AMagoo923

Thank you all so much! My professors also brought up the perspective that starting out in a slower clinic would be a good idea for the same reasons you both pointed out. I did reach out the owner of the practice and let him know I was interested and would touch base once I actually pass my certification to discuss contract specifics and start date which he was agreeable to. I will definitely take the feedback on contracts into consideration! I'm terrible at negotiation but I am trying to get better at it as I don't want to undersell myself.

Thank you! I agree. I did my program in Boston as well and am committed to living here for a few years at least (just bought a home and husband's job is here) and I know how saturated the market is for new grad NPs. I imagine I may have a hard time getting another offer so I was stuck on this one, but I'm leaning towards no. I am currently working as an RN and did have strong clinicals but feel I would need a more structured learning environment the first few months than a brand new practice can offer with one provider, who also stated he wouldn't be there everyday.

Hi everyone! I'm located in MA and just finished up a FNP program and will be graduating this month. I have started to applying to jobs and had 1 interview that resulted in a job offer this week, and as selfish as this may sound for a new grad (since I know jobs are hard to come by), I'm not sure if it's an offer I should take. It would be a full-time position in internal medicine 8-5 M-F, no call, no weekend hours. It's a brand new practice (not seeing patients yet), and will be the physician and owner of the practice and myself. The physician has worked with NPs in the hospital setting but it seems like he has little knowledge of the certification/credentialing process when on-boarding a new grad NP since he wanted me to start ASAP, even though I have yet to take my exam. So, that could be an issue going forward. Salary is 100K, benefits eh (two weeks vacation and sick time) and when I kept asking questions about an orientation or back-up support, especially during the first year, he was supportive but vague, so I'm unsure about that as well. I have been mulling over since last week and need to call back tomorrow, but I'm really stuck on what to do. Ideally, I'd like to keep searching since it doesn't sound like an ideal new grad environment but I know how difficult getting that first job can be, so I don't want to turn down the only job offer (or interview for that matter) that I've gotten so far. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

I didn't apply to Simmons but I am currently a second year at the IHP, and clinicals are at MGH for both Med-Surg rotations and a number of sites for Psych, Community, and Peds/Maternity. I had 4/6 at MGH but others got a variety of placements at other hospitals throughout Boston. The student to instructor ratio for clinical is 5/6 students per clinical instructor. Generally, I've been happy with my experience at the IHP, but the one drawback is that things can be kind of disorganized, especially at the beginning of the semester, so you need to be flexible and communication isn't always the best as to what is going with schedules. However, I've heard that from students at other programs as well. If you didn't receive a scholarship from MGH in your acceptance letter, the financial aid will be made up solely of loans, unless you find outside scholarships yourself. Hope this helps!

The BSN isn't awarded until the end of the program but you can sit for the NCLEX after the second Fall semester term, so about roughly halfway through the program, and work as an RN. Alumni and students have spoken that are already in the NP portion of the program said they didn't have a hard time finding an RN position without their BSN outside of the major hospitals in the area. So, most worked in rehab, community hospitals, etc. during the second half of the program. For MGH's FAFSA you're considered a 1st year graduate student the first year of the program so you don't have to file as a 5th year undergraduate.

No problem! I applied to MGH and Regis since I wanted to stay local to the Boston area and got into both. I was considering BC, but I really wanted to have both a bachelor's and a master's degree, and since BC doesn't offer a bachelor's, I didn't apply. It's a great program, I just wanted to keep my options open and I figured the more degrees I have, the better. With MGH, I just heard a lot of positive feedback from other students that went there and liked the sequence of courses/the program more. From my experience, there are no "bad" choices when it comes to nursing school in Boston, it's just more of what fits you and what you are looking for. In regards to working, I worked about 16-18 hours a week and definitely found it hard some weeks, but it was doable. It all depends what you can handle. Right now, I'm nannying, which I did full-time while taking prereqs last year also, and after hours of cramming for tests, I find it relaxing to just sit back and play with Legos for a few hours haha I know some other students also work per diem as CNAs and later on, RNs, so I'd say a job that is flexible, doesn't require a lot of hours, and doesn't require a set schedule is the best bet if you want to do both. Financial aid wise- I find a lot of grad programs in nursing to be weak in financial aid unfortunately, besides the typical federal loans. There are some merit scholarships at MGH, but they are limited. Since I only applied locally, I don't know much about financial aid outside of the Boston area so I can't be of much help there.

