DUKE-ACCELERATED BSN--> I have questions!

NurseKitty NC · Mar 29, 2006

As far as prerequisites go, Duke accepts courses taken at community colleges as long as the courses meet certain requirements. Just make sure you get approval from Duke before taking your prerequisites elsewhere -- it would be terrible to complete your coursework and then find out that Duke will not award you credit.

One thing you might want to focus on is your application essay. The topic you select and the time/effort you put into writing a great essay is what will set you apart from all the other students, regardless of standardized test scores, GPAs, academic transcripts, etc.

It is quite challenging to get into their accelerated program, but keep in mind they do have other options, including a traditional 24-month program. Also, there are other reputable nursing programs in the general vicinity of Duke, such as UNC-Chapel Hill and Watts School of Nursing, which you may want to consider as a backup plan.

Hello,
I am currently a senior graduating in May and I've decided this year that I want to pursue a different path than my current major.
I'm a mass communication major at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio and I want to pursue nursing.
Needless to say, my family is all in health care/medicine....and after some on-hands experience I've had within the marketing/communication world...I've decided the field doesn't appeal to me any more...and there are many aspects of nursing that seem very desirable and the job itself would challenge and excite me!
I'm interested in applying next year for admission into Duke's accelerated BSN.
Unfortunately, I still have to take prerequisite courses---chemistry, statistics, etc. ....so even though I'm graduating I know I have a few years of more school ahead of me!
I plan on taking these at a branch campus of Ohio State University or a community college to save money since I'm already coming out of my undergrad with some debt.
My questions are:
If you've completed this program or if you've been accepted, what did your application reflect?
My current GPA is a 3.49. Nothing outstanding for a communication major, but Miami isn't a walk-in the park.
- do you think community college classes would be sufficient for prerequisites at Duke?
Also, what were your GRE scores??
This is something I'm looking at into the future and I'd really like to focus and aim for DUKE, however, I do not know if I'm setting myself too high.
I mean it's got to be pretty difficult to be accepted!
Are there supplemental actions I should take to increase my chances???
Thanks,
Rachel

carolinapooh, BSN, RN · Mar 29, 2006

As far as prerequisites go, Duke accepts courses taken at community colleges as long as the courses meet certain requirements. Just make sure you get approval from Duke before taking your prerequisites elsewhere -- it would be terrible to complete your coursework and then find out that Duke will not award you credit.
One thing you might want to focus on is your application essay. The topic you select and the time/effort you put into writing a great essay is what will set you apart from all the other students, regardless of standardized test scores, GPAs, academic transcripts, etc.
It is quite challenging to get into their accelerated program, but keep in mind they do have other options, including a traditional 24-month program. Also, there are other reputable nursing programs in the general vicinity of Duke, such as UNC-Chapel Hill and Watts School of Nursing, which you may want to consider as a backup plan.

For the OP - I am starting at Duke in the fall. The ABSN is the ONLY BSN available at Duke University; they do not have a 24 month program and it's my understanding they have no intentions of having one in the future. Your essay topic is not completely chosen by you - if you download this year's application from their website, you can see what we had to write about. However - it's never too late to start formulating a UNIQUE answer.

Watts is a diploma - not a degree - program (and a heck of a school, according to all I hear), which may or may not suit your needs/wants. (You do get an Associates, but it's an associates of health sciences from Mount Olive College and NOT an ADN.) The hospital that Watts is at, Durham Regional, is part of the Duke Health System, oddly enough. Coincidentally, it's only five minutes from my house, just to give you an idea of where I live. I'm about fifteen minutes from Duke; I anticipate taking longer to find a parking space at the school than I will take to actually GET to school!

The great thing about Duke is that 15 hours of the ABSN is MSN level coursework - which means that the first basic 15 hours of your NP degree is complete before you graduate from your BSN. (You can see what courses these are on the Duke site.) These classes are taken with the grad level students and are taught by the same instructors.

