Direct-entry MSN programs

smile123 · Jul 3, 2005

Hello,
My program is 107 credit hours, I wonder how it compares, (this is just the MSN, not the certificate of NP, that is extra).
Also, can we compare costs too? DePaul's credit hours 107 will cost about 42,500.
I am glad as all get out to be in, now I am only working out logistics of financing. :) OH, then to live in the UCC center, (which I am filling out the application asap) will cost another 11,390 a year. So, my total for tuition and room will be $65280. This is for the MSN, in order to get the np certificate I will continue, (I think another year~20,000) so the total would come out to about $85,000. Gosh, I guess this may not leave too much total grad school funds left, (I think the total is $185,000) for the clinical doctorate. Wait, I guess it will indeed leave some left! I am really glad I wrote this out and did the math. I thought I would have left available than I actually will. :)
Goodie.
Gen

Hi Gen,

To answer your questions about the credits:

Hopkins:

1st 13 months for BSN: 55 semester credits

2nd and 3rd year for MSN: 42 to 53 semester credits depending on which speciality you are doing (PNP, ANP and Acute care are 42 credits, FNP is 53)

Total credit hours for BSN/MSN: 97 to 108 credits (depending on the program)

Estimated Tuition:

1st year (13 months) $44,595 ($991 per credit)

2nd and 3rd year: $41622 to $52523 (depending on which program focus)

Total: $86217 to $97118 (for 3 years)

So yes, it does cost a pretty penny to go into these programs! But realize, many people work part time or full time during the master's portion and the hospital will pay for a portion of their tuition. For example, if you work full time at Hopkins hospital, they will pay 100% of your tuition for that semester (of course, you can only take classes part time, so this is really 2 classes a semester instead of 4 or 5).

It's just the 1st year that is so intense that they say you cannot really work (I agree being in the program right now!)

So people take out lots of loans either subsidized or subsidized (fill out that Fafsa!), govt direct or private loans through banks (make sure you still show you are working!) :wink2:

Welcome to the club! :-D

Smile123

Gennaver, MSN · Jul 3, 2005

Hi Gen,
To answer your questions about the credits:
Hopkins:
1st 13 months for BSN: 55 semester credits
2nd and 3rd year for MSN: 42 to 53 semester credits depending on which speciality you are doing (PNP, ANP and Acute care are 42 credits, FNP is 53)
Total credit hours for BSN/MSN: 97 to 108 credits (depending on the program)
Estimated Tuition:
1st year (13 months) $44,595 ($991 per credit)
2nd and 3rd year: $41622 to $52523 (depending on which program focus)
Total: $86217 to $97118 (for 3 years)
So yes, it does cost a pretty penny to go into these programs!
----
So people take out lots of loans either subsidized or subsidized (fill out that Fafsa!), govt direct or private loans through banks (make sure you still show you are working!) :wink2:
Welcome to the club! :-D
Smile123

Thanks Smile,

I will be taking those loans! I am so thrilled too at how things are working out. My husband is very encouraging about me staying in the University campus center downtown and that is such a good feeling.

This is a big investment but also a very big deal. :) Gosh, DePaul allows only once grade of C, if you get a second one, you are out. So, staying on campus is a very good idea.

A fellow MENP student and I are going to be roomies, (the UCC only has the four person four bedroom units left which have two bathrooms, and one kitchen, one common room and four private bedrooms-studio type rooms with locks on the doors and lcosets). This should help too.

Gen

Jess RN · Jul 3, 2005

Hi Gen!

BC's program has 40 credits for the RN piece which takes 12 months. The tuition is 876.00 per credit hour or a little over 35K.

The masters portion has 30 credits at the same tuition so the MSN piece costs 26K.

So total credit hours = 70 and total cost = 61K.

My program requires the least number of credit hours (and clinical hours too!) for this type of program in the Boston area- I think the norm is more like 90+hrs. It is much more common at BC to take a leave of absence after the RN is complete and work as a nurse before returning to the Master's portion than many of the programs I looked at in the area. The fast pace and comparably light credit and clinical hours may be a reason why. BC was pretty generous with non-need based aid (I didn't fill out FAFSA) and I have about 1/3 of the tuition remitted. I can only assume they are similarly generous with need-based grants, loans etc.

