ChickenLLBird

I am not doing the ACNP track, but rather the Critical Care/Trauma CNS - so you might not find my input valuable, but I volunteered for a year on an ICU. That seemed to be helpful for my application. I knew a lot about CC/T. THere weren't any CNS' or NP's working on my ICU, but the pace of an ICU, the roles, etc. were helpful. - Chicken LL

Congratulations Nat! I'm looking forward to a get together - Lisa (Chicken LL)

Congratulations Blair! That's fantastic. Prospective Z, hang in there I'm rooting for you - Chicken LL (Lisa)

Congratulations jaxnaud (Karen)! See you in June. I am disappointed by how many people got waitlisted twice in a row. It just seems like a mystery formula to me if people have that experience. I'm really feeling for you guys and hope that this, somehow, turns out to be a positive turn in your path to becoming a nurse and, of course, that you end up in June. Maybe a lot of people will want to go to Yale or Columbia. - Lisa

Wow, bluedreamofsky, that's really brutal. I am so sorry. We have to let UCSF know by March 14th. I am sure that some people will prefer Yale or other schools, 1st on the wait list is good! I'll keep my fingers crossed for you - Chicken LL

Thank you Berkeley Mom, I'm pretty excited. I'm off to dinner with a friend! We can all do this, everyone hang in there! - lisa

jaxnaud, Nat, all of you - I'm pulling for you. Let us know tomorrow. Fingers crossed! - Lisa (Chicken LL)

I got my letter today and I'm in! What a relief, I will be emailing Solon! - lisa

I got my letter today, I'm in! I'm so excited! The envelope was post-dated 02/28/07 and the letter was March 1st. I live in Sacramento, so that gives you an idea of travel time. Hooray! I'm hoping that you are all the same. If not, I'm very sorry and think they need to expand their class. - Chicken LL

Sorry, I should be sending this to Kris directly but I'm not exactly sure how to do that. Please forgive! Kris -my name is Lisa, I am a white woman with light brown hair. I was wearing a black suit and turquoise sweater at the MEPN lunch. I asked a question about finances. It's a legacy of my years of sexual assault counseling that I remember almost all names and faces I meet. Sorry if it seemed creepy, Kris. So, I didn't apply to UCSF last year because I didn't have A&P yet. So I am a first-time applicant to UCSF, had to turn down Yale and take a chance. I didn't reapply to Yale because I decided that I did not want to be on the East Coast. Plus, I'd love to live in SF. Good luck everyone, keep breating - Lisa (ChickenLL)

Thanks for sharing the information on the mail out. That helps. Kris, I remember you from the Interview Day, I am sure you will get in! You have a unique specialty and definitely distinguished yourself in a good way. (We were at the same MEPN lunch). One of the differences with Yale is that they do not have a CNS track. They also have slightly fewer specialty choices. When I interviewed at Yale last year, they asked me why I wasn't applying to UCSF. My interviewer was involved in a lot of collaborative research and just thought the world of UCSF. This is just my impression, but I felt that Yale was much further behind on the recruitment of a diverse student body. The vast majority of interviewees were young white women. They also had a relatively new initiative on health disparities - I felt that UCSF had a much more diverse group of applicants (although there's still a lot of room of improvement) and a stronger emphasis on health care to underserved communities. There are a ton of student groups at UCSF that I didn't see at Yale. Plus, I felt that Yale (and I heard this from GEPN students) SON was a little bit of a stepchild of Yale Graduate Schools. Whereas, UCSF is all health sciences and the SON seems relatively on par with other schools. Ok, that's why UCSF is better. Yale is great because people have a genuine confidence in the Yale name. I think people in healthcare know that UCSF is amazing, but your average patient is definitely impressed by Yale. I can't tell you the number of people that thought I needed a psych evaluation for turning Yale down. (I still might need a psych evaluation, but I thought there were a ton of reasons to hold out for UCSF). Also, Yale only requires statistics. A&P is not required. You can also take one course per semester (or something like that) at other schools at Yale. So that's pretty awesome. New Haven is pretty inexpensive to live in, versus SF. It is a beautiful and amazing campus. The Yale New Haven Medical Center is a great hospital, too.

Sorry for any repetition, operator errors galore today. Thanks to NurseinTraining76 for the Micro advice. As far as calling and pleading your case, at our interview session (Januart 26th) Dr. Ziehm specifically said not to call in the case that you've been accepted somewhere else and need to know sooner. He said that they wouldn't be getting the notices out until March 1st so to go ahead and do what you need to do for yourself, but don't call the school. I'm just hoping that the other schools will have a day or two grace period on their letters and things. They must go through this every year, so they've got to expect some late responses at Yale and other schools. I'm still hoping that March 1st will be the day. Everybody take care and let's all keep taking those deep breaths - ChickenLL

Congratulations on your interviews! - ChickenLL

I'm still taking prerequisites for my back-up school. Microbiology and a Biology with Genetics. I've found it challenging to find motivation to study with the decision hanging over my head. I'll drop those classes so fast my head's gonna spin if I get one of the UCSF spots! Fingers crossed!

I interviewed on the 31st and the 26th (this was the 2nd interview day), so we didn't meet. I heard then, too, that they might get the letters out early. I am really trying to visualize a positive response, like jaxnaud - can't really imagine the rejection but I am trying to, so I will have my plan B ready. Their decisions will be hard. Yes, let's all get in and meet! By the way, congratulations on Columbia! That is a nice back-up to have!