MGH IHP DE NP 2019

[TheNietzsche]

I didn't see a thread for this year's IHP direct-entry NP applicants, so figured I'd create one. Anyone else applying this cycle?

[ti123]

1 hour ago, ti123 said:

Like stated above, work on your personal statement and on getting good LORs. If you haven't started already, get some clinical experience to show that you have some basic understanding of what you're getting into. MGH didn't conduct interviews for the DEN program, at least not for this year's cycle, so make sure your application is good on paper. Try your best on the GRE, but don't sweat it. Most schools want to see that you're around or above the 50th percentile for all sections. I also used Magoosh and did the free practice exams on the official ETS website. I studied for maybe a month consistently and received scores in the 65th and 77th percentiles for the quantitative and qualitative sections respectively with a 4.0 on the writing. My GPA wasn't the best (3.4), but I guess it was enough. Good luck!

Whoops, took the GRE so long ago I forgot the names of the sections lol. I meant verbal and quantitative sections respectively*

[alorraine]

3 hours ago, Lnp18 said:

Does anyone know the date that the semester officially starts for the DEN program? I've emailed them a few times and they haven't answered, but I want to plan for when I have to move!

They have a tentative academic calendar out that shows new student orientation being 9/4-6 and classes actually starting on 9/9. I just went to their website and searched academic calendar and found the page. ?

[alorraine]

3 hours ago, tofuqueen said:

My undergrad GPA was a 2.78 with a Biology degree and Math minor. I completed 3 semesters taking 14 units each with a 4.0 after I graduated. I was so scared that my undergraduate GPA would hold me back from ever attending graduate school. However, with my additional semesters of community college classes, I believe I am up to a 3.0 now. My GRE scores were in the 69th and 58th percentile with a 5.0 in writing.

I also have been working as a CNA for one year. I started at a nursing home and now I am in a hospital. It was a lot of work as I was working full time in addition to taking a full load of classes (thank God for online classes). But I worked hard and made the post-bacc 4.0 happen.

I want to share my story because it shows that MGH really does look at your whole application. They didn't disregard my application due to my GPA. They looked at how passionate I was about becoming a nurse. In addition, I have been getting interview invites to other schools too!

I CANT BELIEVE IT BUT I'M GOING TO NURSING SCHOOL!!!

I agree that MGH clearly looks at your whole application to make decisions.

My undergrad degree is in Business Administration. My overall GPA was a 3.4, I believe, once the NursingCAS system factored in classes I failed right out of high school because I did not take school seriously at the time. I took the GRE and got a 156 Verbal, 151 Quantitative, 4.5 Analytical Writing. I have worked in a mental health center for 7 years and received letters of recommendation from our clinical staff here for the program. I did my best to show my passion for the field through my essays. So again, this all really goes to show that they look at your application holistically.

[lc618]

14 hours ago, Breytiful said:

Hey all!

I've been watching this thread for awhile.. I want to apply for fall 2020. I graduate this fall with a bs in health promotion with a focus on community health. Im in el paso, tx and my degree has a focus on minority health and borderland health. My gpa is eh.. I kepy trying for bsn schools and its just hasnt worked for me but i passed pharm, got a 70 in patho(which was a d for the program) and passed an intro to nursing class.

I take my gre june 1st. Any advice for any other aspects of the application?

Congrats to everyone who got in ?

When I went to an information session at the IHP, they said they look at GPA in a number of ways: cumulative, science classes, and most recent. My cumulative GPA was garbage and automatically cut off my application at a lot of other DEN programs, but my prerequisite GPA was good as were my last 96 credits (or whatever number it was). I also used Magoosh to study for the GRE; it's expensive but the interactive approach is worth it. I would recommend taking one of the free diagnostic tests ETS offers, and setting aside 1-3 months to study based on your score.

That being said, I think the things that made my application successful were patient/healthcare experience and letters of recommendation. I had 1500 hours volunteering in a trauma setting, and got excellent letters from my clinical supervisor, my research PI and a former professor. You've got time to identify who you want to write your letters and establishing meaningful relationships with them, so take advantage of it!

