Accepted Columbia University's ETP student-meet-n-greet

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Hi there,

Thought I would start a Columbia thread for all of us who were eagerly waiting for that acceptance letter in the mail last week. Guess you can call this the meet-n-greet and maybe wear like a sticker with our screen names so we can recognize each other during the Visiting Day (ok, might look a bit goofy) but hey, what a way to start off our nursing careers together at Columbia.

I was estactic when i opened that letter, seemed like a thin envelope and was prepared for the worst, and then read the first line! I can't wait and indeed it was a life changing letter for both me and my wife, who also got accepted!! I also got into my first choice of specialty, Nurse Anesthesia, and getting into that program without ICU experience (besides being a nursing assistant in the ER and neurosurg unit as an undergrad) is just simply overwhelming. It took the whole weekend to sink in, and now, I'm psyched! I look forward to meeting all of you and enduring the next 12 months of craziness starting in June together.

See you on Visiting Day!! :balloons:

Best,

Charlie

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Hello! My name is Gretchen and I also just got accepted to Columbia's ETP program! Actually, my husband is the one who started this post and we're both going to the school. I found out last Friday that I got accepted into the program and in my first choice specialty of Women's Health. Now I'm also considering a dual degree in both Women's Health NP and Nurse Midwifery (CNM). I'm so excited about these programs! :roll I would love to find out who else is joining us in classes. Congratulations to everyone who is accepted to the school!

I refuse to wear a sticker on visiting day with my screen name, but it would be really cool to meet people who are going down the same road as me. So maybe you could convince me to wear one.. hehe!

Congrats again to everyone who will be joining me in classes and I can't wait to meet you!

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wow, a husband and wife team! :blushkiss that's great!

i am accepted to the program, and there are many others...we've been posting and meeting eachother in the "waiting on a letter from columbia or yale" thread!

i'm sure they will come join ya over here too!

congratulations to the both of you!!

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Hi Lovingpecola! I'd read most of your posts in the other forums while you were waiting to hear back from schools. Congratulations on being accepted!! Will you be going to the open house on March 7th? That's also my birthday, so what a day to celebrate eh? :biggringi I'm glad that you posted! Do you know which field of study you'll be doing? I'm sure there are lots of people accepted, but I hadn't seen many posting on this website. Then again, I haven't been looking too hard! Hopefully this thread will catch some attention so we can meet our fellow students, share thoughts about the school, and meet others in our programs. Congratulations again on being accepted to your program! Hopefully we'll actually see you on Tuesday the 7th!

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hello future classmates and congratulations!! :yelclap:

i too was completely shocked while reading my letter on saturday!! i was also expecting the worse and had to re-read the letter multiple times in order to really believe it!! i was accepted with my first choice specialty of nurse anesthesia - yeah!!

i am so excited to meet you both. that is really awesome that you are both pursuing this together. are you already in the area of columbia or will you move? you'll have to fill me in on the best places to live. my partner, julie, is a graphic designer and is really looking forward to working in nyc. i have tried to get her to switch into nursing, but she faints at the sight of a papercut (okay, maybe not that bad, but close!!) :chuckle

i don't know about wearing stickers on meet-and-greet day, but maybe we could have a secret handshake or something?? as long as we know each other's first names, it should be easy to find each other (by the way mine is krystell... i came up with a really creative screen name - i know!!)

thanks for starting this thread - now we need to try to convince lovingpecola to come to columbia instead of yale!!!

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Congratulations Lovingpecola and Krystell!!!:yeah: Well, hopefully Loveingpecola you will join us at Columbia instead of Yale. Granted there will be more distractions in the Big Apple than in New Haven, but we only live once and life is short, so enjoy it while learning, of course; come on down to NYC and check out the many diverse cultural attractions in the city. If you like the arts, there's the MOMA, Natural Science Museum, or the music scene (which is what I enjoy the most) there's the Garden, Irving Plaza, etc. I sound like a travel agent!! If you do decide to stay at Yale, then best of luck to you and future endeavors. I'm sure you'll be an asset to the field of nursing. And while in New Haven, my stepfather owns a chinese restaurant on Whalley Avenue called "House of Chaos" definitely go dine there. I guarantee you won't be disappointed.

