Navyforlife94

ALTERNATES, stand by! I spoke with Ms. Long yesterday and she said they're going to start notifying some of you. They want to try to get you guys to the orientation on Friday. Good Luck!

bbread, you're clinicals are VERY close to MUSC. You're 1st clinical rotation starts around the 3rd week of school. You're only assigned one patient during your first semester.

Congratulations bbread, welcome to the TEAM! You will absolutely LOVE Charleston! To answer your questions: #1: Charleston DOES have reliable public transportation; HOWEVER, your schedule will be very hit-and-miss so public transportation may not be your best option. On Monday & Tuesday you have class; Wednesday, Thursday, & Friday (2 of 3) you'll have your clinical & skills lab. You'll learn your days and times once you start class. I think you'll be absolutely fine on Mon/Tue, but those other days, not so much! I suggest carpooling on those days; I'm sure someone on your TEAM can help you out. You'll DEFINITELY need a car while you're in school. #2: "Good but cheap"; unfortunately, those words do not go together in downtown Charleston. Here's my questions for you. Are you married/single? Do you want a place of your own or would you be willing to have a roommate? If you don't mind having a roommate; then it's "VERY POSSIBLE" you can find affordable housing within a few miles of MUSC. If you don't want a roommate, then you'll need to look in the "West Ashley" area. This is fairly close to the school and pretty affordable. The "cheapest" places to stay in Charleston are North Charleston (NO-NO-NO), Summerville, and Goose Creek. I live in Goose Creek, it's about a 30 minute drive in the morning, Summerville's about 35-45, depending on traffic. Look in the today's online edition of the Charleston Post & Courier for apartment rentals. Please let us know if there's ANYTHING we can do for you. Take care! V/r, Joseph

Scholarships are very tricky at MUSC. Keep in mind, you have 80 students in your cohort and probably 80% them are in your same boat. The scholarship committee meets and then decides who receives what? Most awards will go to 2nd, 3rd, and 4th semester students. They want to see how you perform and they will take EVERYTHING in to consideration; current grades, class participation, financial need (EFC 0), etc. Scholarships are NOT impossible to receive. Please don't forget to look elsewhere too; Barnes and Nobles sells a book that lists 10,000 different scholarships, you just have to do some legwork. EVERYONE will be okay, take a deep breath and think positive thoughts!

Hey Guys, EVERYONE needs to RELAX! The money is out there, you just have to look in the right places. Things will be a little clearer once you go through your mini-orientation next Friday. The only people who had issues finding money in my class were the students who had Masters degrees; most of them ended up doing private loans. Scholarships at MUSC are done a little different than what your use to. Let's say MUSC receives $15,000/year in donations for scholarships. This money could equate in to 20 different scholarships (you can see a comprehensive list on the MUSC website). This money is then given to a CON Scholarship Committee who evaluates the majority of these scholarships based on need vice specific criteria (grades, ect.). With that said, once you start school Mardi will send you emails announcing various scholarships (non-need based) that you might be eligible for. Speaking of Ms. Long, I had an hour-long conversation with her today about things we can do better for "1st semester students". You guys should see a big improvement in a few areas. I also asked her about the MUSC "$15,000" Medical Center Scholarship, I just won. Well, great news! This will be offered to your cohort as well. To be eligible you have to be an employee of MUSC. I also STRONGLY advise that you get highly involved with your class (SNA/SGA Rep). The scholarship is based on your body of work (resume), grades, what you've done for your class, and an interview. It pays $5000 during your 2nd, 3rd, and 4th semesters.

TEAM, jump on top of your financial aid NOW! We had a few students that had to drop out just prior to school starting because they couldn't secure financial aid. Keep in mind, if you have a previous degree, it will be a little trickier to get financed, but not impossible. I'll ask my classmates to see how they did it? Also, MUSC has a lot of scholarships; however, initially you won't be eligible for many of them. They typically go to 2nd, 3rd, and 4th semester students. Lastly, if you're an employee of MUSC you'll be able to compete for a $15,000 scholarship that I just won today. It pays $5000 for your 2nd, 3rd, and 4th semesters. I know school's expensive, but stay positive; there is money out there. I hope to see everyone next week V/r, Joseph

Congratulations to those who got accepted! If you didn't make it, please don't get discouraged; MUSC's a VERY difficult school to get in to. You need to call an admissions counselor and have them go through your application. The school can tell you EXACTLY where you came up short and what you need to polish? "MUSCKIM" is a prime example of persistence and how a positive attitude pays off. I'd ask her for specific tips on how she improved her application, she can tell you better than I can. Keep in mind too, MUSC is not the only nursing school. If your ultimate goal is to be a nurse then do it, it doesn't matter where you graduate from; an RN is an RN. For those newly admitted: please go to the Facebook page: MUSC ABSN Spring 2016 Take care V/s, Joseph

RELAX and take a deep breath! Everyone has a GREAT chance of being accepted. Your acceptance rate is double what it was for our cohort. Please let me know if there's anything I can do for you. Good Luck!

