Master of Nursing U of M 2017 Cohort Applicants

kme77 · Jul 14, 2017

Excellent - you are so helpful!!!

Danaika · Aug 19, 2017

Hello everyone! I am sure every one excited to start school soo soon! I graduated the UMN SON a couple years ago. When I was at your place (just about to start my school) I was too excited and bought too many UMN required scrubs :) I still have a set of new and several almost new scrubs. I know that they are quite expensive. So if you want to save some $$ you may contact me :)

MinnesotaAndy · Sep 10, 2017

abrimey: Sorry I am several months late here, but if you're still interested in the application metrics, here are mine:

Overall GPA and prerequ GPA ~3.5

I definitely didn't have all A's and I re-took a couple of science classes, so don't be intimidated if you transcript isn't pristine!

shebelb · Jan 22, 2018

Hello all!

I am an applicant for the 2018 cohort at the UMN! I have my interview coming up and I'm trying to learn as much about the program as possible before then! I'm pretty sure the UMN is my first choice- I've done a lot of research on the program already but I'm interested to hear about the experiences that you all have had?? Can you tell me what it's like going to class? Do you do a lot of online stuff or do you attend class every day and then do homework online? Do you like your professors and are they available to you via email or in-person? What's the hardest part of the program so far? What's the easiest?

Thank you for any information you can give me!! I have tried to attend the info sessions but literally every single one for the past 6 months have been scheduled during my work hours!

Ampharos · Jan 28, 2018

Hello all!
I am an applicant for the 2018 cohort at the UMN! I have my interview coming up and I'm trying to learn as much about the program as possible before then! I'm pretty sure the UMN is my first choice- I've done a lot of research on the program already but I'm interested to hear about the experiences that you all have had?? Can you tell me what it's like going to class? Do you do a lot of online stuff or do you attend class every day and then do homework online? Do you like your professors and are they available to you via email or in-person? What's the hardest part of the program so far? What's the easiest?
Thank you for any information you can give me!! I have tried to attend the info sessions but literally every single one for the past 6 months have been scheduled during my work hours!

Hey! I was a little busy with the NCLEX this week (Crushed it!!), but I wanted to pop in and offer some answers to your questions! I posted earlier about my overall feelings about the program, so I won't ramble on about that again, but the TLDR version is that I really enjoyed it! There are a few classes that are completely online (Pharm and... Maybe just pharm, actually) and some classes that are mostly online (where you meet in person like 3-4 times) and then some classes that are in person with lots of online activities. They all use Moodle (actually, I think they are switching to something else now, but for us it was moodle) extensively for posting notes and other materials, quizzes, and submitting assignments. So you have to be very comfortable with using online stuff since that is a huge part of every class. I liked most of the instructors. They were pretty approachable and helpful overall and were very responsive when emailed. Even the ones I was less comfortable with I was still able to approach with questions when necessary. I know that the cohort behind me had some instructors that are different from the ones I had, though, so they might be able to better speak to some of that.

I guess I didn't really post anything about the last semester. The classes are pretty chill because you need to be focusing on your immersion. Most of the class assignments are group projects which takes some of the stress off since you have help. There's also the immersion seminar class where everyone presents on a patient they cared for and you have an opportunity to talk about things you are experiencing at immersion with your classmates that are in a similar area (for example, my immersion was in pediatrics so I was in the peds seminar, but there were also groups for critical care, adults, etc). As far as immersion goes, they ask you to rank your preferences in February or March (it was super early) and you find out your placement over the summer (I think we found out at the end of June). Some people got their first choice, but many (like myself) got their second, third, or even fourth choices (and there were a few people that got none of their choices). My advice for that is to not stress too much about making selections because they are going to do what they need to do to get as many people into something they expressed an interest in as possible. I really enjoyed my immersion even though I didn't get what I wanted most, so it all works out in the end.

Overall, I didn't think the program was excessively difficult. It definitely had some stressful times, but you get through them. To me the hardest part was getting myself past some psychological hurdles as far as clinical being unlike anything I had ever experienced (I had no health care experience going into this). Honestly, they make you work hard, but it's not terrible and you will survive.

