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.
I wanted to add to Elizabells' comment... One day when I was feeling a little blue and a touch like an idiot, I asked my preceptor how long it was before she felt comfortable in her job as an L&D nurse...she said a year! So, now I feel quite a bit less dumb.
I don't actually attend Columbia, but I am in nursing school here in NYC at a private university. Just thought I would throw something at you guys. Check to see about tuition for summer classes. I know for me and the private university (Adelphi) that I attend, summer is NOT considered a semester and therefore, there if NO FINANCIAL AID available and payment is DUE UPON RECEIPT. Beware!! I was told that all private universities don't recognize summer as a semester. It sucks. Tuition this summer for me is $9500 so far. HOPEFULLY this changes, as I just registered today.
ALSO, Salle Mae WILL grant you those loans, but take it from me..the INTEREST RATE is DECEIVING! They said I was approved for one and then when I received the master promissory, it turned out to be like 15%
HORRIFIC! Anyhow, the way I learned is you have to apply for the smaller loans and you have to keep applying for them until they total $55,000 or whatever they grant you. I have ONLY borrowed like $9000 because their rates are SUPER high. But, this is for alternative loans (which you will more than likely need IN ADDITION)
Sorry for reading, but I plan on attending Columbia for nurse anesthesia and I was curious as to what this thread said:) Hope what I have said is helpful and not dismal.
Summers at Columbia are definitely considered full semesters... especially in ETP when you are taking 20 credits! 6 credits is considered full-time in the summer and 12 for other semesters (for the masters), IIRC. Columbia utilizes summers as full semesters for all of its programs and financial aid *is* there. They know it takes time for summer loans to come in, and no one is charged late fees for that. No payment is expected until Sallie Mae pays up, and since the money is deposited directly into your university account, it is deducted from there. Whatever is left over is for living expenses and you must request a refund to get the cash.
Ahh, the living expenses are the rub though. I didn't have too much trouble with financial aid (it took about a month for me to get the last $4500 of it) but I know people who didn't get their aid until the end of the summer. People who didn't have money for food (in a famous instance one girl screamed "I have nothing to eat" at oscar, dumped his entire bowl of candy in her backpack and stormed out of his office) or worse had to be late on their rent. Stay on top of oscar and you financial aid. The good news in there are emergency loans available. If you can I recommend saving up a month's worth of living expenses before moving here.
Summers at Columbia are definitely considered full semesters... especially in ETP when you are taking 20 credits! 6 credits is considered full-time in the summer and 12 for other semesters (for the masters), IIRC. Columbia utilizes summers as full semesters for all of its programs and financial aid *is* there. They know it takes time for summer loans to come in, and no one is charged late fees for that. No payment is expected until Sallie Mae pays up, and since the money is deposited directly into your university account, it is deducted from there. Whatever is left over is for living expenses and you must request a refund to get the cash.
Hope this clears things up.
LB
I guess there was some confusion on my part. (I AM KAT...changing my sn) What I meant was federal loans are NOT available in the summer. According to my university, federal money is NOT being offered in the summer anymore. I don't know why, but it is not according to them. I know you can get loans through your own unviersity and private funding, but not federal. Salle mae is a private funding company. If the information I have provided is wrong, please let me know so that I can take it to my school. Anything to avoid a private loan. FAFSA is constantly changing its rules and supposably this is newly in effect, as last summer I had financial aid in San Francisco. This summer, I have to pull out alternative loans for school.
Specializes in Perioperative Orthopaedics - scrub/circ.
I hope I'm just missing something.... but under required reading (in the most recent packet), it says,"The Spirit Catches You - by A. Fadiman 1997, and You And You Fall Down - by Farrar, Straus and Giroux."
On Amazon I see a "The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down" - by A. Fadiman, 1997 (which i'm assuming is what was meant ), but what is the other book mentioned? the one by Farrar, Straus and Giroux?
Farrar et al are the publishers of The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, it's a typo on the sheet.
So, does anyone know how promising the housing waitlist is? I can't believe I got waitlisted. I'm in California and finding an apartment sight unseen is not the most appealing.
I hope I'm just missing something.... but under required reading (in the most recent packet), it says,"The Spirit Catches You - by A. Fadiman 1997, and You And You Fall Down - by Farrar, Straus and Giroux."
On Amazon I see a "The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down" - by A. Fadiman, 1997 (which i'm assuming is what was meant ), but what is the other book mentioned? the one by Farrar, Straus and Giroux?
Specializes in Perioperative Orthopaedics - scrub/circ.
Hi everyone,
I received my orientation info package today and tried to sign up for an email account to no avail. Has anyone else tried and if so, did it work?
I am really getting excited now!!
Thanks for clearing up the book thing!
As for the email acct... I called the Tech Support office and they told me that they are waiting for the network ID people to create a UNI for us (we dont create it ourselves like what the paper says). The guy told me to do a UNI lookup using our first and last name (no middle initial) in 48 hours from http://uni.columbia.edu, then use that UNI to complete the email activation.
Also... will we have any time to do that Summer Spanish Program? It's something i'd love to do, but I dont want to overwhelm myself. Is anyone else thinking about doing this?
Also... will we have any time to do that Summer Spanish Program? It's something i'd love to do, but I dont want to overwhelm myself. Is anyone else thinking about doing this?
I know people who took the optional spanish classes and didn't, um, die or anything. I just didn't do it bc of the $$
krystellmarie
63 Posts
Hi everyone,
I received my orientation info package today and tried to sign up for an email account to no avail. Has anyone else tried and if so, did it work?
I am really getting excited now!!