Hey guys, I just heard from Ms. Long; your "MINI" orientation will be Friday, Nov 7th from 1300-1600. FYI: There will be 80 in your cohort. Good luck everyone, I look forward to seeing you soon!

Hey Guys, I'm trying to set up some BLS courses for the incoming class; in doing so, I got to talking with Dr. Conner our Program Director. I asked him when your decisions would be made, he said the Admissions Board would meet this week and letters would go out the week of Oct 20th. This means you can anticipate your "mini" orientation for MUSC to be the second or third week of November. This orientation isn't mandatory; however, I would STRONGLY encourage EVERYONE to attend. You really do get some invaluable information. To echo what Andrew said, your "First" semester is going to be a WHIRLWIND, but keep in mind, it's a controlled chaos. As long as you stay focused there's absolutely nothing to worry about. This ISN'T like any college you have ever been to, it's hard to explain but you'll understand once you get in the program. Our instructors are absolutely amazing and they truly want each and every one of you to succeed. Please email Andrew or myself if you have any questions, we're ALWAYS here to help! Have a great weekend! V/s, Joseph

Good luck everyone, I anticipate you should be hearing something in the next couple weeks. Just a few quick points to remember: #1 - don't forget about your "matriculation fee" upon admission; #2 - for those who still need to work during school; you "WILL NOT" be able to work full-time. You can try, but you're severely risking academic probation. Part-time is VERY doable; however, this isn't even recommended. You're 1st semester you'll be busy taking 17 credit hours. Once EVERYONE receives their acceptance letters, Ms. Mardi Long will hold a "mini" orientation for your class. I'd anticipate this to be sometime in November? This mini-orientation is "not" mandatory; however, it will give you a chance to meet your cohort. Please let me know if you have any questions ([email protected]); I look forward to meeting everyone in a few months. V/r, Joseph

One last thing guys! You need to give MUSC about 6-8 weeks before you can expect to hear anything back from them. There's no need to call the school on a daily basis; in fact, this is very frowned upon. An occasional call is okay! The admissions committee has to meet and then they will send out letters about a week or two later. Like I mentioned in my previous post, if you're accepted be ready to pay a $500 matriculation fee. If you don't pay it, your spot will go to the next person on the list. With that said, if you get selected as an "alternate", there's still a strong possibility that you'll start in the Spring.

Hey Bill, congratulations on your acceptance in to one of the best "RN" programs in the U.S! All I can say is wear a cup; because the first semester is a swift kick in the nuts. Seriously, I have a very "EXTENSIVE" medical background and at times I still find myself saying W*F! It's not that the material is hard, it's just that the organization of some of our classes is whack! With that said, our instructors are amazing! I'd say 80% of our instructors have their Ph'd or DNP. Dr. Conner's in charge of all "ABSN" students and he is AWESOME! As far as course load, your first semester you'll be taking 17 hours (this is NOT optional). We're the first class to take Pathophysiology/Pharmacology online; previously, this had been a traditional classroom lecture course. This is the class you'll need to wear you're athletic supporter for, because it's NO joke! I spend approximately 70% of my entire study time on this class; there's just SO MUCH information being dumped, it's crazy! The tests are very manageable though and our instructor Dr. Cristafaro is awesome! You guys won't have any problems as long as you have good study habits. My situation was very unique because my first month of school: I retired from the Navy, completed EMT training (again), and had a death in the family; so I've been playing catch-up since Day 1. If I didn't have a previous medical background, I would have been seriously lost. You'll have no problem, especially with your military background. One "BIG" piece of advice, become very familiar with the "APA" style of writing; it's the ONLY style we use. Here's a great website: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/ Another piece of advice, start looking at dosage calculation now. You'll need to become familiar with the different types of conversions and IV drip factors. What branch of service are you in? Have you applied for your Post 9/11 GI Bill? It looked liked your class has around 260 applicants; that's 200 less than my fall class. That means there's a "GREAT" chance for many of you on here to be accepted. Our acceptance rate was 17%, yours should be around 32%. This is based on our current class of 83. I'm guessing they'll accept at least 80 students for your cohort? The cool thing about your class is that you'll be the "1st" group of students to entirely complete your training in the "NEW" College of Nursing building. It's been under construction for the past few years and it's scheduled to open this December. I hope this answered a few of your questions. If you or anyone else needs anything please shoot me an email at: [email protected] Take care, V/s, Joseph PS: Bill when you get a moment please shoot me an email; I have something to run by you.

Do you have an "ADN" or "BSN"? Keep in mind, the big push now is for hospitals to only hire "BSN" trained nurses. If an "ADN" nurse does get hired, they typically have 2-3 years to go back to school to obtain their "BSN". I'm not saying there's anything wrong with an "ADN" level nurse; I'm just telling you what my Dean at the College of Nursing told our class yesterday.

It's my sincere pleasure! I'll pass along additional information once you get accepted. Good luck everyone, I'll talk to you soon.