Columbia University ETP Program 2013

CU2012 · Nov 4, 2012

In brief: I am definitely liking the program. I think I am being well educated, I'm having good clinical experiences, and I am mostly impressed by my classmates.

I do want to address the thing I've seen on these boards about hearing "mixed reviews" about Columbia - I also heard that comment when I was applying and I never knew what to make of it! So here's my take on that: the ETP program is large - 175-ish students. I had thought this might be an issue in terms of class participation or something, but that isn't a problem at all - even though lectures can be large, it can absolutely be participatory and have plenty of discussion. Where the largeness of the program has actually come up is in 2 ways:

1) When you have this many people in a program, people simply have different reactions to exactly the same situation. Sometimes people have said negative things to me (about a particular exam, or class, or professor) and it's been so different from my experience that I wondered if we were talking about the same thing! Some people get upset about every little thing that doesn't go their way, cop a huge attitude and decide they're going to be unhappy about everything, and then they come on these boards and talk about how the program is "SO DISORGANIZED" (...it isn't disorganized at all, IMO). My point is that there are a lot of people in the program, so you're going to get lots of perspectives - heard something bad about the program from one person? Ask someone else and see what they have to say. :)

2) The real way in which having a large class manifests itself is in clinical placements - they send us out to hospitals all over the city (and even a little beyond) which means that some clinical sites are better than others. To answer your question: you have no say in your clinical placements (except during integration at the end of the ETP year, when they take the location of where you live into account). I feel like I've had great experiences thus far: some have been great hospitals, some have been not-great hospitals (i.e. a large public hospitals) but I've learned an enormous amount from each placement. I've had friends tell me that X or Y placement they had wasn't good - this could genuinely be because a given place was truly bad, or again it could be because of their individual attitude about a place or a preceptor. But it is important to bear in mind that variation in quality of clinical site is probably inevitable when you have a large class like this.

To answer your other questions directly:

- Re: supportive faculty - Faculty are supportive if you make an effort to go talk to them and get to know them. I was surprised by how warm, friendly and helpful a couple faculty members were when I went to their office hours, given that they hadn't seemed that way during lecture (but again, talking to a person 1-on-1 in their office is different than lecturing to a class of 150!). If you've never introduced yourself to a professor and expect to get a supportive response when you suddenly write them a snippy little email about your grade on their last test...that's not gonna go so well. Make an effort and you will be rewarded!

- Re: students succeeding - To be upfront about it: a few people have dropped out, although I'm not sure how many (I would say maybe 5-10, but that's totally anecdotal). I know of two people who dropped out - one dropped out very early on in the program for religious reasons, and the other dropped out after consistently not doing well in class and (I think) not liking clinical. I know of a few people who are considering stopping after the ETP year simply because it's going too fast for them and they want to do the masters at a slower pace. But the majority of people I talk to are doing very well - we're all pretty stressed, but doing well enough academically.

Again, I had a few choices of schools and I'm very happy to have chosen Columbia. However, the program is VERY tough and unforgiving in its schedule. If you get behind, you are kind of screwed. If you get really sick and can't keep up with the work/make it to clinical, you are kind of screwed. If you decide halfway through a semester that you're going to be mad at everyone and stop doing your work for 10 days because of how fed up and sleep-deprived you are, you're going to be kind of screwed.

So when you're applying, try to maximize the chances of doing well once you're in the program by being seriously honest with yourself about your life: are you in a place where you can give 95% of your waking time and energy to school? Are you prepared to have a pretty anemic social life, at least for the first few months? Are you prepared to work very hard, get really exhausted, and just keep going? Do you have adequate support for family or childcare responsibilities that you might have? The time to think about all of this is now, not once you've already started and signed on the dotted line for your loans.

