TheNietzsche

Its a bit easier for some people depending on where you live, but if you live in or near the city then you won't really *need* a car. If you have a clinical rotation that's further away, it will be just one day per week. At least this is true in the first year. Your med-surg rotations will be at MGH, it sounds like they are set for resuming those clinicals for the fall, but who knows with Covid. Anyways... Using the MBTA, Uber/Lyft, and the occasional Zipcar has worked for me and a few of others in my cohort so far.

You go right into it, but many students work as RNs once they get out of prelicensure. The schedule does lighten up a bit after the first three semesters. They encourage you to get a part-time job as a tech as well after the first or second semester (at MGH, they accept the first semester coursework as equivalent to a CNA license for those jobs).

Sorry for the delay... roughly 20 students per track on average, some have a few more, some a few less I'd really advise against that, honestly, unless you have a VERY flexible work schedule...

Also, I was worried about all of this well. It will all work out! ?

Yeah, the “official award” letter is sent around then, though I remember it being a little later. Your award letter with the PLUS loan will be the full cost of attendance (you can find this on the IHP site) minus whatever the FAFSA says your EFC is. And it will basically be loans, unless you get one of the scholarships. It will include the maximum amount for the Stafford loan and then everything else will be the Grad plus loan. If you get a scholarship then that will replace part of the loans. So long as you are approved for the plus loan, the full amount should be on your award letter. Once approved for the PLUS loan the award letter is basically a formality, as you are guaranteed that loan up to the cost of attendance. Hope this helps!

You get a decision immediately. You can apply for the grad plus loan on studentloans.gov pretty early, I think it was available in late April or May last year. So I expect that the 2020-2021 application will be available around that same time.

Yeah... tons of debt (unfortunately). AFAIK the only info they use from the report are the adverse events, they don't even look at total debt levels or the FICO score. Found this info online, these are the only things that should prevent you from getting approved: Is 90 or more days delinquent on any debt; or Has been the subject of a default determination, bankruptcy discharge, foreclosure, repossession, tax lien, wage garnishment, or write-off of a debt under title IV of the Act during the five years preceding the date of the credit report. I was worried about the same thing at the beginning so had already done some research on it. Hope this helps.

They have very, very loose credit requirements... unless you have a black mark on your report, like a lien, collection, or a default, you should be fine. It almost felt like a formality. My credit was terrible when I applied.

Unfortunately for the vast majority of folks I know here, they had to take out the Grad PLUS loan to cover the full cost.. myself included. I took out the full amount to cover living expenses as well, as I decided not to work until after the spring due to the workload. Scholarships exist but are few and far between. I did A&P through Doane. I had a decent experience with their courses.

The program runs all three semesters. The first summer session we'll have multiple clinicals and one class.

No problem. Let me know if I can answer any other questions!

4- They will let you know. There's a lot of moving parts to all of it and sometimes things don't come out as quickly as you'd like. And some things are, out of necessity, just scheduled whenever they can be fit in. I'm sure that's not specific to this program. 5- I don't park personally but I do know there are multiple garages in the area that students use, and my friends who do drive and park don't seem to have issues. I can't find it now but there is a page on the MGH IHP site about parking options. There is metered parking in the area also. 8- Your schedule will vary week to week based on lab schedules and other activities. When you're on campus on a "normal" week it is usually from 9-12, 9-4, or 1-4. Some labs will start at 8. Last semester we were on campus three days per week and at clinical one day per week. This semester is twice a week on campus and twice a week at a clinical site. But again you may have a rotating lab scheduled on your normally "free" day some weeks. All of this is outlined in course/clinical/lab schedules before the semester starts so you're not surprised. Buy a good planner or have an organizational system that works for you, that's my best advice... Clinical prep is done the day before clinical but it can be completed remotely at home so long as you get your laptop setup with IT.

Last year decisions came out the last Monday in February.

Any other questions let me know.

Current student willing to answer some questions if anyone has any.