Fall 2019 Johns Hopkins MSN: Entry Into Nursing Hopeful

eastwest · May 28, 2019

@tothepointe Hi! I'm starting the MEN program in August and I've started the apartment search. I'm hoping to live alone with my pooch and i'm finding a lot more stuff in charles village than in the fells point area. I really need to be somewhat close to a park for my dog, so I'm really only looking in neighborhoods adjacent to either patterson park or wyman park. do you feel like the commute from charles village would make life difficult? should i hold out for something closer to the medical center?

Also, congratulations!! Are you planning to go on for a DNP or are you going to get your career rolling now?

tothepointe, MSN, RN · May 28, 2019

17 minutes ago, eastwest said:
@tothepointe Hi! I'm starting the MEN program in August and I've started the apartment search. I'm hoping to live alone with my pooch and i'm finding a lot more stuff in charles village than in the fells point area. I really need to be somewhat close to a park for my dog, so I'm really only looking in neighborhoods adjacent to either patterson park or wyman park. do you feel like the commute from charles village would make life difficult? should i hold out for something closer to the medical center?
Also, congratulations!! Are you planning to go on for a DNP or are you going to get your career rolling now?

Hi! I would pick somewhere closer to Patterson Park if you have a dog. The shuttle is a pain, being walking distance to school really helps. I'm starting work at JHH along with ~20 of my classmates this August. Only a handful of people are going on for the DNP. I can't imagine doing more school right away personally, and I want to gain RN experience first.

eastwest · May 29, 2019

@tothepointe Thanks for the advice! I'm looking at a studio in upper fells for $995 right next to the park and a five minute bike ride from school, and a 1br in Charles for $950 that's absolutely beautiful and has a yard. Tough call. Also, were there days where you felt like you had enough time to go home for lunch? I'm thinking about logistics with letting the dog out...

It seems like there's near consensus on getting RN experience first. It's one of the reasons I went with this program over a straight through program.

Congratulations on getting a position at JHH!!! You must be so excited. Thank you again for taking the time to give advice to us newcomers!

amc510, MSN, RN · May 29, 2019

@eastwest I’m currently in my second semester. First semester, there are definitely days that if you live close you’ll have time to go home for lunch. This isn’t true of clinical days (one day per week the first two semesters), and there are some days that you’ll have other events going on during “lunch” time. You are on campus 5 days a week, but do have down time. I live about an hour from campus so I stayed at school and studied.

Second semester there are a few classes offered online, so if you’re able to get into the online sections you have a bit more flexibility. I can’t speak for semesters 3-5 yet :).

tothepointe, MSN, RN · May 29, 2019

8 hours ago, eastwest said:
@tothepointe Thanks for the advice! I'm looking at a studio in upper fells for $995 right next to the park and a five minute bike ride from school, and a 1br in Charles for $950 that's absolutely beautiful and has a yard. Tough call. Also, were there days where you felt like you had enough time to go home for lunch? I'm thinking about logistics with letting the dog out...
It seems like there's near consensus on getting RN experience first. It's one of the reasons I went with this program over a straight through program.
Congratulations on getting a position at JHH!!! You must be so excited. Thank you again for taking the time to give advice to us newcomers!

Of course, happy to help! Thanks for your words of encouragement too ? Pretty much every day during the program when you have classes at school, you have a 1.5-2 hour break between 11:30-1:30 which would give you lots of time to go home and let your dog out. I would go with the studio in Upper Fells right by the park.

Onion · May 30, 2019

On 1/14/2019 at 4:51 PM, VwBee89 said:
Congrats to everyone who has been accepted!!! I applied by the Jan. 1st deadline so I wont hear anything until March.
For those of you who have applied, what are your statistics (GPA, Prerequisites GPA, experience, research...)?

Hi! This is such a late, late reply, but if you're still interested in knowing, I was accepted, and my stats were:

GPA: 3.53

Pre-req GPA: 4.0

Experience: 1.5+years MA adult medicine, less than one year in podiatry, less than one year in endocrinology, two years in acupuncture/chiropractic, & volunteered at hospice

I was actually really surprised when I got the acceptance notification b/c I don't think my stats were that different from anyone else's. That being said, I went back and took a look through my application to see what possibly could've stood out, and I really think it was my answers to the supplemental/short answer questions. IDK if you've heard back from the school yet, but if you have to apply again in the future, & if we have similar stats, then I would just focus on the essays & write about something as unique to you as possible! I know that sounds like such generic & bland advice, but I hope it helps!

eastwest · May 31, 2019

@tothepointe and @amc510 thanks guys! That was incredibly helpful! My pup and I will be moving into a little spot in upper fells. That's one great big uncertainty resolved!

