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In the beginning, you spend a lot on the 2 sets of scrubs and required supplies (like your stethoscope, pen lights, reflex hammer, etc). There was one class during the Summer that required and high recommended 2 access code programs for some of the important study content for the course. I split the cost with other students for those access codes. They were around 300 dollars total (not splitting the cost). The scrub sets, if I remember correctly, are around 60 or 70 each. You have to buy all white shoes which can be expensive because they are hard to find. “Under Scrub” tops are not required, but I highly recommend them to keep you warm. The other supplies probably cost me around 100 w/o stethoscope. Depending on what stethoscope you go with they can run up to 200+. So yeah, first semester the misc costs added up to over 1000, but now I haven’t had any classes where I can’t use an old version PDF textbook or access the material from the library. Past the first semester, it is very similar to undergrad where what you spend on textbooks and supplies is mostly up to you. Edit: You should also account for fees and housing. Those are in addition to tuition. You can find the info on Columbia’s website with the breakdown.

Hey! Current CUSON student here! I was looking at AllNurses for some other reasons and this forum popped up. I know that many of you are debating and deciding on whether CUSON is the best fit for you. It is a big decision. I will say that the biggest piece of advice I have is truly consider what you want. Do you want to be a nurse? Or do you want to be a Nurse Practitioner? What are your career goals at this present time? Do you think they will change during your time in nursing school? One of the things I have learned since being in the program is no matter how “shinny” and “ranked” the nursing school is the primary purpose of an entry level nursing program (whether BSN, ABSN, or Entry Level Masters (MDE)) is to prepare you to pass the NCLEX. Yeah, you will learn some skills, but the majority of those will be taught at RN job orientation. That being said, for some the structure of Columbia’s MDE program may be a great fit to accomplish passing the NCLEX, but for others it may be a nightmare and really tough. If it was easy everyone would do it, but it is so much better when you know yourself and you choose a program that is structured the best for you and your learning style. There is also the financial side of things to consider as well. If your goal is to become an RN and the hypothetical $20,000 full cost school’s pass rate is 99% for the NCLEX, then it may be best to go there instead of the $100,000+ school with a 99% for the NCLEX. As for the DNP portion, for some going straight into the DNP to become an NP may be the greatest fit in the world. For others, it may be best to take a year or two off and go do a post-master’s or other school’s DNP program. Let me know if you have any questions. I would be happy to answer anything over DM.

Hi all, I am currently in a direct entry MSN program and will graduate in August 2021 and be eligible to take the NCLEX. I also got accepted to a DNP-FNP program. I am interested in going into the Air Force after getting my DNP-FNP. I am currently trying to find info on the requirements to get the HPSP to pay for my DNP-FNP program and go straight into the Air Force after graduating. I will graduate no later than January 2024 with my DNP. I plan on working as a RN during the DNP program (so that should give me about two years of RN experience). Has anyone experienced applying to any branch of the military's HPSP program for their nurse practitioner degree and would be willing to share their experience?

Hi, OPEN is a program that is starting this year for people who are missing some of the prerequisites to get into Post-baccalaureate accelerated nursing programs (like Columbia's MDE Program). I am currently in the MDE. Since OPEN is a new thing at Columbia, there won't be anyone that can give you advice on how the classes actually are. The professor who is in charge of the OPEN program, teaches a few classes for MDE and they are really thorough and fair.

Did anyone's acceptance letter disappear from the admissions portal? My acceptance letter is not showing up there anymore, but my acceptance of the offer confirmation letter and the acknowledgement of the deposit is still there.

You received paperwork with information on some of the stuff we need to do?? ? I didn’t receive any paperwork or directions and have just been waiting for the student portal to be released because I don’t know any of the requirements to start the program. Help please! ? Never-mind I see the link you posted... it how did you find that?

I applied and got into the FNP track for the DNP portion! When I dwindled down what I could truly see myself doing in my future career, FNP was/is what I need! We will see where it takes me; I am up for the hard work and the adventure! I was fully expecting to not get into the MDE or DNP programs whatsoever because of coming straight from undergrad and I know so many people applying are older than me and more experienced “in the real world”, but I am so so happy to have this opportunity! This was something I have prayed for and about for over a year when I found out about the program. It is something I hoped was meant to be for me. Now, I just have to figure out and pray all the logistical stuff will work out! I am planning on attending the visit day and then make my ultimate decision from there. Best of luck to everyone that is on or soon to be on the application cycle journey.

