NYU Accelerated Nursing Program 2008

Kelzy · May 6, 2008

I was in the same boat as you guys, and I emailed the dept and they told me that it would have to be in undergraduate housing. I did that for two years in my first undergrad and I can't imagine living with a bunch of 18 year olds again. But it's personal preference and luck cause you could end up with a 23 year old...

jschomburg · May 7, 2008

I'll be meeting with a member of the nursing department on Friday, I have a couple questions I was going to ask. Do you have anything you would like me to ask?

Is so, post them here

jschomburg · May 7, 2008

Nursing Scholarship

one of the best out there http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/nursing/scholarship/applicantbulletin/

Duke112 · May 8, 2008

So I really hope that I can get into a place like water, because some of those places are seriously depressing, you must have gotten lucky because you got a single too. I looked at Columbia's res halls out of curiosity, and there places seem to be A LOT nicer and about half the price! But I guess thats because it's Columbia! Thanks for the website it's quite interesting/helpful! Has anyone gotten their info packets yet?

banana1234 · May 8, 2008

which housing structure is closest to the nursing department?

banana1234 · May 8, 2008

Is everybody getting enough money for loans to pay for school? I am starting to get paranoid that i won't have enough money to get me through school. I have already tried for some scholarships but I don't think it will be enough seeing as how many of them are for a thousand dollars. Any suggestions? I have already filled out a FAFSA but I don't know how much i am getting

kimposbl · May 8, 2008

Hi new NYU admits,

First of all, congrats to those who got in! and best of luck to those still waiting for an answer. I'm currently finishing up my 1st semester in NYU's 15 month program. It's a lot of work, but very manageable if you have good time management skills. I'm even working a part-time job on the side for some extra cash! Anyways, about money. I recommend borrowing money either through Sallie Mae or CitiAssist (Citibank) because those 2 companies are preferred lenders which makes it very convenient for YOU and NYU b/c the money shows automatically in your account. I asked for $15,000 thru CitiAssist to pay for summer, and the money automatically showed up in my online student account a week later! I got a pretty nice rate too (prime minus 1%). right now I think the prime is 5%, so basically I'm accumulating 4% interest as soon as my loans are distributed to NYU.

p.s. I'm selling my books from my 1st semester, so PM me if you want to buy them off me!

yellowbox · May 9, 2008

Hi All,

Its my first time on this site and its been really nice reading through the development of your applications - with lots of happy endings as its seems like lots of you got in.

I too have been accepted into the NYU accelerated program starting this fall. I've also been accepted into another school, Concordia College (30 minutes on the train from Grand Central) who are just starting a brand new program. Its very small - just 16 students.

I'm really wavering between the two and would like to hear more from people who are currently in the program or from those of you who are traveling all across the country to come here - why NYU? I'm from England and I'm new to the city - I'm loving it and can't wait to be a nurse. The idea of paying $70,000 for NYU is killing me though.... So I also wanted to ask if anybody has any leads on scholarships for international students. Soon after I gradate I plan to return to South East Asia (I was living there for 6 years before I came here) to work so I can't use any of the ones that NYU offer as they all involve a 2-year work commitment in NYC post-gradution.

If anybody on the program has a teeny weeny bit of time I would really appreciate chatting with you - please email me on [email protected] if you can.

A big congratulations to everybody who got in!!!

Mandi

rb123 · May 9, 2008

and STILL waiting........

kimposbl · May 9, 2008

Okay, here are questions that were PM'd to me, so I decided to share the questions & answers to benefit all prospective NYU students!

-You mentioned "time management" and were one of the few optimisitc posters that discussed the doable pace of the program. Although time, effort and energy devoted to school is purely subjective, do you find yourself constantly bogged down with work, or does it come in spurts? (like an undergrad experience)

Well, I heard the first semester is the easiest, so I didn't feel too overwhelmed. Work does come in spurts. I tend to be the procrastinator, so I didn't even bother reading the material until the weekend before the exam. But that's just me, because I have a very good short-term memory, but lackadaisical long-term memory. I studied molecular biology at a really rigorous university with a bunch of pre-meds, so I'm used to having lots of information thrown at me in a short period of time. Other students found this program quite overwhelming. We even had a few fail and drop-out of the program. But the majority of the students do very well in the program. My class earns averages of high 80's to the high 90's on exams. In fact, our Nursing Research professor cancelled our last exam and gave us all A's because she was very impressed with our classroom participation!

-Do you find the faculty interactive, accessible and willing to help?

For the most part yes. Some no. but all schools have some professors that genuinely care for your success and professors that don't give a rat's a** about you. My all-time favorite professor for the semester was Prof Knapp and she taught Fundamentals of Nursing. She was a great lecturer and very engaging. She was also very responsive to the students concerns, even though she is uber busy. But unfortunately she's not going to teach Fundamentals this coming Fall. Professor Mei Fu is going to teach it instead. During my semester, Fu co- taught Nursing Research. She's also a good professor, but she is stricter, and she will definitely give you more work. She's the type of teacher who tells you to know EVERYTHING instead of telling you what exactly you need to know for the exam. Oh, and her accent might be difficult to understand at first. But at least her passion for nursing shines through.

