AspiringFNP30

Got the email today! "Dear Applicant: Congratulations! We are pleased to inform you that you have been selected to receive a 2020 National Health Service Corps (NHSC) Loan Repayment Program award." This is so surreal and I'm very grateful. Hope more of you will hear good news soon!

Oh WOW! I actually had no idea about the priority for continuation. I had known that there was a possibility for continuation but didn't know that priority was given to current participants. That definitely changes things and thanks so much for the heads up! Sending you all the positive vibes, and hoping you receive good news soon!!

Site score is 21 I'd offer my DTI ratio but I honestly don't know how to calculate it haha

Didn't even get a credit check, but just received my finalist letter yesterday and need to confirm interest by 08/08! Extremely grateful but to my understanding, if I confirm interest for this award then I am automatically taken out of the running for Nurse Corps, which is my preference, as I have way more than 50K in loans.. Anyone else in the same boat? I can't believe they make you give up another potential award for something that isn't even guaranteed! Though.. the person on the phone said that receiving a finalist letter means you have a very good chance of getting the award!

Just wanted to let those of you on the waitlist know that are deposit deadline got extended to next Friday, March 18th. So it might be a bit longer until you hear back about your status.

Did anyone here go to the open house? If so, how was it! I wasn't able to make it but if you could share any new/useful information you got out of, I would really appreciate it!

@Romero1027 Thank you so much!! All of that was so incredibly helpful :) Quick general question if anyone is able to answer.. I'm a bit confused about how the semesters will flow for the direct-entry program.. So Romero1027 already said we will have to do fall-spring-summer straight during our first year but some of you mentioned that we can take summers off in the future.. Does that mean it will just take us over 3 years to graduate?

I think that if you want to be a NP and not just an RN, the lack of a BSN degree will not hurt your future prospects in any way. Especially because you will be doing (I'm assuming) the DNP or another accelerated MSN program, you will have all the qualifications necessary to be an advanced practice nurse.

@ignisviridae How funny! I'm considering MGH's direct-entry FNP program but I wish it was possible for us to meet up over a cup of tea and discuss all of this.. haha!! I would say that if you're looking for an entry-level bedside nursing job, it won't really matter whether you have an MSN or a BSN as long as you have an RN license! So Columbia's MDE program and MGH's ABSN program should theoretically allow you to apply to the same jobs upon graduation.

@ignisviridae Oh wow, I'm actually torn between Columbia and MGH as well! Decided to eliminate Emory because of the tuition fees and the fact that I'd rather be in Boston or New York than Atlanta.. Are you doing the direct-entry MSN for MGH as well? The surprising thing is that with my scholarship, the cost of attending MGH for three years is cheaper than the 15-months of MDE at Columbia.. Would I be crazy to go through with Columbia even though the entire MDE/DNP program will cost me twice as much?!

Decided not to go forward with Emory for various reasons, so hope that opens up more spots for those on the waitlist! Best of luck! PS. I was FNP, for those that are curious

Sorry in advance @Romero1027 but I'm about to unleash a bunch of questions.. please brace yourself.. :) I'm wondering if you could give us some insight on the program.. what you like about it, what you dislike, what has been surprising, etc. How have class sizes and professors been overall? I've read bits and pieces that MGH can be a bit disorganized, which is a concern for me.. but do you feel like it is pretty well-structured? How have the clinical placements been? Also.. I received a scholarship which cuts off a good chunk of the tuition for me but still.. these programs are not cheap! How are you (and your peers) funding your education? Thanks so much for being willing to help us! It means a lot!

I'm probably going to repeat a lot of what has already been said but here's my two cents.. I personally don't feel like there will be that big of a gap between a DNP with NP certification and an MSN with NP certification. As far as I know, the most important aspects of becoming a nurse practitioner are to have a minimum of an MSN and to pass the boards to receive NP certification. I think following the initial new grad job hurdles, all subsequent job opportunities for us would be based more on experiences (and proper certification) rather than the degree. That being said, I'm sure that having a DNP now wouldn't hurt, especially if the nursing community is serious about transitionng out of MSN-level NPs to DNP-level NPs. And because of the fact Columbia is essentially the same length as other programs (3 years plus 1 extra year of paid residency), I don't see why Columbia wouldn't be a great option for those of us desiring to become nurse practitioners. Sure the additional year of residency might be off-putting but the way that I see it, it's pretty much the same thing as getting a job after graduating (because it's paid) but actually even better because it's guaranteed PLUS it's a residency program so you will be taught/mentored as a resident rather than expected to perform as a newly-hired employee. The degree conferred isn't the biggest dilemma for me.. especially because I personally don't have aspirations to start my own clinic and whatnot, which might require a DNP in the future. Who knows! The biggest factors for me then are cost and quality of education. Columbia's tuition is pretty hefty and the cost of living in NY is not cheap either.. Granted, I'll be exposed to some of the best clinical sites and be able to live in one of the most vibrant cities in the world but.. still.. I'm wondering if all things considered, Columbia will really provide me with THAT much better of an education to justify declining another school that will cost be nearly half the price in tuition and allow me to graduate with a BSN, MSN, and NP certification..

@ignisviridae Ah well glad to know I'm not alone in this process haha.. Just to clarify, did they say that the entire program tuition (MDE and DNP) would be 103K? Or just the MDE portion? I tried calculating the costs based on information that I found online and it looked like total tuition for both MDE and DNP would be over $140K, but I'm hoping I'm wrong! @emara9 No problem! Glad it was helpful!

I had some questions about Columbia's program so I called the admissions office and wanted to relay the information in the hopes that it will be helpful to the rest of you! So even though the curriculum has not been sent in stone, the MDE/DNP program will be a total of 4 years. The MDE portion is 15 months and the last 2 semesters of the DNP will be a residency program, similar to that of medical school where we get paid for hands-on clinical experience. We will apply to these residency programs ourselves but in the off chance that we do not get into a residency program, Columbia guarantees residency placements for all DNP students. The newest piece of information for me was that the residency can be completed anywhere, not just in NY. So for those that want to apply to residencies in another city or even another state, we are free to do so. Now for those (like me) who only applied to the MDE portion but decide that we want to pursue a DNP at Columbia, there is a special internal application for us that will be due either late fall semester of 2016 or early spring semester of 2017. It doesn't seem like it will be too difficult to make that transition so long as we keep up our grades and write a personal statement. If accepted, we will be eligible to start the DNP program in the upcoming fall of 2017. I'm a bit torn between Columbia and a couple other programs because while I do want to become a nurse practitioner eventually, I'm not sure if I feel the need to get a DNP as opposed to a MSN and NP certificate. I'm wondering if I should just stick with the MDE program for Columbia, then apply to a post-Masters NP certification at a later time or just attend one of the other programs that offer me a MSN and NP certificate. Any one else with the same dilemma?