Accepted to MDE and DNP.... Health-related B.S. degree, multiple minors, 3.5 GPA; Prerequisites are A's and B's; I am coming straight from undergrad, but I have well over 1,000 hours of healthcare related volunteering (either working directly with patients or in-directly), multiple leadership experiences, research assistant for 3.5 years for a reputable principal investigator with 25+ years of experience. My personal advice is to take the stats people are posting with a grain of salt, even my own. They are good relative starting point, but what is most important about my experiences is the experience I was able to gain and then express in my application's statements. My experiences also allowed me to network with all sorts of individuals and professionals throughout undergrad. I got to know them and they got to know me, professionally and personally, and therefore they were able to provide me with great letters of recommendation. I am proud to have each of my letter writers support and I know they will be a part of my life for the rest of my life. I would suggest looking at sincerelymeagan.com. She attended Columbia and recently graduated. She provides great insight into the application process and what it is like to live in NY and study at Columbia. I used her blog as a guide when applying to programs.

I got in for MDE/DNP-FNP!!!! Wooo! Very unexpected, but I am so so happy! Best of luck to everyone in your futures, regardless of the decisions you received today! ?

They are not doing interviews for BSN/MSN FNP.

Thanks for trying to help and talking me through some possibilities as to why I may have not heard anything yet. I just reviewed Simmons website again and the letters of rec that I submitted I am most certain are not the problem. I am still in school (undergrad) so my recommendations all come from academics (class instructors), research, and mentors. The only thing I can possibly think of is that for Simmons they state one of their requirements is a 3.0 in prerequisites. I had reached out to them prior to applying because I got a B- in inorganic chem lecture (but an A- in the lab). When I called them about it they said it should not be a worry and they still consider applicants who may have slightly lower than a 3.0 in prerequisites if they have an overall GPA well above 3.0. This fall I took Physiology and Nutrition as prerequisites, but Simmons doesn’t consider Nutrition as a prerequisite. I reached out to Simmons via email yesterday about not receiving an email about my application being received, so hopefully I will hear from them soon. I plan on submitting an academic (transcript) update with my fall grades in NursingCAS soon and then also reaching out to Northeastern in addition to Simmons to confirm the update is received and will be considered. I heard from Northeastern a few days after the application deadline to clarify that I will have Microbiology in progress in Spring 2020 because they didn’t have that information from NursingCas because they don’t use the transcript entry tool and my spring semester enrollment didn’t show up on my official transcript. I had Physiology and Nutrition in progress in Fall 2019 (just finished them successfully) and will have Microbiology in progress in Spring 2020. Besides those courses, I have taken almost every medical/nursing prerequisite known to man... lol! ? Undergrad has been an adventure, but I hope to move on soon and get these NursingCAS issues with both Northeastern and Simmons over with soon with a good result!

Also, does anyone know if Simmons does interviews for their Direct-entry FNP? Additionally, I just thought I would mention, I applied FNP track for Northeastern and have not received an interview.

Hello, I applied to Northeastern and Simmons as well. I heard from Northeastern a few days after I submitted to verify my prerequisites in progress. I haven’t heard anything from Simmons at all, not even an under review email or a thanks for submitting like Northeastern sent right after I submitted. Should I be worried about Simmons? Could something have gone wrong with NursingCAS? I was submitted/completed and verified on 11/18 and my app was last updated 11/20 according to the PDF download from NursingCAS.