I'm slogging through Micro - my last pre req- I just want to get started learning about NURSING already!!! So excited for the fall!

-Jess

smile123 · Jul 3, 2005

Thanks Smile,
I will be taking those loans! I am so thrilled too at how things are working out. My husband is very encouraging about me staying in the University campus center downtown and that is such a good feeling.
This is a big investment but also a very big deal. :) Gosh, DePaul allows only once grade of C, if you get a second one, you are out. So, staying on campus is a very good idea.
A fellow MENP student and I are going to be roomies, (the UCC only has the four person four bedroom units left which have two bathrooms, and one kitchen, one common room and four private bedrooms-studio type rooms with locks on the doors and lcosets). This should help too.
Gen

Hi Gen,

I think you are doing the right thing by staying on campus. If you commuted back and forth all those hours, you would not be good company for your husband because you would be in study stress mode, not relax mode! I have a similar arrangement for housing (I livein a unit with 4 BR, 2BA, 1 kitchen, common area, locks on rooms and apt, all util's and high speed internet included) at a private housing high rise; they built it with students in mind. It's perfect for my needs! My roomies and I have a built in study group or we study separately in our rooms or at the library. It works well.

Back to studying!

Smile123

Gennaver, MSN · Jul 4, 2005

Hi Gen!
BC's program has 40 credits for the RN piece which takes 12 months. The tuition is 876.00 per credit hour or a little over 35K.
The masters portion has 30 credits at the same tuition so the MSN piece costs 26K.
So total credit hours = 70 and total cost = 61K.
---
I'm slogging through Micro - my last pre req- I just want to get started learning about NURSING already!!! So excited for the fall!
-Jess

Hi,

Thanks for answering! Now I feel a little better, we are all investing in our future as well as are our families too.

Good luck with the end of Micro Jess. My organic chem, (a five week course) starts next Monday, July 11th. I imagine my visits here will be sporifice for a while. OH, the class ends on Aug 15th, the day after move in for the UCC housing.

I am very glad that my hubby is positive about me staying on campus Smile, I almost held it off until the Jan semester and he reminded me that I might loose the room, that they are going quick. Besides, he will visit me up there and I will come home, (although not every week, that would be too much I think, maybe we will switch off by him visiting me one friday and me returning here the next Friday-its only a train ride away). The study stress mode is a very serious issue between us as we learned my last year undergrad, (took 42 credits over summer, falll and spring).

Gen

p.s. happy 4th!!

Gen

Jess RN · Jul 4, 2005

Hi,
Thanks for answering! Now I feel a little better, we are all investing in our future as well as are our families too.
Good luck with the end of Micro Jess. My organic chem, (a five week course) starts next Monday, July 11th. I imagine my visits here will be sporifice for a while. OH, the class ends on Aug 15th, the day after move in for the UCC housing.
I am very glad that my hubby is positive about me staying on campus Smile, I almost held it off until the Jan semester and he reminded me that I might loose the room, that they are going quick. Besides, he will visit me up there and I will come home, (although not every week, that would be too much I think, maybe we will switch off by him visiting me one friday and me returning here the next Friday-its only a train ride away). The study stress mode is a very serious issue between us as we learned my last year undergrad, (took 42 credits over summer, falll and spring).
Gen
p.s. happy 4th!!
Gen

Good luck with Orgo Gen- I just finished Orgo last week and it wasn't as bad as I expected it to be. It is a very cumulative science though- everything builds on what you last learned- so it's important to keep up with the problem sets and get help immediately if you get confused. You will do great!

I think that's awesome about you living on campus. I think that will WAY relieve your stress. I don't think that commute, plus class, plus clinicals and studying would even be do-able imho. I think the quality of time you will spend with your hubby will be greatly imporved by this option.

Happy independance day all!!

-Jess

elizabells, BSN, RN · Jul 5, 2005

Hey Gen -

I think our program has a 96% pass rate, and I think we worked out the math to like, $1100/credit! Owie.

Re my Dr appt, I'll just say this: if you take an SSRI (Prozac, Celexa, etc), don't let yourself run out. I have never been that sick in my life. It was the weirdest combo of exhaustion, nausea, and this weird electrical shock in my hands feeling (parasthesia). Blech.

Gennaver, MSN · Jul 5, 2005

Hey Gen -
I think our program has a 96% pass rate, and I think we worked out the math to like, $1100/credit! Owie.
Re my Dr appt, I'll just say this: if you take an SSRI (Prozac, Celexa, etc), don't let yourself run out. I have never been that sick in my life. It was the weirdest combo of exhaustion, nausea, and this weird electrical shock in my hands feeling (parasthesia). Blech.

Elizabells,

Hey! Hope you feel better soon! I suspect that it may take a month or so, (maybe not) until that blechy feeling totally disappears, hope I am wrong!

Good idea to make sure to maintain our health and wellness while we are working so hard. So, at the first chance of alarm, take action, (rest or nourish or call the -primary care provider-).

Gen

Jess RN · Jul 5, 2005

Hey Gen -
I think our program has a 96% pass rate, and I think we worked out the math to like, $1100/credit! Owie.
Re my Dr appt, I'll just say this: if you take an SSRI (Prozac, Celexa, etc), don't let yourself run out. I have never been that sick in my life. It was the weirdest combo of exhaustion, nausea, and this weird electrical shock in my hands feeling (parasthesia). Blech.

I think our program has a pass rate in the 90s as well- though I'm not sure of the exact numbers. At the info session they said that last year everyone in the MEPN program passed the NCLEX- but I think the pass rate is the average of several years of data.

Elizabells- I'm so sorry you are feeling crummy. Its so true about keeping a theraputic blood level of SSRIs. I took Paxil a few years back for anxiety/depression and I had to be really careful to wean slowly to avoid a relapse or other icky symptoms. I'm glad you were able to figure out what the problem was and get it under control quickly.

-Jess

GrnHonu99, RN · Jul 6, 2005

:smackingf Well guys,

I have officialy made it though half of my first semester as an MN student!!! It has been soooo challenging! I have never had to work this hard at anything in my life before. There are nights thur far that I haven't known what sleep is.

2 of my classes were only 6 weeks, first skills lab and professional roles and issues so those are over now! I got an A in prof roles and got an S in skills lab (S/U). I took my very first clinical practicals and I was sooo nervous...LOL..one of our skills was to spike, prime and hang a piggy back from a main bag...well...since we reused the same PG to practice with I had taken both caps off the bottom..well when I did the skill for my CPE, I stood there trying to spike the wrong hole! :smackingf I realized though and she let me start over and I PASSED THEM ALL! WHEW!

I start my very first clinical tommorrow! Anyway, enough rambling, good luck everyone....study hard!

Gennaver, MSN · Jul 6, 2005

:smackingf Well guys,
I have officialy made it though half of my first semester as an MN student!!! It has been soooo challenging! I have never had to work this hard at anything in my life before. There are nights thur far that I haven't known what sleep is.
2 of my classes were only 6 weeks, first skills lab and professional roles and issues so those are over now! I got an A in prof roles and got an S in skills lab (S/U). I took my very first clinical practicals and I was sooo nervous...LOL..one of our skills was to spike, prime and hang a piggy back from a main bag...well...since we reused the same PG to practice with I had taken both caps off the bottom..well when I did the skill for my CPE, I stood there trying to spike the wrong hole! :smackingf I realized though and she let me start over and I PASSED THEM ALL! WHEW!
I start my very first clinical tommorrow! Anyway, enough rambling, good luck everyone....study hard!

Good luck!

Congratulations also, well done! Phew, the intensity is something that I am trying to prepare for come Sept. 5th.

Gen

elizabells, BSN, RN · Jul 7, 2005

four more weeks, they say the summer's the worst, just four more weeks, then I can sleep...

mommy, make the mean pharmacology monster stop hitting me in the head!!!