Direct Entry MSN Programs 2013

morganw1 · Jul 20, 2012

Hopefulnurse24

I just finished my personal statement as well( glad we are all starting early!). You're right that Duke is different, I think I have the least chance there:( I feel like it's too competitive for me so I'm saying it's my "reach" school. lol. Columbia is both a BSN and a MSN I think that's why it's very expensive but still my first choice. Duke you can also go to MSN, it looks like a great program. With your stats I am sure you're going to get in..truly I would be surprised if you didn't.

Kdiem

Thanks for the insight on Marquette Kdiem, I wanted to apply there too. That's very interesting because the school is so beautiful. The city I guess wouldn't be as fun considering it is Wisconsin but still the campus and reputation for the school other than nursing is great. I just finished Yale's statement, it's a tough one. I'm getting it reviewed next week with my adviser.

I think Fullerton is like that because it's too competitive out here and since it is a lower tuition everyone wants to go. No other places had my interest other than UCSF.

hopefulnurse24 · Jul 20, 2012

Morganw - thank you for the kind words of encouragement, but you never know with any of these schools! They are all so competitive and looking for so many different things. I was reading one old thread, I can't remember which school it was for... and someone had done volunteer work in Africa with children! I definitely don't have that kind of volunteer experience., And you never know where you will get in either! You may have a great chance at getting into Duke! I have heard that they take around 70 people. And I think part of reason behind the high cost at Columbia is the high cost of living in NYC. Are you planning on applying to JHU?

I am still going to apply to Marquette! I'm excited about the hospitals in the area, and I feel that the low cost of living in Milwaukee, combined with the great program and hospitals, will be a good fit for me.

UVA Grad Nursing · Jul 20, 2012

I'd encourage folks to look at the state schools as well. Even if you are not an instate resident of that place, the out-of-state tuition at Kentucky, Maryland, Virginia, UCLA, Michigan, Indiana and other Top 20 schools will be less than 1/2 of the tuition at many of the privates. For example, full-time tuition at our Master's Entry program is only 25K/year for out-of-state students.

hopefulnurse24 · Jul 20, 2012

Hi! I had looked into both Virginia and UCLA, but they don't offer direct entry programs for NP, just CNL. The other schools do not have any type of direct entry programs. UCLA also requires chemistry, organic chemistry, and biochemistry. Thank you for the advice though!

morganw1 · Jul 20, 2012

I looked in to UCLA as well since its fairly close to me already. Michigan has a second degree program which is just like an ABSN. They don't have pediatric acute care just pediatric NP and a Peds Nurse Midwife specialty. My friend applied there and got waislisted. I don't know much about the school or the program though. I don't think I would go to Kentucky or Maryland.I also looked in to VCU but I think I was missing some prerequisites for them, I don't recall I looked into them a while back.

kdiem · Jul 20, 2012

It's not necessary a summer vs fall entry that would make a program more rigorous. But in JHU's case, their summer entry is only 13 months long vs. the fall program which is 17 months long. My friend said a lot of the students who started out as summer entry students switched to the fall entry because it was so fast paced. But if you think you can handle the pace, then finishing the BSN program in just a little over a year is great! And yes, I'm so glad that JHU does not require the GRE :)

The Yale statement just seems so extreme with a 6-part question essay. But I do have a personal statement for Penn that covers many questions that other schools are asking. I can't believe Columbia and Penn's application is due on October 15... that's less than 2 months from now! Are any of you two applying to Penn?

hopefulnurse24 · Jul 20, 2012

Ah, interesting to know about summer entry! I was going to apply for fall entry anyways, but I'm definitely going to now that you told me that! And that is crazy about Yale's essay... JHU has 5 questions we need to answer, I think, maybe 4. I am especially concerned about the diversity question - that'll require a lot thought! I'm currently brainstorming.

I am applying to Penn, for now. My application is almost complete. I am going to submit most of my applications within the next week or 2 except for that one. For that program, I will probably submit it after I see how my GRE scores are this upcoming month. I can't believe the deadline is so soon! Then JHU and Boston College in November, both Duke and Marquette are sometime in December, Northeastern is January 15th... and maybe UF's ABSN February 1st. I'm still thinking about University of Cincinnati, and UAB only has a spring admit date, so I have a lot of time to think about that program (read: if I don't get in anywhere). It's an awesome program, and has a really cool specialty for me (I could get certified in both regular peds, and acute care peds which is AWESOME), but I'm not sure how I'd feel about waiting to start, especially when I could hear back from all of the other places I'm applying to for fall. It stinks its only a spring entry program, I got so excited about it when I found it :cry:

The only program I'm going to wait to submit my application to is UPenn, just because I want to see how competitive my GRE scores are after I take them again next month... I will probably save my money if they are not high enough for the program! So we will see! If anyone has any information on average GRE scores for that program, and average number of admitted students, that would be wonderful!

morganw1 · Jul 22, 2012

Does anyone know exactly how much JHU is? They have a loan repayment option too but only for CNS applicants, I wish they had one for NP too. Do you guys think I should apply? I feel like I have too many options...and they applications aren't necessarily free. Not that that truly matters but I want to spend money on the places I have a great chance for. Minus my GPA Cumulative. I know I will have at least a 3.5 prerequisites for most schools. Hopeful, did you look at the threads for JHU? If they're any? Sometimes people go to the open houses and get that information and are nice enough to post it up.

