molls11

Hi jordans, My general advice would be for the goal statement briefly explain why you want to be your chosen specialty NP. You could talk about what specific population you want to work with or what part of country/world, and how your chosen specialty is needed in your population/region. It's ok if your main goal right now is just to practice as an NP, but it is also ok to talk about other things that you may want to do with the degree even if you aren't sure yet. We also had a specific question about the role of the advanced practice nurse in your specialty. So if you have a specific question with the goal statement, be sure to answer it. For the interview questions, I remember last year there being a lot of discussion on this forum about how long the answers should be. I would say to do whatever it takes to answer the question (within reason!). Some of my answers were two sentences, while another was two and a half pages double spaced. Use the interview survey as an opportunity to talk about your unique experiences, but be sure to discuss them under the appropriate question and do not over do it. I hope this helps! Good luck with your applications!

About the shoe requirements: are crocs allowed as long as there are no holes in them? Do we need shoes right away or not till later in the semester when we start clinical? Thanks!

Did they give information about clinical faculty to student ratios and number of total number of clinical hours for pre-RN and specialty portions of the program?

Hi Jon, Have you decided between Yale and Vanderbilt? I am also debating between these two but for the FNP specialty.

OPUS will not let me view my financial aid. It says that aid may currently be in process or that my file may be incomplete. I have three prerequisites that are incomplete...I'm not sure if that counts as an incomplete file for viewing aid. For those of you who can view your financial aid package, is your file complete or can you still have prerequisites in process? Also, does the aid package include Emory scholarships or are they just showing Federal loans/scholarships?

Hi kd23. Congratulations! I am not able to attend the admitted students day on Saturday, so please post about it afterwards to let us know what happened, what they talked about, and what you thought of it. Thanks!

I also posted this on the Boston Direct Entry page, so sorry if it is repetitive. Are there any current MGH students out there who could give me some general information about the program? Some of my questions include: Are most of the MGH students from the Boston area or are they from all over the country? Are the all the clinical rotations in Boston, or can they send you up to several hours away? How affiliated is the school with Mass Gen Hospital? If the US news rankings are accurate, MGH has a much lower ranking than a lot of other direct entry programs. Is this an issue? Thanks for your help!

Are there any current MGH students out there who could give me some general information about the program? Some of my questions include: Are most of the MGH students from the Boston area or are they from all over the country? Are the all the clinical rotations in Boston, or can they send you up to several hours away? How affiliated is the school with Mass Gen Hospital? If the US news rankings are accurate, MGH has a much lower ranking than a lot of other direct entry programs. Is this an issue? Thanks for your help!

I just got an e-mail from MGH, around noon. So for those of you who haven't heard, they are still sending the e-mails out.

To any current students: I know Vanderbilt does not encourage working during the specialty year, but I noticed that for the first semester (at least for FNP curriculum), there are no clinical rotations. Does anyone work part-time as an RN during that semester to gain experience?

I talked to the FNP director about the specialty year clinical locations and I got the impression that they would probably not be right in downtown Nashville because there isn't enough available, but they would be in neighboring towns and sometimes up to 2 hours away. I did not get the impression that because you're out of state you have to move back home for clinical. You can if you want to. And you can attend class regularly during the specialty year, but if you are out of state for clinical, you just come back for intensive blocks. It sounded like you had a choice. My thoughts are that if I am going to Vanderbilt, I want to go to class at Vanderbilt and take advantage of classes and resources on campus. I know they will send us away for clinical rotations, but I do want to go to class on campus as long as I will be moving to Nashville.

Thank you for your answers to my questions and advice both Meredith and mammac5! Is there anything you wish you knew about Vanderbilt's nursing program going into it? Are you happy with your decision to go there?

I'm interested in the facebook group. Is this for second degree bsn? My e-mail is [email protected]. Thanks!

Hi Meredith, I was at the open house last Saturday. Thank you for being there to answer our questions! I have a couple of questions that I thought of later that I would like to ask you. As a graduate nursing student, would we have access to all of same things undergraduate students at Vandy do, such as libraries, gym, event/sports tickets, student services, etc? Also, there is a lot of debate about how accelerated Vandy's program is. However, in comparing semesters and clinical hours, it doesn't seem to be that much shorter in length than other programs. How do you feel about the pace of the program? Do you feel prepared for the nclex after one year or prepared to begin working as an NP after two years total? Thanks for your help!

sgmaygeorge: If you don't mind sharing, what else did the current student have to say about the program?