Simmons university entry level MSN fall 21'

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Just getting the thread started for those who applied and are waiting for updates. 

On 2/5/2021 at 5:18 PM, Flyer89 said:

*sighs* still no email or anything ?

 

Keep your Hopes up! We're rooting for you !

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I spoke to a current in her last semester (via online) and I thought I'd share some of the questions and responses I got back ! 

Me: (recently accepted student): for starters, would you mind giving me your overall thoughts of the program, in your opinion. provided both the good and the bad attributes !

Simmons Student:  okay so, I'm the type of person that once I completely stop school and start to work I know that it'll be extremely difficult for me to get back into the school routine or even return to get a Masters at all, so for that reason I love the structure of the DE program. Some of my classmates did feel a bit overwhelmed and decided to take a gap year to decide if an MSN is something they truly wanted to pursue. 3 of them have started back up and 2 of them stopped at their RN, not too sure what their plans are though. No program is perfect by any means and it's been a journey completing my MSN online because of COVID, but I will say that Simmons does prepare you well for the NCLEX and from what I've heard the FNP boards. Everyone in my cohort passed the NCLEX on the first try if that says anything. This might be a lengthy reply so I'll try and break it up into different topics to keep it organized for you LOL

(continuation of  simmons student response)

Transition from current lifestyle to DE program: If you talk to my other classmates there's probably going to be mixed reviews on this but be prepared to sacrifice a lot of your free time for school. For granted, my friends in the program and I were able to go out and celebrate finishing exam weeks in the city, but otherwise many of us split our time between classes, clinicals, and work (some students like myself worked as PCAs/CNAs after we completed our second Med surg clinical). You're really making the biggest sacrifice the first semester of the RN program and then it gets better, I promise. As for the MSN portion, I still put in the same amount of studying and find that I have more flexibility with my schedule but Simmons transitioned us to the online platform once COVID hit so I can't speak too much on the actual on campus MSN portion of the program. ........(.....edited for anonymity....) .....time management wasn't an issue at all and the nursing department for the graduate students is really good at scheduling all of our classes on one day per week so we can better balance work and clincials when those start.

I also should mention that Simmons offers a full time and part time tracks for the MSN. I decided to go full-time and it's rigorous but manageable. If you do decide to go to Simmons, just make sure that from the beginning of the program to block of time every week for self care, it's so important!

Faculty: Again, this will be a mixed review depending on who you talk to, but from my experiences, majority of the faculty is super supportive and genuinely wants to see everyone succeed. There's definitely a few professors that don't make it easy and aren't the most helpful, but you'll run into that anywhere you go. The administrative office may also seem a bit disorganized, but I think that's just at every single nursing school from what I've heard from friends who went to different schools. It's super important to develop a relationship with your advisor, she will be your biggest supporter and make sure that your file stays organized throughout the program especially when clinicals start!

NCLEX: I touched on this before, but Simmons prepares their students well for the RN boards(no BSN degree awarded). Everyone that I've talked to in my program passed on the first attempt and in 75 questions, which is the minimum amount of questions you can get to pass. During the process of completing the curriculum you may want to pull your hair out, but there's a theory to their madness and it works out in your favor! Simmons also pays a company to host an NCLEX review course for a week before everyone goes home for Winter break which I thought was super helpful in getting me motivated to study.

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Specializes in General Surgery and Trauma.
5 minutes ago, boaf said:

I spoke to a current in her last semester (via online) and I thought I'd share some of the questions and responses I got back ! 

Me: (recently accepted student): for starters, would you mind giving me your overall thoughts of the program, in your opinion. provided both the good and the bad attributes !

Simmons Student:  okay so, I'm the type of person that once I completely stop school and start to work I know that it'll be extremely difficult for me to get back into the school routine or even return to get a Masters at all, so for that reason I love the structure of the DE program. Some of my classmates did feel a bit overwhelmed and decided to take a gap year to decide if an MSN is something they truly wanted to pursue. 3 of them have started back up and 2 of them stopped at their RN, not too sure what their plans are though. No program is perfect by any means and it's been a journey completing my MSN online because of COVID, but I will say that Simmons does prepare you well for the NCLEX and from what I've heard the FNP boards. Everyone in my cohort passed the NCLEX on the first try if that says anything. This might be a lengthy reply so I'll try and break it up into different topics to keep it organized for you LOL

(continuation of  simmons student response)

