chickpea25

Hello Krysprout: I'm deciding between Yale and Columbia as well. I already turned in my Yale deposit but after the visitation day at Columbia, I'm having a really tough time deciding between the two schools. What are some of your reasons to consider one school over the other?

Dear BeaconStreet: I was at the info session on Friday and was very impressed by Columbia. I was curious what the leader of your tour group said about why she picked Columbia over other schools. I am trying to decide between two schools right now...Yale and Columbia. I already put my deposit in for Yale because it was due earlier but I am seriously having a HUGE problem deciding between the schools. Both are obviously great. Anyone have advice or find themselves in a similar situation? Help!!!

Another comment... I just wanted to say that cozzy66 makes an important point. She said her boyfriend is experiencing some of these same issues in med school. Four of my friends are currently in medical school, very good schools in fact, and they have the same complaints. Too much information to learn in such a short length of time, too many guest lectures, constant stress, bad teachers, a lot of self teaching (definitely true!!), etc. I think it's just the nature of the health care profession, whether it be nursing or medicine. There is so much to learn!

Hello Kurlyz26, Well, I'm still not sure which school to choose. I hope to have all my questions about Columbia answered on visitation day. I really think it would help to meet up! Let me know if you're interested. I chose psychiatric mental health nursing, which is such a rarely chosen specialty that I wasn't able to learn that much about the clinical experience based on my encounters with students who were mostly in pediatrics or midwifery. The two students I did have a chance to meet in my specialty were doing child psychiatry and I'm interested in adult psychiatry. As for housing, I plan on living at Harkness if I go to Yale, at least for the first year so that I can meet as many students as possible. I'm not a fan of dorm living, but I think it's the best option when faced with such an accelerated, demanding educational program. Food is available (I heard there aren't really any cheap grocery stores nearby) in the dorm cafeteria, there's a gym, a dunkin donuts steps away (very important!!), and the nursing school is fairly close! I also don't have the luxury of flying back to New Haven to check out housing in March. My work is already fed up with my having to leave yet again to jet off to New York (I'm in Illinois currently). So, it looks like it will be the dorm of me. If it's Columbia, then housing options are a lot more varied and I might end up living with several friends who already live in the area. At least I have some idea of how to go about finding decent housing in NYC, although it can be daunting! Just a note on students' opinions of the ETP program. I think no matter what, most people will describe it as a particularly stressful, almost overwhelming process, especially when you factor in the academic standards of a school like Columbia. I'd be surprised if someone didn't describe it as such. That said, I'd like to know more specifically what people didn't like about it.

This is probably off topic, here, but since I'm choosing between Yale and Columbia, I'd like to know if anyone else is in the same boat? I'm leaning toward Yale because I had such a great experience there when I went to interview. I hope I have similar experience at Columbia when a I attend visitation day! I felt overwhelmed by the hospitality of the students (med students and nursing students, actually, since I met students from both schools) when I attended the interview day at Yale..it was great! I talked to a lot of the Yale students and they really emphasized how much you need a car to get to clinical placements which may be all over the state, especially during the specialty years. I imagine that's not the case at Columbia, where you're pretty much a subway ride away from any sort of clinical site (Assuming clinical sites are limited to NYC?). For me, having to buy a car would be a considerable expense and a hassle when it comes to parking in New Haven. I don't want this to sway my decision too much, but I wonder what people think about this situation? As for safety, most of the top schools are located in an less than safe area --Johns Hopkins, Yale, Columbia, even the area around UIC is not totally safe, so it's really not an issue for me. Rather, it comes with living in a city and realizing that as a health care worker, you can't escape this reality if you plan to practice in an urban area. Lastly, I haven't cleared up the financial aid situation yet. How does one prepare a fafsa for schools that are structured differently? How do I fill a fafsa out knowing that I might go to a school which considers me a fifth year undergraduate to start and yet also a masters applicant should I get into direct entry programs that have no bachelor's portion? It looks like I'll simply have to pick one school and fill out the fafsa accordingly. Those who are attending the visitation day at Columbia...anyone interested in meeting up afterward to hang out and discuss everything?!

