UMSON Spring 2015

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  1. Which campus are you going to?

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Hello everyone! I may be a little early with this, but here's a new post for all of you hoping to apply this September 2nd for the Spring 2015 semester at UMSON. You can post questions you have, helpful advice you would like to give (if you're already in the program), etc.

I specifically have a question for those who have already applied to the Spring 2014 semester and got in. When you applied last September, when in November did you get your acceptance letter in the mail? Was it the beginning, middle, or toward the end of November? I'm asking this because the other nursing school I am applying to only gives a 3-week time period after the end of October (when they let you know if you made it in or not) to accept or decline enrollment. So, if I don't make it into UMSON, I'd want to be able to give this other nursing school an answer before the 3-week time period runs out.

lxcalibur3 YOU ARE THE BEST!!! :laugh:

I really like your method. Which campus do you go to again? I wonder if Shady Grove's campus lets you rent the books. I am currently going through my budget and I'm not going to do so well buying ALL of my textbooks.

Also, I didn't know they recorded their lectures! I personally learn more from lectures like bcandygurl and yourself, so this is wonderful news to me. (Extremely wonderful news!)

You've just saved us a large amount of money, lxcalibur3! Thanks for the info!!!

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Specializes in NICU.

It is great news to me also, because I was worried about this in regards to taking online classes. I was thinking I would have to do alot of discussions without any lectures, but it sound like I may still have access to those lectures so GREAT!!!

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I go to B'more campus...

Professors will always say "You must buy the textbook for this course!"

But don't fall for it... Now, there might be some access codes that you might need for a textbook but you can purchase the access codes separately for a much cheaper price... And I mostly rented my textbooks from amazon or bookrenter.com

It is great news to me also, because I was worried about this in regards to taking online classes. I was thinking I would have to do alot of discussions without any lectures, but it sound like I may still have access to those lectures so GREAT!!!
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Now, what I do recommend buying are Mosby's 2014 Nursing Drug Reference

because they will help a bunch when it comes to writing papers... and also try to get a good nursing diagnoses book... for the same reason

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Specializes in NICU.

I have a few questions in regards to the curriculum. How was your public health course? That is the only course I was told that I would be required to complete clinicals for and the health informatics and evidenced based research course. About how many papers did they expect you to write? I'm used to completing care plans for all my classes; however, I don't see me having to do this with these professional development classes.

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lxcalibur3, thanks for the recommendation!

I also have a question about the new curriculum as well, which kind of ties in to what bcandygurl asked above. Basically, there is a class called Research and Evidence-Based practice which doesn't seem to have a set date to it on Shady Grove's Fall 2014 schedule. I'm just wondering what kind of class that is, regarding the schedule, like how many days a week and such. If you don't know, that's okay! I'm just curious, as always!

And if anyone else knows, chime in! :)

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Specializes in psych/dementia.
lxcalibur3 and smoup, what is the teaching style? Do you find the program is more textbook-heavy (as in, do the professors rely on the textbook) or powerpoint-heavy? Also, what did you guys do about buying textbooks? Or did you rent? Have any tips on how to study? I'm curious! (I'm sure others here are as well...!

The program is basically all powerpoints, though not everything is in the powerpoints. The only classes I didn't read for were OB and peds over the summer. I've read all the other chapters for all the other classes. I'm more of a "big picture" person as it helps me understand the "why" behind what's going on.

My studying habits are a bit intense, so I won't share. :p I'll just say that everyone will study and learn differently. It may be trial and error until you figure out what works for you.

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Thanks for the input, smoup! So you took summer classes? How did you go about requesting this, and what did your adviser think of it? From my understanding, there are prerequisites for many of the classes at UMSON, and that winter/summer classes throw your schedule off a bit. Anyway, just curious! I'm sure I'm not the only one. :yes:

And you're also very right, people do learn differently!

I personally am a huge flashcard girl. I feel, since I've started studying in this way, my memory has become significantly better. It's awesome! (Quizlet is the best website/app on the planet!) Though I know this method only will not guarantee that I will be the most successful nursing student, given that there will be alot of theory and concept questions going into our tests. Haha so I'm open to more ideas on how to study efficiently!

So again, out of curiosity, how do you all study? What has worked for you? :geek:

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So, for the courses you need to take... well for each of those classes, its like 2 papers per class. In public health, you will most likely write a care plan for the community (not for a patient like in other classes) in your clinical group. So, basically you assess and diagnose a problem in the community and work with your clinical group to come up with nursing education for the community. In Informatics, it's just learning about hospital technology and computer applications. In Evidenced base research, well, you will learn about how Evidence-based practice (EBP) works in nursing and you will have a few group projects to work on. So, what EBP basically is that nursing is applied science... so, if there is scientific research that proves that a certain method produces better outcome for a patient, then nurses go with that research in caring for their patients.

I have a few questions in regards to the curriculum. How was your public health course? That is the only course I was told that I would be required to complete clinicals for and the health informatics and evidenced based research course. About how many papers did they expect you to write? I'm used to completing care plans for all my classes; however, I don't see me having to do this with these professional development classes.
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As a CNL, you need to take those Summer classes, but as a traditional BSN, the number of Summer/Winter classes you can take are very, very limited. There's probably none of the required course you can take during the winter. For the summer session, there might be 1-2 required courses you can take, but again for a traditional BSN, those summer courses will be non-clinical. Only CNLs can take OB and Peds classes (which are clinical + didactic courses) during the Summer since that is part of their program. As a traditional BSN, what you need to do during the Summer is to get a job at the hospital and maybe try to take 1 Summer class if you want. If you want a job as a tech/student nurse, start applying at least 3 months before you want to start because those positions are competitive.

Thanks for the input, smoup! So you took summer classes? How did you go about requesting this, and what did your adviser think of it? From my understanding, there are prerequisites for many of the classes at UMSON, and that winter/summer classes throw your schedule off a bit. Anyway, just curious! I'm sure I'm not the only one. :yes:

And you're also very right, people do learn differently!

I personally am a huge flashcard girl. I feel, since I've started studying in this way, my memory has become significantly better. It's awesome! (Quizlet is the best website/app on the planet!) Though I know this method only will not guarantee that I will be the most successful nursing student, given that there will be alot of theory and concept questions going into our tests. Haha so I'm open to more ideas on how to study efficiently!

So again, out of curiosity, how do you all study? What has worked for you? :geek:

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Thanks again for clarifying, lxcalibur3! I was always thinking that taking one of the non-clinical courses would be good, but I'd been told it could interfere with the schedule. I'll look into it if I make it into the program, as lessening the load is something that is very appealing to anticipating nursing students like kirstens and myself. :smug:

I currently work as a phlebotomist, and I plan to continue working PRN in the summer months so I can study and make sure the material studied in the previous semester has cemented. I don't want to return the next semester finding that I've forgotten the material! Taking a summer class would definitely help keep me in studying-mode haha! (Of course, I'll have more time to relax. It is summer break, after all!)

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medical technology is a separate program under UMD Baltimore Medical School. its like a department. I am not sure if I am admitted to the medical technology so confused, and I called them and they said they are not sure what happened.

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