UT AE-MSN 2018

U.S.A. Texas

Published

Hello, all!

This might be super early but I wanted to go ahead and start a 2018 thread. :cat:

I'm currently finishing up my last semester for my Bachelors degree in Spanish & Psychology at UT Arlington, I take the GRE on December 22nd. Any other future applicants out there? Or anyone have any advice as far as the application process? Not sure if I'd rather apply for LeaDs or PMHNP yet.

Hey all,

I'm in LeaDs from the 2017 cohort. One of you posted in our allnurses forum from last year, but I decided to respond here so it would be more available to everyone. Someone asked what our experience has been like so far. So here it goes..

This is my personal experience and everyone has had a wide variety of opinions about the first year. For me, I don't have any kids or obligations outside of this program and I have a very supportive husband so my interpretation of the year may be different than others. That being said, I've had a really great experience so far. I have been impressed by how open-minded, down-to-earth, and kind everyone in my cohort is. The professors are nice and really care about the well-being and success of the students. The most intensive portion of the program for me was the beginning 7 weeks of the fall semester. At that time, I organized my time by working on any major/long term projects on Friday afternoon. I would complete the skills lab readings on Saturday (these were usually 50-75 pages long, although the pages were on the small side) and take the pre-lab quiz. Sunday, I would prep for the next day's adult health clinical for most of the day and glance over adult health lecture slides. Monday was clinical (630am-3pm at the hospital) and I tended to review adult health again and go to bed early. Tuesday was child health clinical and I would fill out a nursing "brain" during clinical with assessment information and patient history. After clinical I would study for the next day's adult health quiz. Wednesday was a "sleep in day". Class started at 9am instead of having to be at clinical at 630am. We had lecture in the morning, a 3 hour break, and then lecture in the afternoon. This break was a good time to work on child health readings and pre-class quizzes for the week (these were small quizzes and not worth too many points). Wednesday evenings I worked on my child health nursing report and adult health client status reports (paperwork stating my nursing diagnoses, interventions done during the day, and outcomes). Thursday was usually clinical in the community (clinics, schools, etc). On Thursday night I would study for Friday's child health quiz. Friday was skills lab and child health lecture and the cycle would begin again.

Not everyone has child health in the first part of the fall semester, but that was the most time consuming part of this program for me so I wanted to give a snapshot of what it was like and an example of how my time was organized. It was a lot but manageable. Otherwise, the summer was pretty relaxed and I had a decent amount of free time. So far this spring semester has left me with an adequate amount of time to spend socially. Also, I was very worried about going to the hospital at first, but we were eased into it with simulation, then shadowing a nurse, then taking a patient and only doing an assessment, then taking a patient and only doing oral meds, etc. I should not have been so nervous.

For those of you wondering about the waitlist, I know multiple people that were on the waitlist that ended up being admitted. One of them didn't hear back until a couple months before the start of the program that they were admitted (stressful)!

I'm just going to reiterate that I am responding on my own accord and my experiences are mine alone! I hope this is at least somewhat helpful and didn't cause more questions/confusion! Congrats you guys and look forward to meeting you this summer!

This was SO helpful! Thank you !!

A few questions if you don't mind:

- Are you planning on working in year 2 or year 2.5? Is it easy to find an RN job in Texas without a BSN or MSN, just an RN license?

- What are you doing after LEADs is up? Are you applying for a NP certificate program? do you know how competitive they are to get into? I want to directly roll into one, ideally...

- Clinicals: they match you up with them, do you have the ability to choose in the 2nd year as to what your preference might be?

I would love to know if other people are considering AE MSN versus other direct entry programs out there. I'm considering it versus some others -- and really am torn. I like the idea of working in Austin, being part of the community, and getting a fantastic education. But I don't like the fact that I won't have a degree for 2.5 years (heard its hard to get a job w/out one, even if you have your RN), didn't really plan on a LEADs nurse management degree (want to be an NP) and there are other programs that can get me to an NP in 2 years...

When you compare the cost of 3.5 years tuition + housing, even in state tuition, it's pretty comparable to something like Boston College which is 2 years + housing + $ made while working as an NP for the 3rd and 1/2 year...

I'm torn!

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This was SO helpful! Thank you !!

A few questions if you don't mind:

- Are you planning on working in year 2 or year 2.5? Is it easy to find an RN job in Texas without a BSN or MSN, just an RN license?

