Peaches52

Hi!! They do offer the chance to defer. I know a lot of students deferred last year due to COVID. And then if I can give anyone else any advice right now... start applying for scholarships, if you haven't already. Don't wait until you hear about the financial aid package. Start now! And I echo @NursingMentorPRN about looking into the HRSA scholarship.

I just checked gmail and looks like I emailed her at the end of March! I'd definitely wait at least until the admitted students' decision deadline.

@amanda12 I was in fact admitted off the waitlist! I found out in mid-April. I know another person admitted in May (so.... very notice). It DOES happen, especially once admitted students see the reality of their financial aid packages.

Another alum here (graduated from the ABSN program in December, planning on working as an RN for a bit before heading back for my MSN), happy to answer questions! I do know that Penn just announced that they'll be online-only for classes this Summer, with the exception of clinicals and labs. There are no clinicals for ABSN students the first Summer, but there are two labs (physical assessment and patho/pharm).

This is late but maybe it'll help future people--Penn's program is better than Jefferson's. But unless you come from money or get significant financial aid, then no ABSN program is worth what Penn charges. That's a HUGE amount of money. (This is coming from someone who's graduating from Penn's program tomorrow. I wouldn't have gone here if I hadn't been awarded a lot of aid.)

I'll be honest-- your first Summer will be HARD. Do you have a partner or access to childcare? I was studying round-the-clock that first Summer. After that Summer, it depends on the students. Some students had pretty vibrant social lives, but I did feel like I had to study a lot that first fall and Spring. I also kept pressuring myself to get A's (even though that really doesn't matter once you get to nursing school...), so I think if you aim for B's, your life would be much more well-rounded than mine was. ? Summer is very laid-back, and I had a good amount of spare time my second fall, though I was often pretty exhausted from our two twelve-hour shifts a week.

Do not count on much for financial aid. The full rides do not count for second-degree students. I believe (but am not sure) that I got more grants than many in my class, and my total still came out to $75k just for the ABSN part of the program. I’ve been told that grants are pretty nonexistent for MSN students. (When you get in, you’re given a financial aid package for the ABSN only, and you’ll learn if you get any grants for the MSN program when you decide to start that.) I do know that they’re trying to get more funding for financial aid for the ABSN program, but I don’t know when that’ll start. A lot of people in my program are on Medicaid (cheaper than the student health plan), some are on food stamps, some are rich, and most of us are stressed out about money. Expect to take out private loans. But also, who knows— maybe you’ll open your mail in February to a generous financial aid package! Just don’t count on it.

Thanks! I spoke a little about my background and the program in another post (tl;Dr: I didn’t have a health background, and the program was great in some ways and disappointing in others, and certainly too expensive). My future plans are to work at a Philly hospital and eventually go back for my masters. I had originally considered going straight through, but my clinical rotations convinced me that I really don’t know *anything*— so much of nursing is learned on-the-job, and if I want to be a good NP, I’ll need nursing experience first. I’m also excited to be a nurse! I found my niche (emergency department) and I hope I’m able to get an ED job.

I’ll try to be honest and open and answer all your questions! What were your stats prior to entering the program? (prior degree in?, cum GPA, healthcare experience?) Prior degree in humanities, my undergrad GPA was 3.5 but when I went back to school to do my pre-recs, it was something like 3.97. My previous career wasn’t at all healthcare-related, but some of my volunteer activities were. Were you able to/did you work during the program? I know many students in non-accelerated programs tend to work as a CNA and graduate with work experience. I have also heard it is hard to work during an accelerated program. If you did not work, or know of people who have not worked during the program, have you or they found it harder to secure a job upon graduating? Can’t talk about securing a job because we haven’t graduated yet. (That’s an annoying part of graduating in December— we can’t take the NCLEX until late January/February. I won’t apply for jobs until I know my NCLEX date.) Plenty of people work, just not that first Summer, which is intense (I know some people were able to work a bit that Summer— no clue how they did it, tbh). Some people work as CNAs, tons of folks babysit, and a lot of people have various work-study positions. Some students had CNA experience before coming to Penn. I worked about 4 hours a week, which is less than most people. How would you rate the overall program? This is really hard to answer. Pre-pandemic, I would have said that while I was disappointed in some classes (our women & infants module was awful), overall I felt like my classes were better quality than those at a lot of other programs. (Caveat: I also feel that nursing education needs a lot of improvement overall and that many nursing schools are awful, so I dunno if this is saying much.) I happened to have some amazing clinical instructors, and I liked the electives that I took, and the fact that we get to take electives. We’ve had some amazing lecturers, some so-so ones, and some bad ones. Since the pandemic started, my cohort soured on Penn pretty immediately. The transition to online-only was brutal (this certainly was not unique to Penn). The administration refused to listen to us, disregarded our concerns, and basically made many of us question whether we really wanted to return to Penn to get our masters. I probably will, but that’s because I think most school administrations don’t really care about their students. The quality of our online education was pretty darn awful. Penn does have a lot of opportunities for research, some really amazing faculty to work with, and tons of speakers and events. I guess my biggest takeaway is that while I think Penn will give you a better nursing education than many other schools, it is still not worth the price. If you already have loans from undergrad, do NOT go to Penn. You’ll be in debt for the rest of your life. If I’d had to pay the entire bill myself (I had some grants and some help from a relative; yes I’m extremely privileged in that regard and I don’t take it for granted!), I wouldn’t have gone to Penn. There’s no reason to pay $150,000 for a nursing degree. Is it well-organized?  It... is better organized than many ABSN programs, but it is not well-organized, no. Some classes are extremely well-organized; many are not. What is your typical schedule like? Depends on the semester! First Summer, basically 35-40 hours of class a week. After that, you’ll have clinical twice a week (usually Tuesday/Thursday but some of us have them on weekends), lecture M/W/F mornings (then later just M/W mornings), and then various other classes and labs scattered throughout the week. Clinicals usually start at 6:30 or 7 AM, though sometimes there are evening ones that start at 3 PM. Most clinicals are 6 hours, but peds and your final leadership clinical are 12 hours (which is exhausting but a great way to see an entire shift and build up your stamina).