Don't worry about the Feb 1st deadline. I mean, it's really just a date by which students must file to receive the most funding, although I have heard that it really doesn't matter all that much. I filed mine before Feb. 1st but since I obviously answered the questions incorrectly and had to estimate my adjusted income (I hadn't received my W-2 forms yet), it seems that I'll have to redo the whole thing. I plan to call the financial aid office at Columbia to let them know what happened. I'm curious..I wonder if most nursing students live by the nursing school in the Washington Heights or in other areas of Manhattan?

I got into psychiatric mental health nursing! I'm very excited. I plan to go to the info session in March. I realized, however, when I got my letter and the accompanying fafsa forms that I filled in my fafsa incorrectly. I submitted the fafsa already because I felt pressured to have it in before the Feb. 1st deadline. The thing is, how was I supposed to indicate that I was going to be a 5th year bachelor candidate for 2007-08 for Columbia when the other schools I was applying to did not have this component (they were considered masters only). I hope they let me resubmit the fafsa! Congratualations to everyone who was accepted!!

i'm thinking of staying overnight...two nights. I'm from out of state, though. I hope one of the nursing students is willing to put me up for two nights! It would make things a lot easier. I also want to check out the yale gallery of art while i'm on campus. I heard it's really good. In any case, I'm really excited about this. I'm definitely going to the potluck! I thought about taking the train to new york for a day to stay with some friends. Is there a train other than the amtrak that runs to nyc? Amtrak is rather expensive. Just wondering if there is some sort of commuter rail. Great idea to start this thread!

Anyone know about boston college's direct entry program? so far I haven't heard anything.

hmm. this could pose a problem, especially for graduates of masters in nursing programs. If I attend one of the direct entry graduate programs, graduate with my masters degree in nursing, will I still be required to earn a bachelor's in nursing, even though I would have a masters in nursing in addition to an bachelor's in another field? That would be crazy. I would hope that having the masters obviates the need to earn another bachelor's degree.

I'm sure all the MEPN students are great. I mean, that must be the case. I'm also aware that to narrow the interviewing pool is extremely difficult. As an undergrad, I worked in the admissions office at my university and am well aware of how hard it is to turn down applicants. I have a feeling that my lack of direct care experience was the reason I was not interviewed. I had a realistic view of the admissions process at UCSF, especially since I have two friends who are in medical school there and one in graduate shool in immunology. I knew from the get go what I was dealing with. I was also applying with a typical "pre-med" profile, not a "pre-nursing" profile which, ironically, means that my lack of real world experience was a hindrance to me when applying to nursing programs. Med schools don't necessarily weigh that as much. It's mostly grades and MCAT scores. Applying to medical school was a daunting process and in the end, I only got into one school from the vast number I applied to, so when I chose to do nursing instead, I was prepared for a competitive admissions process. I'm planning to work as a medical assistant in the next couple of months to gain more practical experience and hope that I will be able to enter one of the direct entry programs I applied to in the fall. I have an interview at Yale scheduled, which is exciting, and welcome news after yesterday's disappointment.

Dear wildmountain child, Thanks for the reply. I figured that I would probably earn the same as an entry level nurse. I believe the autonomy is the most important aspect of becoming a nurse practitioner. I considered becoming a physician assistant as well, but thought nursing had more flexibility. Money is not so much the issue except that I have school loans and don't want to be forever struggling to pay back them back. Another reason I asked this question is that I don't feel comfortable at work (I work at a nursing home) discussing people's salaries because I know that people are given slightly different salaries when they are hired for the same position with similar levels of experience. So it helps to have a forum to raise these questions.

Sadness: rejected by UCSF this morning. Honestly, I don't know what the magic formula is for that school. I bet it's the fact that while I have worked in a bunch of medical settings, I've never had direct care experience with patients. Ivy league undergrad, majored in science, did research, fine GRE scores, As in all my prerequisites, lots of volunteer work, speak Russian, in the process of learning Spanish, and letters of recommendation from highly esteemed physicians. Heck, I got into medical school and chose to do nursing instead! Who knows. After I read about all of your backgrounds, I knew that there's something entirely basic they must be looking for and maybe the whole stellar background thing is not it? It's a mystery! As for those who got interviews, good luck! I don't think I'll reapply, as I hope to get into at least one of the other schools I applied to and would be perfectly fine attending any one of them. I just really wanted to live in San Francisco : (

Thanks for the reply! I do want to check out Baltimore. I may have to wait until later..when I know for sure if I've been accepted. I've heard that Baltimore has a lot of crime and that JHU is not in such a great area, but most of the schools I'm applying to have the same problem. Columbia does, of course, and it's not like New Haven, where Yale is located, is exactly pleasantville. I guess it's just something one will have to deal with and I doubt it's going to prevent me from attending any of these schools. JHU just has so many options within its direct entry program that I know it's on the top of my list. About the only school I applied to in a low crime area (relatively speaking) is UCSF.

