anandam

SF RN-to-be, We're not including the scholarship when we say $100k. As far as I know, everyone got it, but the cost of attending still technically includes that amount (for us it was $32k total, $22k for the first year). I think you'd have to be seriously independently wealthy not to get it. The standard package last year totaled $100,720: School-related = Tuition $66352, Books $1800, Health fee $1200, Medical Insurance $3000, Fees $914 Life-related = Room/Board $22054, Transportation $1000, Personal $4400 For most students, $22118 was paid by the scholarship, $1000 by a loan from the school, $12500 by Stafford loans (that's the max), and the remaining $65102 by yourself or private loans. So, yes, the total to be paid AFTER the scholarship was $78k, not $100k.

PugetSound, No problem! We've got massive snow today so class was cancelled and I'm just doing work in the house with some cocoa :) I get email alerts when people respond, so it's easy to be quick. On the cost thing, you might be right. I haven't carefully examined the cost of programs at many other schools, because the program I wanted wasn't offered many other places. In general, I tend to think education in the US is not priced reasonably. I also paid nothing for my undergraduate education, so $100k for a year, even if it's partly covered by scholarship, sounds absurd to me. UCSF was one that I remember being less expensive, but it's also public, which obviously changes things. I'm also aware of accelerated BSN programs at various public universities that are much less expensive, but if you want to go straight through to a master's, that isn't an option. It sounds like you've done more research than I have - so if the cost per credit is similar someplace else, I imagine it would be comparable overall. Rent in NYC is relatively high, but varies significantly by neighborhood and I think the cost of living anywhere without income is going to be significant. As for working during your Master's, it depends on your specialty. Anesthesia and Neonatal require a year off to work, so you'll be paying your loans back in part during that time. I believe Family, Pediatrics, and Adult all encourage working at least part-time during the program and I assume most people do. Midwifery strongly discourages working. I'm not sure about Psych and others. Overall, yes, I'm happy that I'm here. Over the summer I was disappointed with a couple of instructors and with some whiny classmates who didn't seem prepared and complained about the workload. Probably they could be more selective about who they accept. A number of students, especially the ones straight out of college, seem clueless and overwhelmed in the first months. I'd only been out of college four years, but I think those early 20s years involve a lot of change and maturing that helps with time (and life) management. Anyway, now that I'm near the end of the year looking back, I am definitely pleased with Columbia. The administration is responsive to our complaints and requests, the instructors all really care about nursing and about their students, we're expected to learn a lot very quickly and are evaluated fairly, and being in NY really exposes us to a wide patient population in good teaching hospitals. I feel prepared to take the NCLEX and pass it. I have felt adequately challenged but never overwhelmed. A note - I would recommend researching the director of your intended specialty program. You'll be spending a lot of time with him/her and if someone better for you, more in sync with your interests, is at another school, you should go there. If you can find students already in the master's portion, or contact the program directly, it could help clarify things. I've heard individual complaints about personality conflicts and that seems like such a bummer when you're spending so much time, energy, and money on a career mission.

girlly, Over the summer, the whole group of ETP students is together in one lecture hall for every class. So that's, give or take, 200 students. These are core courses like Advanced Physiology, Pharmacology, and some Intro to Nursing type stuff. The instructors are, for the most part, actually quite good at making this format work, but you know yourself and how you learn better than anybody. They're available for 1-on-1 time if you need it and they have capable TAs to bear part of the burden. There are a couple of lab classes where we practiced physical assessment and other skills - in these you're with maybe 20 students and work in pairs or small groups. In the next phase of the program, for classes that introduce nursing specialties (psych, pediatrics, OB, etc.) we're split into five groups, so classes have about 40 students. Much more discussion, more intimate, less straight lecture. There's still one class in the fall that everyone takes together, but by then you're used to the amphitheater format. After that phase, you're on your own. One-on-one with a nurse in the hospital for the last eight weeks of the program. I didn't mention it, but in the other clinical placements, from the start throughout, you'll be in groups of about eight students. That's always felt pretty good to me, definitely not too large to get help or attention if you need it, but also large enough that you can be independent because your instructor isn't constantly harping on you. I have no idea how that compares to other schools.

Cstark, It's my understanding that they will not offer any dual specialties to anyone starting a master's after the Fall of 2010. Unless you're already an RN only coming to Columbia to start your Master's, I believe it won't be an option for you. Especially the midwifery leadership is not supportive of dual specialty with WHNP, because as a CNM you already are prepared to do primary GYN care that an NP does (I've heard them say this specifically). Double check with the school to be certain, but this is what they've told us. I was told if I took a year off after the ETP year I could no longer do the dual, even though I was accepted into the program with that intent. Also worth noting is that I believe the reason they've stopped offering the dual option had something to do with the certifying bodies outside the university. I don't know the details, but I got the impression it was somehow out of their control, so other schools may only be offering such dual programs for a limited time, too. Hope that helps. If you are dead-set on this dual thing, you would still have the option of doing one full program and then staying or coming back to do the other (doubling your years in school to get two master's degrees). Also, a Family NP specialty should prepare you to work with women, it just wouldn't be as specialized as the WHNP. Good luck with this decision! I know it's exciting and stressful and overwhelming, but I'm sure you'll figure out what's right for you.

