Georgetown Accelerated BSN Fall 2010

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I sent my application for the Accelerated BSN in the fall of 2010 and I am anxious already. I do not know if I have a chance of getting in. My GPA from my previous degree is a low 3.1, but I have a 4.0 on my pre-requisites so far. Anyone in my same situation?:confused:

Sitch321, Everyone dresses up. You don't have to wear a suit, but wear something really nice, typical job interview clothes. There is a tour of Washington Hospital Center (optional) and a tour of the campus (optional) so you'll definitely want to wear comfortable shoes if you are going on all of them.

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Hey Tammy G -

Thank you so much for offering to answer questions about the application process. I am very excited to learn more about the school and the program. When did you start the program? How intense was the interview day? Were there group interviews, one on one or a combination? What kinds of questions or topics do you think applicants should prepare for? Also if you wouldn't mind sharing what most applicants wore that day that would be fabulous! So sorry for all of the questions - I'm just trying to learn a little more about the big interview day. Georgetown is my first choice and I am just a little anxious about the whole process.

Also, if you wouldn't mind sharing your thoughts on the program so far that would be great too. I just have no idea what to expect if I were to be accepted and start the program. Are you happy with the choice you made?

Thanks so much!

Again - sorry for all of the questions :)

Natalie, I started the program last fall. The interview day is very laid back. You are with the group for all but about 10 minutes, during which you'll be interviewed by 3-4 faculty. It is very relaxed, basically they just want to know your story and they want to give you a chance to ask questions. I don't think any part of the application decision is based on the interview. If you go to the Washington Hospital Center tour, you will be there a total of 8 hours (what with lunch and everything) and only 10 minutes is devoted to the interview. It really is just a chance for you to get a feel for the school and program.

Be careful what they tell you -- the admissions people who run the interview show tell you lots of things that aren't really true because they aren't involved in the program. They told us (and still are telling new groups) that transportation to clinicals will be arranged -- not so, you are on your own to get to WHC or the far burbs of Virginia for clinicals. I heard that community health clinical especially will require you to be at several locations in one day. Those of us without cars have a lot of trouble figuring out how to get places. They tell you you can take your senior practicum anywhere you want, but most people didn't get their first choices. They tell you that you can select clinicals near your house, but the locations aren't even available during registration so it is just pot luck where you'll wind up.

I am ambivalent on the program and am not sure I would do it again. It is a whole lot of money and I could have gotten the same degree and education at a local state school for 1/10 the money. The facilities are really substandard -- the nursing school is old and crowded. You will be taking some classes with groups of 100 and sitting on chairs with no writing surface. There are never rooms available if you want to set up a meeting because every classroom is used for every minute by another department if the nursing school is not using it. There is nowhere to study in the nursing school, you have to walk 1/4 mile to the medical school. The "lab" is a joke -- poorly maintained, inoperative computer equipment, you never use GUS (we used it once and it was broken) which is really only for the anasthesia class. The faculty is great but massively overworked and often complaining about how busy they are. There is no integration with the medical school or the hospital, no extra-curricular guest speakers or programs. They give you so much busy work (care plans, reports, papers almost every night) that everyone is miserable by the end of the program. Plus, the non-Washington Hospital Center people are having trouble finding jobs since all the hospitals have closed up their residency programs. The school does not provide job assistance.

But from what I hear every second degree program is a massive amount of work, so perhaps everyone is miserable. I think that overall my education here has been good because the faculty is really top notch and the program is rigorous, but it is not what I expected. Sorry to be a downer -- perhaps some other current students will chime in and have a better feeling about it.

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RDU, I'll be there on the 19th, too, and would love to exchange contact info! I'm traveling from Michigan.

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Tammy, thanks for the info. I'll definitely factor all of that into my decision.

I was also curious how many people from your class are actually on the scholarship... would I be crazy to consider going considering I am not planning on taking the scholarship?

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I think about 75% are scholars.

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Specializes in Transplant, Med-Surg.
I'm coming all the way from Southern California for the interview! I picked Saturday, 3/20 :) :yeah:

I am also coming from SoCal and going on the 20th! I would have planned for the 19th but I have Micro lab that runs into the evening on Thursday so there is just no other way around it. I was going to get my flight tickets online but I am not sure whether we are supposed to wait for a confirmation from G-town or not. They said that we needed to RSVP by Friday, March 5th and although I signed up for Saturday, I have yet to receive any confirmation. Go ahead and get the tickets anyway? I'd rather do it sooner than later because tickets are definitely expensive. :confused:

By the way, thanks you @TammyG for letting us hear about your own personal experience in the program! I'm kind of bummed to hear about the lab and transportation issues but I definitely appreciate your honesty. I'm applying to NYU as well and I've heard similar issues on the forum so perhaps other accelerated programs are still adjusting.

Congratulations to those who got an interview! I'm very excited to meet all of you March 20th goers :yeah:

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Specializes in Transplant, Med-Surg.

Nevermind! I decided to call and admissions said that as long as our RSVP went through when we chose our date, we should be a-okay in choosing our flight tickets. No extra confirmation emails needed. Yay! I'm going to go ahead and schedule my flight tonight! :)

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i signed up for march 31st...coming from houston,tx.

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Thank you TammyG for all the info. I really appreciate your honest insight into the program. That kind of information is usually hard to get ahead of time.

I signed up for the 24th and am coming from NorCal. Anyone else going on this day?

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PurpleGum- I'm also signed up for the 24th; traveling from Florida

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TammyG: Thanks for your insights. When you interviewed last fall, were you divided up into groups and given a "problem-solving scenario"? A friend of mine who interviewed in `08 said they were divided into small groups and given a scenario that they were all in a boat and had too many people and supplies. They had five minutes to come up with a solution, and the professors watched them interact! Just curious to know if they are still doing that?

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Yes they did do the boat-solving exercise. It was a group of about 6 and we had 30 minutes to decide who (from a shipwrecked group) got sent on the rescue plane or some similar thing. I didn't think it was a big deal -- just be yourself.

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