UMass Boston Accelerated Bachelor's in Nursing (ABS-N) Admissions

[Denise L]

I wanted to share my very negative experience applying for the UMASS Boston accelerated program. I am an LPN, with a BA in English from a very competitive private college. I did all my prerequisites for a bridge program and then learned of the UMASS hybrid, which would give me the RN/BSN in one year. Since May, I have begged an admissions counselor to meet with me regarding my transcripts, pre-reqs and application. They ignored me at first, so I had to ask the Veterans office to step in and help me communicate, then they reluctantly returned my many voicemails. They assured me everything was in order and if the website didn't flag anything on the application not to worry. My application was complete on June 7. Deadline to apply was Sept 1. 

Today I received a message that my application was not complete, and better luck next time. I called, and of course no one would get on the phone, so I again called the Veteran rep and asked for help. When they responded, they told me that one prereq which I had specifically questioned the admissions counselor on (Nutrition) was not a high enough grade. I was told multiple times that since it was not a lab-based science the minimum wasn't applied to this one pre-req.

Then, to make things even better, I was told that I most likely wasn't good enough for their program anyway. They would prefer to have a non-medical background 3.9 GPA over someone who has been an LPN (with a 3.9 in nursing school) for nearly 17 years. The complete lack of accountability from the UMASS admissions officers, total lack of professionalism, is infuriating. 

If anyone here does decide to apply there, document every single voicemail you leave with George with an email to cover yourself. If he ever does call you back, follow that up with an email so you have the lies you're told documented.