Boston College Direct Entry MSN 2019

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Starting a thread for Boston College Direct Entry MSN applicants for Summer 2019. Looks like we are the last class before BC goes to a DNP direct entry program!

I'm applying for the Psych/MH track, based on work/life experiences in the mental health realm. My cousin went through the BC program a few years ago, loved it, and has a job she really enjoys.

Hey everyone, I’m a current first year MSE student on the family track at BC! I know you all must be super anxious as you await these decisions, I was in your shoes a year ago. In the mean time, I’d be glad to answer any questions you have about the program! Ask away ?

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On 1/15/2019 at 11:08 PM, Ella18 said:

Hey everyone, I’m a current first year MSE student on the family track at BC! I know you all must be super anxious as you await these decisions, I was in your shoes a year ago. In the mean time, I’d be glad to answer any questions you have about the program! Ask away ?

Hi! Thanks for offering to answer questions. How do you like the program so far? Is it manageable time wise?

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On 1/15/2019 at 11:08 PM, Ella18 said:

Hey everyone, I’m a current first year MSE student on the family track at BC! I know you all must be super anxious as you await these decisions, I was in your shoes a year ago. In the mean time, I’d be glad to answer any questions you have about the program! Ask away ?

Thanks for the offer! Where have your clinical rotations been? What have you thought of the placements/preceptors?

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13 hours ago, pg101 said:

Hi! Thanks for offering to answer questions. How do you like the program so far? Is it manageable time wise?

No problem! Sorry it took me so long to respond, we are getting back into the swing of things with the start of the spring semester this week so I haven't been able to check this.

I really like the program so far. It's very fast paced and you get presented with a lot of information that you need to learn in a very short amount of time. What makes that bearable is that you get to see most of what you're learning about in clinical, and you see that it applies to real people and not just these theoretical cases presented in class. You are actually taking care of people by providing treatments and interventions and that is very fulfilling.

Going into it, I had heard mixed things from people about whether this was going to be manageable time wise. Some said "you will have no life" others said "it's doable". As much as I can tell you about it, everyone thinks differently based on their previous experiences. I was a bio major in undergrad and had attended another graduate school while working after so I was prepared for the level and load of the course load, but this is just so different. Nursing requires you to know the science and apply it to the care of the patient and adjusting to those types of exams is a bit difficult at first.

We had a lot more free time during the summer session in August. Once the fall semester started, our schedules became loaded with classes, clinicals, and studying. There really was not much down time during the week, and we felt like we were always on the go. The weekends were mostly spent studying, but I managed to carve time out for family, friends, significant other, etc. during this time. I would always take some time during the week doing something that had nothing to do with the program to maintain some balance. I do see my friends outside of the program a lot less often, but I have met a whole new group of friends here who are all going through the same thing.

This program is definitely a lot, but it definitely can be done with proper time management skills and the right expectations going into it.

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11 hours ago, 1776lady said:

Thanks for the offer! Where have your clinical rotations been? What have you thought of the placements/preceptors?

My adult health clinical last semester was at MGH on a post-surgical orthopedic floor that also had some med-surg overflow. The other clinical was a population health placement and that was at Eliot Community Human Services north of Boston. This semester, I am at Boston Medical Center for maternity, labor and delivery, and postpartum care. The pediatric placement is at Boston Children's Hospital.

I loved being at MGH. It is a world class hospital that provides the best care, and I got to experience that first-hand and learn from the experts. The clinical instructor for the placement was amazing. She was an experienced nurse who taught us a lot and even helped us with material we were covering in the theory course. We got to do a lot of different things while on the unit and slowly transitioned into having a full patient load. The nursing staff there is also very willing to teach students so it is a great learning environment.

For my pop health placement, I had a clinical instructor and a preceptor because this was an individual placement whereas at MGH we were in a group. A bunch of us at different locations had the same clinical instructor who is a BC faculty member. The preceptor was a nurse at the facility. That was a great experience also because it was at a community health center so it was awesome to see the differences in how patients were cared for there versus the hospital.

I can't say much about the placements I'm in now because we are just starting, but they seem like they will be great too!

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Ella, do you mind saying what your stats were?

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10 hours ago, Ella18 said:

No problem! Sorry it took me so long to respond, we are getting back into the swing of things with the start of the spring semester this week so I haven't been able to check this.

I really like the program so far. It's very fast paced and you get presented with a lot of information that you need to learn in a very short amount of time. What makes that bearable is that you get to see most of what you're learning about in clinical, and you see that it applies to real people and not just these theoretical cases presented in class. You are actually taking care of people by providing treatments and interventions and that is very fulfilling.

Going into it, I had heard mixed things from people about whether this was going to be manageable time wise. Some said "you will have no life" others said "it's doable". As much as I can tell you about it, everyone thinks differently based on their previous experiences. I was a bio major in undergrad and had attended another graduate school while working after so I was prepared for the level and load of the course load, but this is just so different. Nursing requires you to know the science and apply it to the care of the patient and adjusting to those types of exams is a bit difficult at first.

We had a lot more free time during the summer session in August. Once the fall semester started, our schedules became loaded with classes, clinicals, and studying. There really was not much down time during the week, and we felt like we were always on the go. The weekends were mostly spent studying, but I managed to carve time out for family, friends, significant other, etc. during this time. I would always take some time during the week doing something that had nothing to do with the program to maintain some balance. I do see my friends outside of the program a lot less often, but I have met a whole new group of friends here who are all going through the same thing.

This program is definitely a lot, but it definitely can be done with proper time management skills and the right expectations going into it.

Thank you so much for such a detailed answer!

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14 hours ago, daisychains11 said:

Ella, do you mind saying what your stats were?

Undergraduate GPA 3.83. Graduate GPA 3.97. GRE scores were above the 65th percentile for all sections.

BC does well with looking holistically at the applications!

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On 1/18/2019 at 4:32 PM, Ella18 said:

Undergraduate GPA 3.83. Graduate GPA 3.97. GRE scores were above the 65th percentile for all sections.

BC does well with looking holistically at the applications!

Please what was your personal statement length? 1 page or 2 pages? Thanks in advance.

How many pages did anyone submitted? I dont want to write too much.

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On past years' threads, there have been mentions of emails from the school during the waiting period... has anyone received anything from BC? I am hoping that they will be releasing decisions within the next couple of weeks, but find it strange that I haven't heard from them at all!

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1 hour ago, mlb1711 said:

On past years' threads, there have been mentions of emails from the school during the waiting period... has anyone received anything from BC? I am hoping that they will be releasing decisions within the next couple of weeks, but find it strange that I haven't heard from them at all!

I haven’t heard from them either!

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No emails here either.

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