Direct Entry MSN 2020 at Columbia University

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Hello Everyone, The applications for June 2020 at Columbia University has now opened. I haven't seen any new threads for this year so I wanted to start one. I am in the process of applying and half way done! References already sent their recommendations!! and an upside to this year is that Columbia University is no longer requiring the GRE. SO I am pretty happy about that!!

Good Luck!

Accepted to MDE and DNP.... Health-related B.S. degree, multiple minors, 3.5 GPA; Prerequisites are A's and B's; I am coming straight from undergrad, but I have well over 1,000 hours of healthcare related volunteering (either working directly with patients or in-directly), multiple leadership experiences, research assistant for 3.5 years for a reputable principal investigator with 25+ years of experience.

My personal advice is to take the stats people are posting with a grain of salt, even my own. They are good relative starting point, but what is most important about my experiences is the experience I was able to gain and then express in my application's statements. My experiences also allowed me to network with all sorts of individuals and professionals throughout undergrad. I got to know them and they got to know me, professionally and personally, and therefore they were able to provide me with great letters of recommendation. I am proud to have each of my letter writers support and I know they will be a part of my life for the rest of my life.

I would suggest looking at sincerelymeagan.com. She attended Columbia and recently graduated. She provides great insight into the application process and what it is like to live in NY and study at Columbia. I used her blog as a guide when applying to programs.

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15 minutes ago, J_future_PNP-PC said:

Hey there! Of course. I graduated with a b.s. in health education last year with a cumulative gpa of 3.8 and prereq gpa around 3.5 from sfsu. I volunteered at a children’s hospital for 2 years, got my CNA certificate, and spent some time volunteering in a medical brigade in Honduras. I also had 2 research internships at UCSF which were a few months long, and am currently working as a chiropractic assistant. I honestly think what got me in was being vulnerable during my video interview & personal statement and talking about my upbringing/family which was difficult but was the reason I chose pediatric nursing. I had an article published during my undergrad too which I think really helped. I ended up panicking and screwed up on the timed writing portion of the application which shows they truly do take a holistic approach. I also had 2 strong letters of rec from UCSF and one from a professor that I TA’d for. Try to show Columbia what made you who you are today, and trust the process. I had my heart set on UCSF and didn’t get in which shattered me, but am now realizing that Columbia truly is the superior option. It will work out, you got this!

Omg thanks so much and congrats! It would be a different experience moving from West Coast to East Coast for sure. I am from SoCal!

I originally also planned on talking about my family in my statement but I was worried it would be too much for the admission...thanks for the advice!

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1 hour ago, JRoseC427 said:

Can accepted students help a future applicant and post their stats please...

I am applying this Fall! Thank you and good luck everyone!

Was accepted into MDE/DNP (Family NP track). Congrats to all the applicants, getting to where you are now and submitting your app is a huge accomplishment.

I am about to complete my undergrad in psych after leaving school to work for a few years. Took about half of my pre-reqs through Johns Hopkins online, gpa 4.0, Undergrad gpa 3.98 but have some lower grades on my transcripts from the first chunk of my undergrad years ago. Employed full time in a high-stress non-medical field while finishing my degree and volunteering in NYC emergency room for 3.5+ years.

I agree with others who said that Columbia is being serious when they say that they take a holistic look applications. They give you many opportunities to show them who you are and help them get to know you as a person. I attended two info sessions and sent brief thank you emails afterwards. At the second info session they said they wanted to see in your app that you would make a good nurse and that you’re someone that could manage the rigor of the program (not just getting good grades but being able to manage the pace, workload, stress, people skills). Take your time on your essays, put everything you’re proud of onto your resume (no page limit), and plan/practice your answer the video essay. Don’t stress about the timed writing. I also second someone who recommended sincerelymeagan, her blog was helpful to me as well as stylebysumiyah.

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54 minutes ago, imgreen2 said:

Accepted to MDE and DNP.... Health-related B.S. degree, multiple minors, 3.5 GPA; Prerequisites are A's and B's; I am coming straight from undergrad, but I have well over 1,000 hours of healthcare related volunteering (either working directly with patients or in-directly), multiple leadership experiences, research assistant for 3.5 years for a reputable principal investigator with 25+ years of experience.

My personal advice is to take the stats people are posting with a grain of salt, even my own. They are good relative starting point, but what is most important about my experiences is the experience I was able to gain and then express in my application's statements. My experiences also allowed me to network with all sorts of individuals and professionals throughout undergrad. I got to know them and they got to know me, professionally and personally, and therefore they were able to provide me with great letters of recommendation. I am proud to have each of my letter writers support and I know they will be a part of my life for the rest of my life.

