FAQ about UCONN's MEIN program 2011 2012

Thank you for this incredibly helpful posting.

thank you. all this info is very helpful and great. i just have one question.. which decision cycle did you apply during (jan, june or aug?). you mentioned you were placed in the following year due to finishing your classes late so i'm curious if i'm in a similar position. i finish my last pre-req in may and will apply in time for the june decisions. i'm praying this is early enough (i was mad at myself for not finishing in time for the first round- january!). if you have a chance, please let me know. thank you =)

do not be anxious! i'm in the 2011 mein class, and here are answers for you

1. you should hear back within 2-3 weeks about getting in. this program is not competitive, literally. they accept all students who meet the requirements (gpa 3.0, b or better in pre-reqs, 3 letters, resume). they have 30 students at each campus, with just 15 or so at avery point. that makes it ~100 students, when they say they receive more than that, it means that they applied so late in the year that there weren't spots available at the campuses they went to. they receive more qualified applicants than they can accept, so those students are rolled to the next year.

it is not a competition in the application pool of "who are the brightest students", rather, it's "who are the first 100 qualified applicants." that is the issue with "getting in". if you meet the requirements, don't sweat it, you're just waiting in line. i was rolled over from 2010 when they didn't have any more spots after finishing my pre-reqs late in the year, then i found out late january 2010 that i was accepted for january 2011. they just didn't have any open spots at any campuses.

2. the clinical placements vary greatly -- some students have great clinical sites, some students do not. some students get to have a heavy first med-surg rotation at hartford hospital, while others are placed in a nursing home at mount sinai. the experiences vary greatly. they stay close to the campus you're taking your class at, so don't let anyone scare you into thinking you'll have clinicals on saturdays or sundays, or half way across the state. so far it's been tuesdays, wednesdays, thursdays, or fridays. earliest is 7am, latest is 11pm.

3. uconn is "working" on a way to get this program into a bsn program instead of awarding a certificate, but that's in the future. they said maybe mein graduates would be grandfathered in. don't hold your breath.

4. i understand the concern about having a "b.s. and a rn certificate", but if you present yourself well, you should be in good shape. hopefully this will change.

5. mein graduates are strongly discouraged/not allowed to continue to enroll in classes the following spring of their graduation. they say it's because of the nclex but it's really because it makes them even more disorganized because they want you moving as a group, not just dropping into classes that fit you individually. start in the fall as a class, work your first job. you must wait until the following fall to enroll. also, you can't take your practicum courses until you have 1 full year of rn experience -- 2080 hours.

the mein program is more geared towards getting you prepared as an rn-- getting your rn license, and then working as a nurse before getting back into the academic program. they do not help students who want to continue immediately and are focused on becoming a nurse practitioner. the only ct program whose pure focus is on training nps is yale's gepn program. it is 16k spring, 16k fall, 8k summer. about 32k each of the 2 master's years. it is a 3 year full time basis.

after the mein 1 year full time basis, they want you to work and stop, then eventually come back as a master's student and pick your track. they are caught up in ana and ct politics, re: majority of nursing higher-ups (deans, assistant deans) retired or left uconn because of state benefits, pensions, etc. the building is being renovated, etc. there are many internal problems which prohibit them from focusing on helping students or crossing t's and dotting i's. things are disorganized.

6. if you want your bsn in 1 year, not a certificate, go to a bsn program for 1 year like quinnipiac. if you want to be a nurse with a bachelors and a certificate, think you'll be fine with your first nursing job and want to continue with your master's a year or 18 months after you graduate, the mein is ok. if you want to be a np in 3 years, straight, go to yale and apply to gepn.

yes, yale is more expensive, but you have the yale facility, the hospital right there (uconn has never placed any of us at the uconn hospital, not once...ever.), a full time well organized program that focuses on producing nurse practitioners. uconn's mein program really is just about getting you prepated as a nurse, fundamentally, and to sit for the nclex. ***note: due to poor nclex passing rates in the past by uconn nursing students, they have an increased emphasis on board preparation via the ati course work. similar to a kaplan program. ** this is nice.

so, don't worry about getting in. apply to quinnipiac as a back up. when things really shake out, you won't be too concerned about paying back 10k more to a school that assists in getting you a job sooner.. i don't know what it's going to be like when we all apply for our first jobs, it may be ok. i just know that it's more clear to hr when you have a bsn instead of a bs/ba + certificate.

i wish someone had told me all of this.

Just wanted to add some updates, because this post was one that came up several times when I was searching for information about accelerated programs, and UCONN's MEIN (now called CEIN) program has changed in the past couple of years.

1) The program has become more competitive. There are a little over 100 spots across 4 campuses, and for this year's class (2014) there were about 300 applications. According to one professor, they didn't really look at anyone with a GPA under 3.5, though I assume that a person with other really compelling factors could be admitted. But it's no longer automatic if you meet the criteria.

2) Clinical days really can be any time. I know a few groups that have a Sunday/Monday clinical schedule, and others have Saturday clinical lab (first 10 weeks in Spring semester only). Day clinicals are scheduled to begin at 7:00am, but I know one group starts at 6:30. There is a bit of variation in clinical sites. Many groups have hospital assignments this semester, but there are a few groups at rehab facilities. This actually isn't a big deal for first semester because we're just doing the basics - vital signs, head to toe assessments, medications, etc. - and those can be learned at any site. This year for the first time, the fall semester will be dedicated to med/surg, so we're all guaranteed to leave with med/surg hospital experience regardless of spring placements.

