MDE Columbia University 2021

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Hey ! I know im super early to make this thread for the MDE program at Columbia for the 2021 start year ? but I was wondering if there are any future nurses out there as eager as me to get started !!

Specializes in Chaplaincy to Nursing.
7 hours ago, ForeverPsych said:

I was accepted to both Yale and Columbia and would be happy to share my perspective on various metrics that were most important to me when considering which school to attend, and which I hope will be helpful.

Columbia’s MDE/DNP vs Yale’s GEPN/MSN: Columbia offers a 15-month accelerated Masters Direct Entry (MDE) program leading to an RN license and generalist MSN degree. This is followed by a 2-2.5 year DNP specialty program leading to an NP license and DNP degree. Yale offers a 12-month accelerated Graduate Entry Prespecialty in Nursing (GEPN) program leading to an RN license, followed by a 2-year specialty program leading to the NP license and MSN degree in your specialty. So, after ~3 years, you could earn a masters and doctorate from Columbia or a masters from Yale. Yale offers a DNP program which requires a separate application and takes an additional 2 years to complete.

Clinicals: Columbia offers more clinical sites (200+ partner sites), more clinical hours (1,000+), and more diverse clinical settings. Columbia also utilizes their ColumbiaDoctors Primary Care Nurse Practitioner Group practice and 16,000 sq ft simulation lab as part of their clinicals, as well as a 6-week integration experience at one of their global partner sites or in NYC with a nurse preceptor. Yale has a 5,300 sq ft lab and offers 600 clinical hours. Not much else is available in terms of detail about clinicals on their website. 

Cost: This varies based on so many individual factors, but for my situation, Columbia’s MDE/DNP program is 40k more expensive than Yale’s GEPN/MSN program, but is 20k less expensive if you add Yale’s DNP program. Columbia offered me 2.5x the scholarship aid that Yale offered me, which offset the initially much larger price tag. The takeaway here is that cost is not as clear-cut as some people might lead you to believe - it really depends on your situation. 

Rankings: According to US News & World Report Rankings, Columbia’s DNP program is #1 in the country and Yale’s DNP program is #17. Columbia’s MSN is #11 and Yale’s is #14. I did a lot of research going into this application process, and it included rankings. In general, I found that CUSON is more highly ranked as compared to YSN. 

Other: One of the advantages I think Yale has over Columbia is the name recognition. Even though they’re both Ivies and Columbia has become more selective in terms of admissions in recent years - it doesn’t register the same as Yale. (If you Google Columbia’s famous alumni, I think it puts things into perspective). Also, Yale’s nursing program is much smaller than Columbia’s and I got the sense from the communication I had with them that they can offer more individual support to their students. Columbia’s MDE program has an average cohort size of 200-250 students compared to Yale’s ~100 for GEPN, but is broken down into smaller clinical groups. My understanding is that once you move into the DNP program, it’s much smaller. Another factor is location, which is largely subjective, but I think NYC does offer more opportunities for just about anything I can imagine. 

Obviously this won’t be your exact situation, but it helped me to lay it out all this way. I have a PowerPoint and everything ? I also hope this helps to bring some of the focus back to why we’re all here to begin with - CUSON is one of the best places to get a nursing education.

I got in off the waitlist at Yale which created a (happy) dilemma for me as I was already accepted to CUSON. This was very useful though and helped me make my decision in favor of CUSON.

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Has anyone talked to admissions recently and know if decisions will be released this week? 

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Specializes in Phlebotomy | Patient Care Technician.
Just now, kac1225 said:

Has anyone talked to admissions recently and know if decisions will be released this week? 

They told me and a few other people today that decisions will be released sometime in February. When the month is literally about to end ?

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3 minutes ago, kac1225 said:

Has anyone talked to admissions recently and know if decisions will be released this week? 

I believe they told someone in this thread they’re gonna release decisions by the end of February........ ?

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Specializes in Phlebotomy | Patient Care Technician.

Those who are waiting in the second rounds, are you still waiting on Columbia or have any of you decided to commit to another school? I feel like my brain is just going insane right now ??‍♀️

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1 hour ago, icedmatchalatte said:

May I ask which school you ended up committing to?

Columbia ?

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3 minutes ago, eg96 said:

Those who are waiting in the second rounds, are you still waiting on Columbia or have any of you decided to commit to another school? I feel like my brain is just going insane right now ??‍♀️

I’m waiting on a few schools! pace, nyu, and decided very last minute to apply to molloy! taking the TEAS this week for molloy

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1 hour ago, GreenMagus87 said:

I got in off the waitlist at Yale which created a (happy) dilemma for me as I was already accepted to CUSON. This was very useful though and helped me make my decision in favor of CUSON.

Congratulations! What specialty are you in?

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5 minutes ago, hopefulnurselol said:

I believe they told someone in this thread they’re gonna release decisions by the end of February........ ?

Per Admissions a few minutes ago, decisions will be out by the end of this week.

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I put down deposits at both CUSON and YSN, but I will be choosing Yale. @Absnholder109

Tuition/loans: Yale is significantly cheaper (over 100K+ in tuition alone) to get to the NP level. Columbia's extra cost comes from the extra semesters to earn the DNP. Although I aspire to earn a DNP, I prefer to earn a doctoral degree when I have real NP working experience - not just clinical experience - to back me. Also, there's the possibility that my employer will help pay some of my DNP tuition. I also like that Yale's clinical DNP is part-time and online so I can receive a full NP salary while in the program and be doing the degree from wherever I want to live - not just in New Haven.

Support: Every interaction I've had with YSN - from my program director to Admissions - has shown me that Yale is invested in students. I've spoken to current students and grads of YSN and everyone speaks so highly of their experiences. The conversations I've had with CUSON students and grads have always included their frustrations with the program. Even in this forum, it's noted that CUSON can feel like a degree mill. Plus, how disorganized has CUSON's second round of admissions been? For me, it's not a good first impression. 

Diversity: Columbia wins hands down. NY offers so much more than New Haven. My countering to this thinking is being in NY could be too distracting and expensive. With regards to clinicals, Columbia wins. However, I've heard from YSN students that if I wish to do clinicals for a semester/Summer in another state including NY, YSN will make this happen.

My perspectives that I've shared here are shaped by my experiences and my needs, so the program that's right for me, may not be right for you. What has helped me the most in making my decision is reaching out to others - faculty, current students, and grads. I asked Admissions to help connect me to people. These conversations with others have provided the "evidence" of what really exists so I don't make my decision based on emotion but rather facts.

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Specializes in Phlebotomy | Patient Care Technician.
8 minutes ago, dnpmaybe said:

Per Admissions a few minutes ago, decisions will be out by the end of this week.

They always tell us that ? but ill believe it when we get that decisions email

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On 2/22/2021 at 8:10 AM, Absnholder109 said:

Long time lurker first time poster and will be applying next cycle

Is anyone considering between Yale and Columbia? those are my top two and can someone who has interviewed at both chime in 

I replied to this already but wanted to follow up on the program size I mentioned in my original post - I confirmed that the psych specialty is 30 students. So, while the MDE average cohort is between 200 and 250 (split up into groups of ~10 for clinicals), the DNP specialty cohorts are much smaller. Personally, this matters to me more since this is where you spend the majority of your time in the program and is what'll prepare you for practice in your specialty. 

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