Attending Vandy Bridge Program This Fall - Need Advice

ANPFNPGNP · Jun 16, 2008

Starting in Women's Health this fall - the two year program.
Already live in NAshville, about twenty miles out of town in Mt Juliet.
Would love to talk to some current/former grads about rotation sites and financial aid tips.
Thanks!
KMC

I graduated from their dual ANP/GNP program 3 years ago. I had to go back to school to get my FNP certification, since it made me more marketable, so PLEASE rethink your choice in programs. Vanderbilt is VERY expensive and I honestly wouldn't recommend it to anyone who is having to take out loans. When I went to UT (Univ. of TX) to get my post-Graduate certification, there was another Vandy NP in my class. She told me that she still owed over EIGHTY THOUSAND DOLLARS for her Vanderbilt education. That is INSANE! I spent about 30K dollars in tuition, but I transferred 7 credits from another program (that's the maximum I could transfer). Those 7 little credits saved me about $6,000! I came out on top financially, since I just had to attend the program for a year and I was able to get a good job within weeks of graduating.

Another thing, consider moving out of TN after graduating, because I've heard that Vandy grads have a tough time in the market place b/c so many of them weren't nurses before entering the program. I remember a lot of the direct entry students complaining about how they were treated by staff members at their clinical sites and they were MISERABLE! The Vanderbilt degree may not be respected in TN, but it certainly is in my neck of the woods!

mrspopeye · Jun 25, 2008

Good luck to you in the program! I have a friend who did that program and she owes around $90K now. I cannot see how she would make that up to make it worth that. The previous poster is right about the job market in Middle Tennessee- there are so many NP programs, a PA school and the online programs, which has oversaturated this market. You will have difficulty finding pay close to the national average specifically in Nashville because of some many new grads in a such a small area- not so much anywhere else! This was so discouraging to figure this out after I graduated. I know many, many people who work as RNs part-time or full-time. I did for the first 6 months as an NP too on the weekends. Pay and job availabilty does improve though, as you gain experience and get to know some people through networking.