University of Michigan 2nd Degree Accelerated BSN

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Has anyone applied to the University of Michigan's 2nd degree accelerated nursing program for start date Sept. 2014? Just curious to see what other applicants there are out there. I saw a very long thread in the past that had a lot of info on how long UofM takes to make decisions & felt we could all keep each other in the loop on how things are going for each of us. Good luck to all!

@nkw05 Have you heard back from Vanderbilt yet? I already found out I've been accepted to Vandy, but financially UM is a better option. However, I just calculated the tuition difference and it looks like UM would be about $92k before fees/other expenses and Vandy would be about $120k including fees, but VU does give small scholarships so I'm estimating the price difference is about $20k, which doesn't seem like an enormous difference between the two in the grand scheme of things. What are your deciding factors between the two? Any thoughts on the financial difference?

I haven't heard back. I'm not too confident on getting accepted, but I applied there on a whim after hearing about the program from a family friend. But luckily I'll hear by the end of this week!

So yeah eventually the two end up being semi similar in price. Vanderbilt is an awesome program and I don't have many negatives about it. But these are the reasons I like UM:

-Much easier to relocate. I live in MI now, my parents live a half hour from Ann Arbor, and my boyfriend also works and lives in Ann Arbor. So having my support system so close is a huge deal to me.

-Already know the Ann Arbor area (I have never been to Nashville, but it looks and sounds amazing)

-I really do like the fact that with UM I would be able to work as a nurse, network, and gain experience while doing my MSN part time at Michigan. I applied to AGPC at Vanderbilt, so really my bedside nursing experience isn't as important as someone who is doing acute care. But I do think it would be beneficial to get experience as a nurse and be able to start making money.

-Looking at apartments in the Ann Arbor area vs. Nashville - Ann Arbor seems to be more affordable, but not by much.

Financially though, I've heard its difficult to get decent loans for a second undergraduate degree, which is definitely a negative against UM for me. And also, if I get in I'd like to speak to Vanderbilt more about the placements for clinicals. People have talked about them being pretty far (up to 3.5 hours or potentially in a different state) and basically having to relocate throughout the semester, depending on specialty. So because of that, UM has a little bit of advantage there.

What're your thoughts? I'm really happy to have someone who has applied to both to chat with!

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Just to let you know, Vanderbilt had some issues with formatting and printing their admissions decision letters so while they're definitely starting to go out this week, you may not get your letter until next week. I know AGPC didn't have interviews; I'm going for NMW and we did have phone interviews, which led to a call from one of the faculty reviewers the next week to inform me that I got in (they knew students were getting offers from other schools and wanted to let admitted students know right away.) Not sure about your specialty, but for mine the faculty said they only admit exactly enough students to fill their available clinical spots (30 for NMW) and then have an extensive and fast-moving waitlist. I know a few people have found out about their acceptance by calling and asking the admissions office, so if you get antsy you could always try that.

Really the only downside to Vandy for me is the price, plus those pesky far-away clinicals. (For NMW, they start in Nashville, then go to 3-4 hours away, then potentially all around the country, though they do try to place us where we have friends or family to host us.) I'm wondering how the living arrangements work out for the stretches of time I'm away from Nashville. My partner and I would like to move in together for grad school if possible, which is 100% doable if I choose UM since we already both live within a few hours of Ann Arbor, but moving to Nashville is a little more iffy since he would need to make sure he can retain his client base long-distance. (He's in a field that could probably accommodate that, but we're not certain yet.) One potential problem is needing to pay for additional housing for far-away clinicals; I don't want him to be stuck in an apartment he can't afford on his own if I have to be siphoning off my housing budget to go live near a far-away clinical placement. Other than that, apartment costs aren't too much a concern because if he and I do live together, most reasonable Nashville apartments are only $100-$200 above what he currently pays (and I'd only have to cover that difference), and if we don't live together I have no problem banding together with a few other students to share costs as roommates.

Even though my support system is nearby, it's not an enormous factor in where I go, especially since Vanderbilt would put me hours closer to both sets of my grandparents, and I want to make sure I spend more time with them before they're gone.

I think a big factor is where you want to work- I don't have a strong preference for Michigan over anywhere else; I'll be looking more at the type of practice where I'd like to work instead of its location. (Midwifery settings vary widely and the particulars of my ideal setting are relatively rare to find, plus my family's not concentrated in one place so there's no single location that would be best for me.) I've heard that opportunities to train in the particular type of clinical setting I prefer are extremely limited/possibly non-existent at UM. (Not so at Vanderbilt- they offer plenty of clinical opportunities in this setting.)

For Vanderbilt, my biggest positives are the variety of clinical offerings, the speed of the program, and that getting in to Vandy means getting in for both the prespecialty year and my specific MSN program, which are both helpfully classified as graduate education so will qualify for federal loans. It's still hard to wrap my mind around the idea that I will be buying the monetary equivalent of a small house in education and then trying to pay that back for the next few decades, but I'll regret it if I don't take this step in my career now. UM's biggest positive for me has always been the lower cost, since many of the other features are pretty on par with Vanderbilt, but if the cost isn't really that much lower (and especially if I can't find a way to pay for the "undergraduate" years) then I'm starting to rethink the strength of that factor.

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For Vanderbilt, my biggest positives are the variety of clinical offerings, the speed of the program, and that getting in to Vandy means getting in for both the prespecialty year and my specific MSN program, which are both helpfully classified as graduate education so will qualify for federal loans.

Completely agree with you on that. Vanderbilt is such a well-recognized and respected program, if I do get accepted it will be difficult for me to turn that opportunity down! But the decision may be made for me, and in that case I won't have the stress of creating multiple pro and con lists about each school!

Do you mind me asking when Vanderbilt wanted you deposit by to reserve your spot? Or are they not giving you a deadline until you receive an official letter of acceptance?

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No deadline yet- the offer over the phone was very informal and non-specific. I imagine we'll find out at the same time when our letters arrive.

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anyone hear anything?

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Nada.

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nope.

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That's unfortunate

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Does anyone know if we hear via email first or just by mail?

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i asked, they said they will tell us by email first.

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Have you all still not heard anything from them?

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Nope not yet, you?

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