...sorry, this was really long! Any other qqs I can answer before getting off my soapbox? :)

CU2012 · Nov 4, 2012

Oh, I forgot my stats! To be clear, I really don't think these are that important. As dedicatedone said: the MOST important things are a) your personal statement (by far - really try to knock it out of the park), and b) your letters of recommendation. Then everything else. That said:

Undergrad GPA: 3.65 (I think)

Prereq GPA: 4.0

GREs: ~1500

Prior experience: 2.5 years abroad getting patient experience in 2 public hospitals

Languages: Trilingual

ferminadaza · Nov 4, 2012

CU2012,

Through what organization/venue/(?) did you end up working in public hospitals abroad? Where were you? What were you doing? I'm considering something like this if I don't get into school this time around.

My volunteer/intern experience so far is in peds and HIV.

PMHNPhopeful13 · Nov 4, 2012

@dedicatedone and @CU2012,

Which specialty did you apply for? Would you be able tell us anything about the psych and mental health specialty and how your cohort is divided up based on specialites? Also, I noticed that both of you listed languages along with your stats...is that an important factor for CUSON? Thanks!

dedicatedone · Nov 4, 2012

I'm specifically in the Family Track for the masters portion. However, what I really like about Columbia which is different than almost all the schools I applied to is you're not locked into that specialty. That's something I didn't know until I got here for visitors day and something to keep in mind. You can actually switch into any specialty I believe (EXCEPT for midwifery and anesthesia) after you've been accepted. So though there are ~30-40 individuals in the family track, that number will likely change. I am not sure how many individuals are in the other tracks (specifically in Psych and Mental Health for your purposes). Point is, though you're admitted into one track, you can switch into the others tracks at a later time (just not into midwifery and anesthesia). I have no clue how this comes to be in terms of admissions - i.e. if you apply to a track with more spots, your chances are higher of getting in. I don't know if that statement is true but I do know that many students consider other options once they get here and Columbia is one of the few schools who are comfortable with you switching your track before your Masters.

As far as language is concerned, I don't know how big of a factor it is. Probably just another detail that rounds out the individual. I state it only because I know others are concerned if it is a factor. Just like any piece of your application, play to your strengths. I know that I only speak one language so I definitely didn't focus on that haha. I spent more time on leadership skills and volunteer work I had.

hollysf · Nov 4, 2012

dedicatedone and CU2012,

Thank you so much for your feedback and insight, it has been very informative! Can you tell me a bit about housing? Was it difficult to find? How much are most people paying in rent?

Also, it sounds like Columbia's ABSN portion is incredibly challenging--which is expected. Do you anticipate a more manageable work load in the masters portion of the program? Do you think the MSN portion of the program will also grant you opportunities to build closer relationships with the faculty in your specialty?

CU2012 · Nov 5, 2012

CU2012,
Through what organization/venue/(?) did you end up working in public hospitals abroad? Where were you? What were you doing? I'm considering something like this if I don't get into school this time around.
My volunteer/intern experience so far is in peds and HIV.

If you'd like to PM me about this I'm happy to tell you a bit about it - but I wasn't with any organization. I was working abroad and was fluent in the local language so I just presented myself at the hospital and talked my way into volunteering. :)

@dedicatedone and @CU2012,
Which specialty did you apply for? Would you be able tell us anything about the psych and mental health specialty and how your cohort is divided up based on specialites? Also, I noticed that both of you listed languages along with your stats...is that an important factor for CUSON? Thanks!

I'm in midwifery - unfortunately I can't really say much about the psych/mental health specialty, and I don't exactly know the numbers by specialty, except that there are about 15 of us in midwifery. (That was something I was really interested in as an applicant, and about which I succeeded in finding out exactly zero information! The admissions office doesn't give out information by specialty.)