Unfortunately, my finals were this week and time got the best of me, so I didn’t have time to reach out and ask them about transcripts. My final grades are not all processed for the semester yet. My school is a big one and a lot of people are graduating this semester, so confirming and processing my official transcript requests won’t be the priority for my school until after the new year. I will most likely try to call Penn after the new year to ask about sending updated transcripts. If they don’t answer, I will email them with my application reference number , an explanation, and my unofficial transcripts attached. This method will probably be best since many other admissions offices at schools close from Dec 23rd to Jan 1st, so I imagine it is the same for Penn. As for financial aid, I think Penn has directions somewhere on their website and they may have sent them in an email at some point too (I can’t exactly remember). Since the first portion of Penn’s program is ABSN and it is for 1 year+ you should put on the Fafsa that you are pursuing a second bachelor’s degree. This is the same for all ABSN programs whether they direct admit to the MSN program after or not. Next year once we have neared completion of the ABSN, we will submit a Fafsa at the graduate grade level for the MSN portion in order to get financial aid for the upcoming year for that part of the program (2021-2022 financial aid year). If you are also applying to other schools right now that direct-admit to MSN and skip the BSN part, you will have to check with the school because sometimes the first year of those programs can be billed as bachelor’s level. It should say it somewhere on the schools’ websites for the direct-entry MSN programs (although it can be like finding a needle in a hay stack sometimes). If you are applying to ABSN and direct-entry MSN... Make a Fafsa now that includes all of your ABSN schools (Penn, etc), as well as schools you are applying to that bill the first year of a direct-entry MSN program as bachelor’s and submit it. Once it is processed successfully (you’ll get an email from the gov’t student aid site), at this time go back into your Fafsa and delete all of the ABSN schools and schools that bill the first year of direct-entry MSN as bachelor’s first. Next, change the grade level in the Fafsa from second bachelor’s to college graduate. Add or delete any Fafsa information that is or is not needed for the graduate programs compared to the ABSN programs, then finally add the direct-entry MSN programs to your Fafsa and submit again. *contact most of the schools’ financial aid offices directly to make sure they received the SAR a few days after you received the processed successfully email message from the gov’t to insure the schools received it and have it on record, just to be sure*

Hello, Would anyone on this forum be able to walk me through exactly how you are doing a FAFSA for both grad based (masters on up) programs like Columbia and bachelors based programs like Duke? I know some people mentioned that they are doing the FAFSA with all their grad programs on it first and then submitting another one with all their bachelors programs, but I am really nervous about doing all of the financial switching stuff and don't want to click the wrong button and mess things up. I submitted my FAFSA with Columbia on it a few days ago and it was successfully processed.

I will update the forum when I call and if I get answer or not about transcripts.

As of right now, the one email I can find on their admissions website that it says to send electronic transcripts to is: [email protected] I found this email on the MSN requirements section of their website although I am applying to BSN/MSN: https://www.nursing.upenn.edu/admissions/msn-and-post-masters/msn/ I am going to try to call today or tomorrow and see if I can get a definitive answer. I find it weird that they would absolutely not accept a transcript update, especially if the transcript has pre-req courses. This could help them make a decision for those that don’t have many pre-reqs completed (I have about half completed). I am super excited about the way my grades are turning out this semester compared to others and I really want to show the admissions committee, so I hope they accept my updated transcript and review it!

Hi, does anyone know anything about sending an updated unofficial transcript to Penn with Fall semester grades? All of the other schools I am applying to have the ability to add updated documents in their portals but Penn does not. I want to send my grades for the fall semester once it is over on Dec 20th because my grades this semester are really good and will include two prerequisite course grades. Will they respond if I email or call?

Thanks for the info. Yes, the Spring semester ends by May 2020. Yeah, it was a risk I had no choice but to take because I have to finish my degree in a timely manner as well and some of the courses for my degree are only offered during either fall or spring semester (not year-round) at my school.

How many prerequisites do people have in progress or arranged to complete next semester? I have 2 in progress and 1 to complete next semester. It’s the part I am most worried about because I only have half the prerequisites done, but have done way more vigorous science courses such as OChem already.

Okay! I will! I was thinking if worst comes to worst I will just call admissions and get help to change the recommender if I need too.

Hi, does anyone know if the October 15th deadline means that the application closes going from October 14th once the clock goes from 11:59pm to 12:00am October 15th or if it means that it closes on October 15th at 11:59pm? I am only asking because I have everything completed for my application but one recommendation hasn’t been submitted yet. I have tried to reach out to the professor several times, since they agreed to write the recommendation over a month ago. I went to his office and he said he likes to work up to the deadline, which makes me anxious because that is very risky. I have an alternate recommendation lined up I just want to give my original recommender the benefit of the doubt. Columbia is my dream school and it would really suck if the reason I get denied is because one professor doesn’t submit their recommendation on time. I am trying to have patience and trust in this professor though.