

Thank you Irc13 for posting the update. That has changed my mental balance in that I can now know to expect letters soon and not a month from now.

Also, thanks to eazye for posting your background and GRE scores. I am always interested in where others have come from and what they bring from past experience. You have a really interesting and, in my opinion, competitive work/school resume.

Again, I wish everyone well in this journey.

I will post when I get my letter in order to give a heads-up to those who may still be waiting.

[eazye]

hi csulliva,

thanks so much for offering to share info about the program! i do have some questions -

during the interview they said the first clinical placement is generally a nursing home or rehab center. what was your clinical experience like the first semester?

it sounds like clinical placements later in the program can be a bit tricky to find, and/or may be far away. have you heard from students farther along regarding their placements? how are sites selected? does the program staff provide useful assistance in finding these placements?

the financial aid office told me there is no aid available to grad students, other than loans. does this sound right based on your experience?

what do students seem to like best about the program? what do you hear the most complaints about?

two questions i've asked the program but haven't gotten a reply on - don't know that you'll have this info: how many clinical hours are completed in the mepn year? what is the clinical faculty to student ratio?

i know you're super busy, and really appreciate any time you can take to answer these questions.

thank you!

[csulliva]

No problem, I hope you guys find out admissions decisions soon!

My first semester clinicals were in inpatient rehab, evening shift. There are 14 in our class so 7 of us were in rehab and 7 were at a nursing home during day shift. I really liked rehab, the facility was really well run and most of the nursing staff were awesome teachers. My classmates at the nursing home had completely different experiences. I think both have their advantages and disadvantages, but if I had to choose a site again, I would definitely choose rehab over the nursing home (I think most of our class would agree on this choice).

For the pre-licensure year (first year) all of the clinical placements are taken care of, and most are in Burlington at Fletcher Allen, except for possibly the community health rotation. We just had a meeting yesterday going over what the next 2.5 years hold for us, and as far as I can tell, it is up to you if you want to pursue a clinical rotation somewhere outside of the area. The department of nursing needs to set it up for you for insurance reasons and some locations may not work out, but I don't think it is a problem finding clinical placements for the graduate level clinicals because you work directly with an APRN preceptor, not under a clinical faculty member.

There are not really any grants or TA/RA positions available the first year of the program but they generally will allow you to take enough federal loans to live on for the year. You can check the VSAC website for more info about possible scholarships etc. There may be more opportunity for aid after the first year though once you are actually enrolled in the APRN portion of the program. This reminds me I need to fill out my FAFSA and look into this all for next year, thanks!

What I like best about the program: for the most part the nursing faculty at UVM have been really great. I also love that we get so much clinical time right from the start.

Things that could use improvement: there seemed to be a general lack of organization about what we needed from the start. Little things like not having a designated clinical uniform to order, etc. Hopefully they have these things worked out a little bit more for next year's class. We ended up choosing maroon scrubs.

Clinical hours in the first year... lets see, you get two 8 hour shifts per week the first semester starting at the end of September going until early December, plus we had 2 hours of post conference each week. Also you spend the first 5 weeks or so in the lab learning what to do before you get to your clinical site. Then you do 80 hours on a med-surg floor during January break. Two 8 hour shifts a week for the spring semester, and this summer we still have to complete psych, peds and community health which I think are three 8 hour shifts per week for about one month each.

Clinical faculty to student ratio for our class was 1:7 because there are 14 of us. I think they may take 16 next year so it may be 1:8 for next year.

Hope that was helpful! Let me know if you have any more questions.

[eazye]

wow! thank you SO much for taking the time to answer my questions! this info is really helpful. after work tonight i'll read through it more carefully, and may have some other questions. :)

until now all i've really had to go on is my experience trying to communicate with the school - which, other than the interview, has been less than stellar. (i haven't received one response to the several emails and phone messages i've left, over the past few months.) the school should give you a bonus if any of us end up attending - you're a great spokesperson!

[vtfnp]

Yes, thank you csulliva ! Great information.

I called the graduate college today and asked if the decision letters had been mailed out. I was told "I believe they were mailed out today". So, there you have it. Be on the look-out for "The Letter".

[vtfnp]

The letters have gone out. I got my acceptance letter in the mail today.

I hope good news awaits everyone...

[hilife808]

Only 14 were accepted? Wow what a small cohort. Do you guys have any hospital experience?

[JamieS514]

Has anyone else received a letter? I live in Burlington and was surprised to hear that people have gotten letters... being so close to UVM, I thought I would be one of the first to hear! I looked on the MEPN website and they have changed their post, which now says the letters will be mailed out the week of the 16th, not the 8th! Any thoughts?

[vtfnp]

JamieS514, that is very strange. My letter was dated 2/10 and I received it on 2/12. My only thought is that they had so many applicants that they did not get all the letters out at once.

Did you get an interview?

[JamieS514]

I did not get an interview, which makes me think that maybe they sent out acceptance letters before wait list and rejection letters. But the message on the website said they wouldn't even be mailed out until next week... I wonder how you got yours so early! Their whole process has been a bit confusing....