UNC is indeed down the road, but I find this interesting: I, as well as two others, were rejected by their accelerated program in December but accepted by Duke in February. No, I can't figure this out either (and neither can anyone else) given our particular qualifications. Maybe we didn't have our eyes crossed correctly when we mailed the application? :lol2: Never mind; Duke was my first choice anyway - after I got over the fear of rejection, that is, because Heaven knows I didn't think I had a chance in Hades.

I do agree that you should call Duke and make sure they accept the courses you've taken. I'm thinking it won't be a problem, but Shaunda at the admissions office will be more than happy to help you out.

Duke interviewed 75 people for 56 slots from 178 applications received this year.

I've put a real detailed answer up for you under the pre-nursing forum; I saw your post there before I saw it here. Let me know if I can do anything or dig up any information for you since I'm literally right here in Durham.

Nurse2BeDelta · Apr 18, 2006

I wonder if that 15 hours of master's degree work that is done at Duke can be applied to a CRNA program as well? Or is just for a NP?

carolinapooh, BSN, RN · Apr 18, 2006

It's applicable to any master's level program. The SON catalog is downloadable as a complete PDF from the website and it's easy to look up the different master's level course requirements.

Delta - I'm just about to walk out the door to go to Microbiology; I'll answer your question in detail this evening when I get home.

Runningnurse · Apr 22, 2006

I'm a graduate of this program, and thought I'd answer some of your questions...

I couldn't even begin to tell you what on earth I wrote in my application...but the program looks for type-A very driven folks who really have the desire to become an RN...or else why on earth would you subject yourself to a four-year degree crammed into 16 months?

Community college classes should be fine...if you have any questions about them email the admissions person (the one I dealt with just left, so I don't know the name) and they will answer your questions...I kept up a pretty constant stream of emails between my acceptance to the program and the time I started. I took my prereqs at two state schools.

I think I got a 790 math and a 770 verbal or something on the GRE...either that or it was flip-flopped. I got a 6 on the essay.

I don't know what to tell you about upping your chances. I do know that they seemed rather cautious about accepting too many folks right out of college. I was one of only a handful, and we were outnumbered 5 to 1 by folks who had at least two years of post-college experience...it didn't seem to matter what kind of experience, as long as it was something.

If you want to know more about the program, feel free to email me. I do highly recommend it, but know that it is hard, it will take over your life, and you really have to want to be there or you'll find yourself not so happy.

I'm an RN now, still here at Duke...but they're finally paying me instead of the other way around!

Oh...and whoever posted above is correct...Duke only has one way to get a BSN, and that's the accelerated program.

You do get 15 master's credits (applicable to any program, including CRNA) but do know that not all of them are required for all programs. That is, if you go for your FNP, you might only need 9 of those credits. So yes, you have them, but they might not all be applicable. It's a bit misleading. Still, something is better than nothing!

carolinapooh, BSN, RN · Apr 25, 2006

I wouldn't say it's a four year degree crammed into 16 months. It's more like 24 months of material - the actual nursing portion of a traditional BSN - in 16 months. We've all completed the first two years of prereqs and general education courses with either our original bachelor's or through extra college time. Saying four years in 16 months might terrify some folks.

Question for the graduate - did you do the loan repayment with Duke?

Runningnurse · May 6, 2006

Very true...it's four years of -nursing- coursework. Minus some little stuff. :)

I did do loan repayment. Figured I had no pressing need to go elsewhere...might as well stay at Duke and let them pay me back a little.

emergency_banjo · May 7, 2006

Hi Rachel,

I'm a current student at Duke. I took some of my prereqs (A&P, psych, micro) over the summer after I got accepted. Then again I was on the waitlist, so I wouldn't recommend leaving it until then. They are more than happy with community college classes for your pre-reqs, and they also suggested looking at Exelsior online. I got my A&P credit by buying Exelsior's recommended textbook, reading it over the summer and then taking a big exam at a Pro-Metric center. Any accredited method of getting the credits seems to work, but I think you'll up your chances by having it all done (with good grades obviously) when you apply.