Current ABSN student here (I graduate in a month). Happy to answer questions if y’all have any. Good luck with your applications!

@kkelly532 First semester (Summer) is definitely intense-- practically 9-5 for 8 weeks. I don't know anyone who worked (but I have no doubt that a few did). The two most time-intensive classes were Pathophysiology/Pharmacology and Intro to Physical Assessment. The other two (Social Determinants of Health and Pathways to Practice) weren't much at work at all, but I really enjoyed them and thought they gave me a great perspective on nursing (and I'd studied public health before, so the social determinants class wasn't necessarily new material, but I think it's really important for nurses to know). The entire cohort is taking all four classes at the same time, so you all feel like you're all in this together. Once lab classes start, it's possible to have an evening lab class, but must students have evenings free. The next semester is lighter, so a lot of people worked (and that's when work-study jobs started). I've been working about 4-5 hours a week because I working my old job remotely, but I think a lot of people probably worked 10 hours a week. A lot did research, some worked in more admin roles, a lot of people babysat, some work as CNAs, and some also kept working their former jobs remotely. Clinicals start in fall, so that was fun, and we had a new class ever 5-6ish weeks (women's health/labor and delivery, one 12-hour shift a week; then psych, two 6-hour shifts, then pediatrics, one 12-hour shift). I also took a research class and a master's class (I'm submatriculated). Psych clinicals can either be 7-1 or 3-9, ob/labor and delivery is 7 AM - 7 PM, and peds is 6:30 AM - 6:30 PM. Some classes meet in the evening, but it's also possible to not take those. Spring is med-surg, so also 12 hours of clinical a week, but it has fewer lecture hours than the fall classes. I'm also taking a case study and a policy class. I've enjoyed it so far, and I feel so much more comfortable at the hospital than I did back in the fall! Clinicals are two 6-hour shifts a week, either 7-1 or 3-9. My classes are a variety of morning, afternoon, and evening classes, and I think no one has classes on Friday, which is kinda nice. From what I understand, this Summer is going to be super light, so a lot of us plan on working quite a bit. Fall is leadership, which I understand to be a lot of hours, and a half-credit research project (I'll also be taking medical ethics and maybe another case study).

Hey folks! I’m a current ABSN student. I’m currently on Spring break so I have some free time. Feel free to ask me questions about my experience! I remember that talking to students really helped me when I was choosing a program.

Your experience is pretty typical. Now that I’m here, I’ve found that I have to go to administrators’ offices to get a response to anything. It’s... pretty annoying, considering the amount of money we’re paying for this program. -Current student, started in June

I eventually got the insulting email asking me to apply to their Charlotte program. I started at Penn this summer, so no sweat off my back, but I told them that their admissions process doesn’t respect applicants and that they need to rethink how they conduct admissions and notify applicants. I wouldn’t want to go anywhere that thinks so little of the people who (pay to) apply.

Hi all, I just got in off the waitlist (for BSN-MSN FNP). I currently have to decide between Penn and another school and would love to have more information. Is there anyone who went to the admitted students day who might be willing to answer some questions I have about your experience? Thanks!