Boston Direct Entry Program - Calling All Applicants!

I second PsychLisa. mghihp is an mgh affiliate, and the undoubtedly helps with placements, although nothing is of course guaranteed. My understanding from speaking with students at all 5 of the direct entry programs I applied to in the Boston area (mgh, simmons, bc, northeastern and regis) is that clinical placements, specifically in the NP portion of the curriculum, are harder to come by, and you might have to travel to further locations. That being said, it does seem like things are a bit better at mgh than a couple of the other programs (a couple of the schools, and you can see on these boards which ones they are, are known for having ridiculous commutes for nearly all of their students in the NP part of the program). I am sure each student's experience will vary, however - I remember they were very candid at the MGH info session and said that some the of NP preceptors are fabulous, and others are not as great.

Re: reputation - Although I am likely biased because I've lived in Boston/the northeast for several years (and it's very easy to become Partners-centric if you're in this area long enough and involved in healthcare!) , I think the #64 ranking seems pretty random and is not indicative of either the level or reputation of the program. MGH, Partners, and the MGH Institute are very well known and highly respected, and as PsychLisa pointed out, it is #3 in NE. I know several recent mghihp graduates, and they all got great jobs in the markets they wanted. I don't have any concerns about ranking, and I technically got into places that were ranked higher on that list and I'm going to mghihp.

Good luck with your decision - it's not an easy one!

I know we haven't spoken about Simmons much on this board, but I was wondering if anyone else has started to receive communications from them lately? I've been getting emails and letters from the financial aid office and admissions, and I was wondering if it was just me? One of them was phrased oddly - it was a letter from the financial aid office talking about a form I was missing, but it referring to information that should have been in my acceptance letter, however I have not yet been accepted there. I have no idea if this was a typo, a good indication, or what, but I just wanted to see if anyone else is in a similar boat?

PsychLisa-

Where did you find the national and regional (New England) rankings? Thank you!

PsychLisa-

Where did you find the national and regional (New England) rankings? Thank you!

http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/search.result/program+top-health-schools/top-nursing-schools+y

sorry-posted too soon, when you go to the US news website---search schools in MA only and MGH, NU, BC, etc will come up with their rankings

the MGHIHP website posted an article that they were moved to #3 in New England

http://www.mghihp.edu/about-us/newsdetail.aspx?item=2011-03-24-us-news-2012-ranking.xml

sorry to hear that stephilosphy. im in the same boat as you. what specialty did you applly for/ i'm waitlisted for the child/adl ment psych. good luck with everything

Hey, i applied to Family track。。。good luck to u too!

I know we haven't spoken about Simmons much on this board, but I was wondering if anyone else has started to receive communications from them lately? I've been getting emails and letters from the financial aid office and admissions, and I was wondering if it was just me? One of them was phrased oddly - it was a letter from the financial aid office talking about a form I was missing, but it referring to information that should have been in my acceptance letter, however I have not yet been accepted there. I have no idea if this was a typo, a good indication, or what, but I just wanted to see if anyone else is in a similar boat?

I got a letter from simmons saying I was accepted yesterday. It was actually handwritten which was really weird! But anyways, your should be coming soon I would think!

I got a letter from simmons saying I was accepted yesterday. It was actually handwritten which was really weird! But anyways, your should be coming soon I would think!

Nurse2011k, did your letter mention anything about them sending acceptance letters in multiple waves? I checked some old Simmons threads that said they sent letters on 3 dates instead of just one. Haven't received a letter yet myself, but congratulations! Hope I get in there too...

Congrats nurse2011!! Wow, handwritten is really unusual! That is great news - do you think you'll go there? Simmons is a great place...

Nurse2011k, did your letter mention anything about them sending acceptance letters in multiple waves? I checked some old Simmons threads that said they sent letters on 3 dates instead of just one. Haven't received a letter yet myself, but congratulations! Hope I get in there too...

It didn't say anything about that, but that could still be true! I'm assuming if they are hand writing them they aren't all being sent out at once. They said there were 50 spots this year. Good luck, i'm sure you will get your good news soon!

Choco - Thanks! I'm not sure if I will be attending yet, I was accepted to Regis and waitlisted at Northeastern, MGH, and BC So i am still figuring things out, but Simmons is a great place!

I'm a current student and there's tons of information about this elsewhere but these are my 2 cents.

Rankings don't matter. They really, really don't. All the programs in the Boston area are highly-regarded and you graduating and passing the boards is what jobs look for, not a particular school.

As for clinicals, you'll have a clinical at MGH first and second semester of the first year. Those are your general med-surg clinicals, where you do the majority of your hands-on nursing. There are two other clinicals (psych first semester and community second semester) that are more spread out. The majority of sites are in Boston but there are some on the North Shore, South Shore, and MetroWest. You get to request your placements for both of those and basically everyone makes requests based on what's convenient for them. I haven't heard of anyone without a car being placed in a non-t accessible location, nor have I heard of anyone having to commute several hours.

Our class is pretty diverse in terms of location-there are definitely a bunch of people who moved to Boston from other places to attend the program. It seems like about 75% of our class lives in Boston/Cambridge/Somerville/Quincy and the rest commute anywhere from 20 minutes to 1.5 hours. My advice would definitely be to live close to public transportation and plan on commuting to class and MGH clinicals because parking is truly a nightmare.

Any other questions, let me know. Although it's getting to the end of the semester and nursing school has a tendency to make you loopy, so I'm not sure how helpful I'll be :)