Oh, and bonus info about the NCLEX since I just took it! First off, in October of your final semester they make you take an ATI comprehensive predictor exam. October is ridiculously early, so very few of us were actually prepared, and many of us (myself included) bombed it. Like, it told me I had a 43% chance of passing the NCLEX on my first try, which felt super crappy at the time. But the reality is I hadn't really been preparing since the NCLEX was still, like, 5 months away so I had plenty of time to prepare. So, don't let it stress you out. It's not that serious, I promise!!

Then in November, they explain how you register for the NCLEX. You have to wait for authorization (ATT) from the board of nursing for whatever state you want to be licensed in. Most of the class tested for Minnesota and received their ATT before/around the new year. I will be moving to Wisconsin, who was slow as molasses and actually gave me weird information that was wrong and made the process take forever, so I didn't get my ATT until almost 3 weeks later. I know there were some people testing for other states, but I'm not sure how their ATT/test set up process went/is going.

As far as preparation, the MN program offered an ATI live review that cost around $300 and was optional for us (although we heard rumors that it may become mandatory for future cohorts). I figured since our program liked ATI so much and their NCLEX pass rates are pretty good that it must be a fine option, so I did it. Less than 1/3 of my cohort attended the ATI live review, with others opting for a Kaplan review and others doing their own thing. The ATI review was in person for 3 days where an instructor comes and gives you a really brief overview of basically everything you learned in school with a focus on problem areas identified in the cohort by the ATI predictor we took and topics we requested on the first day of the class. They also explain some about the exam and how to make educated guesses which is super important since that exam is weird and you will make a lot of guesses. The review comes with a book that summarizes key content you might see on the exam and a bunch of online content you can use to help you study. There were also educational games and snacks, which was fun. The instructor was really nice and helpful.

We had the class right before Christmas, so I started studying for real after. I never studied for more than 3-4 hours a day (because I just can't. Most says were probably more like 1-2 hours). I went through the ATI live review book to refresh myself on content and used a Saunders book as a reference since there weren't too many fine details in the ATI book. I also bought the NCLEX Mastery app and some Saunders flash cards for more questions. I did most of the extra quizzes we got by taking the ATI review, too. Doing questions was a huge part of my studying since the biggest hurdle for the NCLEX for me was trying to not freak out when I see these questions that don't seem to make sense the first time you read them. I passed the exam last week without any trouble (although if you had asked me before I found out I passed I would have told you I didn't feel great about it/probably failed, so don't expect to walk out feeling awesome).

So, yeah. That's my feelings on the matter. I hope this was helpful!!

shebelb · Feb 4, 2018

Yes!!! Thank you so much!!

extasy · Jul 30, 2018

Thank you so much Ampharos for this last post. I haven't been on this website for a while. I'm in the 2017 cohort and heading into my last semester. I like the timeline you provided in terms of what to expect in the last semester and taking the NCLEX.

abue · Nov 2, 2019

Hi all!

Just applied to the program here for the 2020 cohort. Not sure if anyone will reply to this thread so long after it was originally posted...but it’s worth a shot! Does anyone know if there were students with relatively low math GRE scores that were afforded an interview or even admitted? My verbal and analytical scores were great, my GPA is a 4.0 in prerequisites, my undergrad was a 3.7 and I have a lot of direct patient care experience. Curious if I even have a competitive shot?

lhanka · Dec 30, 2019

On 11/2/2019 at 12:41 AM, abue said:
Hi all!
Just applied to the program here for the 2020 cohort. Not sure if anyone will reply to this thread so long after it was originally posted...but it’s worth a shot! Does anyone know if there were students with relatively low math GRE scores that were afforded an interview or even admitted? My verbal and analytical scores were great, my GPA is a 4.0 in prerequisites, my undergrad was a 3.7 and I have a lot of direct patient care experience. Curious if I even have a competitive shot?

Hello!

I also applied for the 2020 Entry level Masters Nursing program!

I think you have a competitive shot. From everything I have heard they Want well rounded applicants-which it sounds like you are!

I am so itchy to know about interviews! I called about timeline and they said end of January. Feels like forever!

good luck to you!!!!!!!!

extasy · Dec 31, 2019

@ Ihanka very well said.

lhanka · Jan 11, 2020

@extasy they emailed me an invite to interview today! I’m so thrilled! Did you hear anything yet?

ash_alford · Jan 11, 2020

@lhanka @extasy @abue

Hello all! A few of us Fall 2020 cohort applicants have been chatting in a newer thread in the Nursing Students - School/College Programs forum. Come join us if you'd like!