Good online NP Program

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I got accepted into Maryville university AGACNP program to start in July. I am concerned about some of the reviews that I have been seeing. Is this school worth going to? Should I decline acceptance and go to a different school. What is a good school to attend? Any an all help would be welcome.

Which program are you going to?

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Specializes in Hospitalist Medicine.
9 hours ago, CozyCatRN said:

Just curious, is your program online with the addition of those campus visits (and of course clinical)? Did you feel pretty prepared by the campus visits? I ask because my program will be very similar to this.

Yes, my program is online with the addition of the campus visits.

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22 hours ago, Dodongo said:

You should be looking for a school that does not have a 100% acceptance rate, has live lectures (or at least recorded... bare minimum), multiple on campus visits to assess your abilities and teach you hands on, *proctored* exams (would you proudly tell patients and other providers your exams were open book?), etc.

This isn't a game.

I Couldn't agree more.

To the original poster, do yourself a favor. Hold off and apply to a decent school with a reputation, clinical placement and some sort of standards to be upheld. Especially for ACNP. You need a school that actually takes the time to teach students and hold them up to a certain standard for practice. Your experience will serve you well, but what are you paying for through Maryville? They're expensive, don't offer any hands on simulation training, and don't place you in clinical sites. You're essentially paying to write a bunch of discussion posts and papers. Put your money where it will be well spent.

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6 hours ago, Telenurse1990 said:

I Couldn't agree more.

To the original poster, do yourself a favor. Hold off and apply to a decent school with a reputation, clinical placement and some sort of standards to be upheld. Especially for ACNP. You need a school that actually takes the time to teach students and hold them up to a certain standard for practice. Your experience will serve you well, but what are you paying for through Maryville? They're expensive, don't offer any hands on simulation training, and don't place you in clinical sites. You're essentially paying to write a bunch of discussion posts and papers. Put your money where it will be well spent.

I absolutely agree with this. I did not want to attend a diploma mill. I had concerns about Maryville and wanted to see what other options were out there. I have found a collage that while online, does have proctored exams, I have to attend clinical sessions once a semester and I feel a lot better about. I still have to find my own clinical sites but this collage has a list of approved sites. Thanks for all your help.

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Specializes in New Critical care NP, Critical care, Med-surg, LTC.

I am currently at Maryville for AGACNP. If I could go back and do it again, I probably would have made a different choice, but I ended up here for a few reasons and I'll make the best of it. I have some excellent preceptors lined up and I have shared some of my concerns with them about the lack of teaching, my preceptors feel confident we can overcome any deficits we encounter. I've also found some very good on-line resources to supplement my learning, but I agree that I feel like I'm mostly paying for nothing. I did do research, and there were many websites that highly rated Maryville and their NP programs. The deciding factor for me was three recent graduates in my area that gave very good feedback about the program, who were employed immediately upon graduation, so it seemed like solid evidence at the time. Good luck finding a program that works for you.

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Specializes in Utilization management, psychiatric-mental health.

At this point, I would consider Maryville online PMHNP program due to the fact that with my less than stellar GPA, I may not get into anything else. I'm just a tiny but below a 3.0 but all of the PMHNP programs I have contacted (brick and mortar, online/distance learning programs within NYC and outside NYC) do heavily weigh the GPA or that's what they indicated to me. For the out of state programs, many of them are not authorized to take NY students at the moment so I guess many things have changed. So Maryville seems like my last choice at this point. If not, then I may just have to get a masters in nursing administration (with no desire to be in administration). Just a bit frustrated at this point.

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On 3/31/2019 at 11:56 AM, desertrose501 said:

I still have to find my own clinical sites but this collage has a list of approved sites

THIS....... this is a huge reason (but not the only) why online schools are not a good idea.

I am currently in a brink and mortar school (finishing in a few weeks, and currently procrastinating on writing my comp...) I too have 11 years of bedside experience. One of my co workers is also in an online NP program and we started classes roughly within a few weeks of each other. He has had a lot of problems since the beginning but NOTHING compares to his drama with finding his own clinical sites/preceptors. He had been assured that they would "help" him and that help consisted of giving him the paperwork that he had to give to the sites himself. He had to drop the FNP and switch to a MSN in education with the hopes of getting a masters certificate.

What prior posters were warning you about (and what you appeared to get defensive about) is very real. Many of these schools see online programs as revenue source and do very little to assist their students. Graduates of some (I said SOME not ALL), while they passed the boards, are not as well prepared.

I understand the desire to go on with your education and challenge yourself, however, do not let yourself get taken advantage of. You appear highly motivated and really want this. If that is so, then find the BEST program you can, not one that is convenient.

Best of luck!

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On 3/29/2019 at 6:58 PM, CozyCatRN said:
On 3/29/2019 at 6:11 PM, Dodongo said:

I think it's a terrible idea, especially for an AGACNP, to attend any program that is 100% online. You need to be trained to do procedures; hands on training. Programs like this give NPs a bad reputation.

Wouldn’t they get that training in clinical? 

No, not necessarily. It is heavily dependent on the sites you actually get for a rotation.

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On 4/18/2019 at 9:06 AM, CP1983 said:

At this point, I would consider Maryville online PMHNP program due to the fact that with my less than stellar GPA, I may not get into anything else. I'm just a tiny but below a 3.0 but all of the PMHNP programs I have contacted (brick and mortar, online/distance learning programs within NYC and outside NYC) do heavily weigh the GPA or that's what they indicated to me. For the out of state programs, many of them are not authorized to take NY students at the moment so I guess many things have changed. So Maryville seems like my last choice at this point. If not, then I may just have to get a masters in nursing administration (with no desire to be in administration). Just a bit frustrated at this point.

Look, I'm not trying to be harsh here, but not everyone is meant to be a NP. If you have a low GPA medical schools don't want you. PA schools don't want you. Pharmacy, PT, OT, AuD, Dietary, hell even RN programs don't want you. What is it about these crappy NP programs that will take anyone with a pulse and a loan.

Take some more courses at the undergraduate level or as a graduate non degree seeking status, raise your GPA, and go to a real program, not a joke like maryville, Walden, purdue online, etc.

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On 4/19/2019 at 6:23 PM, buttercup9 said:

No, not necessarily. It is heavily dependent on the sites you actually get for a rotation.

I see that now. I did a little digging and I actually didn’t realize NP clinicals are as unregulated as they are. Yikes.

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Id look into Georgetown or Vanderbilt. My school's ACNP requires you to be on campus but I looked into the other two programs when I was thinking on ACNP. Hope that helps. Good luck in your studies !

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On 4/18/2019 at 6:06 AM, CP1983 said:

At this point, I would consider Maryville online PMHNP program due to the fact that with my less than stellar GPA, I may not get into anything else. I'm just a tiny but below a 3.0 but all of the PMHNP programs I have contacted (brick and mortar, online/distance learning programs within NYC and outside NYC) do heavily weigh the GPA or that's what they indicated to me. For the out of state programs, many of them are not authorized to take NY students at the moment so I guess many things have changed. So Maryville seems like my last choice at this point. If not, then I may just have to get a masters in nursing administration (with no desire to be in administration). Just a bit frustrated at this point.

Do not let anything to stop you. Find the right program for you and go for it!! Best of luck!

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