- What are you doing after LEADs is up? Are you applying for a NP certificate program? do you know how competitive they are to get into? I want to directly roll into one, ideally...

- Clinicals: they match you up with them, do you have the ability to choose in the 2nd year as to what your preference might be?

I would love to know if other people are considering AE MSN versus other direct entry programs out there. I'm considering it versus some others -- and really am torn. I like the idea of working in Austin, being part of the community, and getting a fantastic education. But I don't like the fact that I won't have a degree for 2.5 years (heard its hard to get a job w/out one, even if you have your RN), didn't really plan on a LEADs nurse management degree (want to be an NP) and there are other programs that can get me to an NP in 2 years...

When you compare the cost of 3.5 years tuition + housing, even in state tuition, it's pretty comparable to something like Boston College which is 2 years + housing + $ made while working as an NP for the 3rd and 1/2 year...

I'm torn!

Hey! PM me, I have a friend who goes to BC who gave me a ton of insight.

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- Are you planning on working in year 2 or year 2.5? Is it easy to find an RN job in Texas without a BSN or MSN, just an RN license?

I'm in the process of applying to residency programs right now and do plan to work. The residency programs require you to work full time and, in addition, the hospital has their own required classes. With these extra classes through the hospital and continuing in the MSN program at UT, scheduling conflicts arise at certain facilities and thus these specific facilities don't hire many, if any, AEs in the Austin area. That being said, some hospitals do! I have heard from the cohort ahead of me that it is extremely taxing to take on a residency and continue full-time in the program, but I think that is what I will try to do. I have also heard from the cohort ahead of me that a lot of people do part time and PRN work and pretty much everyone that wanted a residency got one and everyone that wanted PRN got it.

- What are you doing after LEADs is up? Are you applying for a NP certificate program? do you know how competitive they are to get into? I want to directly roll into one, ideally...

I do not see myself going into an NP program immediately, just by personal preference. The post-master's certificate through UT requires 2 years of full time work as an RN before you apply, so that would mean you could apply shortly after you finish the program. As far as I know, it should be a very attainable goal to be accepted into an NP program after finishing up the MSN at UT.

- Clinicals: they match you up with them, do you have the ability to choose in the 2nd year as to what your preference might be?

Not sure about this one yet!

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Hey all,

I'm in LeaDs from the 2017 cohort. One of you posted in our allnurses forum from last year, but I decided to respond here so it would be more available to everyone. Someone asked what our experience has been like so far. So here it goes..

This is my personal experience and everyone has had a wide variety of opinions about the first year. For me, I don't have any kids or obligations outside of this program and I have a very supportive husband so my interpretation of the year may be different than others. That being said, I've had a really great experience so far. I have been impressed by how open-minded, down-to-earth, and kind everyone in my cohort is. The professors are nice and really care about the well-being and success of the students. The most intensive portion of the program for me was the beginning 7 weeks of the fall semester. At that time, I organized my time by working on any major/long term projects on Friday afternoon. I would complete the skills lab readings on Saturday (these were usually 50-75 pages long, although the pages were on the small side) and take the pre-lab quiz. Sunday, I would prep for the next day's adult health clinical for most of the day and glance over adult health lecture slides. Monday was clinical (630am-3pm at the hospital) and I tended to review adult health again and go to bed early. Tuesday was child health clinical and I would fill out a nursing "brain" during clinical with assessment information and patient history. After clinical I would study for the next day's adult health quiz. Wednesday was a "sleep in day". Class started at 9am instead of having to be at clinical at 630am. We had lecture in the morning, a 3 hour break, and then lecture in the afternoon. This break was a good time to work on child health readings and pre-class quizzes for the week (these were small quizzes and not worth too many points). Wednesday evenings I worked on my child health nursing report and adult health client status reports (paperwork stating my nursing diagnoses, interventions done during the day, and outcomes). Thursday was usually clinical in the community (clinics, schools, etc). On Thursday night I would study for Friday's child health quiz. Friday was skills lab and child health lecture and the cycle would begin again.

Not everyone has child health in the first part of the fall semester, but that was the most time consuming part of this program for me so I wanted to give a snapshot of what it was like and an example of how my time was organized. It was a lot but manageable. Otherwise, the summer was pretty relaxed and I had a decent amount of free time. So far this spring semester has left me with an adequate amount of time to spend socially. Also, I was very worried about going to the hospital at first, but we were eased into it with simulation, then shadowing a nurse, then taking a patient and only doing an assessment, then taking a patient and only doing oral meds, etc. I should not have been so nervous.

