Mount St. Mary's Accelerated BSN Fall 2008

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I applied for the Mount St Mary's accelrated fall 2008 program and simply wanted to let others know I'm online to bounce ideas around.

It would be great to hear your stories going through the interviewing and acceptance process. Who knows, hopefully we'll even be classmates together this fall...:wink2:

Hi I have been accepted into the summer program at the mount. As well as at least one other school. I am very interested in the Kasier scholarship but I can't get a definite answer that it will be offered. Can you tell me anything that you know now about the scholarship.. Is it 2.5 years? Do you get to choose where in southern california.? Do you know anyone that went through it.. Thanks !!!!

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The hospitals determine interview dates. They have the money, they call the shots. From what I understand Kaiser interviews once students are about six months through the program, though our office never really knows themselves. 15 students from our group applied and 3 were offered the scholarship for $25,000. You give them your 3 top locations in SoCal ONLY. I hear they only offer Med-Surg positions. We're currently in clinicals at Kaiser and I'm not impressed with them. You would do 2.5 years. You can always walk away if it doesn't work for you, but they charge you some interest depending on when you leave. I would recommend the Mount for it's track record. CSUN was a new program and a mess. They were just closed down in the middle of the semester for not meeting state criteria and the students have to deal with the fall out on their own. Long Beach and UCLA have not been around for too long either. With the state budget crisis I'd expect some of their funding to be cut. Just a thought.

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Do you know how many interviewed and received the scholarship at Torrance Memorial? I am really counting on the Scholarships to help pay for school. Have you heard if there are less scholarships available because of the economy?

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Torrance Memorial Scholarship: I believe 7 of 15 applicants received the scholarship. I don't have any knowledge of these scholarships being affected by the economy... though it's not a stretch to think they could be. FYI, most of the students are in the program have loans. Torrance was not my first choice, but after interviewing with them I realized it was the right place for me. I applied as a backup plan and I'm glad I took the hour to complete the application. Getting into nursing school is full of highs and lows and so is being in nursing school. The best advice I can give is to stay positive and work all your options.

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I was not offered an interview to Kaiser. I was fortunate to get the scholarship from Torrance. After doing clinical rotations at Kaiser West LA, I'm glad for the way things turned out... the morale is horrible--I've always felt this as a patient there, so it doesn't surprise me. Torrance is a much better fit. Staff are much more upbeat and it will be a great area to live.

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I went to CSUN nursing website and it says it is accredited by CCNE...

But I have been hearing that they lost their accreditation from some people too...

but anyways..

MSMC A-BSN has been accredited by CCNE too right? (since MSMC don't make that clear on their website)

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I was not offered an interview to Kaiser. I was fortunate to get the scholarship from Torrance. After doing clinical rotations at Kaiser West LA, I'm glad for the way things turned out... the morale is horrible--I've always felt this as a patient there, so it doesn't surprise me. Torrance is a much better fit. Staff are much more upbeat and it will be a great area to live.

Chris, thanks for all the info you've provided. Your posts were very helpful in the app process.

I too will be a new Mount student this May. I had my eye on the Torrance scholarship since I already live in the area and the hospital seems to have a good rep. Do you know if they allow new grads to work in units other than med-surg?

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Our last 7 weeks at the Mount is our preceptorship. Since we'll be employed at Torrance that's where we'll do the preceptorship. You may know, but for the preceptorship, you basically pick the department where you want to start your career and shadow an RN during their regular shift 3 times/ week. I want to work in ICU, so that's where I'm doing my preceptorship. For employment, you give them your top 3 department choices and they usually give your first pick. The Versant Program is their 6 month new grad training program and they offer a list of departments aside from Med-Surg for new grads--here's the link: http://www.torrancememorial.org/versant_program.htm. Watch the video clip when you get a chance. You do sign a 30 month contract when if receive the scholarship.

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Here's the CCNE website... http://www.aacn.nche.edu/CCNE/reports/rptAccreditedPrograms.asp?state=CA&sFullName=California

CSUN is up and so is the Mount. My classmate related the story from her friend who was in the CSUN program, so I couldn't tell you for certain. Probably best to call them 818-677-2883. You have a 30% chance of getting into the Mount and less then 1% chance of getting into CSUN. Not new news, but it's best to apply to several programs.

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thank you so much I will check it out.. the main reason that I want the mount is because of the scholarship and the job offer ,, so am very frightened that they will pull it.. thanks for the info!!!

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There's always financial aid or community college. Though the community college route ends up costing over 20k more in time and money versus the accelerated track. The Mount's ADN program is nights and w/e so you can still work, but it's two years and a lesser degree and the tuition will still cost an arm and leg. Most of the students take out loans. It's worth it in this economy to have a stable career in nursing. The benefits far outweigh the cost of loans. You can get federal loans that you're not required to start paying back until 6 months after graduation and they have pretty low interest rates. Most people want to apply to Kaiser because they offer several locations and higher pay, so you have a better chance of getting Torrance. Torrance is going to cancel offering fall scholarships but keep them for your summer group, so I've been told. It's about to receive Magnet status whereas the majority of Kaiser locations are not Magnet. Torrance is also a top 100 US News and Health Report Hospital. Stay positive and things should work out as long as you keep working hard. I imagine if you've made it this far, that you're gonna be successful, it's a matter of whether you want to be stressed during the journey or enjoy the challenges of the journey.

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thank you so much I will check it out.. the main reason that I want the mount is because of the scholarship and the job offer ,, so am very frightened that they will pull it.. thanks for the info!!!

FYI, many hospitals offer sign on bonuses that do not require commitment terms.

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