[o12sa]

Anyone planning to attend IHP Open house next Saturday?

[Breytiful]

On 3/1/2019 at 1:35 PM, tofuqueen said:

My undergrad GPA was a 2.78 with a Biology degree and Math minor. I completed 3 semesters taking 14 units each with a 4.0 after I graduated. I was so scared that my undergraduate GPA would hold me back from ever attending graduate school. However, with my additional semesters of community college classes, I believe I am up to a 3.0 now. My GRE scores were in the 69th and 58th percentile with a 5.0 in writing.

I also have been working as a CNA for one year. I started at a nursing home and now I am in a hospital. It was a lot of work as I was working full time in addition to taking a full load of classes (thank God for online classes). But I worked hard and made the post-bacc 4.0 happen.

I want to share my story because it shows that MGH really does look at your whole application. They didn't disregard my application due to my GPA. They looked at how passionate I was about becoming a nurse. In addition, I have been getting interview invites to other schools too!

I CANT BELIEVE IT BUT I'M GOING TO NURSING SCHOOL!!!

Congrats!! You worked so hard!!? thanks for all your tips ladies! Im super proud of you!!

Im super excited for all of you!!

Can i email you all on herr and tell you what i plan on writing my personal statement about and get feedback?! I know all nurses doesnt let people delete comments...and if mine is a good one i want to keep it to myself! Lol.

I have volunteered at the health department, and have completed a cna class. Never got a job doing it though:l since minor is in community health, so i have a practicum and a final project to present to im college of health sciences lobby lol (Maybe this could give me an opportunity to research my personal statement topic?!) I will sit for the certified health educator specialist exam in october! ? I also plan on doing research this summer and fall on diabetes:)

[Breytiful]

On 3/1/2019 at 11:43 AM, alorraine said:

Awesome that you're getting started soon to figure out what you need! Are you planning to apply to the DEN program or the ABSN program?

Either way, pharm and patho weren't required. Check out the application requirements page for either program to see which classes are prerequisites and do as well as you can in those.

Study early for the GRE. Personally, I found the quantitative section to be the hardest. If you can afford it I would suggest taking a GRE prep course and legit start as early as you can. I made the mistake of waiting until really only two weeks before I took my GRE and while I did okay, I could have done better if I had taken the time to study. For reference I got a 151 in the quantitative section and could have done better if I had planned for more studying.

If other areas of your application aren't strong such as GPA focus on the other aspects such as your essay responses and letters of recommendation.

Good luck!

I plan on applying to the DE:) I mentioned the patho/pharm because im so scared they'll hurt my application ? my school required they be taken at the same time and omygosh, theyre both really demanding classes. I havent seen any other school that requires people to take them at the same time..

I'll definitely start studying soon! My school offers a gre prep course for the price of $200 dollars, thats super expensive for me but you make me feel like im definitely making the best investment. Its a week long and is about 25 hrs worth of instruction. ?

I'll definitely work on my lors and personal statement. Can i email you on here about my topic?

[Breytiful]

On 3/1/2019 at 1:06 PM, FutureCNM8 said:

Good luck! I know that MGH takes a holistic view of the application so all parts count. I would sign up to volunteer regularly and use MAGOOSH to study for your GRE. It is more expensive than a GRE book, I think at $159 for a years access to their app. It helped me 10xs more than the book did though!

Thank you! Ill look into MAGOOSH..maybe theres a discount code lol

On 3/1/2019 at 1:20 PM, ti123 said:

Like stated above, work on your personal statement and on getting good LORs. If you haven't started already, get some clinical experience to show that you have some basic understanding of what you're getting into. MGH didn't conduct interviews for the DEN program, at least not for this year's cycle, so make sure your application is good on paper. Try your best on the GRE, but don't sweat it. Most schools want to see that you're around or above the 50th percentile for all sections. I also used Magoosh and did the free practice exams on the official ETS website. I studied for maybe a month consistently and received scores in the 65th and 77th percentiles for the quantitative and qualitative sections respectively with a 4.0 on the writing. My GPA wasn't the best (3.4), but I guess it was enough. Good luck!