Transition from current lifestyle to DE program: If you talk to my other classmates there's probably going to be mixed reviews on this but be prepared to sacrifice a lot of your free time for school. For granted, my friends in the program and I were able to go out and celebrate finishing exam weeks in the city, but otherwise many of us split our time between classes, clinicals, and work (some students like myself worked as PCAs/CNAs after we completed our second Med surg clinical). You're really making the biggest sacrifice the first semester of the RN program and then it gets better, I promise. As for the MSN portion, I still put in the same amount of studying and find that I have more flexibility with my schedule but Simmons transitioned us to the online platform once COVID hit so I can't speak too much on the actual on campus MSN portion of the program. ........(.....edited for anonymity....) .....time management wasn't an issue at all and the nursing department for the graduate students is really good at scheduling all of our classes on one day per week so we can better balance work and clincials when those start.

I also should mention that Simmons offers a full time and part time tracks for the MSN. I decided to go full-time and it's rigorous but manageable. If you do decide to go to Simmons, just make sure that from the beginning of the program to block of time every week for self care, it's so important!

Faculty: Again, this will be a mixed review depending on who you talk to, but from my experiences, majority of the faculty is super supportive and genuinely wants to see everyone succeed. There's definitely a few professors that don't make it easy and aren't the most helpful, but you'll run into that anywhere you go. The administrative office may also seem a bit disorganized, but I think that's just at every single nursing school from what I've heard from friends who went to different schools. It's super important to develop a relationship with your advisor, she will be your biggest supporter and make sure that your file stays organized throughout the program especially when clinicals start!

NCLEX: I touched on this before, but Simmons prepares their students well for the RN boards(no BSN degree awarded). Everyone that I've talked to in my program passed on the first attempt and in 75 questions, which is the minimum amount of questions you can get to pass. During the process of completing the curriculum you may want to pull your hair out, but there's a theory to their madness and it works out in your favor! Simmons also pays a company to host an NCLEX review course for a week before everyone goes home for Winter break which I thought was super helpful in getting me motivated to study.

Thank you!! This is so helpful to know. I’ve read the bad reviews online (I’m sure the same ones you all have read) and gotten nervous bc this is my top choice due to location and finances (scholarship here, didn’t get money anywhere else). But based off this and the answers of someone else I talked to, I get the sense that the program is what you make it and you can have a really positive experience, which makes me feel more confident ? 

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3 minutes ago, boaf said:

I spoke to a current in her last semester (via online) and I thought I'd share some of the questions and responses I got back ! 

Me: (recently accepted student): for starters, would you mind giving me your overall thoughts of the program, in your opinion. provided both the good and the bad attributes !

Simmons Student:  okay so, I'm the type of person that once I completely stop school and start to work I know that it'll be extremely difficult for me to get back into the school routine or even return to get a Masters at all, so for that reason I love the structure of the DE program. Some of my classmates did feel a bit overwhelmed and decided to take a gap year to decide if an MSN is something they truly wanted to pursue. 3 of them have started back up and 2 of them stopped at their RN, not too sure what their plans are though. No program is perfect by any means and it's been a journey completing my MSN online because of COVID, but I will say that Simmons does prepare you well for the NCLEX and from what I've heard the FNP boards. Everyone in my cohort passed the NCLEX on the first try if that says anything. This might be a lengthy reply so I'll try and break it up into different topics to keep it organized for you LOL

(continuation of  simmons student response)

Transition from current lifestyle to DE program: If you talk to my other classmates there's probably going to be mixed reviews on this but be prepared to sacrifice a lot of your free time for school. For granted, my friends in the program and I were able to go out and celebrate finishing exam weeks in the city, but otherwise many of us split our time between classes, clinicals, and work (some students like myself worked as PCAs/CNAs after we completed our second Med surg clinical). You're really making the biggest sacrifice the first semester of the RN program and then it gets better, I promise. As for the MSN portion, I still put in the same amount of studying and find that I have more flexibility with my schedule but Simmons transitioned us to the online platform once COVID hit so I can't speak too much on the actual on campus MSN portion of the program. ........(.....edited for anonymity....) .....time management wasn't an issue at all and the nursing department for the graduate students is really good at scheduling all of our classes on one day per week so we can better balance work and clincials when those start.

I also should mention that Simmons offers a full time and part time tracks for the MSN. I decided to go full-time and it's rigorous but manageable. If you do decide to go to Simmons, just make sure that from the beginning of the program to block of time every week for self care, it's so important!

