Where are all the Direct Entry students???

romie · Nov 23, 2006

I am a direct entry student and will be starting Jan 2007. I know that there a very small number of direct entry students who post here and I wonder myself where the rest of them are.

To answer your question about the best place to take pre-reqs, it really depends on the program you are trying to get into. Different schools have different criteria-- for example, the chicago colleges seemed to be in agreeement that all of the pre-req science classes at the community colleges and universities are interchangeable and there is no preference for either. In fact, at some of the universities in chicago it can be so hard to get into a low level science class that the university students will occassionally take community college courses because they are the only ones they can get into.

On the other hand, some schools on the west coast, particularily, acknowledge that some community college courses are not as rigorous and encourage applicants to take more challenging univerisity anatomy courses.

As far as which program type to apply to-- you should apply to as many schools that you are eligible for. Getting accepted into nursing school is competitve these days and the wait lists are very long.

Gennaver, MSN · Nov 24, 2006

Hi everyone!
I'm wondering if anyone has advice in regard to where I should take the prereqs?
...so do you think the safer bet would be to take the class from a well-respected 4-year university? I'm also planning to rock the GRE, lol.
Finally, my other question is whether I should apply to both Accelerated BSN and Direct Entry programs, keeping in mind that my end goal is to become a Nurse Practitioner. Thoughts?
Happy Thanksgiving all! :)
Izzy

Hi Izzy,

I am finally 6 months away from graduating from my 22 month Master's entry program. TA DAH!! Yes, it is very busy, and an invesment in time, money, energy and emotions, it is worth it.

I do not think it matters at all where you take your pre-reqs...I think that your entire package is what is looked at by many schools, especially the combination of your gre/essay/life experience/undergrad gpa, (all together, no one can carry you yet, the combination can carry a weak area).

I do not think it matters which program you go for if your goal is to eventually become an NP but do think you will eliminate the core courses of your Masters if you go in to a masters. That way when you are ready for your NP program it will be as a post master's certificate and can save you time and money then.

Either way, you will be prepared to work as a Nurse, which is *THE* greatest pre-req for any NP program. :)

Good luck!

Gen

masstudent · Nov 24, 2006

I am currently applying to direct entry programs and have recently taken my pre-reqs as my local community college. Most places seem to be willing to accept cc classes. Many of the nursing programs especially direct entry are aware that their applicants need to take their classes somewhere that is not too expensive and allows for enrollment at night. I highly doubt I would have been able to do my prereqs if I hadn't been able to take them at nighttime. I do know one place I looked at (but I don't remember which college/university at this point that it was) that stated you could take your prereqs where ever you wanted but not at a technical college. I guess they figure a technical college science class is going to be easier than a community college class. However, that being said, in my area where college professors are limited, I know my A and P and microbiology classes were taught by a professor who works full time at the local technical college and then at night would come over and teach at the community college.

Kensington, I'm glad to hear you are planning to rock the GRE. That is the one place I have the most concerns about. I just finally registered today to take the GRE. It has taken me 3 weeks of calling every other day to register. Unfortunately, since it has taken so long to register I have had to give up my desire to apply to a university who's deadline is Dec 1st. I started the process back at the beginning of October and thought that would be plenty of time.

Gennaver, MSN · Nov 25, 2006

Kensington, I'm glad to hear you are planning to rock the GRE. That is the one place I have the most concerns about. I just finally registered today to take the GRE. It has taken me 3 weeks of calling every other day to register. Unfortunately, since it has taken so long to register I have had to give up my desire to apply to a university who's deadline is Dec 1st. I started the process back at the beginning of October and thought that would be plenty of time.

Hi,

I think I was very lucky to register online the first day I tried.

I am foggy on the details but think I had something like ten days before I took the test. I registered the day I found out that I needed the test and only had that much time to study. I didn't "rock" the test but did sufficient to qualify and not totally embarass myself. Thankfully. :)

It is one part of your application and it can lift up a poor packet or a great packet can lift up mediocre GRE.

However I do think that many schools have an "arbitrary" minimum of 1000 total V + Q and a minimum of 4 for the AW portion.

Thankfully I at least made that but, I've heard from another gal I know that a school told her that they would be willing to take her with a GRE lower than that *if* her GPA was at a certain standard to compensate.

Good luck,

Gen

Kensington · Nov 25, 2006

Hi Romie,

That's an interesting observation that you made about west coast schools favoring university-level prereqs. I am applying to several west coast schools as I currently live, and would prefer to stay, in California. The one major exception to that is Georgetown.