Hello UCSF applicants, I still have yet to get a letter. I spent all morning dreading going to the mailbox and nothing came. I'm not sure what to think regarding this program. All of you seem so well qualified! I haven't worked as a CNA or anything but have worked in several medical settings and did some random volunteer work including teaching English to Russian immigrants, mentoring female undergraduate science majors, and tutoring, so who knows. After I graduated from college, I realized that I can't necessarily AFFORD to do long-term volunteer projects and I don't even have a family, so I can't imagine how hard it must be for older applicants with children. I'll be really bummed if I don't get an interview. I visited San Francisco last year on vacation (I'm from Illinois) and, just like most everyone, I fell in love with the place. I know that no matter what program I end up doing, I'm eventually going to move to the bay area anyway, so UCSF seemed like the perfect choice for me. I didn't realize that the two interviews are not on the same day. This scares me. It's already going to cost me $500 bucks for the airfare if I get an interview. At least I have some friends to stay with near the school. To all those who got rejected, I'm sorry to hear this. You will all, I'm sure, get into great programs and I wish you luck!

Oh, and one last thing. I find it strange that SO much direct patient care is needed to be considered for the NP program when most med students have NO direct patient care upon entering medical school. A friend of mine got into medical school and had never had to work in her whole life! Something is just not right about that. Oh well.

Hello! Elizabells --you're in the program at Columbia! Very nice. I'm hoping to get into Columbia, although I'm slightly concerned about the cost. I am still waiting for the letter from UCSF. I expect to receive it tomorrow or Saturday and have been anxiously checking my mailbox all week. A question for you, are interviews required at Columbia? MEPN applicant -- Wow. you have an amazing background. I can't imagine their not even offering to interview you? Craziness. I wonder if I have a chance. I know they still decided to review my application when only three of the four letters arrived, but that's already one strike against me, I suppose.

Hi there I'm wondering the same thing about the JHU interview. I'm really excitied about it but hope I don't start to ramble! I was hoping for an on-site interview, especially since I have never been to the area before, but this is obviously a more cost-effective option. I think they're really going to emphasize the "why are you choosing nursing school over med school" question for me because I was accepted to a medical school and chose to do nursing instead (after some serious soul-searching). That's crazy to some (read: family), but I know I made the right choice. The thing is, I have no more creative answers for describing why I want to enter the healthcare field than the usual reasons people cite. I mean, what's wrong with saying you want to help people? A little cliche, yes, but true! I guess I'll have to work on developing more original responses. To the original poster: good luck on that JHU interview!

Hello everyone, I am nearing the point where I should be hearing back from schools about interviews to their direct entry nursing programs (I've already scheduled an interview with one!) and I'm suddenly freaking out about the outcome of all this. I mean, what happens when I graduate as an NP with no prior nursing experience, aside from the clinical portion during the program? I ask this because I am really worried about paying back loans after graduation. What if, and this is what I predict, I will have to work at entry level nurse's pay for several years before I am paid commensurate with the level of education I have? It's not that I mind working as an entry level nurse to gain experience, but at what stage are you finally paid as a nurse practitioner? Or maybe, I have no clue what I'm talking about here, hehe. I have no idea, really, how nurses salaries are scaled with regard to advanced degrees and experience levels, which is why I'm asking these questions. I also wonder if I choose psychiatric mental health nursing, will they hire me first as an entry level nurse in this speciality or will I automatically be assigned responsibilities as a nurse practitioner? In many professions (teaching I know for a fact) they automatically raise your starting salary if you are hired with a masters degree, regardless of experience. Obviously, this is not recommended in the healthcare field, where experience is considered more important. It's just something I've been thinking about the last couple of days and haven't been able to find an answer to. Last minute worries, I suppose, as I wait for letters in the mail. ~chickpea