FYI on the cost thing, from a current student - The $30k scholarship sounds like a big deal, but you'll still have around $80k leftover to pay in the first year when tuition, fees, and cost of living are factored in. A bit less if you live in the dorms. So yes, nearly everyone gets the scholarship, but no, that doesn't make the pricetag reasonable. Be sure you really want this career and be sure Columbia is offering you something you can't get elsewhere. The name of the school probably isn't a good enough reason. I'm here because they were offering a dual specialty I wanted that is only offered at a few schools, but after this year it's no longer an option. Overall the education is strong, clinical placements are diverse, and classmates are (mostly) bright and capable. But many NP programs are ranked higher and cost less, so don't just get pulled in by the Columbia name if you really think you can get an equivalent experience elsewhere.

Heyyy, I can't help with the details because I'm not on the medical staff, but I work at Children's Hospital in New Orleans and they're a great employer (I'm in research)...if they're hiring LPNs (check their website - it's updated often), it could be good. I don't know anything about salaries, but they have full benefits - retirement/medical/dental/vision and $2 prescriptions at the pharmacy in house. Also, tuition reimbursement up to $1200/year, maybe more.

To those who could go, for those of us who couldn't - please share any important or useful new information shared at the visiting day today! I'm sure you're all still living it up in NY for the day (or booking it to Boston, it seems), but once things are settled again, I'd love to hear any more insights. Especially anything about these supplies and uniforms, and housing. Thanks!

Congratulations, Tempest! This is scary, no matter how we do it, but I think it'll all be worth it. I also did the same loan - may Wells Fargo turn out to be a good sugar daddy for us both! :)

I was also approved by Wells Fargo without a co-signer and my experience with the reps was super positive - I called a couple of times to negotiate interest rates and discuss loan options and everyone was pleasant and helpful, happily passing me on to their supervisors when I asked, and the supervisors didn't seem at all bothered to take their time with me. Maybe because they all went on that fancy retreat paid for by the stimulus package? And don't forget to tell them you're a nursing student! You qualify for better rates sometimes as a health professional...

And yet another question - for people who've done this school-loan thing before... Is it reasonable to assume that the federal loans have the lowest rates (6% and 6.8%, right now)? That is, our private loans are basically guaranteed to be higher than those? I'm not sure how much to "shop around" or what to expect as a decent private rate.

A tip to those who chose WellsFargo but don't have cosigners and haven't already committed to something - the Collegiate Loan that the Columbia site links you to takes your income into account as well as your credit rating and debt history... so even if you have a clean, beautiful past and an 800 rating, if you're not racking in the dough right now, your interest rates will be higher. Since most of us seem to be getting the whole $100k covered by scholarship and loans, that probably means most of us fit into that category. Anyway, as nursing students we should also qualify for MedCap loans, which do not take income into account. I was able to lower my interest rate by 3% just by switching loans. Worth a try! https://www.wellsfargo.com/student/undergrad/med_alter/ Another question for everyone, which I should also direct to Oscar - since technically this first year of loans is for our BSN, and we graduate from that in May, are we expected to start paying back 6 mos after May 2010? Or as full-time grad students will we be eligible to postpone some more? This is such a headache!

Oh - and they say the average age is 26, and getting younger every year. But there are still some students in their 50s, so nobody should feel too old or young! If you have the experiences required to know this is what you want and to be ready to do it, that's what matters, I'd say. I'm 25, graduated from college in 2005 as a religion / international relations major and thought I wanted to go into theology. It's taken me a few years to reform that nonsense. Some people know earlier, some live a whole other life for decades before finding this new direction. I think the diversity of experiences is really going to add a richness to our education.

Fellow future midwives :) - Yes yes, at the info session I attended, the director of the ETP program said that if people are planning to stay in the NYC area after graduation, they should combo-up their midwifery with the women's health NP option since that's a position that's more in demand. I guess if you applied for midwifery only it's not that hard to switch to the dual option? Anyway, it seems to me that it'll be a good part of our training to work with midwives who are doing their jobs despite major obstacles... certainly we will all face people in our careers who don't understand the usefulness of our jobs, or don't trust our expertise because we're not MDs. Better to learn to cope early! That said, another reason to watch that "Business of Being Born" documentary - it's all based in NYC basically and the main midwife character they follow is Columbia-trained! I'm also a little worried about every penny I spend for the next three years being borrowed, but I'm pretty sure it's worth it. Every time I get that feeling that I've been conned into believing I'll get better training just because it's a prestigious school, I remember - there actually aren't loads of other schools offering accelerated programs that combine midwifery with NP training. And nearly all of them are big name, big pricetag sorts of places. So I'm prepared to swallow the debt. Yum!

steffiemac571 - I know somebody who's in the ETP at Columbia already and lives in Bed/Stuy. So it's possible!

Of course! I'm sure whatever bunch of us attend will all be talking and such anyway, so it'll probably be easy to pull together an after-party of sorts...