-Have you made good relationships with other program participants? II heard the incoming class in large, so I wanted to inquire about the interaction between classmates, etc.

Yes, your incoming class will be larger than mine. My spring start class has 95 students, but I think the fall start has 180 students. Even though your class is so large, you won't have any problems interacting with classmates because you will be divided into groups of 6 for off-site clinical and groups of 12 for on-site clinical. So the clinicals give you the small-classroom feel, which makes up for the large lecture halls.

-How is nativating NYC with classes and a clinical load?

Taking classes and clinicals is totally manageable. Unfortunately, my off-site clinicals was all the way in the Bronx! A 2-hour commute for me. But my clinical instructor was AWESOME, so it was worth the long commute on MTA. The hospital in the Bronx, aka Montefiore med center, is a very good teaching hospital, so don't be upset if no more Manhattan sites remain when you register. I admit, I wish I had more time to explore NYC with my class/work load, but I will definitely make time for it this summer with the nice weather and all.

-Did you take advantage of NYU's Housing? (living "on campus")?

NO, I would not pay a dime to live in their housing. I'm paying so much to NYU already, I don't want to contribute anymore money to them than I have too. Their on campus housing is too expensive, and in my opinion, not worth it because you will have to pay a butt-load, AND you don't even get your own room! Having my own room is very important to me b/c it's where I like to study. I know 2 other girls who are even breaking their dorm contract to get out of the dorms cause (1) it's dirty (2) it's extremely cramped (3) you room with other undergrads. I came from California, and found my housing on craigslist. As my roommate says, "a match made in 'craigslist.'" I pay $400/month and commute to NYU from Jersey City, which is only a 20 minute commute to campus on the PATH train. I save soo much money this way. Instead of spending $1000/month on rent, I save $600/month, which means I can potentially spend more $$ when I go play in the city!

But if you must live in the dorms, I heard Waterstreet was nice, but it is a 30 min bus ride to campus, which is actually longer than my 20 min commute from Jersey City!

-Did you purchase most of your books at the NYU store or online at Amazon and other sites for less?

Like I said, I avoid having to give NYU more money than I need to unless I know I can get it from NYU for cheaper. This said, all their books are going to be more expensive than buying it used through other students or online. NYU College of Nursing holds a book swap in the beginning of the semester so you can sell/buy nursing books. Also, students post books they want to sell online on NYU's Blackboard interface. If I didn't find the book I needed at the bookswap or Blackboard, I would just order it through Barnes and Noble for a cheaper price.

How did you go about getting your loans? Did you use a cosigner? parents?

I have good credit history and I was able to get an awesome rate (prime minus 1%) thru CitiAssist without having my parents to cosign. I think my score is 730. But I have been building up my credit history since freshman year of college back in '03.

Did you get much financial aid?

NYU is tightwad when it comes to giving out loans and scholarships. I got nice scholarships from UPenn and Columbia University, but NYU only gave me $3000 a semester in scholarships. But unfortunately, NYU started before I even found out I got the other schools, so even though I got into their master's program already, I had to turn them down. =( it just wouldn't make any financial sense for me to transfer to the other schools. And also, I wouldn't want to start over again, even if some credits successfully transferred. Also, expect to get NO financial aid for the summer session. If you max out your federal loans for the regular academic year, you can't ask for any more for the summer session.

I saw on previous posts that you came from CA. I am also coming from CA, was it hard adjusting?

Yes, it was hard for me to adjust to NYC b/c I left CA abruptly. I found out I got into NYU only ONE WEEK before spring semester begin, so I only had ONE WEEK to quit work, say goodbye to friends, sell my season pass to Northstar-at-Tahoe, pack my belongings, find housing, get my health clearance, get BLS certification, and book my plane ticket to NYC! So if I was able to do that in one week, I'm sure you can do all that in three months! Also it was hard for me to move to NYC because I LOVE the great outdoors and rockclimbing. But I need to get out of the California bubble, and this is the best time for me to go since I want to come back to CA to work. NYC is a bit too urban for me, but it's slowly growing on me. I do love the fact that everything is so close together, and public transportation is sooo convenient.

On top of classes/clinicals, what kind of part time job are you working as?

I currently work part-time at a pediatrics clinic in SoHo as a medical assistant. I just do quick assessments of children and babies before the doctor sees them. Like I previously mentioned, I am a procrastinator, so I figured that if I got a job, I would manage my time better. Which for the most part is true - it forces me to be more effective with my studying time, when I do actually have time to study.

-Do any program participants who've gone through or are currently going through the program say they wish they've known anything important prior to program start-up?

Basically everything I'm telling you, is what I wish someone told me! When I was trying to decide whether or not to go to NYU, there wasn't much information posted on All Nurses about NYU so I had to fly to NYC to find out for myself!

Hope this helps!

MsBridgeMack · May 9, 2008

Hey Kim,

I just wanted to extend a BIG thanks for answering all of those questions, they're really helpful! I really appreciate it as I'm sure the other posters will as well!

I'm sure I or others will certainly be asking more questions in the future!

Enjoy the rest of your semester, thanks for your help...and maybe we'll cross paths in September!

Best of luck! :rolleyes:

Duke112 · May 10, 2008

Yes thank you very much for posting ! That is very helpful!

Definitely rethinking the housing situation!