ltcwall · Jul 22, 2012

Northeastern has a new direct entry online program that begins sept, jan and may

hopefulnurse24 · Jul 23, 2012

Hey morganw - no idea about the cost, I'm guessing probably 20k in tuition. However, I googled some old threads on JHU, and found out it is rather expensive, but that the program allows great flexibility in that you can go to school part time in the masters portion, and work part time or full time as an RN at their hospital. I googled JHU Hospital nursing, and found out from their website (hopkinsnursing.org) that they will reimburse full time nurses 10,000 per year for education, and will also allow you to enroll in their zero interest loan for JHU employees. So that's interesting, too.

Also, it's hard to know where anyone will be most competitive, because all of these schools look for so many different things. If you have good GRE scores, I would just apply where you could see yourself going to school and living, and see what happens! I understand what you mean about the application fees. I had to do some serious thinking about where I was going to apply. For example, Yale and Vanderbilt and Columbia were all on my lists, but I had to be realistic. None of them offer my particular specialty, and while they're all wonderful programs, their hospitals don't have great loan repayment options like Duke and JHU do, and I know that I couldn't afford to live in NYC without some serious debt anyways, so that made it easy to cut them from my options.

So basically, when I chose the schools I decided to apply to, I thought about where I could really see myself working and living. I decided on Duke because it's an awesome program with great professors and clinical rotations, cost of living is low, great loan repayment option if you work for Duke Hospital, and I love the idea of living in North Carolina. Then, I chose Marquette because they have a great children's hospital in Milwaukee, they offer my specialty, the cost of living isn't too high there, and I have always heard good things about the school. UPenn was on my list because it offers my specialty, its a great school with wonderful hospitals in the area, and it's located in an awesome town. Northeastern appealed to me because it was in Boston, where they have some of the best hospitals in America so there would be great opportunities for clinicals, and they offer my specialty. And so on and so forth. It took a lot of time and thinking, but I'm excited about my list of schools. And I have my first and second choices, but I think I would be happy at any of these schools if any of them accepted me, no matter what. That's what is most important!

morganw1 · Jul 23, 2012

Hopeful,

you're right about having to figure out who offers your specialty and that was a big one for me. It's why I didn't do places like UCLA and U San Francisco. I'm sure they have wonderful programs but it's just a clinical nurse leader. Which is something I don't want to be. Your specialty is also specific and apparently only some schools do have it. What made you want to become one? with both our specialties death is a factor we will have to endure. I have had practice with it in my internship but dealing with children is different ( and not for everyone). I do see the bright side, saving lives which is the same with my specialty. Also, JHU does seem worth it now with the loan program options and I think that should have been one of my deciding factors. But, I think the idea of big cities decides for me even though cost will be my issue. I want to get out and explore other places. I will be doing some serious researching with scholarships and Columbia has a long list of them on their website. We will see if I get in somewhere though. I don't want to get my hopes up. They accept a lot of people which is probably my best bet.

Marquette is beautiful to me. I wanted to apply there at first but I couldn't see myself living and working there like you can. I think I read they accept a fair amount of people too so that's always a good thing. It's not like here with state schools that only accept MAX 40 people out of thousands who apply. Basically because of budget, If I had everything going for me I would try and stay in California just for family purposes. How do you feel about Notheastern with acceptance rates? I know its 24 people. As I said before, your stats are up there. you have a great chance. I'm applying to UNC's BSN, they allow entry applicants to apply and it's just two years and then two-three years depending on master's specialty. It's a different case for me because I'd be working and living there for a good amount of time. I don't want to say it's a backup plan but it wouldn't be a bad one. Still getting a BSN and a Masters for nursing which I think is the best option. I think they are having budget problems as well so that's always something I factor in. They have an ABSN but it's rather competitive so I might as well apply and stick it out for two years instead of one.Not a huge deal to me. but, the BSN doesn't accept LOR's which could be bad for me. and No GRE which is good and bad. GPA min for BSN is just 2.5. So again, mixed chances for me.

hopefulnurse24 · Jul 26, 2012

Hi there! I have been volunteering in the critical care field and just absolutely love it - the complexity of the issues these children face really interest me. I also enjoy working with children, and have done it for a long time. I have a ton of other reasons but don't want to go on and on and bore you! I agree that its an incredibly sad field, but typically, the bad outweighs the good and it's awesome to get to have such a large impact over these children's lives.

I am sure you will get in somewhere! I wouldn't worry. Applying to a wide range of schools is good, and that's exactly what you are doing! I don't know that I have a strong chance at getting in at Northeastern. 24 people is a very, very small class. That scares me. My stats are alright, but I do have one grade forgiveness on my transcript, along with a few W's, so it is not as great as it may seem.. although I'm thinking they're pretty forgiving with that kind of thing, who knows what they may really think? So I'm nervous...

UNC is certainly facing some budget cuts but it would be an awesome place to go to school! That's a great idea to apply there!