jmelinte

Yeah!!! Congrats! Glad your wait is finally over. Thanks for putting together the Facebook page.

A call is a good sign. I would imagine they only call for admission and wait-list notifications. Hope you get some good news!

I'm taking the first statistics course online over the summer.

They have notoriously added interview sessions in the past, depending on how the early interviews go. When I went last year, I was told they were considering doing one more date after mine, but ultimately ended up adding two. Good luck to everyone interviewing. Excited to meet some future classmates!

You're not alone. I had 4.5 years of experience in a busy procedural unit, doing conscious sedation, and will have 5 years in the ICU by the time I start in January, and as much as I'm excited for school, I'm terrified. I'm also selling my house and moving the wife and I across the country to go to school, so the pressure is real. My coworker who is starting this summer also feels nervous, so I'd say it's fairly common. I made sure to choose a school with a low attrition rate and that openly discussed their support for students during interviews, so I think trusting the process and track record of your program is important. As my program director told me when asked what I can do to be a better candidate the following year if I don't get accepted, "if you weren't good enough, you wouldn't have been invited to interview in the first place."

I will have been out of school for 10 years by the time I start in January. I've never had to put in long hours studying before. I had some graduate level classes for which I studied with friends for several hours a week during my first degree, and I developed decent study skills then. I didn't find nursing school to be very demanding (academically or from a time management perspective). My CCRN studying consisted of an hr or two per day, 3-5 days a week for about a month, with about 1000 test questions per week during the last 2 weeks. That said, I know CRNA school is a totally different ball game from what I've experienced so far, and I expect a big adjustment period. If there's anything that gives me anxiety about school, it's being able to adjust to the amount of hours sitting in front of the books each day, and maintaining focus. I'm very results oriented, and once I find a study strategy that is yielding good results, I don't worry about being able to continue it. Finding it in the first place is what makes me the most nervous. I'm curious how long it took current students to adjust to this, especially if you were in a similar situation to mine. What strategies did you use to determine your best study routine? It seems like the pace of CRNA school doesn't exactly allow for much trial and error. Did your school provide any guidance through this process? I've heard that attempting to read all the assigned textbook material is generally not feasible unless you're a speed reader. Some students have talked about using the book to create an outline for taking notes during the lecture. I've also heard from SRNAs and med/dental students who record their lectures and listen to them over and over as their main study strategy. What do peoples study routines look like? I'm so excited to start, but the fear of failure is so real (especially since I'm selling my house and relocating my family across the country for school).

Thanks for replying. Unfortunately, some of the distance learning courses are limited to PA residents. Do you mind elaborating on the tuition comment? All I could find online is the roughly 34k/yr full tuition cost. My advisor also mentioned that while taking some courses ahead of time can help lighten the load, it could potentially also alter my full time status on the terms when those classes are not on my schedule.

I interviewed with them last year, and can personally attest to the interview process being exactly as described. After the initial standard program overview, I went with the director in her office and got drilled with clinical questions for about an hour. It was my first CRNA school interview, so I wasn't as prepared as I probably should have been, but it was also much tougher than the other two interviews I had. I did not get in, but was invited to interview again the following year. Luckily, I got in elsewhere, and will be starting this January. Good luck to those interviewing this cycle. I definitely don't recommend taking this one lightly, from a preparation standpoint.

Keep in mind that a lot of loans will let you defer payments if you re-enroll in school. While CRNAs are all going to be doctoral-trained by 2025, any program starting 2023 or later has to meet this requirement, since the 2025 deadline refers to graduates. Finally, while it may seem easier to go the MSN route first and finish the DNP later, if your end goal is DNP, then enrolling in a DNP program from the beginning is the faster and cheaper route. Completion programs are fairly expensive, and tend to last just over a year. The difference between DNP and MSN is only 9 months at most schools. I hope this helps!

Wanted to join this conversation for a couple of reasons. I interviewed last year, and was offered a 2020 start date, with wait-list for 2019 (spot didn't open up). Since I'll be starting at Pitt next Jan., I hope to follow this thread and get to meet my future classmates. That said, if anyone has any questions about my interview experience, I'd love to help. What I can say is that the interview process is actually way more relaxed than I expected. Out of the 4 hours, about 2 are spent on presentations about the program. Roughly one hour consists of a tour of the simulation facility along with a chance to ask a current student (tour guide) questions. The last hour was spent on 10ish minute 1 on 1 interviews with various faculty members, rotating through their respective offices. For those interested in stats, I'm 35, have been an RN for 8.5 years. I did 4.5 years in an endoscopy/medical procedures unit doing conscious sedation, and have since been in a med surg ICU with some cardiac thrown in. My grades aren't stellar, as I initially got a degree in biology, with a mediocre 3.16 GPA. I later went through an accelerated BSN program and finished with a 3.46 (non-transfer GPA was 3.6). I do relief charge, precept, have my CCRN, and had my GI certification at my old job, and have served on some committees as well as headed a couple of small projects. GRE scores were 160/163/4.5 for verbal/quant/analytical. I hope this helps clarify questions those heading into interviews may have, and hopefully alleviates some anxiety.

The clinical component was long, and is 1 on 1 with the program director. I think I was in her office for close to an hr, and was asked about Swans, basic EKG stuff, and a fair amount of pharmacology (definitely know your mechanisms of action and receptors involved). It's definitely intimidating, but it was also my first interview, and I was beyond anxious. I hope this helps.

Sorry, I just now saw this. My interview last year was rough, and it was also my first from the schools to which I applied. After the initial presentation about the program, I spent close to an hr being asked clinical questions 1 on 1 by the program director. I was terribly nervous, and probably a little unprepared for this, and did not do as well as I wanted. She was nice and asked some guiding questions when I fell off track, but I left feeling pretty disappointed. The interview with the assistant director was mostly personality questions, along with a couple of clinical ones, and went much better. Ultimately, I did not get in, but they asked me to come back and re-interview for the following year. Luckily, I used this experience as guidance for future interviews, and was ultimately accepted elsewhere.

I'm wondering if any current University of Pittsburgh DNP SRNAs are on here, and might have time for a few questions. I will be starting in January, 2020 (wait-listed for 2019 too, but that's becoming unlikely), and was hoping to pick someone's brain about the program a little bit while I wait. I'm planning on taking some courses online during Spring and Summer terms, and it would be nice to have insight from someone who has already gone through them as I make my selection. I'm also curious to talk a little about their experience at Pitt, as I anxiously wait my start date.

I got an interview invitation a few days ago. I've already been accepted into a program, but it's DNP to start Jan., 2020, so later start and finish. I'm trying to clarify a few details before scheduling my date and flights. One of the enticing things about CWU is the partnership with the Cleveland Clinic, and subsequent stipend during school in exchange for a 2.5yr employment commitment. I'm wondering if anyone knows any further details on this component. Is employment reimbursement competitive with regional averages? Is there any fine print not otherwise mentioned?

I agree that in the short term, there would definitely be no impact. I'm just wondering if there any reason to speculate that reimbursement and/or job availability will be affected in the long term, maybe 10 years down the road.