Columbia University ETP 2011

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Thought it'd be a good idea to start a thread for prospective applicants to Columbia's ETP program starting Summer 2011. I was going to apply last year but passed on it in favor of working for another year.

Applications are due November 15, 2010! :eek: Right around the corner ...

Anyone else preparing for this also? :clown:

GCNP-- I am also trying to pick between Hopkins and Columbia! At the present moment, I am leaning towards Columbia for these reasons:

1) I want a change in scenery! I grew up just outside of Baltimore, and while I LOVE this city, I'm ready for something different. This might be the biggest reason.

2) Columbia's program is shorter. I am interested in women's health and midwifery. The Women's Health NP program at Columbia is four terms long (I think!), just about fifteen months full-time. The Women's Health CNS/midwifery program at Hopkins is two years plus summers full time. A shorter program is less expensive!

3) Also the midwifery portion of the master's at Hopkins is online-based, which I'm not too enthusiastic about.

But of course, I haven't totally made up my mind yet. This is why:

1) MONEY. I'm waiting for both financial aid packages. With an EFC of $0, I can still expect to take close to 80,000 in loans (both federal and private) for the first year (to cover ALL expenses). Hopkins is cheaper tuition-wise, and Baltimore is cheaper to live in. Hopkins estimated cost-of-attendance is 92,000 vs. Columbia's 105,000. Also, Hopkins offers merit-based scholarship. Columbia does not.

2) Hopkins allows the opportunity to 'decelerate'. If you begin as an accelerated student, you can step down to the traditional path. This is a nice safety net. Of course, at Columbia, they gave a drop-out rate of three students out of 160 over the first year--not bad.

Anyhow, I hope this helps you! Can you give me any more thoughts?? Both are top-notch, well-respected schools. Both allow flexibility after the BSN year (taking a year off, switching MSN programs). And when it comes down to it, I'm gonna have a lot of debt either way.

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Hi mleigh! I'm a total lurker on this thread because I'm not actually applying to Columbia until this fall (I'm a little obsessive...) - but I'm also interested in applying for midwifery/women's health. Did they actual admit you for both specialties, and did they explain how that would work out in terms of your coursework/length of your masters portion?

I ask because I had heard that they weren't going to be allowing dual specialties any more, and particularly that the midwifery faculty wasn't into the dual specialty with WHNP - do you know if that's true. I'd really like to have both licenses (CNM/WHNP) so it would be a real downer to find out that that's not possible at Columbia...

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Okay so at Columbia I actually was not accepted to the midwifery specialty, and though I want the CNM eventually, I'm going for the WHNP first. After getting that license I'll take the classes I need to be a CNM. There is a chance I could get on the waitlist during the BSN year and get accepted to the Midwifery specialty later, but for now I'm sticking with the WHNP. You're right; they don't offer the dual specialties anymore. There is no opportunity to do both programs simultaneously, but perhaps you could do both entire programs. I think the director of the WHNP program mentioned one (crazy) person who had. The midwifery program (with anesthesia) is more competitive and sets their cohort at the start of the ETP program.

The director of the WHNP program said that it is more common to become a CNM and then take the classes to certify as a WHNP too. I'm not sure exactly why this order is more common, but I have a feeling it has to do with getting burned out as a midwife and wanting a broader sort of license that doesn't require as much call, etc.

Good luck with your applications, etc. The biggest difference between the two specialties is birth. WHNPs don't manage labor. UPenn and UCSF are two schools that I know of that do allow for dual certification within one program.

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Thanks for the info, mleigh. Yeah it's strange - it seems from the basic curriculum of both specialties that if you did CNM first, you could add the necessary credits for WHNP in maybe an extra semester. Would be nice if they encouraged that. :)

Did you actually apply for both CNM and WHNP and they accepted you to WHNP, or did you just apply to CNM and they offered you WHNP instead?

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I applied and was accepted into the ETP Midwifery program, and I am planning on meeting with the Directors of the WHNP and Midwifery programs in order to work out a dual certification. There is A LOT of overlap with the two programs. I think there are 9-10 additional classes to do both. I called and spoke with someone in the admissions dept. and they said that they would be able to work it out. If not, then I will leave Columbia after the BSN and go somewhere that will accommodate the type of practitioner I hope to be =) (i.e. Penn or UCSF) I'm sure a lot of people would do this if they really wanted both, which is why I think that they will ultimately accommodate their students.

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I applied for midwifery and they accepted me for any other specialty.

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Thanks mleigh and Ladubya for the info! Best of luck to you as you make your final decisions/get ready for Columbia.

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Hi Ladubya87 et all,

I am a current student and I can speak to the reason why the CNM/WHNP option was d/c at Columbia and other schools (Yale). The thought is a CNM does not need an extra certification to provide the care a WHNP does. When a CNM graduates they will be fully prepared to take care of women from menarche onwards. i.e. CNMs are not just schooled in perinatal care. They are schooled in well woman as well. CNMs can work in both OB and GYN care. It's a pretty flexible field.

Also, I believe WHNP felt they should not be combined with CNM because there are practitioners who wanted to focus on women's health and not on birth.

I'm not sure Columbia will allow a dual degree. We talked a lot about it and the faculty told us that if we wanted WHNP (and the only reason we should go for it is if we plan to practice in a state that doesn't recognize CNM as the same level as NP - don't think there are many) then we would need to "apply" separately to WHNP and stay on for an extra semester or two. It wasn't encouraged.

I hope this helps. Please don't let it discourage you. I remember being really set on CNM/WHNP and now it isn't something that I'm worried about.

As to why you would get the CNM first if you are dead set on WHNP? Probably because It's more classes.

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Anyone else accepted to the ETP/CNM program? Is it an especially small cohort?

I haven't read the entire thread but it I haven't heard of anyone else yet!

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I was, I just posted about three posts back, but I haven't seen anyone else either. We have a facebook group, ETP 2011 and there are a lot of WHNP, but I haven't seen more than one CNM prospect.

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Question!! I really hope I'm wrong about this, but did they say at accepted student day that if we are awarded an external scholarship that our Pre-licensure Undergad Scholarship will be decreased? For example, if I get 5k in a private external scholarship, Columbia would give me 5k less in that scholarship?

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Nope they will subtract it from your loans! They made sure to point this out because it is different from many schools.

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