George Mason BSN Accelerated Program- Fall 2014

kokoC-B · Apr 29, 2014

HI! I'm coming to GMU Accelerated BSN Fall '14 too! I'm very excited, but it feels weird to be waiting for more information. I'm finishing a prereq at my back up school (Shepherd Univ) and they wanted everything done right away; finger prints and several curriculum tests. We're just waiting right? Nothing going on (other than my CPR, and immunization appointment) for GMU?

cflnr · Apr 30, 2014

Yay! Nice to "meet" you! My name is Kate. As far as I know we are just waiting. We are supposed to sign up for a general university orientation, and there is one in May, but I wanted to wait until they announced more dates. You have some kind of CPR and immunization appointment for GMU? I don't have an appointment for those.

kokoC-B · Apr 30, 2014

ha ha! I'm a Katie and at Shepherd there were about 10 of us! By appointments I mean, I got my CPR (AHA, Basic life support) certification. Margaret Ream said we were responsible for taking care of that and GMU didn't hold any specific training. I did mine at Jefferson Medical Center in WV. If anyone is really stuck and wants to travel that far I think I still have the contact information of the ladies who did it.

And by immunizations I mean I have an appointment with my Dr to get those up to date. Margaret also said that "there is no form" that needs to be filled out, we just need to have proof its done. I scheduled my appointment in late July around vacation and hopefully having more confirmation about what the school requires.

Sue033 · May 6, 2014

Hey, my name is Sue. Nice to meet you guys! I just recently got admitted, I'm excited and scared haha. Also, I was wondering if anyone else was interested in rooming with me, trying to find a place in fairfax. Let me knoww!

axp7004 · May 6, 2014

Congrats on getting accepted everyone! Our cohort is just finishing our second semester and you guys are in for a ride. Be prepared to put your lives on hold for a year and don't complain when you can't do anything with friends and family anymore, everyone is in the same boat. Also, commuting from PW to Fairfax is horrible, especially when you have to do it during the same day. I might sound a little negative on the whole experience but it's a great program overall and was definitely worth all the hard work. Feel free to ask me any questions!

deej394, BSN, MSN, RN · May 7, 2014

Hi axp7004! I have so many questions for you, but I'll try to keep it minimal. Where are the majority of your classes held, how much do you use the books, and how far away are clinicals for the majority of people?

Thanks for your help and good luck. You're almost there!

axp7004 · May 8, 2014

Hey deej394!

During fall, all of our classes (except clinicals) were at Fairfax. This semester, all of our classes (except for lab and clinicals) were in Prince William.

Books are really on a class to class basis. Depending on who's teaching and the format of the exams, you could end up not using it at all. A good idea is to pair up with someone, preferably someone who lives close to you, and split the cost of the books. I know a few people did that and it saved them quite a lot.

Distance-wise, it's all over the place. I was commuting to DC from Alexandria for most of this semester so it was about 45 mins to an hour one way. The thing is, it's tough for any school to get clinical placements and trying to pair up every student with the best locations is impossible. Just be prepared to wake up at 5:00 am some days to make it to clinical by 6:30.

dcpaskie · May 8, 2014

Hi all!

I know this is specifically a thread for people starting GMU this fall... I am putting in my packet to apply for next fall and was wondering of any of you could share your packet profile (GPA, etc) so I can get an idea of how competitive it is, and whether I have a chance or not. Thanks in advance for your help and maybe I'll see you next year as you are getting ready to finish up! :)

deej394, BSN, MSN, RN · May 8, 2014

Thanks for the info! It's good to know about PW vs. Fairfax. I live a kind of equal distance between the two campuses and I was thinking about moving, but knowing this I don't think I will. So glad the metro will be done in Reston this summer if I do end up commuting to DC for clinicals!

I guess I'll avoid buying any books at the beginning since I tend to hardly open them when I do buy them :)

Another question for you-

I've heard that the program is very disorganized and we should expect to receive information at the last minute that might cause us to change schedules and drop everything. Is this true?

deej394, BSN, MSN, RN · May 8, 2014

Thanks for the info! It's good to know about PW vs. Fairfax. I live a kind of equal distance between the two campuses and I was thinking about moving, but knowing this I don't think I will. So glad the metro will be done in Reston this summer if I do end up commuting to DC for clinicals!

I guess I'll avoid buying any books at the beginning since I tend to hardly open them when I do buy them :)

Another question for you-

I've heard that the program is very disorganized and we should expect to receive information at the last minute that might cause us to change schedules and drop everything. Is this true?

deej394, BSN, MSN, RN · May 8, 2014

sorry to post that twice. oops!

axp7004 · May 10, 2014

I would say that's not entirely true. You'll get your clinical placements pretty last minute usually, so it's tough to schedule things like childcare (if you have kids) in that kind of situation. But when you're actually in the semester, the only thing that really changes are things like exam dates, assignments, quizzes, etc and that's only on occasion. So basically it's a little hectic to start but not so bad once everything is set in place. Just stay flexible and you'll be fine.