Speaking another language is always something that's good to highlight, but here's a piece of advice (that Columbia really should tell all applicants): LEARN SPANISH. It is probably beneficial in terms of being admitted, but it is ESSENTIAL in terms of being effective once you're in the program. I don't mean you can't get by, but one of my rotations has been in a public hospital where 90% of the patients were monolingual Spanish speakers - most people in my clinical group could not speak Spanish at all, but those who could were about 10 times as useful as those who couldn't. After I was admitted to nursing school I took an intensive Spanish course and then took a trip to Mexico - do whatever you can to acquire Spanish before you get here! You will not have time for this once you're in school.

dedicatedone and CU2012,
Thank you so much for your feedback and insight, it has been very informative! Can you tell me a bit about housing? Was it difficult to find? How much are most people paying in rent?
Also, it sounds like Columbia's ABSN portion is incredibly challenging--which is expected. Do you anticipate a more manageable work load in the masters portion of the program? Do you think the MSN portion of the program will also grant you opportunities to build closer relationships with the faculty in your specialty?

I guess I'm not the expert on this because I was already living in NYC when I started at Columbia, but campus housing is VERY limited. And not great. And not cheap. Lots of people Columbia students of all kinds spend less money than campus housing costs to live in great apartments on the Upper West Side, a few subway stops from campus, and others live all over the city. I would go into this assuming you won't be living in campus housing, make friends with people at visiting day, and learn to love Craigslist. :)

Once you get into the masters portion, the intensity of the workload varies enormously by specialty. Dedicatedone obviously knows more than I do about FNP, but my understanding is that FNP for example have a very reasonably paced program that allows time for work, for example, but takes slightly longer. Midwifery, on the other hand, I expect will be exactly like ETP: insane work all the time, but is shorter than FNP. Again I can't really speak to other specialties, but in midwifery you definitely build closer relationships with faculty because of how intensively you work with them.

dedicatedone · Nov 5, 2012

dedicatedone and CU2012,
Thank you so much for your feedback and insight, it has been very informative! Can you tell me a bit about housing? Was it difficult to find? How much are most people paying in rent?
Also, it sounds like Columbia's ABSN portion is incredibly challenging--which is expected. Do you anticipate a more manageable work load in the masters portion of the program? Do you think the MSN portion of the program will also grant you opportunities to build closer relationships with the faculty in your specialty?

Housing - As CU2012 said, there can be cheaper housing off campus depending on neighborhood and building. On campus housing is usually extended only to those who live farthest away from campus (i.e. out of country and West Coast Residents). It is extremely limited on campus for the Nursing school because the Med School has guaranteed housing from my understanding. If you're admitted, there will be a tour of the rooms so you can check it out. It won't your expected NYC living experience but I would think living on campus has its advantages (literally outside of class). If you do not get campus living, rent will vary from neighborhood to neighborhood. On average rent will range from $750-$1250 which I know is a larger range but those are the numbers I have been hearing and again, location is everything. Reiterating CU2012, craigslist will become your friend as will friends you make during Visitors Day :)

The ABSN is challenging without a doubt like you mentioned. By the end of summer, we all felt like we conquered the impossible but everyone gets through and we survived. As mentioned earlier the people in this program do well and only place pressure on themselves to exceed. I know the FNP portion is much more manageable then the ABSN year. After speaking with students in the Masters Track now, they have class two days a week...? You'll be in smaller class sizes so you'll increase your chances of working closer with the faculty. Professors and staff want you to succeed but it's all about taking the initiative to get to know them and participate whenever possible.

the healer's art · Nov 6, 2012

Thank you so much for your answers! Do you guys know anything about the Pediatric Oncology tract?

dedicatedone · Nov 6, 2012

Thank you so much for your answers! Do you guys know anything about the Pediatric Oncology tract?

Unfortunately I don't. I have friends who are gearing up for the Peds track but do not know any masters in that track to provide you with any information.

steve21021 · Nov 7, 2012

Does anyone know when we can expect the first round of letters or emails to go out? I am so nervous. I applied for the CRNA program.

ARickli · Nov 8, 2012

Does anyone know when we can expect the first round of letters or emails to go out? I am so nervous. I applied for the CRNA program.

They won't start sending notifications until the first week of February.