I haven't found a thread yet for the applicants to the 2018 Master of Nursing program at the U of M so I thought I'd start this one!
I think we had an earlier deadline than previous cohorts - looks like it used to be on Jan 1? But maybe I'm just looking at the wrong threads...
How does everyone feel about their applications? I felt like my application was really strong until I took the GRE and got average-at-best scores. They are slightly lower than the average scores of applicants the U typically admits to this program but they are better than the scores of average GRE takers overall?? Except for my math score. Big bummer... but I'm crossing my fingers that they excuse my inability to conquer the GRE. My grades for pre-requisites were all As and my GPA for my undergraduate degree was 3.45. I guess we'll see how it pans out.
Did anyone else apply anywhere else? The U of M is my top choice but I applied to UW Oshkosh and got in (!!!!!!!!!!!) to the May 2018 cohort. Unfortunately I have to put down a deposit of $2,500 (uffda) to hold my spot in that program and by the time I hear from the U of M the program at Oshkosh will already have been filled so I can't just wait to hear from the U of M and hope that my spot at Oshkosh will still be available (unless, of course, I lay down the $2,500). But I don't want to take my chances, not get accepted at the U, and then totally regret not taking the offer from Oshkosh!
So, this past fall semester, we had lectures together Monday afternoon, Tuesday Morning, and Wednesday morning. Then there were different lab times for assessment and intro to interventions, as well as a clinical. So by the end of it, I had a lab Monday morning with a lecture in the afternoon, My clinical was Thursday (So far they have been 7-330, but be prepared to get there 1-2 hours early depending on your instructor for clinical prep, such as looking up your patient and their meds. There is also the possibility that the instructor will have you come in the night before to do this, but it hasn't happened to me yet.) then just the lecture on Wednesday, and then my Interventions 'lecture' was on Friday (Technically, your clinical is your interventions 'lab' but you are in the lab on Fridays for your lecture, if that makes sense, and it is not the whole cohort. They split it so some people can have clinical and some people have lab, I think clinicals were either Thursday or Friday in Fall). You also have a 'Community teacher' project that you work on with people from another degree throughout the whole program, but you will need to find days to meet.
This semester, the schedule is, lecture on Monday Morning, I have Tuesday off, my clinical is Wednesday, and we have lectures 8am-430 Thursday, with in person class 4 times throughout the semester for our online Research class. They also have schedules a lot of Interprofessional education events that are required, where you meet with OT, or PT, or dentistry, medical, etc. and do an event or a simulation together to get to know what goes on. There's some online work and then some in person required things (The days were variable), you also still have that community teacher project going on through this semester.
For the summer we have class on Monday 2-3 times, then a clinical on either Tuesday or Wednesday from 7-330 (or 8am-430 depending on location), and lecture from 8-3:30 on Thursday, and an online class. Supposedly this will be an easier semester?
Next fall I don't know the schedule but we only have 2 lectures, and then the rest is immersion, where the schedule varies a ton based on your nurse.
As far as classwork, be prepared for tons of reading. This week I have more than 10 chapters to read, the Potter and Perry chapters are HUGE. You will need to develop a game plan for handlign it because there is no way you can read everything word for word and not lose your mind. This is still a work in progress for me. This takes the most time, I am usually reading enough for a full time job, and thats not counting weeks where there is a test and I need to go back and review other readings on top of the new readings for the week. Some of us are definitely working, but make sure your work is flexible so you can get days off around tests, and because sometimes they won't give you concrete dates for these IPE events and for the patient simulations (PS ungraded, just required to attend) until maybe a couple weeks ahead of time because they have to coordinate so many schedules. They'll usually say "Save these 2-4 dates, you will have 1-2 things on these days."
There's not a ton of busy work, I wrote my first 'paper' this semester for research and it was 2 pages long? Besides the community teacher thing there aren't really projects, and you don't need to turn anything in for that until the Spring.
Does that answer your question? I might have rambled a bit, its tough to speak to the exact hours involved because the studying can be variable. Not everyone even does the readings and they do great too, its just figuring out what works best for your learning style!
Nope! All the classes are during the week so far (I have the schedule through the summer), but the last fall semester we have to be able to follow whatever our assigned nurse's schedule is, so we might get some weekends then.
Hey! There are a few breaks, we had about a month off between the fall and spring semesters. There's also week for Spring break, a week between the Spring and summer semesters, and we get August off as well.
Do you remember when they put you in direct contact with a past or current student? I've asked directly about getting in contact, but things don't move very quickly. If I look on facebook, would I be able to find someone? thanks much.
The school itself never put us in direct contact with any of the students before orientation. As far as I know, most of my cohort didn't meet each other until the required orientation, and we met some MN2s as well. We had a Facebook group with a handful of us in it pretty early on, through the summer at least, so we could talk. That was started individually by one of our cohort and managed independently of the university. I do remember the process feeling slow over the summer, I don't think we got anything until June, and then it stayed a slow trickle. As far as for getting in contact with the MN2s (the students in the program right now), there will be an email earlier this year to provide the option to apply for a mentor this coming year and things like that, but I'm not sure when exactly. The first official option to meet some of the MN2s in person will be after the orientation. There will be an hour or two to eat food, meet your cohort, and to meet the MN2s to talk and ask questions.
dbvais If you search for Univ MN Master of Nursing 2018-2019 cohort on FB, you should be able to join our little group of people that we know so far who are in the cohort!
dbvais
6 Posts
Hi there,
Thank you very much for all the information. I have a few more questions.
Would you be able to speak to the hours involved? Are the clinicals in the evenings or on the weekends or all day and every day? Thanks much!