Alverno DEMSN 2021

Updated:   Published

I've recently been conditionally admitted to Alverno's demsn program, slated for Summer unless a spot opens up in Spring. The conditional being that I finish the labs for the prerequisites and two psychology courses as I've only finished the didactic portions in a marathon 9 week section.

Does anyone have any experience with this program, or Alverno in general? Any advice would be much appreciated.

39 minutes ago, Katoo said:

OK, you guys are scaring me even more.?‍♀️? I'm starting next month! This Summer 2021! My orientation was 2 days ago, and I started questioning myself about it and the school. The orientation wasn't what I expected at all. I thought I would have zoom meeting where the professors would be talking live to us, but it wasn't that. It was a bunch of Youtube video links they took from other youtubers taling about nursing school, a bunch of pdf forms to download, 1 forum to say gi to everybody and that's all.

Does that mean my courses will be same ? No recorded videos or live online interactions with the professors ? Is that where my loans will go to?

Summer123, what does UMSON stand for?

Pathophysiology will be your hardest class. (MODERATOR EDIT OF NAME) will be the lecturer. She is amazing. Offers 2 lectures a week at 4 hours each. She records. It’s amazing. 
 

Pharmacology is your next hardest. Good powerpoints with weekly zoom (usually) with the Professor. She makes up for it with incredible exam prep review sessions. We are almost all passing. 
 

Ethics is a breeze. Great interaction.

The other two courses were asynchronous with plenty of materials to get you through and excellent instructor feedback on assignments. 
 

make sure your cohort sets up a Google drive and an outside message app to group study and work together on study guides. It really helps get you through. Especially sharing multiple perspectives. 
 

I am wrapping up semester 1 now. Stressful, yes. Worth it? Oh heck yes. 

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Can any current students provide any insight on the grading at Alverno? I have heard they are pass/fail and don't give letter grades for classes.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
5 minutes ago, summer123 said:

Can any current students provide any insight on the grading at Alverno? I have heard they are pass/fail and don't give letter grades for classes.

It’s pass fail. Sort of. Hard to explain. There are points, but only for certain classes like patho and pharm. other classes it’s about demonstrating mastery of material. At the end of each semester you can ask for an equivalency report for future transfer that shows grades. You need a 70% to pass patho but also must pass 7 of 8 subject exams. 2 retakes and ample extra credit opportunities. They want you to learn.  Pharma and all nursing classes require 80% average. Tough but doable.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in NHP.

@damiorifice, thanks. 

@summer123, I've heard that too. They did mention (indirectly) something like that during orientation.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

summer123, 

They might say they offer NCLEX prep but it is not entirely true. NCLEX prep is done independently in semester 3 or 4 depending on how COVID has affected your class timeline. You do take the NCLEX before graduating, again after semester 3 or 4 depending, but to my understanding you do not have to pass it to continue in the program. If you are working as a nurse extern you might need to pass in order to keep your position, but if that doesn’t apply to you then don’t worry about it. You can always take the NCLEX a second time if needed.

Pass/fail is typical in a lot of graduate nursing programs. You will need a minimum of 80% in each class to pass (expect the first patho class, which is 70% because it is not part of the school of nursing). Grades are mostly based on exams, which are referred to as “assessments”. There are other assignments in each class as well, but these generally do not count towards your grade. Assignments are generally evaluated as either “satisfactory” or “in progress” and you will need to revise any “in progress” feedback to meet the requirements for “satisfactory”. What this means is that you must do well on your exams to pass classes.

Also, I am unsure of the "retakes" mentioned earlier in this thread. Neither my patho or pharm class offered any sort of retake for any assessment, nor did they drop the lowest score. None of my classes at this school have offered that. It might depend on the professor or they might have implemented it because a lot of people were failing. 

 

Londonflo,

We are required take the NCLEX before we graduate from the MSN portion of our program. It is not an option of eligibility to sit for it if we so choose.

 

Katoo,

I can tell you as someone who is wrapping up my 3rd semester that this program is largely self taught. Some of your classes will have Zoom meetings, some will provide recorded material for you to watch asynchronously, but many classes are asynchronous without any type of lecture or interaction with the professor. I have never seen 3 of my 6 professors this semester, 2 of which did not provide any sort of lectures, video, or audio recordings. There is a lot of Youtube, a lot of TED talks, and a lot of PDFs.

I find that the cost of this program is entirely unjustified. For $60,000+ I expected a lot more effort on the part of my professors, especially considering the complications of COVID. This was not offered as an online program so the fact that it has become one, and especially one with such limited interaction, does not sit well with me. COVID has made it difficult, but I and many other students feel like professors take advantage of it in a negative way.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

We were told the plan is to return to in person classes for Fall semester. I prefer self taught so I’m dreading it. To me sitting in a lecture is a waste of my time, effort, and energy. 

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in NHP.

@greenbluegray, thanks for your answer. Wait, the enrollment representative told me the entire program is like 52 or 53k ? I was also told that Summer session 2021 will be online, and courses will go back to face to face mode this Fall 2021. Basically, we'll be back on campus this Fall semester. 

Up Vote Up Vote ×
1 minute ago, Katoo said:

@greenbluegray, thanks for your answer. Wait, the enrollment representative told me the entire program is like 52 or 53k ? I was also told that Summer session 2021 will be online, and courses will go back to face to face mode this Fall 2021. Basically, we'll be back on campus this Fall semester. 

The enrollment rep was correct. Honestly, it’s cheap for a program granting the BSN and MSN at the same time. 

1
Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in NHP.

@damiorifice, I was told the same too about getting back on campus this Fall 2021.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

katoo,

Don't quote me on the price. Whatever they told you is probably correct. It's been a year since I looked at tuition for this, I just know I have a fat pile of student loans totaling around 60k for this program. 

1
Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in NHP.

@damiorifice, true. It's cheaper than the programs in my State. That's why I'm making the sacrifice to move to WI.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
9 hours ago, Katoo said:

 

Summer123, what does UMSON stand for?

UMSON is University of Maryland School of Nursing 

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion