Direct Entry Programs- How hard to get in?

Nursing Students Pre-Nursing

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Thanks for all of your responses to all of my previous posts. As you probably assume, I'm evaluating all of my options including ADN, BSN, and Direct-Entry MSN. The direct entry programs look extremely appealing, but seeing that they are at the best of colleges, I don't know how easy they are to get in.

Does anyone know what the typical GPA, scores, acceptance rates of these programs are? Anyone have any experience applying?

I'm in MD, so I'd consider Hopkins, but Columbia, MGHI in Mass, Case Western, Vanderbilt, Pace, and Yale also look appealing.

Seeing as nursing traditionally isn't an "ivy league" profession, are the credentials required for these programs less than what a typical "ivy" student would need?

I'd love to hear experiences with any programs.........

Congratulations

Glad to hear your news!!

Nothing from BC or MGH- but....

I got my acceptance letter from Regis! Yay!!!! I'm so relieved!!!!

-Jess

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Nothing from BC or MGH- but....

I got my acceptance letter from Regis! Yay!!!! I'm so relieved!!!!

-Jess

Wooohooooo :balloons: :balloons: :balloons: :balloons:

Congrats Jess !! Looks like you may be needing to make some tough decisions in the coming weeks. Good luck!

-Jen

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Specializes in Postpartum.

:balloons: :balloons: :balloons: :balloons: :balloons: :balloons: :balloons: :balloons: :balloons: :balloons: :balloons: :balloons: :balloons: :balloons: :balloons: :balloons:

Thanks guys! I'm so happy!! Yipppeeeee!!!!

-Jess

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Nothing from BC or MGH- but....

I got my acceptance letter from Regis! Yay!!!! I'm so relieved!!!!

-Jess

Congratulations!!! That's one in the bag and 2 more to go! :balloons:

Smile123

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Thanks Emily for sharing! I think the focus area is particularly important; the more popular ones like mid-wiferery, FNP and ANP are the hardest to get into. For the 5 recommendations, did you only add 1 new one or did you resubmit 5 new ones? Congratulations again!

Smile123

I only had to add one letter of rec. They kept the other 4 from my previous application. In total I had 2 letters from my current job, 2 letters from different hospital volunteer jobs, and one letter from a nurse practitioner.

Thanks, everyone for all your well wishes and support. I wish you all the best of luck!

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Did UCSF allow an unlimited # of recs? I only ask because MGH stated in the application specifically to only include 3 recs- no more thn three would be read. So, I just kind of assumed that was the deal at BC too and only submitted three (which is what they requested) there too.

Should I have submitted more I wonder?

-Jess

UCSF didn't specifically say *don't* include extra recommendations. But I don't think too many people include extras mostly because 4 is already a lot! The UCSF application does have a section to include any "creative" work you've done. I interpreted that as pretty much anything you wanted to include that wasn't already asked for.

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Nothing from BC or MGH- but....

I got my acceptance letter from Regis! Yay!!!! I'm so relieved!!!!

-Jess

Yea yea yea yea Jess!! :balloons: :balloons:

Congrats!!

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Hi Jess - Your great news about Regis got me thinking about their program again (my mind never stops wandering when it comes to these programs :rolleyes: ). I had originally looked into it but decided not to pursue it because I didn't think they had a women's health (or adult) specialty track. Do you know if this is the case still? Or have they broadened their offerings?

Thanks.

- Jen

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Specializes in Postpartum.
Hi Jess - Your great news about Regis got me thinking about their program again (my mind never stops wandering when it comes to these programs :rolleyes: ). I had originally looked into it but decided not to pursue it because I didn't think they had a women's health (or adult) specialty track. Do you know if this is the case still? Or have they broadened their offerings?

Thanks.

- Jen

Jen- They don't have a women's health specialty- so I chose Family instead. I figured that I could work in that specialty for a bit and then go back to school if I wanted for additional certification in Women's Health.

Family is much broader- so I'm torn- I love Women's Health- but I want to be able to find a job as an NP after going through all this schooling, you know?

-Jess

PS- Their tracks are Family, Peds and Psych as of now. In the interview they said they were adding a nursing education track as well.

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Specializes in Postpartum.
UCSF didn't specifically say *don't* include extra recommendations. But I don't think too many people include extras mostly because 4 is already a lot! The UCSF application does have a section to include any "creative" work you've done. I interpreted that as pretty much anything you wanted to include that wasn't already asked for.

Wow- 4 is a lot! That's great though that you could keep them from last year and then add a supplemental one when you re-applied. I'm so happy for you that you're in! Your program starts soon, right? June or July?

Thanks for the congrats- I'm *very* relieved to have at least one option for the upcoming year!

-Jess

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Specializes in Postpartum.
Hi Jess - Your great news about Regis got me thinking about their program again (my mind never stops wandering when it comes to these programs :rolleyes: ). I had originally looked into it but decided not to pursue it because I didn't think they had a women's health (or adult) specialty track. Do you know if this is the case still? Or have they broadened their offerings?

Thanks.

- Jen

The other thing about Regis is that they grant you another Bachelor's after the first 16 months of the program. I wonder if you could leave the program at that point and apply to other (non-direct entry) Master's programs at other schools? I think it would be *much* easier to get into BC or MGH as a nurse than the direct entry route. I'm not sure I would even consider doing this- but I think it could be an option to pursue if Regis doesn't have the track you want after completing the generalist portion.

Food for thought...

-Jess

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The other thing about Regis is that they grant you another Bachelor's after the first 16 months of the program. I wonder if you could leave the program at that point and apply to other (non-direct entry) Master's programs at other schools? I think it would be *much* easier to get into BC or MGH as a nurse than the direct entry route. I'm not sure I would even consider doing this- but I think it could be an option to pursue if Regis doesn't have the track you want after completing the generalist portion.

Food for thought...

-Jess

Interesting idea jess. Thanks for the feedback. I am still undecided as to specialty. I always lean towards Women's Health but I want to keep my options open. The women's health track at Simmons is actually a dual specailty (Adult/Women's health). I think I like the idea of having the broader adult qualification, just in case.

Being accepted just brings a whole new set of decisions/worries (but we'll take it) :chuckle

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