Faculty: Again, this will be a mixed review depending on who you talk to, but from my experiences, majority of the faculty is super supportive and genuinely wants to see everyone succeed. There's definitely a few professors that don't make it easy and aren't the most helpful, but you'll run into that anywhere you go. The administrative office may also seem a bit disorganized, but I think that's just at every single nursing school from what I've heard from friends who went to different schools. It's super important to develop a relationship with your advisor, she will be your biggest supporter and make sure that your file stays organized throughout the program especially when clinicals start!

NCLEX: I touched on this before, but Simmons prepares their students well for the RN boards(no BSN degree awarded). Everyone that I've talked to in my program passed on the first attempt and in 75 questions, which is the minimum amount of questions you can get to pass. During the process of completing the curriculum you may want to pull your hair out, but there's a theory to their madness and it works out in your favor! Simmons also pays a company to host an NCLEX review course for a week before everyone goes home for Winter break which I thought was super helpful in getting me motivated to study.

I’m a little confused because when I talked to BC about them starting with a masters instead of bachelors to sit for the NCLEX that advisor told me all you need is the nursing degree to sit for the NCLEX so if they don’t award a BSN how are we allowed to sit for it? Also does that effect RN pay at all if we don’t have a degree? 

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PART 2 Conversation with current Simmons Student 

ME:    It's my understanding that the cost of the program tuition-wise is 128K roughly. So after that first 1.5 year (the RN portion), do most people in your cohort begin to work full-time or part time as RN to cash flow the cost of the FNP portion of the program, or do most still need to take out loans?

So I think that each cohort has 40-50 students, but now that you are nearing the end of the program, what would you say the retention rate of the students who started from the very beginning and moved on to complete the program, is very high?

For the RN portion how many days a week are you in class, and how many days a week are you in clinical, and the same for the NP portion ? and is it true that clinicals can be completed in other neighboring states ?

RESPONSES

Simmons Student:  Tuition is steep. A little fun fact that I wish I knew is that a very small amount of my classmates were offered a scholarship from Simmons. I’m not sure how much but I do know that there is a GPA requirement that goes along with keeping it each semester. Definitely something I would look into ! Otherwise majority of people take out loans depending on their situation. If taking out loans is something in the works do not wait until the last minute to get the paperwork done, the earlier they’re all done the better off you are !

Work-wise it really just depends on the type of student you are. I’m full time in the program, am currently working at  ........(.....edited for anonymity....) .... Hospital and I work about 24-36 hours/wk. I’m hired per diem which gives me the flexibility I need to balance everything but city living isn’t cheap LOL. I would say that just about everyone who is part time in the program is working full time hours and they’re doing totally fine. One thing that Simmons has started to work on this past year is that they are adjusting the on campus format, nothing different about the curriculum just the timing and structure of pharm I believe, so that if students choose to practice as an FNP in another state and want to begin networking in that state, they can easily switch to the online program to finish their MSN and compete their clinicals as long as they get their RN license in that state. So one of my friends did that and was able to move back to ........(.....edited for anonymity....) .... early and complete all of ........(.....edited for anonymity....) .... clinicals at home which she was super happy about. I’d say cutting out the cost of housing is definitely a nice perk of making the switch!

As for student retention, there were a handful that took a gap year after completing their RN to work as an inpatient nurse and be sure that being and FNP is something they definitely wanted to do. Otherwise, my cohort was about 60 students in the RN portion and from what I remember ****** students had definitely dropped out of the program. One of them just realized from (insert gender pronoun) experiences that bedside nursing was not it for (insert gender pronoun). ........(.....edited for anonymity....) .... This classmate struggled a bit academically and Simmons has a policy that if you “fail” a class (RN portion: 75 is passing; MSN portion: 83 is passing) you cannot move forward with your class and you need to retake the class when it’s offered next, which is usually the following year. Otherwise I mentioned briefly last night that many of the students who took the gap year to be sure in their decision are now coming back and finishing their MSN. So although I don’t know the exact retention rate, I would say there’s about ........(.....edited for anonymity....) .... of us actively working towards our MSN.

Schedules in the RN portion: Simmons keeps this very structured. My classmates and I were on campus on ***days and ***day’s. ***day’s were the loooong days where we went from I thiiiink 9am-7pm with a 1-2hr break for lunch. During the first semester there’s also a skills workshop that takes place on weekends for 3 consecutive weekends. This is mandatory and you are tested on the skills you learned before you start clinical. During each semester of the RN program you’ll also have Sim Labs which are used to reinforce skills and topics in classes. Those are offered throughout the month and you’ll get a link to sign up for a session that fits your schedule best. Once clinicals start, you’ll do 1-2 days of clinical per/wk in addition to your class schedule.

