Frontier or Georgetown

[nursemidwife2be]

Hi there....

So, I was just accepted to both Frontier and Georgetown for my nurse-midwifery degree. Leaving aside tuition, can anyone weigh in on why one program might be better than the other? I am really struggling to make a decision here. Is it always better to go for the bigger name school? I feel like I'll get an excellent education at either school, but I worry that given the online nature of the program I should go with the school with the most name recognition. Does that make any sense or does it not really matter out in the real world. Frontier is very old and established, so they likely have most of the bugs worked out, whereas Georgetown's online program is only 7 years old. Georgetown touts its Clinical Placement team as being the ones to find your clinical preceptors for you, but I've read about students having to wait out entire semesters bc the team couldn't find them a clinical site. I have not heard of this happening at Frontier, but maybe it does.

Any insight you have about either program would be really helpful...including your thoughts on whether or not where you get your degree matters out in the "real world".

Thanks in advance...

B

[MidwifeyToBe MSN RN, BSN, MSN, RN, CNS]

@JennyS Thank you!!

[RockyMtnHi-ya, BSN, MSN, RN, NP]

On 7/17/2019 at 6:35 PM, Undercat said:

Did you have to find your own preceptors?

My clinical coordinator found two preceptors for me (She lined up one with less than 3 weeks notice when I relocated to another state). For the last two rotations, I coordinated the initiation of the interagency agreement with a new organization, which took about 5 months to finalize, but then the agency hosted me for both rotations so I didn't have to do any more leg work. It wasn't an issue at all. I don't know anyone in my cohort who experienced a delay related to clinical placement.

[redheadedvalval]

I know this was posted a while ago, but in case others were searching this same question I thought I could leave my 2 cents... I have actually attended both places. I started at Frontier, attended Bound once, and completed my first semester. It was not the place for me. I was told I thought "too much like a labor and delivery nurse, but that's OK, we'll teach it out of you." Which as a proud L&D nurse I was offended. The education I received was very anti-intervention, and had an underlying anti-hospital/anti-doctor vibe. I couldnt get out of there fast enough. I am now completing my 3rd semester at Georgetown and I love it. Yes it's expensive, but it's just money and you cant take it with you. I love the "in-person" feel of weekly zoom classes and they kept me motivated to get my work done because itwas just like a real class. Every instructor I've had has been excellent. My clinical placement team has found me not one but 2 preceptors for the upcoming semester. They do take referrals if you have a colleague or midwife who would like to precept you. I think those who have had trouble getting placed are those in highly concentrated areas for the skill set. Im in Idaho and not many people are in school for midwifery so it's easier to find placement. I would recommend Georgetown, but I think you have to pick the one you feel is the best place for you.

[Desire]

Was it difficult to get accepted? There are many people really looking for answers as to the best choice overall. Do you have a network of friends or coworkers who can help you along the way? That's so amazing you have been placed in clinical! I'm wishing you the very best, please keep everyone posted as to your journey to success. 

[PMHP61, BSN]

On 10/16/2018 at 3:25 PM, nursemidwife2be said:

Frontier is the original school of midwifery here in the USA. I would chose them personally. Their history is strong.

 

[BruniDeM]

On 12/5/2019 at 7:00 PM, RockyMtnHi-ya said:

My clinical coordinator found two preceptors for me (She lined up one with less than 3 weeks notice when I relocated to another state). For the last two rotations, I coordinated the initiation of the interagency agreement with a new organization, which took about 5 months to finalize, but then the agency hosted me for both rotations so I didn't have to do any more leg work. It wasn't an issue at all. I don't know anyone in my cohort who experienced a delay related to clinical placement.

Hello RockyMtnHi. I'm thinking of starting the georgetown program myself and was wondering if you could share the agency that you found to host your clinicals. 

[LMB123]

22 hours ago, BruniDeM said:

Hello RockyMtnHi. I'm thinking of starting the Georgetown program myself and was wondering if you could share the agency that you found to host your clinicals. 

I’m also debating between Georgetown and another school... the other school is university of Cincinnati. I am curious as to what you are finding out. My big thing is clinical placement, I just don’t want to run into any issues with finding a clinical site. 

[Melony]

Georgetown is so expensive I changed my mind ...moving on. I agree nothing justifies their outrageous fee's. There is a better school out there somewhere I would keep looking. 

[RockyMtnHi-ya, BSN, MSN, RN, NP]

I'm in a rural area and reached out to the provider recruiter of the only hospital system that serves my area.  That person sent out a mass email and followed up with me about the providers who responded and said they wanted to host me. 

[RockyMtnHi-ya, BSN, MSN, RN, NP]

On 3/9/2021 at 11:12 AM, LMB123 said:

I’m also debating between Georgetown and another school... the other school is university of Cincinnati. I am curious as to what you are finding out. My big thing is clinical placement, I just don’t want to run into any issues with finding a clinical site. 

I will tell you that I considered the Cincinnati program as well, in part due to its low price tag.  I actually met an FNP student in their final semester/clinical rotation at that school when I was in my first clinical rotation as a new NP student at Georgetown, and we were functioning at a similar level with more than 2 years of experience and education separating us.  I received feedback from multiple preceptors that they love taking on Georgetown students due to the rigor and quality of the program.  I hardly studied for my board certification exam and passed it easily due to the education I had received at GU.  It is expensive, but graduates are well prepared for practice. 

[RockyMtnHi-ya, BSN, MSN, RN, NP]

On 11/15/2020 at 7:36 AM, Desire said:

Was it difficult to get accepted?

I don't know about the selection process at Frontier, but Georgetown is known for high admissions standards.  I will say that I hit a rough patch (due to illness paired with a challenging life situation) early in my college career many years ago and ended up on academic probation for the couple of semesters that it took to raise my GPA satisfactorily.  That academic history wasn't a deal-breaker at GU, though, possibly due to the fact that I'd completed loads of subsequent credit hours with high grades.  Incoming students need to demonstrate solid academic skills because this is a really tough program, but it seems like the school is forgiving of imperfections in previous transcripts ?

[RockyMtnHi-ya, BSN, MSN, RN, NP]

On 7/17/2019 at 6:35 PM, Undercat said:

Did you have to find your own preceptors?

My clinical coordinator found my first and second preceptors, both of whom were out of town: One was an hour away, and the other was 2 hours away and required one overnight stay every week for 13 weeks.  For the last two rotations, I found the agency with whom Georgetown entered an inter-agency agreement, and the agency connected me with preceptors within their organization.  I never had any difficulty with finding preceptors at all and had clinical placement lined up well ahead of every semester so that there were no delays.