Direct Entry MSN 2020 at Columbia University

momo90, MSN · Jul 29, 2020

I hope others will also chime in so that you get a mix of thoughts. Here's mine:

First- if Columbia is your dream school, apply! The application doesn't take an excessive amount of time to complete, and even if you decide later that there's somewhere else that is better fit for you, it never hurts to have options.

Second- The world is changing so quickly right now that I can almost guarantee that our experience will not be your experience, so again, if you love Columbia, apply!

To answer your questions:

1. It is CRAZY expensive. I really struggled with this because I am paying for this all myself, but I hope that going into medicine is a good investment and ultimately either we pay it off one month at a time, or hopefully get a job somewhere that offers tuition repayment assistance, or another program that helps with the debt like public service loan forgiveness. I think this is a very personal conversation to have with your family and maybe see what your financial aid package is first before you worry too much about it. I received some merit scholarships but not a ton and I'm not sure if others got a lot more or less; the handful of people I know received the same or less than me but that's a small sample size. I might hesitate to take out $100k in loans for the MDE only, but then again a ton of people do that and it's just fine for them. I was more willing to stomach the cost because DNPs generally are paid well right from graduation and this is the fastest route to a DNP so theoretically start making that salary faster. Columbia has NOT reduced our tuition (they say it is a University decision not a SON decision) but it's a sore spot in our cohort for sure because we're losing a chunk of clinical time and have not had access to a lot of the Columbia "perks."

2. I can't speak to the later portions of the program but the first Summer is intense. I didn't believe it would be so bad because I worked FT while in school, but it was a LOT. It's not rocket science, it's just a ton of work. I think if you can imagine taking 6-7 of your nursing science pre-requisites at once in 10 weeks, that's what it's like. There are no extracurriculars for us to participate in in right now but I am still finding time to exercise/make dinner most days. I spend a good chunk of my weekend studying and watching lectures, I would say (on average) for me it's probably 8 hours a day M-F and maybe 6 hours a day on Sat/Sun, but everyone is different. We have a ton of pre-recorded lectures to watch in addition to "synchronous" Zoom classes during the week, plus reading/studying/making flashcards. The previous cohort was in-person and all synchronous classes so my understanding is that they were basically on-campus and in class 30 hours a week and had a full day of clinical as well, so a similar time commitment of about 40 hours during the week and a lot of study work on the weekend. 10 weeks flies by and even if you're miserable and have no fun, it's worth it to lose part of one Summer to get where you want to go in life. The DNP is supposed to be a LOT better, we only have classes and clinical a couple days a week.

3. I don't think you pay extra for the global immersion experience but I assume you pay for travel expenses, though not 100% sure. They are pushing to give us the global experience in the Spring but no guarantees with COVID travel restrictions and clinical site willingness to host students. The cohort ahead of us did not get to do global or local immersion because of COVID.

Hope this is helpful and good luck with your application.

TP0917 · Jul 29, 2020

Thank you for responding @momo90 !! That was so helpful, and you have given me a lot to think about. I am definitely going to apply to Columbia, I am just hoping that they give scholarships or I find another way to pay for it. But if not, you are totally right, DNPs have a great starting salary, so it will pay off. The Summer sounds really intense, I hope it dials down in the coming semesters. Wishing you the best of luck and success this semester:)

oneday_nursepoundcake · Jul 29, 2020

On 7/28/2020 at 3:00 PM, TP0917 said:
Hi guys,
I am applying to the MDE/DNP program for family medicine and Columbia is honestly my dream school. However, after reading all these posts in literally every single MDE Columbia forum LOL, I am starting to have a few concerns and I would really appreciate it if someone could address them...
1. First, the MDE/DNP program seems super super expensive. For those of you who are currently in the program, do you think the price is worth it? And does Columbia give a lot of Scholarships or any full scholarships? Also, did Columbia reduce tuition since you guys are now online?
2. I am a new grad from a good research university, and I was just wondering how Columbia’s rigor and coursework compare to undergraduate programs? Do you guys have time for yourself, and time to participate in Columbia's extracurriculars?
3. Do you know if we have to pay extra for the global initiative's program and if that is worth it?
I apologize for the number of questions I asked LOL I know it is a lot. I am just really anxious because Columbia is definitely my top school, and it is pretty much the only one I am even focusing on atm (I am applying to 5 other programs). I just want to make sure that I am making a smart decision by applying here and possibly dedicating 4 years of my life and 200k+ in loans for this degree/school.

Hi! In my first semester of MDE here too and definitely suggest applying (especially when it's early and you happen to have time/energy -- no harm in having as many options as possible). I was actually NOT going to apply to Columbia due to cost concerns but made a pretty late decision to do it anyway, and am happy to be here. Even with all the crazy changes we've had to live with due to covid.

It's hard for me to compare Columbia to other schools nationally because I am already in NYC, and Columbia had a lot of advantages over other nursing school options here locally (esp. the master's degree w the RN). While our Summer has been intense, it has still been pretty doable for me once getting in the groove (and I'm a parent to 2 kids). There's definitely a feeling that all the profs and your peers want you to succeed and no one gets left behind if they work hard. I come from a non-science professional background and actually sweated some of my pre-requisites back at community college much more.

Not sure if this helps, but definitely wish you and all other folks who are beginning this process luck!