Congrats on getting in! Thank you! Ill definitely look into MAGOOSH and do the practice tests. I'll definitely look into volunteering at the hospital this summer. Ill also being doing research for diabetes!

[Breytiful]

On 3/2/2019 at 2:46 AM, lc618 said:

When I went to an information session at the IHP, they said they look at GPA in a number of ways: cumulative, science classes, and most recent. My cumulative GPA was garbage and automatically cut off my application at a lot of other DEN programs, but my prerequisite GPA was good as were my last 96 credits (or whatever number it was). I also used Magoosh to study for the GRE; it's expensive but the interactive approach is worth it. I would recommend taking one of the free diagnostic tests ETS offers, and setting aside 1-3 months to study based on your score. 

That being said, I think the things that made my application successful were patient/healthcare experience and letters of recommendation. I had 1500 hours volunteering in a trauma setting, and got excellent letters from my clinical supervisor, my research PI and a former professor. You've got time to identify who you want to write your letters and establishing meaningful relationships with them, so take advantage of it! 

YASS girl! Thanks so much for the helpful advice!! My cumulative GPA is garbage RN, but I am working hard to get it up! My health science gpa is 3.7 though. I am super excited now, because I have been working hard these last few credit hours since I decided to change my major from nursing to health promotion. So many of the girls that replied talked about Magoosh, so I will definitely be looking into that and doing the ETS diagnostic tests :)

I will also be taking the 25 hr GRE prep course my school offers.

I plan on doing research about diabetes in the summer and fall, and my minior forces me to do a major and minor project and present it in the lobby of the health sciences building. I think that would give me a great opportunity to research my personal statement also. I can also look into volunteering at the hospital.

I have volunteered at the health department, but I got into a car accident and never got to return. I want to ask for a LOR from the program coordinator, but Im embarasseed LOL. But I will definitely suck it up and ask her for a LOR because it'll look good. Or do you think I should ask whoever I do my practicum with to write me a LOR?

[alorraine]

6 hours ago, Breytiful said:

I plan on applying to the DE:) I mentioned the patho/pharm because im so scared they'll hurt my application ? my school required they be taken at the same time and omygosh, theyre both really demanding classes. I havent seen any other school that requires people to take them at the same time..

I'll definitely start studying soon! My school offers a gre prep course for the price of $200 dollars, thats super expensive for me but you make me feel like im definitely making the best investment. Its a week long and is about 25 hrs worth of instruction. ?

I'll definitely work on my lors and personal statement. Can i email you on here about my topic?

The application gave us an opportunity to explain any repeated courses or failing grades and also gave the opportunity to mention anything that we wanted the admissions committee to consider. Like I mentioned before I failed a few college courses right out of high school because I didn’t take it seriously and I explained that in my application. ? you’re going to do fine! I do think that any prep for the GRE will be helpful but the main this is just don’t wait until the last second like I did. Lol and focus on the areas that are hard for you. I spent basically zero hours studying for the verbal section because that has rarely been an issue for me so I spent the little time I did study on quantitative and did all the prep that ETS has available.

[Breytiful]

1 hour ago, alorraine said:

The application gave us an opportunity to explain any repeated courses or failing grades and also gave the opportunity to mention anything that we wanted the admissions committee to consider. Like I mentioned before I failed a few college courses right out of high school because I didn’t take it seriously and I explained that in my application. ? you’re going to do fine! I do think that any prep for the GRE will be helpful but the main this is just don’t wait until the last second like I did. Lol and focus on the areas that are hard for you. I spent basically zero hours studying for the verbal section because that has rarely been an issue for me so I spent the little time I did study on quantitative and did all the prep that ETS has available.

Thanks for the great feedback

[FutureCNM8]

Hi all - I just gave up my WHNP/Adul Gero spot. I hope they'll pull someone off the waitlist soon!