Hello Dordogne24, Thanks for the reply! I am still awaiting a letter. I live in Illinois, so I suppose it's going to take a wee bit longer to get here. I'll keep my fingers crossed. Best, Noreen

Hello! I am wondering about UCSF as well. I applied to the psychiatric nurse practitioner speciality. I'm assuming they inform us about interviews first? Based on what I read last year on this forum when I was contemplating which schools to apply to, I got the impression that UCSF sent out interview requests in mid December. I haven't received a letter yet, which is beginning to worry me. Have you heard anything yet? Thanks!

Hey there, Since I've been out of college for a couple of years, I have had to complete my prereqs at a community college due to full time work and cost issues. I went to a top-tier university but I have found my community college classes to be fulfilling. A & P, for example, is a tough course -- it's going to be challenging no matter where you take it. Just make sure you have a good instructor. Ask around and see which teacher students like. A good teacher can make a world of difference. UCSF basically states in their website that it's fine to take your prereqs at a community college. If they think it's ok, I have a feeling that most schools will. Good luck!

I just wanted to thank you all for responding! I haven't heard from any schools yet about interviews, although I have received emails from a few stating that my application is now under review. I have to say that explaining to people what the direct entry program is has been interesting. I spoke with a doctor about this and he said that naturally you won't have much experience coming out of the program but that you will have to acquire it by working as a nurse for a short while. It also may depend on the specialty. I suspected as much. I've also applied to Columbia, Yale, and Boston College. The thought of living in new york...exciting but so expensive... I hope these schools have good financial aid packages!

Greetings! I am new to this forum and have recently submitted applications to several direct entry masters programs. Right now, I have a lot of anxiety concerning the whole process. I encountered several technical problems getting my recommendations mailed on time, for example, but for the most part, I think I am a good candidate. My first choice is UCSF, although I am aware of how competitive it is. Statistically, they have something like a 7% acceptance rate, which is on par with medical school! I also get the impression that they don't really take the cookie cutter type of applicant. Rather, they prefer people who have had a variety of experiences, are creative, and those who have a serious interest in public health. One reason I believe this is that UCSF happens to be located in one of the most diverse cities of the country and so they must address the complicated, diverse medical needs of that population. I think it's a great place to become a healthcare worker. There is a lot of interesting initiatives going on in terms of research and how healthcare is administered in San Francisco (they just passed a universal healthcare policy, for instance). A bit more about myself: I would like to do research as an NP and believe that UCSF and other schools such as Johns Hopkins and Yale encourage this. Unfortunately, while I am well-prepared academically, I feel that my lack of hands on experience will be a negative. I have a degree in neuroscience and have worked in labs. The only real medical experience I have had has been working as a secretary in a pediatrics office and now, in an assisted living facility (overnight shift) where my duties often entail helping the CNAs pick up residents who have fallen, helping residents in various non-medical ways, etc. Obviously, my interactions with residents are limited from a medical point of view, but I do feel that I am learning a great deal from working with the CNAs and nurses. At this stage in my life, I don't think going to school to become a CNA to acquire medical experience would be a wise decision; it would only increase the amount of time I will have to be in school and I would be earning less than I am now, which, with my current student loan debt, would hardly be helpful. On that note, since I have witnessed the type of work CNAs are required to do, which often goes way beyond their job descriptions, I believe they are definitely underpaid. Now, for some questions about UCSF and other schools. Does anybody know when they send out interview requests? I've also applied to Johns Hopkins and wonder if they require interviews. It doesn't seem like it based on the information from the website. What about financial aid and scholarhips? How realistic is it to assume one will get scholarship money? Just curious, has anyone picked psychiatric mental health nursing as their intended specialty? So far, I haven't found anybody who has and wonder why. Anytime I mention that I want to do this speciality people think I'm crazy!!!! Of course any specialty has its challenges. I realize that my encounters with patients may be more challenging depending upon the setting, but I can't see myself doing another specialty except for cardiology or maybe women's health. I do realize this post is ridiculously long, but I have so many questions! I'd appreciate any input or advice. Thanks!