UCLA MECN Fall 2019

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It's that time of year again! I am planning on applying for the Fall 2019 quarter. The summer 2018 information sessions are now open. Who else is applying ?

12 hours ago, gismal45 said:

Do y'all know an estimate of how many people tend to get off the waitlist?

From what I've read in past forums, usually anywhere from 10-20. However, I'm sure it depends on the cohort that year. One year they took about 10 and the following year they took about 20. Wishing you and everyone else the best of luck!

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For those of you who still need to take Epidemiology in the summer: I'm assuming that we have to wait until our admission is approved to be able to log in to our portal and sign up for the class, right? ?

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Also got my letter of admission yesterday!

My stats: undegrad GPA on the lower end--like borderline lower end, A's in all science pre reqs from local community college, nursing volunteer @ Ronald Reagan (~130 hours by the time I applied), nursing volunteer at another local hospital (another ~150 hours by app time), CNA license for about 1 yr (not much paid work experience though).

Here's what I think made my app stand out: I was in the Peace Corps for a while (yay community involvement), I've first authored a nursing paper & its been successfully published in a pretty good journal, UCLA undergrad (go figure), invited to present/attended 2 nursing conferences b/c of publication. I speak fluent Spanish and am first gen college grad.

Misc: My LORs were written by employer, professor, & volunteer coordinator @ local community hospital. I started SOP literally 2 weeks before it was due & turned in application the day it was due. Risky, I know.

KEEP in mind, my gpa was low but I was still able to slide through the cracks. With that in mind I think ucla places a strong emphasis on what you can bring to the table & what you are willing to do for the program and what your goals are as a future nurse.

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58 minutes ago, _V17 said:

For those of you who still need to take Epidemiology in the summer: I'm assuming that we have to wait until our admission is approved to be able to log in to our portal and sign up for the class, right? ?

I was going to take it online at UCB because it’s cheaper.

Do you know why admission still needs to be approved? It makes me nervous because it’s like.... ok am I actually in?

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11 minutes ago, kaydee_16 said:

I was going to take it online at UCB because it’s cheaper.

Do you know why admission still needs to be approved? It makes me nervous because it’s like.... ok am I actually in?

That's smart. If you don't mind me asking, is it because you are still currently enrolled at UCB? I've been out of school full-time since 2016 so I'm assuming I have to take it at UCLA.

As for the provisional acceptance, I have no idea. I emailed Mark saying that upon approval from the graduate division, I intend to enroll at UCLA and he said thank you and congratulations. So, honestly...I don't know. It sounds to me like we are in, we just need our acceptance to go through the graduate division (whatever that means).

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1 hour ago, _V17 said:

That's smart. If you don't mind me asking, is it because you are still currently enrolled at UCB? I've been out of school full-time since 2016 so I'm assuming I have to take it at UCLA.

As for the provisional acceptance, I have no idea. I emailed Mark saying that upon approval from the graduate division, I intend to enroll at UCLA and he said thank you and congratulations. So, honestly...I don't know. It sounds to me like we are in, we just need our acceptance to go through the graduate division (whatever that means).

Don't mind at all! I prefer to take this class online rather than driving to campus twice a week over the summer because it is cheaper. But taking it at UCLA is a great option too because you're able to get used to the campus and meet other nursing students. I spoke to Rhonda yesterday and she said it meets the Nursing 50 requirement. It's called PB HLTH X186 Principles of Epidemiology through the UCB extension.

Mark said the same thing to me as well haha. I've been hesitant to celebrate. My friend who went for the graduate engineering program said this happened to her too, and it's a real acceptance, but I won't celebrate until everything is finalized and my status changes on the portal (that's just me.)

But to answer your question, yes, I think the Graduate Division has to approve our acceptance before we can register for classes as we need a student id.

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1 hour ago, kaydee_16 said:

Don't mind at all! I prefer to take this class online rather than driving to campus twice a week over the summer because it is cheaper. But taking it at UCLA is a great option too because you're able to get used to the campus and meet other nursing students. I spoke to Rhonda yesterday and she said it meets the Nursing 50 requirement. It's called PB HLTH X186 Principles of Epidemiology through the UCB extension.

Mark said the same thing to me as well haha. I've been hesitant to celebrate. My friend who went for the graduate engineering program said this happened to her too, and it's a real acceptance, but I won't celebrate until everything is finalized and my status changes on the portal (that's just me.)

But to answer your question, yes, I think the Graduate Division has to approve our acceptance before we can register for classes as we need a student id.

I completely understand your hesitation. Better to be safe! haha

Right, thank you! Hopefully they can get back to us soon.

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4 hours ago, _V17 said:

I completely understand your hesitation. Better to be safe! haha

Right, thank you! Hopefully they can get back to us soon.

Sorry, had to chime in. Finished the program in June 2018. If you were accepted, you’re accepted; we all wondered same thing, it’s just a process where the SON identifies their candidates for acceptance then informs the graduate division. Go celebrate.

as for the rigor, it’s hard, but mainly time consuming. They’ve made it better in 2018, and a lot more professors care, but there are a few there still who have an old school mentality. Luckily, individual courses now only require 74 min (with overall 3.0 gpa avg).

The new director seems to really care about student input as well so that’s fantastic. The program does help on job placement, I think the majority of us got hired within UCLA and a ton at cedars, and almost everyone I knew has certainly found a job by now. some went up north to ucsf and Stanford, and I was lucky enough to land a spot at a UCLA Icu,

congrats, it’s okay to relish in some of the success and celebrate!

Also, as far as acceptance, they care about your sop/lor/and then your grades. While grades are important, they don’t need to be flawless. I had very little background experience and volunteered for about 100 hours before applying so not everything you do has to be tailored to the profession. Just having a good idea on why you want to do this, and what steps you’ve started i think are more important to communicate!

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I also received an acceptance e-mail yesterday!

My stats are as follows:
- Undergrad GPA 3.313, idr my prereq GPA for this particular program but I think I had a C in chemistry, a B+ in physio, and A's in all the others
- ~900 hours CNA work in a pediatric SNF at time of application
- heavily involved in public health research in my undergrad + did a wet lab research internship this past year
- LOR written by postdoc in lab, anatomy professor, & a charge nurse at work

So far I've gotten into UCLA's MECN program as well as another ABSN program out of state (UW in Seattle). I was wondering if anyone's in the same situation where they're trying to weigh the pros and cons of doing a master's in nursing vs. just doing an accelerated program?

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Long time lurker as well, but wanted to say congrats to everyone who were accepted!

Hi @drizoid, just wanted to see if you can further elaborate on the actual program as we're all making our decisions.

When you say rigor and time consuming, on average, how many hours a week are you on campus either attending lectures, rotations, etc? Do you feel like the program sufficiently prepared you to pass the NCLEX?

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Received the final graduate acceptance today, excited to get started and meet everyone! ?

My stats:

undergrad gpa: 3.0, pre-req: ~3.7, med sci master's gpa: 3.5 (MS is not calculated in, but I'd like to think it helped with the overall review)

Currently CNA (1000+ hours), volunteer at UCLA and other hospitals, outpatient (~3 years), research paper, nonprofit work, free clinics coordinator etc.

LOR: professor, and physicians. I did not have a nurse rec, but I think they look at your overall package so this is likely a preference, not a must.

Spent about a month working on PS and Diversity statement.

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I got the acceptance today as well! Excited to meet everyone ?

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