Drexel ACE Fall 2010

8packmurse · Nov 27, 2009

I got my acceptance letter from them today.

ilovelearning · Nov 30, 2009

Do you know of any scholarships or financial aid available? The cost is pretty high, but may be worth it for a top notch education.

XLFord · Dec 1, 2009

Generally speaking, they will not look at your application until you have at least done A&P I, or so I was told. After you receive your acceptance letter, they will look over your transcripts to make sure you have met all the pre-reqs, or if you need to make any up. As long as you can do it before the deadline for the next term that starts, you should be good.

In the past, there was Robert Wood Johnson Scholarship, however it was not offered this year, and according to the RWJ website, Drexel did not receive the funding for the 09-10 school year.

There is no financial aid in the traditional way. There is Stafford loan (sub and un-sub), and that is it. You may hear about the offer from UPenn, they pay your tuition, you go work for them when you graduate for a few years. But if memory serves, you need to maintain a certain GPA, or you will need to pay them back.

hiddencatRN, BSN, RN · Dec 1, 2009

Generally speaking, they will not look at your application until you have at least done A&P I, or so I was told. After you receive your acceptance letter, they will look over your transcripts to make sure you have met all the pre-reqs, or if you need to make any up. As long as you can do it before the deadline for the next term that starts, you should be good.
In the past, there was Robert Wood Johnson Scholarship, however it was not offered this year, and according to the RWJ website, Drexel did not receive the funding for the 09-10 school year.
There is no financial aid in the traditional way. There is Stafford loan (sub and un-sub), and that is it. You may hear about the offer from UPenn, they pay your tuition, you go work for them when you graduate for a few years. But if memory serves, you need to maintain a certain GPA, or you will need to pay them back.

The UPenn scholarship they sent out this year also wanted a 4 year commitment. I thought about applying and then decided there's no way I have 4 more years of Philadelphia in me and my husband is ready to leave Philly as soon as I'm done.

I got my transcript evaluation after I was accepted, BUT you can always talk to them to see if your classes meet their requirements. They also have lists of acceptable classes at local schools as well (they were handing them out at the orientation I went to but they'll email them to you).

So far I like the school (despite having some major frustrations with one class). The drop-out rate is high, but so far the only people I know who have left the program have done so on their own either due to personal reasons or because they decided the pace wasn't for them. Of course, we haven't had finals yet. My experience is that no one is out to fail you- I was given several tries to get blood pressure right in my vitals checkout and if I didn't get it I would have retested later that day AND if I still failed I'd get one more retest after some remediation.

The cost is scary, but since you're married hopefully you can live off just the one income which would significantly reduce the loans you need to take out.

ilovelearning · Dec 1, 2009

Thank you for your replies. We are planning on living off of one income while I am in school so that I can focus all of my energy of nursing. Do you have any idea how many people have jobs upon graduation or a few months after? Drexel is at the top of my list for its reputation, but I want to make sure I will have a job and hopefully get into a NP program eventually.

AugustRain · Dec 7, 2009

Thank you for your replies. We are planning on living off of one income while I am in school so that I can focus all of my energy of nursing. Do you have any idea how many people have jobs upon graduation or a few months after? Drexel is at the top of my list for its reputation, but I want to make sure I will have a job and hopefully get into a NP program eventually.

I don't know official numbers, but it seems like things have been going well on the job front for a lot of us, particularly in the last month. Whenever I talk to a classmate lately, I hear that someone else got a job. There's a good mix of units, too...med/surg, tele, oncology, peds, ICU, and a couple of non-hospital positions.

Some people had jobs lined up by graduation, others didn't apply until after they passed NCLEX. I started looking during 4th quarter, then really pursued it after I got my license. It was slow at first, but I ended up with a few offers and a great job. Now I just have to pay off those student loans!

You also shouldn't have a problem getting into an NP program, assuming you keep your grades up throughout ACE.

kristin850408, BSN · Dec 12, 2009

hi everyone,

I got my acceptance from Drexel for ACE Fall 2010 last week. I really want to go but the cost is more than a little scary! I am from out of the area (washington dc), so I would have to move to philly to attend. Does anyone have any advice about where to live and the car situation? I was looking at the Stiles Hall Drexel Housing but it mentioned there was not parking there for students and finding parking could be kind of inconvenient/expensive. Ideally, I would like to sell my car so I could put more money towards tuition but I have also heard you pretty much need a car for clinicals. Does anyone know of other living options, and is a car 100% necessary?

hiddencatRN, BSN, RN · Dec 12, 2009

hi everyone,
I got my acceptance from Drexel for ACE Fall 2010 last week. I really want to go but the cost is more than a little scary! I am from out of the area (washington dc), so I would have to move to philly to attend. Does anyone have any advice about where to live and the car situation? I was looking at the Stiles Hall Drexel Housing but it mentioned there was not parking there for students and finding parking could be kind of inconvenient/expensive. Ideally, I would like to sell my car so I could put more money towards tuition but I have also heard you pretty much need a car for clinicals. Does anyone know of other living options, and is a car 100% necessary?

University City is AWESOME and there is the train and trolleys in to Center City. It takes me about 20 minutes to get to Drexel and you can get a permit for onstreet parking or stick to areas where you don't need a permit. I don't have a car and the first quarter it wasn't a problem to bum a ride with my clinical mates, but we'll see about next quarter.

kristin850408, BSN · Dec 12, 2009

are you living in the dorms in university city or in an off-campus apartment? I wouldn't mind living in dorms but I don't want to live with all 18 and 19 year olds!

hiddencatRN, BSN, RN · Dec 12, 2009

are you living in the dorms in university city or in an off-campus apartment? I wouldn't mind living in dorms but I don't want to live with all 18 and 19 year olds!

I live off campus near Clark Park; I'm actually closer to Penn than I am to Drexel. It's a great neighborhood, lots of restaurants and trees and yoga studios and great architecture. Depending on what type of housing you're looking for (single apartment, house with others, etc), it's pretty affordable.

NicoleSS126 · Dec 14, 2009

Does anyone in the program commute from outside philly/south jersey (or know anyone who does) and is it a pain? I commute to work in the city from jersey now which isn't too bad, but its also at peak hours when trains run every 5 or so minutes.. The last thing I'm going to want to do after clinicals and classes is wait for a train/commute up to an hour to get home at night. I'm not sure if the extra commute stress is worth the money I'd be saving on rent in the city. Any thoughts???