Drexel Ace Fall 2014

FentyNP, MSN, NP · Nov 14, 2013

@ogoz no problem! They gave us an idea of what our schedule will be like (they pick the schedule & clinical places). We will be on campus Monday & Tuesday for class usually from 8-430. Then about two weeks after we start the program we will go to clinical which can be anywhere in the region (the farthest place is 35 miles from Philly). Clinical will be either Wednesday, Thursday, & Friday OR Wednesday, Friday, & Saturday. This will change each quarter. Clinical hours can be as early as 6:30am or 7:00am or start as late as 2:30pm and are typically 6 1/2 hours long. There are about 6-8 other students in clinical with us. We are on a quarter schedule & classes are 10 weeks long (midterm at 5 weeks & final exam at 11 weeks) then get a 1 week break in between quarters. I believe we are required to have an ipad (or something like an ipad) & all of our books are electronic. If the person prefers a hard copy of the copy they can buy that instead. We will be taking hesi tests throughout the program which help us move on to the next quarter & prepares us better for the nclex. We will have an all day orientation about 2 weeks before classes begin (classes begin the 3rd week in September usually). We are required to have a series of shots & fingerprints before we can do clinical. The hep B shots can take a long time to get (series of 3 shots) so they recommended we started them as soon as we can. Tuition right now is about 43,000 but this doesn't include books (they said e-books can be around $500 but probably more than that), uniforms, student fees. They said the most they have seen people receive from federal loans is $12,000, and most people pay the rest with private loans or through parents/relatives. Also, for health insurance they said if we decide to use Drexel's health insurance then that will be included in the tuition. But, if we use our own we have to contact whoever is in charge of health insurance at Drexel to make sure you tell them you have your own or you will be charged. We got to tour the labs we will be using & they are equipped with cameras & microphones so we can be recorded & go back and see on video our strong points/mistakes. They hire actors as "patients" who act as if they have some type of health problem & we have to treat them depending on their case. Ok, so I just wrote a book. Sorry so long, but I hope some of this helped! Let me know if you have anymore questions & maybe I can help.[/quote']
Awesome summary! Thanks for all that info. I'm still waiting on a decision, too, but I have three questions:
1) how big are the classes? (Student: professor ratio)
2) since there are clinicals up to 35 miles from Philly are you required to have a car? Because I wasn't planning on bringing mine...
3) is there a disadvantage to buying regular textbooks for their program because I personally hate ebooks and like the tangible thing...
Thanks!!

ogoz · Nov 14, 2013

Hi klp1886,

Wow! Thank youso much for sharing. This is very informative and more than I expected. Damn, federal loans only cover up to 12k? I guess the other 31k will be from private for me. Did they also mention about housing by any chance? Idk whether I should live on campus or off campus, but I'm leaning towards off campus. Once again thanks for the info.

ogoz · Nov 14, 2013

Hi toldoll,

I've attended their info regular info session before. they said the ace program offers around 300 something seats for each cohort. Hope this helps.

klp1886 · Nov 14, 2013

@terpnurse no problem, good luck!!

@TolDoll you're welcome!! I'm not positive the exact number, but I believe they said they accept about 160 students for the fall and 120 in the spring. They said you're not required to have a car but they definitely recommend having one because clinicals can be far. They did say that a lot of the students end up carpooling with each other if they have the same clinical, so maybe that will help you out! I agree with you about having the actual book versus an electronic book, but they said the advantage to having the e-books is that it's cheaper & you don't have to carry a lot of heavy nursing books around. But it's really a personal choice. Good luck on getting accepted!! Anymore questions let me know!

@ogoz you're welcome! I'm always stalking this thing for good info so I thought it'd be helpful to share as much as I know about the program. But yes, only 12k in federal loans, it sucks!! I have to take out private loans also. As far as campus housing, they did mention something but to be honest I wasn't listening because I'm gonna be living at home in jersey.

jburrisiii · Nov 15, 2013

Hello all, I just recently retired from the U.S. Navy after 26 years on active duty, I have a B.S. Degree in Biology from Rutgers University, and have completed all the prerequisites that they advertised as needing for acceptance, my GPA from Rutgers was 3.85 and I am looking to be admitted in the fall of 2014. My problem is I am 49 years old, my GPA seems to be in keeping with what they require but I'm concerned that they will look at my age and say no way? although age discrimination is illegal, there are still ways to not admit someone my age, anyone out their ever experienced this or know someone that has some age on them that still got admitted?

jjf57 · Nov 15, 2013

I would be happy to share the powerpoint if you give me your email address. However, it is not nearly as informative as @klp1886 's post.

Lexicon · Nov 15, 2013

@jburrisiii- I don't see why they would discriminate against you because of your age... There are plenty of people who go into the health care field at your age. Besides, you have a very high GPA and you served our country for over half of your life. I don't know how they do things, but I don't see any reason why you wouldn't be a good fit into their program.

klp1886 · Nov 15, 2013

Hi @jburrisiii!

One of the first things they asked at the Q&A session on Tuesday was if anyone in the room is a Veteran. They made them raise their hand & then we all applauded & they said how much they appreciate veterans at Drexel. One of the women representing the ACE program was exchanging info with one of the veterans because I believe Drexel has some type of benefits for Vets, so definitely check into that. But your GPA is excellent so I am sure you will get in on that alone. Good luck !!

jburrisiii · Nov 15, 2013

Can I get the Pwr Pt?

[email protected]

jburrisiii · Nov 15, 2013

Thanks for replying, you all have given me new hope, I will let you guys know my status as soon as I know.

jburrisiii · Nov 16, 2013

Do you think I could have the power point emailed to me?

[email protected]

tracyslei · Nov 16, 2013

For everyone who is still waiting to hear back from Drexel.. Just an FYI, I e-mailed Fran asking if she could check my application status and kinda seeing if she would accelerate the process for me.. and she told me the admissions committee on average comes out with a decision 6-10 weeks after the application has been sent for review. But it's just an average and not a guarantee..

Thought some of you might find that helpful! My application was complete about 5 weeks ago so I am still anxiously waiting!