TP0917 · Jul 30, 2020

Thank you so much for your insight @oneday_nursepoundcake !! Its great hearing about the supportive faculty and peers! I was honestly worried Columbia wouldn’t have the most supportive environment, since the cohort is so big, it seemed like it would be difficult to create these strong relationships with professors.

risingsun172 · Oct 22, 2020

On 2/6/2020 at 11:17 AM, kvt1013 said:

I think scholarship information is posted. I just got offered a $25k scholarship through an honors program. It should be posted in your financial aid portion of the application (if you filled it out by the deadline in December)

Hi super random question, is this the total scholarship or were you offered the 25k for each semester of the MDE program?

momo90, MSN · Oct 22, 2020

1 hour ago, samiam0508 said:

Hi super random question, is this the total scholarship or were you offered the 25k for each semester of the MDE program?

The Honors scholarship is $25k for the whole program, I would have to go back and check but I think that they applied it to fall and Spring semesters only at $12,500 each

Luna_0 · Oct 22, 2020

Hi there,

I recently submitted an application for the 2021 cohort and I wanted to ask for y'alls opinion on submitting an updated resume after the deadline? I wanted to add a description to my hobbies and interests so admissions could get a better picture of who I am versus just a simple list of hobbies. Would this count against me in any way?

Thanks so much in advance!

momo90, MSN · Oct 26, 2020

On 10/22/2020 at 4:49 PM, Luna_0 said:

Hi there,

I recently submitted an application for the 2021 cohort and I wanted to ask for y'alls opinion on submitting an updated resume after the deadline? I wanted to add a description to my hobbies and interests so admissions could get a better picture of who I am versus just a simple list of hobbies. Would this count against me in any way?

Thanks so much in advance!

Hi- I think it depends on how important these are to your app. If you think it's make-or-break then I would email (or call) admissions and ask about updating your resume. If they're just adding a little more color, I might not bother, but it doesn't hurt to ask someone in admissions either way I guess. I also remember that there was an email sent out to everyone who had applied in ~early January requesting our fall semester grades to be submitted to the application portal, so maybe that is a good time to update your resume as well?

Good luck!

nphopeful404 · Nov 10, 2020

On 7/29/2020 at 5:27 PM, oneday_nursepoundcake said:

Hi! In my first semester of MDE here too and definitely suggest applying (especially when it's early and you happen to have time/energy -- no harm in having as many options as possible). I was actually NOT going to apply to Columbia due to cost concerns but made a pretty late decision to do it anyway, and am happy to be here. Even with all the crazy changes we've had to live with due to covid.

It's hard for me to compare Columbia to other schools nationally because I am already in NYC, and Columbia had a lot of advantages over other nursing school options here locally (esp. the master's degree w the RN). While our Summer has been intense, it has still been pretty doable for me once getting in the groove (and I'm a parent to 2 kids). There's definitely a feeling that all the profs and your peers want you to succeed and no one gets left behind if they work hard. I come from a non-science professional background and actually sweated some of my pre-requisites back at community college much more.

Not sure if this helps, but definitely wish you and all other folks who are beginning this process luck!

Hi! You're sort of getting to my question, but I will be applying to the DE program next year after taking prerequisite courses. Due to financial strains I am choosing a local community college for my pre-reqs over Harvard extension or something of the elk. Based on your and other peer's experiences, it does not seem that Columbia cares significantly?

oneday_nursepoundcake · Nov 10, 2020

12 minutes ago, nphopeful404 said:

Hi! You're sort of getting to my question, but I will be applying to the DE program next year after taking prerequisite courses. Due to financial strains I am choosing a local community college for my pre-reqs over Harvard extension or something of the elk. Based on your and other peer's experiences, it does not seem that Columbia cares significantly?

No, I don't think it matters where your pre-requisites come from. But I will say that the science (A&P and Chemistry in particular) ones I took at community college (in the CUNY system) were actually more brutal and competitive than any classes I've had at Columbia so far -- as crazy as that sounds -- since those programs are also weeding out people trying to get into the community college nursing programs. So if you're also trying to work a lot and don't want to deal with that, you may examine other avenues. Psych/nutrition/stats at community college were all super-easy, however.

nphopeful404 · Nov 10, 2020

11 minutes ago, oneday_nursepoundcake said:

No, I don't think it matters where your pre-requisites come from. But I will say that the science (A&P and Chemistry in particular) ones I took at community college (in the CUNY system) were actually more brutal and competitive than any classes I've had at Columbia so far -- as crazy as that sounds -- since those programs are also weeding out people trying to get into the community college nursing programs. So if you're also trying to work a lot and don't want to deal with that, you may examine other avenues. Psych/nutrition/stats at community college were all super-easy, however.

Thank you so much!! I will look into those classes further; I appreciate it so much.

momo90, MSN · Nov 10, 2020

Definitely doesn’t matter where you do them! Fwiw I really liked the Johns Hopkins pre-reqs. They’re on the pricier side compared to a CC but I thought they were easy enough and not a competitive environment at all bc it’s very self-paced within each module week. I would prob skip harvard extension, their science classes can be tough and there’s def a ton of med school hopefuls which is a whole dif vibe (not bad just different!)

good luck!!?

edit to add that I can’t remember for Columbia but some schools required a lab component so just make sure that if you need that, it’s included in whichever classes you chose. I know you can email admissions and have them sign off on the class syllabus beforehand too. Not sure what the pricing is but I believe MGH Nursing also offers prereqs.