George Washington University Absn Fall 2016

U.S.A. Washington DC

Published

Hello! I just received an acceptance for the Fall 2016 class. I am wondering if any former or current students had advice about the program--whether they think it is worth it? How they feel about it? And also if there are any people on here who have been accepted as well!

Thank you

For those who have been accepted already, did you submit your application by the priority deadline?

@ypatel

I submitted mine exactly on Nov. 15 (the priority deadline), and received my response on December 23! It seems to be a 1.5 to 2 week turnaround from when you receive the email saying that your application has been forwarded to the committee for review.

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@ jj_muzings Happy New Year and it is a pleasure to meet you. I'm still on the fence deciding if I will accept the GWU offer. I'm still not sold that getting a second bachelors is work a $57,000+ tuition and that is not including transportation and living expenses. I have received admission offers from less expensive programs where the tuition in the $32-38k range, some programs being shorter time length than GWU with published 95% NCLEX pass rates. If it comes down to economical choice I'll probably be getting my ABSN education else where. GWU is still the top choice of many other attendees that I met in December, and it has a strong reputation, minus the fact that no one knew the published NCLEX pass rate. Virginia is beautiful, but after a long delegation with my thoughts I'm not ready for the DC lifestyle or the tedious commute. Also the hourly pay is not impressive for those of us earning a second bachelors, my friend whose an ABSN grad from Miami is make $32/hr and that is not including night time differential pay. A second friend whose a new grad on the west coast is making $32.75 day-shift. So if I was convinced that MWHC was paying their W2 grads competitively I would probably be more jazzed at the offer. But making $56k a year and being tied down to a hospital for 3 years isn't my kind of commitment. Making $64k/yr as a new grad, now we're talking! Bottom line its more economical for the corporate hospital to be using the lure of tuition forgiveness when the pay is not competitive and the cost of living in DC costs more than most metropolitan cities. HCA has a similar program, but the commitment is 2 years and pay is around the same ball park, +/- $1.00. Some Finance Officer at these corporate hospitals came up with these ideas, but in the long run, the future employee is the one getting paid less in a less than desirable nurse to patient ratio settings. I went to a few bars in the area while I was there and asked several individuals what they thought of MWHC and 5 said they would prefer georgetown hospital over washington hospital, 1 enjoyed washington, the other 2 had no opinion. For me as a clinician and future nurse a patients satisfaction speaks a lot about the institution, namely its employees who are delivering the care. Plus in this profession a strong union will obtain competitive pay for their nursing staff. Obtaining a very low interests rate from my federal credit union is a better bet for me personally, because as a future nurse I want the flexibility to travel and obtain competitive compensation. Everyone will have to make the hard decision what works for them. Nothing is truly free in life, corporations tend to come out of the written agreements winning the better end of the bargain. And neither of us is a bargain, I'm a person first, working hard to make my dreams become a reality.

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Forgot to mention if you deicide to make the expensive out of state journey to MWHC for the W2 interview bring cash, they charge for parking. Cheers

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Thanks for all the info - a little disappointing to hear the w2 interview doesn't promise a job. I suppose I would be willing to sacrifice the extra annual income if it meant less debt and many of the schools I'm waiting to hear back from are similar in cost maybe 10k less but still my second bachelors will put me in debt no matter what I do I've just come to accept that. I already got my plane ticket out to dc for my interview in February and even if it is an expensive interview at least I get to visit dc and see the Virginia campus. From what my friends say the first 2 or 3 years can be done where ever you get hired then you can go where you want.

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Also, question Nurse_EPLFan: Did they say when they make the decisions for the W2 program selections? Also, if you did get offered a spot in the program do you think you would take it? When you think about $28.5K off your tuition and making $10K less a year for three years it sort of evens out - at least that's how I'm looking at it, trying to focus on the positives I guess :) Thanks again for the recon work!

