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If admissions sticks to their plan to have decisions out by month's end, status should be on wolverine access Friday or Monday. It did show up on my WA before I got the email. I started checking after I met the girl who heard in February. I sent the admissions coordinator the FB page info, I'm not sure if she'll notify the class since it is a not a university created group. I tried to use the title of the actual program on the U of M SON website, and it's a public group, so search for 'University of Michigan 2nd Career Accelerated BSN Program Class of 2012' like you would search for someone's name and it should come up. I'm hoping more class of 2011 students will join (I think we have 3 on there now) and be willing to offer advice throughout the year, too. I'll put up a request on their page. Someone posted an article link on the FB page about why admissions notifies later at U of M if you're interested, too.

Hi to all of you considering or committed to U of M's 2nd career program for this coming year...I think I successfully made us a FB page. Please search for University of Michigan 2nd Career Accelerated BSN Program Class of 2012 and join! This way we can all share info and connect easier now and throughout the program. I have found being a part of the class of 2011 page helpful, too, so if you are applying for next year or are just considering joining the program in the future, sign up to follow us through the year. Let me know if you encounter any issues finding the page or joining. Thanks!

Thanks to both Dave and musician's wife for all of the help and advice. The dept. chair of nursing at WCC talked me into the nursing math class since it's a prereq for pharmacology in their program. She knew I was a full time student there, and I did have space in my schedule when I took micro and she wouldn't let me in to pharm without having micro completed. I'm also considering taking medical ethics, nursing research methods, and stats (I took it back in 99) this summer b/c it seems silly to give up funded classes. I saw stats within 5 years was a prereq for a lot of master's programs, but I heard you don't seem to need the knowledge directly in the BSN program. I'm hoping nursing research methods will be helpful, though.

Oops...I do know how to spell phlebotomy...I just didn't proofread.

Dave, thanks for the info. I would love to have a clinical in pediatric oncology. Are most of the people who wanted ICU hoping to work towards becoming a CRNA? Is the shadowing that you are doing a part of your clinicals or something additional that you had set up? Shadowing sounds like a great experience. I think I've heard your name from my friend in the program. Are you the guy who set up the FB page? If so, I've heard that you are really outgoing and helpful, which is definitely the case based on all of your posts and help on here. Thanks again! :) To alymo and applicants - I had just under a 3.7 undergrad GPA and an A in all prereqs. I trained and volunteered as a birth doula through local nonprofit programs, which is my only direct healthcare experience. I had the CNA course and certification and the CPR/First Aid certification. I also took genetics and a cinical and lab skills course for med assistants here at WCC (HSC 115) that covers a lot of hands on learning like giving injections, EKG placement, etc... I'd recommend the class this summer if you have time. It wasn't stressful at all and also provided a nice A&P review. Other extra courses I took were MTH 167, a math course for the WCC nursing program that is all about med dosage calculations, and healthcare terminology. I really recommend all of those courses, including the CNA course, if you have time. I am going to take phelbotomy this summer too b/c it is a skill I am intimidated by. If anyone wants to practice that with me (FUN! :) ), I'm taking it through lifelong learning and it begins on July 17th. It is only 3 sessions for current CNAs or people with healthcare experience. I know more about last year's applicants and based on who I heard got in and didn't, I think that students who went to school full time while taking prereqs were looked favorably upon, especially if they took multiple science courses together because it gave them an idea of what kind of course load they could handle. I also think healthcare experience really mattered as long as you had grades that were competitive enough...because some people with lots of enviable healthcare experience (including volunteering at or working as techs at U of M) didn't get in if their GPA was too low or their prereq grades weren't high enough. I do also think they care about what you describe as your motivations and goals for going into nursing in the essay. It seems that they really approached admission differently this year and have taken their time with deciding. I bet a lot of acceptance letters will go out by the end of the month! I hope to see all of you there at orientation and/or in August and wish you all the best. :)

Thank you so much for the advice. I am having a hard time deciding...I think U of M is a little less pricey and it is 4 months shorter, but I think the clinicals sound better at WSU....

To people currently in the program...sorry to bug you, but I have a few questions if you are able to help me out...were there many students unhappy with their clinical locations in the 2nd semester? What are some of the areas that were available in complex needs? If you could do it over, would you elect a later pre-program orientation so that you got to select first or at least earlier for 2nd term instead? I had heard that if you had first dibs one semester, you got last picks for the next from another current student but I didn't realize that some semesters matter more than others. Have you learned phlebotomy or how to start IVs at U of M yet? Would you recommend getting that training prior to or separately during the program? Are there any non-required classes and/or skills you feel that taking/learning before starting the skills blitz/actual program would really be beneficial? Thanks for any and all help! I really appreciate you helping out us newbies who have lots of questions and curiousities about what we are getting in to....

Kiwispring, I'll be there! Do you know to set up a group page on FB? If so, would you be able to easily set it up for our class? I'm not that adept at those kind of things, but I bet once a page is up we would have a good way to find and network with eachother. I'll definitely get to it in May once the term is over if one doesn't get made before then, though. :)

What hospitals did you get for clinicals and is that where you got hired? Did you find the second career program to be really intense and difficult? Do you think you get as much clinical experience as a traditional program would? Thank you so much for your help!

Hi kiwispring, I'm glad to hear we are both going to be there. What is an sth? What orientation are you going to? I'm going to see if I can skip my class on the 9th to go then because I am assuming the Monday session will get first picks for clinical locations for the fall semester.

I've been to campus, but not actually toured the nursing school. I expected that WSU students were highly regarded, and that you probably got clinicals with the DMC which seems like it would be great for getting experience at a good potential employer. WSU doesn't give acceptances until June, and I'm already in at U of M. I do live by Ann Arbor and did my first degree there, so it's hard to decide without really hearing about the program in depth from a student perspective. Thank you so much for your insight. That's great to hear that a lot of the students have jobs lined up. Where will you be working?

I know from a friend in the program now that there was an orientation in late July or early August for students admitted after May.

The orientation dates are either May 9th or the 13th, and it is only for 4 hours. I know that for this year's current class they had orientations later in the summer available, too. I believe the last 2 weeks in August are considered an orientation of sorts, too, and that those weeks are pretty much full time. I did go to U of M and graduated back in 2001. But I did all of my science and most of the non-science nursing prereqs at WCC. I think the entire acceptance process is weird and agree that acceptances should be all sent out at one time. One thing I was told is that the more prereqs you have completed before the app deadline, the better. I'm not sure if they hold off until grades are in for people who have a few prereqs left to complete? The only one I have left to complete is pharm, which I'm in now. Maybe that's why?

Me too! :) I have math and genetics on Tues and Thurs. I can't wait for this semester to be over. Are you taking anything over the spring? Sorry to everyone else, this site is not letting me message people individually....

Sorry to post again! I just thought I would mention that I think most applicants have still not heard anything yet. I know of one person who got a rejection in early March, but that is it besides the girl I happened to overhear in the library in February. I remember grilling her about her application since she got in before anyone else had heard anything, and she seemed to have an exceptional resume/background. It seems that the process is a lot slower this year. If anyone has questions for me, please ask, and I'll try to pass on what I know or have heard from other applicants personally or second hand. If anyone else taking courses at WCC now? I'm there this term and will be over spring/summer, too. I'm signed up for U of M orientation on May 13th...if you end up there I'm excited to meet you. I couldn't do the May 9th one because of a class I'll be in.