BlackSkimmer- I've really enjoyed the program so far. My clinical instructors last semester were really helpful and knowledgeable and I felt like I got a lot of hands on experience in my clinicals. Med/Surg rotations are all at MGH and other rotations are spread out throughout various sites. I came into this program from a marketing/liberal arts background for the most part, so I had no healthcare experience at all, so I felt they did a very good job of preparing us. Med/Surg is probably the hardest class the first semester, but there are review sessions and TAs that are there to help, so they are really invested in you understanding the material and passing the course. Admissions-related, Our class has about 100 of us in it and everyone comes from all sorts of backgrounds/work experiences/majors so it's safe to say they consider the whole application when choosing a class and don't really have a set type of student they look for. Overall, the only drawback is that sometimes the schedule each semester can be a little wonky the first week while everything is getting figured out and a routine is being established, which isn't a problem for most people, but I am working part-time so setting up a schedule to balance both was tricky at first.

Hi everyone, just wanted to pop in here and wish everyone good luck! I was in your shoes last year at this time, so I know the waiting to hear a decision is the worst part of the process. I'm currently in the first year of MGH's NP program class and we received our admissions decisions on 2/12 last year, but I think our application deadline was 12/1 last year, so admission decisions may be later this year due to the later deadline. I think they mention 6-8 weeks on the application, and we heard back almost exactly eight weeks after the deadline.

I'll echo dhart that continue working hard is the best advice! The people that make up many of the direct entry MSN programs come from a variety of backgrounds, majors, gpas, etc. Just work on making your application the strongest way you can present yourself. Study for the GREs, but know that you don't need a perfect score to get in. Brush up on math that you may not have had in awhile. I know that for me, I definitely needed to revisit geometry since I didn't have it in years before taking the GRE. I also agree that the essay and recommendation letters are very important in letting the admissions committee know what kind of student, person, and worker you are! Coming from someone who graduated in 2008 with a liberal arts degree as well (mine was Communication Arts & Sciences), I tried to ensure that I did the very best in my prereq classes so admissions knew I was capable of keeping up science classes and medical terminology that you don't often encounter with liberal arts degrees. In my essay, I made sure to connect my previous degree, work experience, and volunteer work to my goals in nursing. Also, some schools will give you the average GPA of admitted students, but it's not a hard line. Some prospective students will have strong work experience with years of work in a related field and not great undergrad GPAs, others will shine academically and be applying straight out of undergrad. If it helps as any guideline, as a fellow liberal arts undergrad major, my undergrad GPA was 3.8 and I have about a 3.9 in my prereqs with one class still in progress. My GREs were pretty average I think a 308 overall and a 5 on the writing. So, if you're still taking prereqs, focus on making those count! MGH doesn't do interviews for the MSN program but a few other schools do, and when I interviewed they were really interested in hearing how my current courses were going and how I was managing the course load. Also, pick the specialty you're most interested in, not the one you think you have the best chance of getting in, since getting in is just one step in developing your career, but your specialty follows you around for much longer. I chose the Family path because I wanted to work in a primary care or clinic setting and didn't want to limit myself to an age group (peds or adult). So, weigh the different options and think what might work best for you in the long run. If you're passionate about it, it will come through in your application. Best of luck!

Awesome breakdown! I did something similar for the Family NP track and I don't have the spreadsheet in front of me since I'm at work but the numbers look good to me.

sarahd12- I was accepted into Regis & MGH as well. I went back and forth between the two, but I think I'm leaning towards MGH at this point based on things I've heard from people that know the program well. I need to decide soon since my Regis deposit is due Monday.

The date listed on my letter was March 6th so I would guess some time around then!

eopc- Yes, mine looked like that also! Thanks!

Just got accepted into the FNP track! I was really hoping for a scholarship offer since I already have student loans from my undergrad but I didn't see anything mentioned in my link. @evgeniya- Did they mention the scholarship within the online acceptance link or did you get a separate e-mail?

Still no e-mail over here yet. My email can't refresh fast enough! haha Congrats to everyone who got in so far and good luck to everyone on the waitlist!