Congrats Krystell!! When i found out about my acceptance, I think I must have read that letter like over 20 times. And when I received a message from you, I was very excited to know someone who's also in the program besides my wife, and on top of that, into the same specialty field. i went home that evening and mentioned it to Gretchen that we met on Allnurses forum!! We are looking forward to meeting you in March. On a different note in regards to housing, NYC can get quite expensive when it comes to the cost of living. Since you'll be coming from outside a 20 mile radius, you'll probably have a good chance in getting couples housing in the dorms than Gretch and I do ('cause we live within a 5 mile radius, we'll be on the last of their priority list). If you're looking into apt rentals, then try looking around the area between 172nd street and 162nd street on the Broadway or Fort Washington side. We currently live on W.163rd street/Fort Wash and the neighborhood is nice and safe, and plus we're close to Columbia medical center and hospitals. The rent could range from $900-$2100 depending on the size of the apt, and there are bunch of grocery stores, restaurants, etc around the area too. I would suggest try looking on craigslist.org and click on manhattan and under no-broker fee apt rentals. Lovingpecola, if you've read this far and decided to come to Columbia (YEAH!!), then hopefully this info will help you too.

Take care and see you soon Class of 2006 future RNs!!

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Thank you so much for all of that information. I will definifely try for university housing, but if that doesn't work out then the area you explained sounds good too. We would like to keep our rent to around $1300 or so, but we don't want to live in too small of a closet!!

I work in New Haven right now and I haven't heard of your stepfather's restaurant. I will have to try it out as I love Chinese food!!

I am really excited that I now know two (maybe 3, if lovingpecola changes her mind ) fellow classmates and one in my specialty. I have to admit that I was really, really surprised that I was accepted into the Anesthesia track. Really, really happy too!!

Congratulations again to both of you!!

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Hello all!!!

I too was accepted to Columbia (Women's Health, like Gretchen) and although I'm leaning towards Yale, I'm still in the deciding stage. The decision is overwhelming!!

Congrats on everyone's acceptance--I look forward to our future allnurses exchanges!

Katie

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Hi Krystell! Congratulations!! I'm sure you were really excited to hear that you got into the program and I know you're going to love it! Plus, my hubby is a really great guy. I won't go into detail because then you'll gag and say we're still in newlywed phase. I'm sure that you'll enjoy the program. I've heard that Columbia's Anesthesia CRNA program is one of the best in the nation, so not only will you being meeting great colleagues, you'll be getting a superb education.

My name is Gretchen by the way, just like my ID on here. I'm oh so original.. :) Will you be traveling from New Haven for open house on March 7th? Charlie and I have visited NH a few times and I like it. It has a Bruegger's Bagels, which I really miss from the midwest. I love that place.. Plus Charlie's stepdad has a restaurant which is amazing! Good thing I don't live there because after all the amazing food, Charlie'd have trouble rolling me around the city. yummy.. :D

I agree with Charlie that there are many great sites to see in this city. The neighborhood around the school is very safe and reasonably priced, considering this is NYC. It's a very dominican area so there are a lot of great Mexican restaurants. Since there's a hospital nearby, there are also some American deli's and restaurants too. FYI, there's a Target nearby on 225th. It just opened a year ago and I thought I'd tell you. Craig's list is a great resource and it's how we found the apartment we live in. Also, Riverside Park is from 145-170something. The Cloisters is around 190th Street, I'm not really sure on the exact address, but it's fun to go see and very close. If you have any questions about NYC, Charlie's been here for 5 years and I've been here for 3. The city is very large, but there's no city like it and it grows on you. I'm from a small town in Iowa, so my transition to the big apple was a little rough. hehehe.. It's pretty cool though because NYC has everything, except Bruegger's Bagels.. You'll have to stock up on that before you come here.

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Bics -

I thought you were pretty set on Yale, so it is great to know that there is still a slight chance that you will make the right decision and go to COLUMBIA with us! (just me being selfish!!)

Whatever you decide - we will DEFINITELY stay in touch throughout. You get a whole extra summer, you lucky dog. But, honestly, right now May feels so far away because I am soooooo excited!!

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Gretchen-

Thank you so much for the additional information. It is great to already have the city experts on my side!! I am glad to hear that the area around the medical center is safe - I assumed it was, but it is great to hear it from you guys. I have looked at Craig's list and it seems that we will be able to find something within our price range, nothing fancy of course... We will definitely have to downsize a bit, but that is actually a good way to weed out the junk!

Julie and I met in Boston and lived there for a while. I am originally from Massachusetts and she was going to college there. We moved to Kansas City, Missouri in 2001 and stayed there for 3 years. Julie is from that area, so we decided to spend some time around her family for a little while. Then we came to New Haven in April of 2005. So we have been here for less than a year. We are really excited to move into the city!! I think it is going to be a blast - and of course educational!!

I think that I am still somewhat in shock. I told my boss today that my last day will be in May - so it is real!! Wow!!

We are definitely going to have a great time!!

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Congrats to All!!!

I also got my acceptance letter to Columbia this weekend.

Yipeee!!!

I am still on the fence about attending Columbia vs. Yale. And so I really appreciate all the neighborhood info provided thus far.

Thank you Gretchen & Co.!

Keep the responses and the info coming!!

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