Just a few other suggestions:

1) Don't be fooled by the brandname, UNC's program is very well-respected and many of my classmates at Duke got rejected or waitlisted at UNC (I missed the UNC application deadline myself). I think some of the competitiveness there could be due to the fact that it is way cheaper, so they probably get more applications.

2) As you might suspect in a small group of students, rumors can make their way around. I have heard from classmates, but have never confirmed with anyone, that the MSN credits we get might not count at alot of other schools, and even at Duke they may make you audit the same classes in a Masters program. I don't know if this is true so you might want to ask someone in admissions, particularly in the Master's program if you plan on pursuing further education at Duke.

3) I don't know if you're originally from the Carolina area or otherwise planning to be around here for a while. Duke's loan repayment is pretty awesome because there's absolutely no commitment, but you don't get the money until you've worked for a year (then you get the $11k, then work for another year and get another $11k, etc.). Many of my classmates have signed a more obligatory contract with UNC. UNC pays the money upfront (in something like four installments) and you are committed to working there for 2, 3, or 4 years (the longer you commit to, the more money you get). The money per year is roughly equal between the programs I think. I have no idea what the conditions are like working at UNC, or which hospital is better, etc. Duke also has three hospitals to choose from (Big Duke, Durham Regional, and Duke Health of Raleigh) if you find one or the other better or the location makes a difference. It's worth looking into, because Duke is expensive.

Please feel free to email me if you have any other questions. If I can't answer them I can probably find a classmate who can.

carolinapooh, BSN, RN · May 8, 2006

I thought it was interesting that, once one did the math, the odds of being accepted at Duke were EXACTLY the same as being accepted at UNC - they were one in three. I asked UNC what their 2-year applicant pool was, and when I did the figuring, I got one-to-three odds, which were identical to my odds when I applied to Duke. I got into UNC but turned them down; however, four of my soon-to-be classmates were rejected by both the accelerated and the two year program at UNC. I do not understand that at all; it seems that no one does. Weird.

Also, while UNC's accelerated program is certainly nothing to sneeze at, Duke has twice the number of clinical hours as UNC - they have 500, Duke has 1,000. A person in my Micro class who is starting at UNC in a week or so was shocked when she asked me how many clinical hours I'll have at Duke (she told me how many they have, so that's the only reason I know). The UNC program is only 2 months shorter than Duke's. The 24 month program at UNC has 1,000 hours. I thought that was rather interesting, and made me feel even better about my decision.

I do find it odd that Duke would make you audit classes you just took and passed. That seems a bit silly, but then again, that's academia for you...

Runningnurse · May 8, 2006

I think the clinical hours are a really important factor...I can't imagine going into my first job with only half of the hours I had. I needed every last one of those clinicals!

Especially when you consider that lots of those hours are taken up with things like gero (ie watching your nursing home resident sleep), psych (ie watching folks at the state mental hospital do crafts), and community health (ie driving around the really awful parts of the city trying to find residents to answer your survey questions).

Despite me poking fun, I am a huge fan of the Duke program. There are some fantastic faculty members over there...a number of whom I consider my professional role models.

hemlok2 · Sep 10, 2006

I was wondering if those of you who have been accepted or who have completed Duke's BSN program would be kind enough to post your stats and your background experience? I have put in an application there and am curious to know what kind of applicants they typically admit. I am a rather odd candidate, but here is my history:

I just finished up working for the past five years as a professor of English Literature. I finally decided it was time to pursue my dream of becoming a CRNA! I have a cum 3.6 GPA from Pepperdine (way back in '94) and did my Masters at Villanova. I finished my Ph.D. in 2000 with a 4.0 GPA. I did not have any time to study for the GRE so my scores are somewhat poor : 690 verbal and 570 quant. Perhaps I will take it again when I have time to go through a study book. Its been a dozen or so years since I took a math course and it shows! I have done some volunteer work for the Red Cross and humane society over the years plus some tutoring of non-native English speaking students out here in the western Pacific. I am currently a speech writer and research analyst for a senator.

Not sure if I am competitive for Duke's program, but figure I'll give it a go and see what happens.