Schedules in the MSN portion: Simmons purposefully schedules all MSN classes on one day/wk so that students can better plan their work and clinical schedules. For your first rotation (501), the expectation is that you’re in clinical 1 day/wk but if your preceptor is willing you can definitely go as many days as you like. Then as you move through the remaining two clinical classes and the rotations needed, the expectation is that you do 2 days/wk in 502 and 3 days/wk in the final class 503. But like I mentioned before, if you have a preceptor that’s willing, go as much as you can and get the hours !

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Specializes in General Surgery and Trauma.
8 minutes ago, Amber Rose Mello said:

I’m a little confused because when I talked to BC about them starting with a masters instead of bachelors to sit for the NCLEX that advisor told me all you need is the nursing degree to sit for the NCLEX so if they don’t award a BSN how are we allowed to sit for it? Also does that effect RN pay at all if we don’t have a degree? 

I'm not sure about sitting for the NCLEX, but I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that if you want to only pursue your RN, not the MSN, that you can transfer to the BSN program at Simmons to finish the degree (I think this is the undergrad program, not an accelerated. Only women can transfer to the BSN since undergrad is women only)

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2 minutes ago, Amber Rose Mello said:

I’m a little confused because when I talked to BC about them starting with a masters instead of bachelors to sit for the NCLEX that advisor told me all you need is the nursing degree to sit for the NCLEX so if they don’t award a BSN how are we allowed to sit for it? Also does that effect RN pay at all if we don’t have a degree? 

This is the very question I had, I called and emailed an admissions officer. I'll attach the response below:

ME:  I had a question concerning the MSN portion fo the program. Say if I wanted to complete my clinical for the MSN portion of the program in a neighboring state (in a state I would want to live in after completion of the program and begin networking prior to graduation), could I be permitted to switch to the online format for the MSN portion, for the remaining 1.5 years smoothly, without any issue or special consideration? 

Admissions:  I have two answers for you regarding this as I want to be as transparent as possible. Obviously, we want you to be a student at Simmons and if that meant that we would work with you to figure out how you could switch to the online MSN program after finishing the pre-licensure portion, we would work it out with the program as it has happened on occasion in the past. 

However, I would ask that you and I talk about this in more depth if that is the direction you are leaning. We created the Direct Entry program specifically to allow students who already have a bachelors degree the chance to do a combined program to get to the FNP goal as quickly as possible. The courses and the clinicals for this group is built specifically to ensure a fully immersive experience that is important to have for any students who have no previous nursing experience.  In contrast, the online BSN to MSN program at Simmons is designed for Registered Nurses usually with at least some nursing experience and the focus is different than the Direct Entry program focus because of that. Since we get over 270 applications for the Direct Entry program from students and most are looking to do our full Direct Entry program experience rather than switch to online halfway through, I would suggest looking at our Accelerated BSN program which will allow you to get to the RN licensure spot and then you can look at applying to the BSN to MSN online program and be able to do your FNP curriculum and clinicals from a different state and allow us to offer the Direct Entry spot to another applicant. 

I hope you see where I am coming from with this. Since we have multiple degree options for nursing, we try and make sure the students enrolling in a program pick the best one based on their goals and often students can get to the same place using different options. We would rather have them pick the best choice at the beginning rather than have to change halfway through and take a spot that someone else would prefer.

 

 

 

 

So to when we had the phone call conversation I was told, that because it is a Grad program, you are not given a BSN. you sit for the NCLEX(  after 1.5 years) and you become an RN without a BSN. I asked the current student how this affects pay and jobs. I will attach her reposonse below:

 

Me:  Would you say theres any drawback to Simmons not awarding the actaul BSN ? does that affect pay or job outlooks as you collect hours as an RN (after the RN portion of the program)?