For those of you wondering about the waitlist, I know multiple people that were on the waitlist that ended up being admitted. One of them didn't hear back until a couple months before the start of the program that they were admitted (stressful)!

I'm just going to reiterate that I am responding on my own accord and my experiences are mine alone! I hope this is at least somewhat helpful and didn't cause more questions/confusion! Congrats you guys and look forward to meeting you this summer!

Wow thank you so much for that information it is so valuable! That was exactly what I was hoping to find out kind of the "life of", work life balance, and support of the faculty and preceptors. Do you know how any psych students are liking their msn portion?

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Hey, AS...it won't let me send you a message either. Feel free to post the questions here and I can answer them as best I can. The foundation year is very busy. Every once in awhile it feels a tad overwhelming (although others in my cohort might say that they're more overwhelmed than that). However, the school provides you with plenty of resources to make sure you succeed. They will set up several q & a sessions with past cohorts to help you each step of the way.

Hi yoyo! Sorry for the delay. I'd love to hear more about yours and other students experience with the psych programs specifically. The variety/type/distance of clinical placements, what a typical-ish work schedule looks like, whether there is an even focus across the lifespan or more concentrated in one age group or population. Also, how confident did you feel taking the NCLEX (I really like how they have that summer off to study), and how prepared do students feel sitting for the specialty test? Lastly, I work with a few NP's now who say it is best to get a DNP since that's going to be the new standard especially in psych. Have you heard anything about that? I think it's state by state. UT has a DNP program but you can't transition directly from the MSN program. The thought of going back to school a second time...

Appreciate any insight! Thank you!

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Hi yoyo! Sorry for the delay. I'd love to hear more about yours and other students experience with the psych programs specifically. The variety/type/distance of clinical placements, what a typical-ish work schedule looks like, whether there is an even focus across the lifespan or more concentrated in one age group or population. Also, how confident did you feel taking the NCLEX (I really like how they have that summer off to study), and how prepared do students feel sitting for the specialty test? Lastly, I work with a few NP's now who say it is best to get a DNP since that's going to be the new standard especially in psych. Have you heard anything about that? I think it's state by state. UT has a DNP program but you can't transition directly from the MSN program. The thought of going back to school a second time...

Appreciate any insight! Thank you!

Interesting. Where did you read that you can't transition directly from the MSN program to DNP? I was slightly considering doing LEADs then rather than 1-year certificate, do DNP instead... longer but maybe just get it done. But if you can't do that, that would be good to know.

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Btw, I'm talking about the FNP program. The other NP post master's certificates require less full time work experience, if any.

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Interesting. Where did you read that you can't transition directly from the MSN program to DNP? I was slightly considering doing LEADs then rather than 1-year certificate, do DNP instead... longer but maybe just get it done. But if you can't do that, that would be good to know.

The DNP requires 18 mo nursing experience. I was thinking of working part time RN during school to qualify for the DNP (after the MSN) but that only gives me 12 mo. I'm not sure about the post masters (year long?) but at least that's what I was told for the DNP! Asked Tracy. Maybe it'd be different for Leads though.

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I would email and ask her

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The DNP requires 18 mo nursing experience. I was thinking of working part time RN during school to qualify for the DNP (after the MSN) but that only gives me 12 mo. I'm not sure about the post masters (year long?) but at least that's what I was told for the DNP! Asked Tracy. Maybe it'd be different for Leads though.

Got it. So I guess that begs my earlier question which I'm not too sure about still... how easy is it to get an RN job in Austin without a MSN or BSN degree? Because theoretically we won't have that until the end of the 2.5 years... but would need to find a job (in order to roll in quickly to DNP or certificate) right after sitting for the NCLEX...

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Specializes in Cardiology.
If you've been accepted to the program please send me a Facebook request, so I can get a FB group started for us. My name is Mary Kate Larimer.

Hi Mary Kate. I just sent you a request to be added to to Facebook group. I've been accepted into the AG CNS track. Looking forward to meeting everyone!

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Hi All!

I wanted to let you know that I was accepted into the AG-CNS tract, but declined admission due to a change in circumstances. I let Tracy know earlier this week.

I hope one of you hears soon and gets that spot off the wait-list asap.

Best of luck!

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