Bluelagoon321 · Jun 21, 2019

On 5/29/2019 at 8:46 AM, amc510 said:
@eastwest I’m currently in my second semester. First semester, there are definitely days that if you live close you’ll have time to go home for lunch. This isn’t true of clinical days (one day per week the first two semesters), and there are some days that you’ll have other events going on during “lunch” time. You are on campus 5 days a week, but do have down time. I live about an hour from campus so I stayed at school and studied.
Second semester there are a few classes offered online, so if you’re able to get into the online sections you have a bit more flexibility. I can’t speak for semesters 3-5 yet :).
Hi, amc510
Can you please let us know if you have to write several research papers for the classes you took. I am a bit worried about the writing part since it is an accelerated program. I will be very thankful if you have some time to share with us about what to expect before starting the first semester. I have a hard time to decide between an MSN or an ABSN program.

sesw1 · Jun 26, 2019

On 6/21/2019 at 7:35 AM, Bluelagoon321 said:

I'm also a second semester student. We don't have any papers that are explicitly called 'research papers', but every writing assignment/presentation that you have in nursing school has to be backed by EBP (i.e., journals or textbooks). Unless they change anything around for Fall semester, you should only have a few 'big' writing assignments. The biggest one is your care plan, which takes a decent amount of time and is usually 12-20 pages depending on the student and the patient you choose to write about. If I recall correctly you only have 1 or 2 other essay assignments (>3 pages), and then decent amount of smaller writing assignments (1-2 pages) throughout the semester. You also have 2 written assignments that you do in a group of 6-10 people, one is 5 pages and the other is a case study, 30-35 pgs (it sounds daunting but it's not bad).

Generally the first semester isn't bad. You have 6 classes, one of which is only a 6 week course that you have once a week (meaning you only have it for half the semester). 2 of your classes have a 'lab' component, foundations & health assessment, which is where you practice skills. You have class for a good chunk of the day most days, and clinical all day either Tuesday (first half of the alphabet) or Friday (second half of the alphabet).

The professors give you a lot of materials to make sure you can succeed. My clinical instructor and lab instructors were really great and supportive in helping me build foundational skills and continue to be a great resource. I obviously can't speak to the rigor or lack thereof of an ABSN program, but I would choose JHU all over again if I had to ?

Bluelagoon321 · Jun 27, 2019

2 hours ago, sesw1 said:
I'm also a second semester student. We don't have any papers that are explicitly called 'research papers', but every writing assignment/presentation that you have in nursing school has to be backed by EBP (i.e., journals or textbooks). Unless they change anything around for Fall semester, you should only have a few 'big' writing assignments. The biggest one is your care plan, which takes a decent amount of time and is usually 12-20 pages depending on the student and the patient you choose to write about. If I recall correctly you only have 1 or 2 other essay assignments (>3 pages), and then decent amount of smaller writing assignments (1-2 pages) throughout the semester. You also have 2 written assignments that you do in a group of 6-10 people, one is 5 pages and the other is a case study, 30-35 pgs (it sounds daunting but it's not bad).
Generally the first semester isn't bad. You have 6 classes, one of which is only a 6 week course that you have once a week (meaning you only have it for half the semester). 2 of your classes have a 'lab' component, foundations & health assessment, which is where you practice skills. You have class for a good chunk of the day most days, and clinical all day either Tuesday (first half of the alphabet) or Friday (second half of the alphabet).
The professors give you a lot of materials to make sure you can succeed. My clinical instructor and lab instructors were really great and supportive in helping me build foundational skills and continue to be a great resource. I obviously can't speak to the rigor or lack thereof of an ABSN program, but I would choose JHU all over again if I had to ?

Omg!!! Thank you so much, Sesw1 for taking time and responding back to me. What a relief! You are awesome!! I think I am going to stick with my plan and pursue my education with Johns Hopkins. By the way, all the best with your studies!

VwBee89, EMT-I · Jun 27, 2019

19 hours ago, sesw1 said:
I'm also a second semester student. We don't have any papers that are explicitly called 'research papers', but every writing assignment/presentation that you have in nursing school has to be backed by EBP (i.e., journals or textbooks). Unless they change anything around for Fall semester, you should only have a few 'big' writing assignments. The biggest one is your care plan, which takes a decent amount of time and is usually 12-20 pages depending on the student and the patient you choose to write about. If I recall correctly you only have 1 or 2 other essay assignments (>3 pages), and then decent amount of smaller writing assignments (1-2 pages) throughout the semester. You also have 2 written assignments that you do in a group of 6-10 people, one is 5 pages and the other is a case study, 30-35 pgs (it sounds daunting but it's not bad).
Generally the first semester isn't bad. You have 6 classes, one of which is only a 6 week course that you have once a week (meaning you only have it for half the semester). 2 of your classes have a 'lab' component, foundations & health assessment, which is where you practice skills. You have class for a good chunk of the day most days, and clinical all day either Tuesday (first half of the alphabet) or Friday (second half of the alphabet).
The professors give you a lot of materials to make sure you can succeed. My clinical instructor and lab instructors were really great and supportive in helping me build foundational skills and continue to be a great resource. I obviously can't speak to the rigor or lack thereof of an ABSN program, but I would choose JHU all over again if I had to ?

Do you find that everyone works well in a group? Were you able to chose your own group members? Did you hear of any groups having issues with group members getting the work completed?

sesw1 · Jun 28, 2019

On 6/27/2019 at 12:31 PM, VwBee89 said:
Do you find that everyone works well in a group? Were you able to chose your own group members? Did you hear of any groups having issues with group members getting the work completed?

For some of the assignments, groups are assigned, and others you can choose. I didn't have any horrible experiences with my groups. It's important to remember that each cohort is going to be different, and I can't speak to every student's experience.