Thanks for your thoughts - I really appreciate it! :)

K

I am a direct entry student and will be starting Jan 2007. I know that there a very small number of direct entry students who post here and I wonder myself where the rest of them are.
To answer your question about the best place to take pre-reqs, it really depends on the program you are trying to get into. Different schools have different criteria-- for example, the chicago colleges seemed to be in agreeement that all of the pre-req science classes at the community colleges and universities are interchangeable and there is no preference for either. In fact, at some of the universities in chicago it can be so hard to get into a low level science class that the university students will occassionally take community college courses because they are the only ones they can get into.
On the other hand, some schools on the west coast, particularily, acknowledge that some community college courses are not as rigorous and encourage applicants to take more challenging univerisity anatomy courses.
As far as which program type to apply to-- you should apply to as many schools that you are eligible for. Getting accepted into nursing school is competitve these days and the wait lists are very long.

Kensington · Nov 25, 2006

My plan to "rock" the GRE is just a big wish and hope! I need to do something to make up for my GPA. . . wish me luck! :)

I am currently applying to direct entry programs and have recently taken my pre-reqs as my local community college. Most places seem to be willing to accept cc classes. Many of the nursing programs especially direct entry are aware that their applicants need to take their classes somewhere that is not too expensive and allows for enrollment at night. I highly doubt I would have been able to do my prereqs if I hadn't been able to take them at nighttime. I do know one place I looked at (but I don't remember which college/university at this point that it was) that stated you could take your prereqs where ever you wanted but not at a technical college. I guess they figure a technical college science class is going to be easier than a community college class. However, that being said, in my area where college professors are limited, I know my A and P and microbiology classes were taught by a professor who works full time at the local technical college and then at night would come over and teach at the community college.
Kensington, I'm glad to hear you are planning to rock the GRE. That is the one place I have the most concerns about. I just finally registered today to take the GRE. It has taken me 3 weeks of calling every other day to register. Unfortunately, since it has taken so long to register I have had to give up my desire to apply to a university who's deadline is Dec 1st. I started the process back at the beginning of October and thought that would be plenty of time.

arciedee · Nov 27, 2006

Thanks for starting this post. I was wondering about the direct-entry contingent here, too! I will be starting a direct-entry MSN program in January.

I took the majority of my pre-reqs at a local community college. The CC's schedule worked better with work and commute and the tuition was slightly better (though my state apparently has the highest CC tuition rates in the country!). At the info session I attended for my school they stated that they had no preference... though that may be in part because it's a state school and it wouldn't really make sense for them to say that they wouldn't accept pre-reqs from our CCs. I would check with the schools you are interested in and find out whether they have a preference.

As for BSN vs. MSN, I think it depends on what path you want to take with your career. I want to become an NP at some point, however I don't feel comfortable with making a decision on specialty at the stage. I was lucky enough to find an MSN program for clinical nurse leadership, which is a generalist degree. However if such a program had not existed I probably would have sought out an accelerated BSN.

Kensington · Nov 27, 2006

It's so great to see new posts on this thread! I'd really love to know the schools you guys are in/were accepted to/are applying to. Has anyone heard of any Direct Entry programs that you should avoid? :uhoh21:

janony · Nov 28, 2006

Hi from another DE student. I'm just finishing up my first semester of a 6-semester program.

FLAgal14 · Nov 28, 2006

I'm not a DE student, but I was accepted to DE program last year but chose not to go (for financial reasons). But I just wanted to let you know that I was accepted with my pre-req's done at a community college. I had some already done through college but the big ones like A&P I and II, and microbiology I took at a cc, and the school was fine with it. It's so much cheaper to take the classes at a cc - and as others on this board already said, I think that the schools look more at the overall picture of who you are, your goals, what you've done,etc... then whether you took a few pre-req's at a cc. Good luck on your application!

Kensington · Nov 29, 2006

Hi, there! What school were you accepted to? I'm always curious about all the different programs! :)

I'm not a DE student, but I was accepted to DE program last year but chose not to go (for financial reasons). But I just wanted to let you know that I was accepted with my pre-req's done at a community college. I had some already done through college but the big ones like A&P I and II, and microbiology I took at a cc, and the school was fine with it. It's so much cheaper to take the classes at a cc - and as others on this board already said, I think that the schools look more at the overall picture of who you are, your goals, what you've done,etc... then whether you took a few pre-req's at a cc. Good luck on your application!