I am excited to say that I have been admitted to the Graduate Entry Pathway (GEP) at the UMass Worcester Graduate School of Nursing. I am in the Family Nurse Practitioner Track and am scheduled to begin in August of 2016.
I will be moving to Worcester from the Boston area with my girlfriend, and I am curious to connect to others who have been admitted to this cohort.
It would be great to just chat and get to know some people before the program starts, but I'm also trying to do some research on more logistical matters (housing, transportation etc.) and I'm really curious what people's plans are for the coming year.
Drop me a line if this message pertains to you, and maybe we can connect.
What are you interviewing for? I didn't know they were still interviewing, congrats! Mine for FNP with Dr. Silver was vey enjoyable, less challenging questions than I anticipated and more like a conversation. There were a few situational questions that were a little strange, but I felt it was not too hard to say the "right" thing. Good luck :)
There are only a couple people that continue working part-time for only a couple hours/week, including myself. I really do not suggest working during the first year. I feel as though I lost valuable time that could have been spent studying. I am working for a company that has me travel (mostly weekends) and I probably would not opt to work if I could start all over again. It is not unusual for me to work 24 hours in one weekend, which is a huge commitment that could begin to strain my academic achievement. Everyone will have a different opinion; however, by looking around the room, I'm going to say 90-95% are not currently working. It is definitely doable if you are up for a challenge and don't mind missing out on a social life, .
Hi Brickbradford,
I went with UMass due to the fact it was one of the few programs that were offering direct->DNP. I am banking on the fact that the DNP will aid me in the job market down the road. I'd rather get the majority of my education done while I'm still young (23) instead of trying to juggle work, family, school, etc. Yale has a very nice program and I was impressed with everyone I met down there. Melissa was wonderful. In the end, it's a decision I am very happy that I made. I even considered attending a Master's Generalist CNL program before working towards an NP (at Johns Hopkins), but this is a pretty cool program over here at UMass. It can get chaotic at times, like any other accelerated program, but if you just trust the process, you will learn a lot, make great friends, and set yourself up for a great career! *Side note* I am receiving New England Regional tuition and it is still one of the most affordable programs out there.
Just my $0.02!
Happy for all those accepted!!! Good luck with any remaining interviews!
Good news for anyone who is on the wait list, I have officially committed to join the GEPN program at the Yale School of Nursing. As soon as they email me with a confirmation that my deposit was received, I will rescind my acceptance at UMass. I'm sorry that I will not be joining you in the fall, there are a lot of wonderful things about the UMass, some of which I strongly prefer to Yale, but I don't feel like I can turn down an opportunity to attend an Ivy League institution.
Max, thank you very much for answering my question, I appreciate your perspective, and wish you the best of luck as you finish up your first year and move into the specialty portion of the curriculum.
Kcullen, perhaps you had your interview already, and this information is too late, however in case it is later this week let me share a few points from my interview:
I remember them asking me, "How will you contribute to diversity at our school?" "Talk about a time when you stood up for someone else," and "Tell us about a problem that you had and how you solved it." They asked me more questions than that, and we ended up talking for an hour or so, but those were the ones that stood out to me the most.
I recommend reading over your essay and resume to try and tell the same story. I also recommend researching your interviewer in order to tie together your knowledge of what NPs in general do with what he/she specifically does. Finally, I always try to remind myself that, regardless of the outcome, interviewing, and facing the accompanying anxiety is great practice for achieving whatever you want to in life.
Thanks and good luck to everyone, I am sorry we won't have an opportunity to study together next year.
Thanks for all your information so far. It's been really helpful. Do you think working per diem at the hospital is worth missing out on studying time if it's working with nurses and getting experience, or have you talked with/experienced that taking time to study was a better use of time?
I'll be honest- I think the study time is more valuable if you truly want to do well. I think you will get plenty of clinical experience between the first two semesters as well as the internship summer. You will be working 40+ hours/week during the summer and will be handling 5 patients on your own by the time the following August rolls around. You might already be burnt out in the clinical setting after a short period of time, so adding more hospital experience might put you over the edge :blackeye:The current GEP-2 students have found job placements and are transitioning to their RN jobs nicely! If you needed to work to maintain networking relationships and have some pocket $, I don't think anyone is going to stop you.
Personally, I found that between my hectic school schedule and part-time job (not healthcare related), I am craving more time to myself for studying, sleeping, relaxing, etc. My advice is to take it easy the first semester and then tack on anything additional following your first winter break.
I have been ACCEPTED off the waitlist for the Family DNP track, I am so excited I cried for about ten minutes with pure joy : ) I am very much looking forward to working with you all and hope to make my move from California by mid-summer!
The GEP-2 year is just a second year student. In this particular case the GEP-2s are Master's students since my class is the first year of GEP->DNP. Next year when you begin, you will be a GEP-1. My classmates and I will be GEP-2s. The GEP-2 year is the beginning of the Master's portion of the program, on the way to your DNP.
You begin paid RN work to meet your 1000 hours during the GEP-2 and 3 years. We will sit for our NCLEX this Fall and hopefully be able to work during the first semester of our GEP-2 year.
Hi everyone! My name is Danielle and I have officially accepted and will be attending UMass for the fnp track. I'm so excited, couldn't believe when they called saying I was off the wait list! I found the group on facebook, looking forward to getting to know everyone!
My name is Monica Mikael I will be attending Umass as well, on the primary care adult track, I just requested to join the fb group which was a great idea btw!
Ive started looking at housing options in the area, there are two great apartment complexes right by the school called the audobon plantation ridge & towers. If anyone else has had some luck finding other locations please comment back!
My name is Heather, and I have been admitted to the GEP FNP program at UMASS. I'm super excited/nervous for this experience. I'm from Cali, so I am not too familiar with East Coast living yet. I would love to hear how your experience has been so far, and how you like UMASS and Worcester overall? If you have any free time I would be happy to give you my email address! Thank you
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srittenh
15 Posts
What are you interviewing for? I didn't know they were still interviewing, congrats! Mine for FNP with Dr. Silver was vey enjoyable, less challenging questions than I anticipated and more like a conversation. There were a few situational questions that were a little strange, but I felt it was not too hard to say the "right" thing. Good luck :)