This program is ranked number one by US News and, by all accounts, one of the best in the country.
I got an e-mail from them on Monday:
Admission letters
Posted: 14 Dec 2009 12:06 PM PST
We plan to have letters of admission, waitlist, and denial for the GEPN program sent out by the end of this week. Please keep an eye on your mailboxes, and let us know if you do not receive your letter by the end of December
It sounds like we should hear something by next week. Did anyone else apply? Maybe this can be the official notification thread.
I'm not sure how many people get off the waitlist, but I'll keep my fingers crossed for you!!! I'd love to help you out but I think my strength was my non-traditional background. I actually had a significant amount of health care experience - EMT, Front and Back Office Medical Assistant, Search and Rescue, hospital work, etc. If you don't get accepted this year, definitely reapply. I know several people who've done this for other programs and have gotten in. Good luck!
niekoshelby, thanks for your post about your experience in the GEPN program. It's good to hear people's firsthand experiences. I did attend the information session they had a couple of weeks ago at UW and was reassured about the stability of the program. I had been worried since they were placing the GEPN program on "pause" for new applicants in 2010.
At the information session, they explained that they are now emphasizing the Accelerated-BSN program. So the route now to take at UW for would-be NP students from other backgrounds, is to apply to the ABSN program (instead of GEPN), which starts in the summer. In January, if an ABSN student is interested in going on to become a NP, they would apply to the graduate programs in nursing offered by UW, such as FNP, PNP, etc. If accepted, they would then start the grad program after completing the ABSN (and passing the NCLEX). (There is no guarantee of acceptance into a grad program, though, and ABSN applicants would be competing with experienced nurses for entry. At the info session, they said they intend to take a mix of experienced and new nurses into the grad programs.)
Although they have not ruled out completely GEPN would be offered again, it does sound like they prefer to emphasize the ABSN to grad nursing degree route for students coming into nursing from other fields.
As for this year's entering GEPN class, the program will proceed as in the past. They were very open to further communication and questions by email.
I talked with other accepted GEPN students at the meeting, and there seemed to be a big variety in people's backgrounds. Some had previous experience in healthcare, some none at all (except for volunteer).
I think those first 5 quarters are going to be really hard. And exhausting! I am sure I am going to learn tons, but I am looking forward especially to the graduate part of the program and my specialty. But, first things first. :)
If anyone else is accepted into GEPN and wants to trade notes, please feel free to PM.
Oh, another thing they said at the info session was that they could tell you what number you are on the waitlist. Just call or email.
There were several current GEPN students in their first year at the meeting to answer questions. They all seemed very smart and nice. And funny too!
Other things I remember: The total GEPN class size is 32. They are combined with the 16 incoming ABSN students and take all their classes together. They also said the first quarter (summer) is harder and more intense than the second quarter in Fall. The summer clinical rotation is Medical/Surgical, Fall is Psych, Winter is Labor & Delivery, and Spring is more Med/surg. Don't know what the last summer is.
Just to add onto aurora's comment, there is are actually two clinical rotations in both fall and winter quarters. In the fall you take Community Health Nursing and Psych, both are fairly relaxed from most people's experience. In the winter you'll do your pediatric med-surg rotation (most of us are at Children's) and L&D. The summer is different for everyone because it's the transition to practice rotation. Basically, that means you will get placed on a floor and do 24 hours a week of clinical. Although the process is still a little hazy to me, I do know that you get to pick your top two choices and most people get one of those. For the most competitive/selective places (ICU/trauma, for example), there is an interview process.
For those of you who attended the info session, were any statistics about job placement after graduation mentioned, either for the ABSN or GEPN? Were any of the current students far enough along in their program to have jobs set up? Did UW mention anything about what hospitals are used for clinicals, and if students find jobs in those hospitals post-graduation or general information about being a new nurse in the Seattle area?
I am still waiting to hear from other schools, but I just want to find out, if I move to Seattle for the ABSN program, what my chances of staying there are in terms of seeking employment as a new nurse. It is one of the more expensive programs and also one of the more expensive cities, but I'd love to make it happen if I can!
To answer your other questions, there were quite a few faculty in attendance and they each answered the jobs question for their specialty and said that none of their recent grads (except maybe 1?) had not found jobs (this is for GEPN after completing the whole program and being an NP), but that not everyone got their top choice job. And not everyone was able to work in the city they wanted. But that there are jobs in state and their grads were being hired, despite the "buzz" you hear sometimes that new NPs without a lot of RN experience are unable to find jobs. They did not go into detail about where the grads got their jobs, or how many became employed in Seattle, etc.
There were a number of students present and they were all in the first year of the GEPN program, so still pre-RN and not looking for permanent jobs yet.
I agree, UW is definitely one of the most expensive programs. Shelby, did you apply to any other schools?
I've been accepted to the GEPN APCHSN (yay!) as well as an FNP program at Columbia, in NYC. Columbia has great financial aid, but I'm not sure I want to move across the country. Anyone know the scoop on UW's financial aid? This tuition is HUGE... (I missed the information session, maybe it was covered there.)
Hey, congrats to everyone who has been accepted to UW's program.
I too had been waiting to find out about Columbia and Yale to consider my options, but at this point I don't yet have any additional information on financial aid from any of the programs. It's my understanding for the GEPN 16 months our tuition is ~$46,000, not including additional fees, health insurance, etc., however, the master's program (ANP for me) tuition is closer to $16,000 per year for in state residents, which is significantly cheaper than total tuition costs for Yale or Columbia.
At this point I am feeling pretty strongly about my choice of attending UW, and I live in Seattle already so no need to relocate which is nice. They seem to have the most flexible program to meet my specialist interests in my Master's program, the faculty I've spoken to have been very helpful, and it seems like financial aid is really trying to do their best for you. If you do apply for financial aid, don't forget to also fill out a Revision Request form through the UW office of FA (available in April or May) because our GEPN year is a fee-based program and we cannot work, they will revise your financial aid offer once you turn in this form to account for that and hopefully offer you more federal loans so that you have less private loans to take out on your own which I still plan to do. The School of Nursing offers financial aid separately, Laura Mason is in charge of this. There's a separate form to fill out for the SON, and they consider you for grants and scholarships, not loans.
Is anyone else sure of their decision to go to UW or still debating? If anyone is relocating I'm happy to offer info. on great places to live and if anyone is local it would be great to meet up and chat about UW or other programs you are thinking about.
thanks for the post, I am accepted to ANP also. i do not have enough postings yet to send a private message, but if you can, please send me one. it'd be great to connect with you. I am still waiting to hear from MGH, but am strongly leaning towards UW anyway. I am out of state, and would be relocating up there at the beginning of june. hope you are having a good week!
That was literally my first post ever, so I also don't have pm privileges, sad. Please feel free to contact me via email, [email protected]. Would you be moving from the east coast I assume?
I got your message, however, I can't yet send a pm. Feel free to contact me at my email address listed above. I have yet to hear back yet about financial aid. I am mostly planning to take out federal and private loans for the ABSN portion and apply to scholarships. As far as housing I can recommend some areas to look at and maybe help with pricing depending if you are looking to buy or rent.
sunshinegrl1979
5 Posts
Hi lituya,
I'm not sure how many people get off the waitlist, but I'll keep my fingers crossed for you!!! I'd love to help you out but I think my strength was my non-traditional background. I actually had a significant amount of health care experience - EMT, Front and Back Office Medical Assistant, Search and Rescue, hospital work, etc. If you don't get accepted this year, definitely reapply. I know several people who've done this for other programs and have gotten in. Good luck!