3 & 4) It's now a BSN program.

5) UCONN is still disorganized, but I hear they are actually better than they were. The focus remains preparing entry-level RNs, not moving you through to the master's level right away. There's so much to learn, that it makes sense to work as a nurse for a while before going back for the NP. Nursing judgement is something that only develops with time and experience.

6) I looked at Yale's program. Aside from the cost, the reason I decided against it was that Yale requires you to declare your specialty at the start of the 3-year program, and it's impossible (or nearly so) to change. So if you go in to the CNM track, for example, and then when you get into clinicals, realize you don't really want to do L&D, you're just SOL. For someone with no direct experience in health care, it makes sense to do a general program first, and then go back when you have a better idea of what different specialties really entail. From what I understand, Pediatrics and Maternity are two areas that engender strong reactions (pro or con), and a lot of people who thought they wanted to go into one of those areas change their minds once they experience the reality.

Also Yale-NewHaven Hospital is used as a clinical site for UCONN CEIN students studying at the Stamford Campus.

Quinnipiac is much more expensive. If it was a $10k difference back in 2011, it's expanded. Right now the program is going to cost around $65K, compared to UCONN's $28. Given the relatively weak labor market, I would not want to take on ~$35K more than necessary for the same degree.

From a financial standpoint, SCSU's ACE program is the best bargain at around $17K. For me, the drive to New Haven was a bit longer than I wanted, and UCONN was just more convenient. Since UCONN has 4 campuses, there's a better chance you'll be closer to a UCONN campus. If you live (or can relocate) to the New Haven area, though, SCSU is worth looking into. One word of caution: the ACE program severely limits the number of applicants. Each year there is ONE DAY, usually in April, when the application portal is open. If you don't apply during that 8am-4pm window, you have to wait until the next year. If you want to do the ACE program, get organized because you must do your first application more than a year in advance of your start date.

I hope this update helps.

Thanks Turtle. I just got accepted into the CEIN program and was wondering if you would be willing to speak a bit more about the program. Do you feel like you are being adequately prepared? Have you enjoyed the faculty?

The faculty do seem to be knowledgable and care about the students. It's still early in the program so it's hard to say how adequately prepared we are going to be when we leave. At this point, we can all do basic patient care (bed baths, change sheets with patient in bed, etc.). We can do a basic head-to-toe assessment, checking for different adventitious breath sounds, capillary refill, and so on. At my clinical site, we have all given medications, including subQ injections, and IV flushes. At lab we learn the theory, and in clinicals, we get to actually practice. However, we only get to do things as they come up.

So I haven't had the chance to do a wound change yet, but several classmates have had the chance. On the other hand, I got to watch a surgeon change the dressing for a wound vac this week. I have observed a nurse straight-cathing a patient, but only one person from my clinical site has had the opportunity to insert a urinary catheter, though several have had the chance to remove one. Some of my classmates have not had the chance to do anything with g-tubes, but when I had a patient with a j-tube, I was able to flush it and learned how to give medications through it, and how to operate the feeding pump. If your patient goes somewhere for a treatment, you often get to go. I got to go for an EEG (not particularly interesting), but some people have been able to go to dialysis, endoscopy, or the whole pre-op procedure. It's sort of luck of the draw, but my instructor will try to match us up with patients whose care is likely to include something we've recently learned about or that we haven't had the chance to practice yet.

The actual pharm instruction kinda sucks - narrated power points and self-teaching followed by weekly in-class quizzes that often don't line up with the power point lectures and frequently ask ridiculous questions about rare side effects of drugs we will probably never use. Fortunately, pharm is only 5% of our grade, so although we are all frustrated, it's not a big deal.

The real pharm instruction comes from the clinical instructors who are VERY good about making sure you know EXACTLY what you are giving. Before we can give a medication to a patient, we have to look up what it is, how it works, what it's used for, what the max dose is, the route of delivery, adverse effects, contraindications, drug interactions, what it is used for in THIS patient, nursing implications, and any lab/values to look for. My instructor quizzes us before we go into the patient's room, and we have to show that we know what it is AND when we might hold the medication. For example, my patient was due for a subQ injection of heparin, but recently had a black, tarry stool. My instructor asked what could cause that kind of stool. Well, for one thing, an upper GI bleed could do that. So I performed fecal occult blood testing to check. It was negative, and I knew that iron supplements (which my patient was on) could also cause black stool, but I still needed to rule out a GI bleed before giving heparin.

it's an accelerated program for adult learners. You really have to take responsibility for your own learning. Ask for help if you need it. Get a study partner. Come prepared to class. There is a lot of material, and it goes by quickly. You won't be able to absorb it all, and if you watched every video and read every page, you would never leave your house. Prioritize your studying based on what YOU need to learn. It's overwhelming at times, but I think that has helped foster a spirit of camaraderie in the class. There's really no competition. We all figured out pretty quickly that if we want to get through this, we need to be able to trust and rely on our classmates, especially in clinical settings.

If you have specific questions, I'll try to answer them.