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@RoseSim, it is good to hear from you. If you seriously want me to show you the math behind the logic I can do that in my next post. My brother whose an aerospace engineer patiently reasoned with me using his math based mindset to show how it is more of a disadvantage for me to accept the offer than to go along with the lure. I like you thought, "guaranteed job! scholarship for my education!". But the staff and current W2 students all told us this job is not set in stone, there is still a chance that at the end of the program Medstar might have a hiring freeze, the department might not like you, HR rep wasn't sold that you are the right candidate, or union strikes. For me, I'm thinking I sacrificed a year of my time to go out of my way to commute to DC, made friendships with staff and all I get is an interview. A double-interview makes no sense to me, you vet me out once, none of this do over mindset if we don't like you. How do you build the intrinsic desire to improve patient care when you feel like everyday is an interview. I would rather feel like a professional student and be surprised at the end by a job offer, not a second job interview. Not to criticize you RoseSim, but nursing advocacy starts now, even by your math, your mindset is selling your earning potential short of $10k. This discredits you, me and the profession, creating a standard for new grad earning potential, in which if enough people buy into it, it sets a standard of what we are worth. It is $10k not $10 dollars! To achieve the desire effect of financial security I shouldn't have to work over time in order to make up for that lost financial potential. To each the own, like i said before every candidate will have to make this hard decision for themselves, if I did not have the analytical engineers in my family I would have probably accepted the offer. The staff will inform you of the W2 decision 2-3 weeks after the interview. But yes, while you are there visit the Lincoln memorial (be sure to bring your warmest jacket), grab some local food, mingle with the irish community, visit a museum. DC is a spectacular city to visit, but it is not my ideal pace of life, the locals informed me that traffic is hell during 1pm-5pm. If you are driving be sure to download the local parking app on your phone so you can have the ease of parking anywhere, its about $4 for every 2 hrs parking spots. Cheers

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This is a very helpful link for commuting advice, the locals I spoke with would totally agree: https://allnurses.com/washington-dc-nursing/commuting-va-to-1028971.html

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Does anyone know when in August the program begins?

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Hi everyone - I recently graduated from GW's ABSN program, and was part of the W2 scholarship group. I noticed many of you have questions concerning the value of the ABSN program and the scholarship, so I am happy to answer any questions to the best of my ability. Congratulations on your acceptances, and happy new year!

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"But the staff and current W2 students all told us this job is not set in stone, there is still a chance that at the end of the program Medstar might have a hiring freeze, the department might not like you, HR rep wasn't sold that you are the right candidate, or union strikes."

Honestly, this was not my experience at all (speaking as a member of the first cohort to offer the W2 scholarship). Most people got jobs in their desired units. At the very least, everyone got a job. HR and unit managers really liked that we were committed for 3 years, and weren't going to jump ship after getting a year of experience. They offer a nurse residency program and seem very invested in training new grads.

Also, I've never heard of any problems related to a hiring freeze, or a union strike - our jobs were guaranteed as part of the contract. Again, everyone I talked to in my group got a job (and we are the first and only W2 group to have graduated so far...). I appreciated doing my clinical rotations and final preceptorship at WHC, and having the opportunity to interview for a spot in my department before most interviews were opened for outside candidates.

Overall, I really feel that the faculty set us up for success.

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@totoroll

Thanks for the insight into the W2 program! Do you feel that the salary is competitive? Or are you in essence paid less in order to pay off your loan from WHC?

How difficult is the commute?

Do you feel that there is a positive work environment?

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The base salary is $28.088/hour for new graduate nurses. The hospital is unionized so everyone is paid the same depending on level of experience. You also get differentials for nights, weekends, etc. I believe that is on par with other hospitals in the DMV area, if not even more. W2 students are paid the same as everyone else.

The commute honestly depends on where you live. I will say that traffic in the region is notoriously bad, especially going into D.C. during rush hour. I think it's about an hour to an hour and a half between campus and WHC. Your clinical placements and preceptorship may also influence where you want to live and how far you want to commute.

The work environment, again, depends. Every unit I shadowed was different. I wouldn't judge the entire hospital based on experiences with a single unit or even a single provider. For the most part, I witnessed great teamwork and respect among the nurses and other providers. They were nice to students and I learned a lot. However, there are a lot of work aspects I can't speak to until I start working!

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