Simmons Student: Most hospitals in Boston do a pay scale based on experience so not having a BSN will not affect the salary you would get compared to someone who has their BSN. It wasn’t difficult for me to get a job or interview at places but sometimes getting your application through HR without having a BSN can be tough. Most places want to see your experience too and I worked as a........(.....edited for anonymity....) ... (aid) so I think that helped me. You also can get a letter from the school of nursing explaining that you’ve completed the curriculum for a BSN but it can’t be awarded bc you’re in an MSN program. I got my letter for that and made sure to give it to employers as I was interviewing

Me: So following that point, is it fair to assume it may be a bit harder for a graduate of the program, )who couldn't work as an RN during the program for whatever reason) , to find a job? does everyone half way through the program have a job as an RN, is that like an unspoken rule of thumb

Simmons Student:  I haven’t finished the program yet. But I would say that it definitely would be a lot more difficult to get a job as an NP without experience as an RN. From what I’ve heard, some people slip through the cracks and don’t work but I couldn’t tell you of anyone that I know of who has done that. It’s also a requirement by the school of nursing that everyone getting their MSN work as an RN while finishing the program and the school will ask you to provide proof of employment

 

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Would you guys say it’s a good thing if I havent  heard anything yet about the BSN program? 2 year sequence. My status has said move to slate since December 

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I have a friend attending NP school in the Boston area (not Simmons) and asked her if she has heard anything about the school. She says that she has heard good things about the school and that it is located in a great location near big hospitals and research centers. She says she is not too familiar with the program but did bring up the part about how Simmons does not help their students secure clinicals for the Master's portion. She said while this is something to consider, there are lots of options for the NP track so it should not be too difficult to find clinicals, but it will be time consuming and stressful. 

3 minutes ago, Lauren Krupnick said:

Would you guys say it’s a good thing if I havent  heard anything yet about the BSN program? 2 year sequence. My status has said move to slate since December 

You might want to try the other thread for Simmons BSN program since this one is mainly for the ELMSN so we might not be too familiar with what is going on with the BSN apps. 

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6 minutes ago, hannahkecho said:

f you want to only pursue your RN, not the MSN, that you can transfer to the BSN program at Simmons to finish the degree (I think this is the undergrad program, not an accelerated.

Can you please clarify the last part, im alittle confused ?

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Specializes in General Surgery and Trauma.
1 minute ago, bobamilkteas said:

I have a friend attending NP school in the Boston area (not Simmons) and asked her if she has heard anything about the school. She says that she has heard good things about the school and that it is located in a great location near big hospitals and research centers. She says she is not too familiar with the program but did bring up the part about how Simmons does not help their students secure clinicals for the Master's portion. She said while this is something to consider, there are lots of options for the NP track so it should not be too difficult to find clinicals, but it will be time consuming and stressful. 

I heard the same thing from a current student I talked to about clinicals. She did say it was difficult to find a placement when covid started, but didn't say that any student found it outright impossible to find a clinical spot. She also said that (as tempting as it is) she would not recommend picking a school based solely on whether it promises to place you for clinicals, as she has heard from people in multiple other programs that they hav had to find their own spots as well. A lot of students also use connections they made from the RN portion of clinicals to find NP clinical placements!

3 minutes ago, boaf said:

Can you please clarify the last part, im alittle confused ?

sorry! I can't remember all the details of what I read LOL but I think this is the program you can transfer into if you decide you want a BSN instead of an MSN. 

https://www.simmons.edu/undergraduate/admission-and-financial-aid/how-apply/students-over-24/nursing-program-adult-students

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With all that being said, I like to make decisions that are weighted from both good and bad reviews. At the moment I feel like everyone who is currently in the program only has "positive leaning" things to say (perhaps for fear of retaliation from the program..who knows), but I'm old enough to know that everything that glitters is not gold. And so I value the "bad" reviews as much as the good, while taking EVERYTHING with a grain of salt at the same time LOL. and the reason in which I am so confused on this choice is because the program is so bloody expensive, even to those with a scholarship. It's 130K for tuition alone (for three years). and the program is three years, so I do understand that working as a PCA or CNA is possible but that is nowhere near enough to support rent and utilities food etc without help. SO that in mind, factoring an additional 65-90K of loans on top of tuition to support yourself in those three years (obvi im low balling that), and lets not forget to mention our former Bachelors degrees, for those of us carrying undergrad debt. IT is really is a steep asking price if the bad reviews outweighs the good. It's not a choice to make lightly or uninformed (or to have a one-sided perspective of it) it is  approx a 100-200 thousand dollar descion we're talking about here, it goes beyond making the best out of a situation I feel, (of course you can take the chance and run the risk that the bad reviews were in fact true, but by that point you simply have to take your licks. and im not so sure I can blindly wager that much money on a "possiblity". I want to lean toward sureness as much as possible). And of course everything is not about the money, but I'd be doing myself a disservice if I didn't consider the return to my investment and if its within reason. anyway those are my thoughts and why I'm a bit apprehensive about the program. I don't want to go into that kind of debt on a whim and be just another number. 

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