Regis College NP Fall 2018: Who's going?

Lisaalisa · Feb 28, 2018

Hi,

I'm doing the FNP track as well. I'll be living off campus. I created a facebook group Log into Facebook | Facebook

nurse2b5598 · Mar 1, 2018

Thank you! I asked my friend to send you a message with my contact info (I sent you one as well, but I don't really use FB!)

Marbles456 · Mar 8, 2018

Does anyone know what do in the master's portion? how are we supposed to get hours for the np portion if we are not familiar with anyone in that region? Would we be able to get them elsewhere? I was told that it isn't a good idea to go to a school with no preceptors for the latter portion. Someone help please thank you.

nurse2b5598 · Mar 8, 2018

Hi Marbles456,

I agree it might be difficult. I've heard a lot of people have difficulty with that portion. I think the woman said that we get some help with it, but maybe not a lot. Have you applied to any other schools?

Marbles456 · Mar 9, 2018

I have and I have gotten rejected to all of them and waitlisted. I am confused and don't know what to do. I am getting older and time is running out.

umbdude, MSN, APRN · Mar 9, 2018

I have and I have gotten rejected to all of them and waitlisted. I am confused and don't know what to do. I am getting older and time is running out.

Are you already a nurse? Usually people find connections within the workplace or from colleagues. You can also try to join professional organizations (or facebook groups) specific to your specialty and then make cold calls. In the end, you are on your own in finding preceptors if you choose to go to a school that pass that responsibility to students.

FNPeregrine, NP · Mar 14, 2018

I have and I have gotten rejected to all of them and waitlisted. I am confused and don't know what to do. I am getting older and time is running out.

Regis 2015 GM grad here. I think if becoming an NP is absolutely without question what you want to do, then Regis will get you there. While it is always good to plan ahead (to some extent), I honestly would recommend trying to keep an open mind and take things as you go. You will have to complete the entire RN portion of the program before worrying about the NP portion. Regis has a department for Graduate Clinical Placements, and when I went there, there were two full time employees who secured placements for the students. However, there were about 200 NPs who graduated with me, so Regis cannot guarantee more than 2 placements for each student. For this reason, it is better to be proactive if possible. You will meet people during your RN clinicals and you can also reach out to hospitals and medical offices in your area. I reached out by phone, email, and also by mailing my resume with requests and I had good luck. Some students walked into various medical offices to ask. Your preceptors do not have to be from Massachusetts, however, if you do your precasting outside of MA, you will need to get your nursing license in that state. As far as I know, there were no instances of someone not graduating due to lack of clinical placements. Maybe it happens sometimes, but it is definitely not common. I wouldn't let that one part of the program guide your entire decision.

nurse2b5598 · Mar 15, 2018

Hi FNPeregrine, how would you recommend paying for the education (or how did others in your cohort pay for it)? Did people mostly rely on loans, or were they successful with scholarships? This is my main concern.

FNPeregrine, NP · Mar 16, 2018

Some has scholarships and there were also some graduate assistantship positions available (kind of like work-study), but many did take out loans. Definitely something to consider. If I could do it over again, I would consider applying to HRSA scholarships prior to school.

nurse2b5598 · Mar 16, 2018

Thank you! Were others in the program successful with the scholarship?

I'd be afraid of taking out that much in loans and not being able to pay it all back, or not having federal loans covering the cost and needing to take out private loans as well.

FNPeregrine, NP · Mar 17, 2018

Thank you! Were others in the program successful with the scholarship?
I'd be afraid of taking out that much in loans and not being able to pay it all back, or not having federal loans covering the cost and needing to take out private loans as well.

There are lots of scholarships available, but they usually only cover a portion of the tuition. One student did successfully have an HRSA loan that covered all tuition and costs, with the promise of working in primary care in an underserved area for a period of time after graduating. Here's more info: NHSC Scholarship Program - NHSC

Regis is definitely costly. I think a much more affordable option is to go to community college for RN, bridge to BEN at a state school and then do an NP program that is more reasonably priced. If you are able to do that, it would save you considerable amounts of money, but would take a little longer to get there.