I would suggest looking at sincerelymeagan.com. She attended Columbia and recently graduated. She provides great insight into the application process and what it is like to live in NY and study at Columbia. I used her blog as a guide when applying to programs.

Your background is super solid! Do you mind me asking which DNP track did you get into?

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6 minutes ago, momo90 said:

Was accepted into MDE/DNP (Family NP track). Congrats to all the applicants, getting to where you are now and submitting your app is a huge accomplishment.

I am about to complete my undergrad in psych after leaving school to work for a few years. Took about half of my pre-reqs through Johns Hopkins online, gpa 4.0, Undergrad gpa 3.98 but have some lower grades on my transcripts from the first chunk of my undergrad years ago. Employed full time in a high-stress non-medical field while finishing my degree and volunteering in NYC emergency room for 3.5+ years.

I agree with others who said that Columbia is being serious when they say that they take a holistic look applications. They give you many opportunities to show them who you are and help them get to know you as a person. I attended two info sessions and sent brief thank you emails afterwards. At the second info session they said they wanted to see in your app that you would make a good nurse and that you’re someone that could manage the rigor of the program (not just getting good grades but being able to manage the pace, workload, stress, people skills). Take your time on your essays, put everything you’re proud of onto your resume (no page limit), and plan/practice your answer the video essay. Don’t stress about the timed writing. I also second someone who recommended sincerelymeagan, her blog was helpful to me as well as stylebysumiyah.

Must be super busy to finish your undergrad and work full-time. I work 40-45 hours a week and take 1-2 prerequisites per semester and I already feel stressed out.

I have to take my microbiology online. Can you share your experience with Johns Hopkin online? Did you like it?

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Hey I know it’s a wild question but does anyone here plan on working during their MDE?

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@JRoseC427 yes it was a lot! hang in there, you can do it

yes I liked the JHU online pre-reqs a lot! It goes by quickly, you learn a lot, blackboard site is clear, online labs allow you to keep doing them until you get 100% or the due date passes, and they do a good job of relating clinical medicine to the science. It is not self-paced but you do sort of have to be a self-starter to make sure you get everything done, but the expectations are clear. Definitely recommend. Good luck on your journey!

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3 minutes ago, momo90 said:

@JRoseC427 yes it was a lot! hang in there, you can do it

yes I liked the JHU online pre-reqs a lot! It goes by quickly, you learn a lot, blackboard site is clear, online labs allow you to keep doing them until you get 100% or the due date passes, and they do a good job of relating clinical medicine to the science. It is not self-paced but you do sort of have to be a self-starter to make sure you get everything done, but the expectations are clear. Definitely recommend. Good luck on your journey!

On your transcript, does it say online?

And thank you! Congrats on the acceptance! I visited Columbia SON just two weeks ago and it was definitely state of the art!

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@JRoseC427 I’m not sure what the official transcript says but probably does say online. I wouldn’t use them to apply to a program that requires in-person science courses, obviously because it’s both risky and I think that the JHU ones are pretty well known, but if the school you’re applying to allows online, my sense was that they were well-regarded (I actually heard about them from the first Columbia info session as a way that a lot of students complete their pre-reqs)

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13 minutes ago, amandaruizu said:

Hey I know it’s a wild question but does anyone here plan on working during their MDE?

I am still choosing between two programs but I think if I choose Columbia I would try to keep some PRN hours at my current job or even do something like nannying, maybe not during the first crazy summer semester but after that. I do really need/want to work during the DNP portion, though, I don’t think I can stay in nyc and not work at all for 3.5 years. I’m hoping to find out more about what other people are doing at the accepted students’ day in Feb..

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1 minute ago, momo90 said:

I am still choosing between two programs but I think if I choose Columbia I would try to keep some PRN hours at my current job or even do something like nannying, maybe not during the first crazy summer semester but after that. I do really need/want to work during the DNP portion, though, I don’t think I can stay in nyc and not work at all for 3.5 years. I’m hoping to find out more about what other people are doing at the accepted students’ day in Feb..

I’m most likely going to Columbia but I completely agree...I have to work due to my circumstances but I plan on going per diem with my job where I can pick up shifts whenever I want versus me being scheduled to work indefinitely. I’m not sure if I‘ll work during the summer because I know that’s the roughest semester (from what I’ve heard) I may pick up shifts occasionally..

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23 minutes ago, momo90 said:

@JRoseC427 I’m not sure what the official transcript says but probably does say online. I wouldn’t use them to apply to a program that requires in-person science courses, obviously because it’s both risky and I think that the JHU ones are pretty well known, but if the school you’re applying to allows online, my sense was that they were well-regarded (I actually heard about them from the first Columbia info session as a way that a lot of students complete their pre-reqs)

Something I heard from the admission two weeks ago. They are about to launch their own online program for students to take prereqs similar to JHU's I can assume.

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