Vanderbilt 2020 Pre Specialty

Nursing Students School Programs

Updated:   Published

I am making a post for all programs I am applying for that I have not seen thus far. I have been going into rabbit holes of previous year's posts for schools I am applying for. Vanderbilt has been my top choice since I decided to go into direct entry nursing the end of my sophomore year of college, so it seems only fitting to make a post for it. I am applying for the PMNHP specialty and look forward to reading posts and getting to know everyone!

4 minutes ago, Kristina11 said:

Hi! I am considering applying. When you say choose your job, is that out of certain options they provide? Or is it you choose the location and job and they have to approve it?

You have to choose an HRSA job. You can explore them at this site: https://connector.hrsa.gov/connector/

They have job sites all over the country.

There IS also the possibility that you can choose a job outside of the HRSA sites that they will approve as meeting their high needs criteria. Once you receive the scholarship you can explore both options with your analyst.

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On 2/11/2020 at 1:46 AM, KCKPsychNPstude said:

Sorry in advance for the long post. But--diversity at Vandy: my PreSpecialty experience.

There are definitely challenges with various diversity issues but I would say that the percentage of our fellow students who are committed to helping to create racial equity in the world or social justice minded is parallel to that of the general public and the percentage of our faculty and staff concerned with racial equity and social justice is higher than in the general population. Vandy made a commitment to diversify the student body last year and it is reflected in my cohort. We have a very obvious representation of racial and ethnic diversity--Asian, black, and Latinx and a significantly vocal representation of socially diverse people.

Thus far, in my experience, in any class that I have had with more than 5 people, there is always another student of color in the class with me. This year we have a significant enough representation of black and East Asian students that it is common to have two or more people of each of these two "races" in the same class.

Just this evening after class, one of my fellow black friends here was saying that she was so surprised about how many black professors we have in our nursing program. I am too. Considering we are not an HBCU or MSI and nationally, the percentage of black women who are Nurse Practitioners is less than 7%, it is kind of amazing that Vandy has as many black professors (who, by and large, are advanced practice nurses ) as it does.

Off the top of my head, I can think of 7 U.S.American Black professors plus our Dean of Diversity and Inclusion-- two of whom teach me weekly and many of whom I communicate with often --like once a week; one of whom is the head of the FNP program--which is ranked number 2 in the nation. Just two weeks ago, she and I were talking about hair styles together and I am not even an FNP student.

So far I am also being taught weekly by an out gay male professor. I wish we had more Asian and Latinx professors. 8% of the Nurse Practitioners in the U.S. are Asian but I have only met one Asian professor here at VUSN--I met her yesterday and did not previously know she was here and I've only had a few conversations with the one Latina professor who I know we have. So, I do think Vandy, like all predominantly white nursing and medical schools, still has work to do and progress to make in retaining a faculty that reflects the U.S.American population. And, administration and the student body have progress to make toward consistent, universally demonstrated respect for all peoples.

There are a ton of legacy students here and white students from privileged backgrounds who bring their sense of entitlement into everything we do. There are also plenty of white students who are genuinely dedicated to learning what it takes to be culturally competent providers and culturally competent peers. But, things only change when we show up and because we are in the space, whether we are vocal advocates for our just treatment or just being ourselves in this space, because we show up, people have to step up and treat us with respect or recognize the hole in their soul for not treating us with respect.

I attended one of the most liberal, progressive PWIs in the United States for undergrad and still, the head of my department consistently called the only two black male PhD students interchangeably by each others' names and there were racist incidents on campus. If these things could happen there at my liberal, northeast alma mater, parallel things can happen anywhere. But I would say that on the spectrum of "safe places" to be a racial or social minority in the United States, VUSN, falls closer to "safe" on the spectrum than "unsafe."

Also, I think feeling like you matter to your professors and fellow students is an important part of the experience. It is very normal here for professors to know everybody's name, or try to, in classes of 30 or fewer students. Very parallel to the experience I have heard about at HBCUs, I have had faculty and staff notice I am having challenges that are not race related-- just life related and reach out supportively to me.

Hi @KCKPsychNPstude thank you so much for this. As a Nigerian-American I was worried that I would experience racially challenging situations as I did in undergrad. This puts my mind at ease with applying for the 2021 cycle.

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Anyone also apply to MGH and have reasons why you chose Vanderbilt? Other than the shorter length of the program

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Hey everyone! I was just accepted off the waitlist. Is there a facebook group?

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14 minutes ago, ShellztheNP said:

Hey everyone! I was just accepted off the waitlist. Is there a facebook group?

Congratulations, this is so exciting! I'm also on the waitlist and was wondering if you could share a little bit about your experience? Did they call you? CONGRATS again, and I hope everyone is doing okay during these scary times in the world.

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Specializes in Pediatrics.
On 2/11/2020 at 3:46 AM, KCKPsychNPstude said:

Sorry in advance for the long post. But--diversity at Vandy: my PreSpecialty experience.

There are definitely challenges with various diversity issues but I would say that the percentage of our fellow students who are committed to helping to create racial equity in the world or social justice minded is parallel to that of the general public and the percentage of our faculty and staff concerned with racial equity and social justice is higher than in the general population. Vandy made a commitment to diversify the student body last year and it is reflected in my cohort. We have a very obvious representation of racial and ethnic diversity--Asian, black, and Latinx and a significantly vocal representation of socially diverse people.

Thus far, in my experience, in any class that I have had with more than 5 people, there is always another student of color in the class with me. This year we have a significant enough representation of black and East Asian students that it is common to have two or more people of each of these two "races" in the same class.

Just this evening after class, one of my fellow black friends here was saying that she was so surprised about how many black professors we have in our nursing program. I am too. Considering we are not an HBCU or MSI and nationally, the percentage of black women who are Nurse Practitioners is less than 7%, it is kind of amazing that Vandy has as many black professors (who, by and large, are advanced practice nurses ) as it does.

Off the top of my head, I can think of 7 U.S.American Black professors plus our Dean of Diversity and Inclusion-- two of whom teach me weekly and many of whom I communicate with often --like once a week; one of whom is the head of the FNP program--which is ranked number 2 in the nation. Just two weeks ago, she and I were talking about hair styles together and I am not even an FNP student.

So far I am also being taught weekly by an out gay male professor. I wish we had more Asian and Latinx professors. 8% of the Nurse Practitioners in the U.S. are Asian but I have only met one Asian professor here at VUSN--I met her yesterday and did not previously know she was here and I've only had a few conversations with the one Latina professor who I know we have. So, I do think Vandy, like all predominantly white nursing and medical schools, still has work to do and progress to make in retaining a faculty that reflects the U.S.American population. And, administration and the student body have progress to make toward consistent, universally demonstrated respect for all peoples.

There are a ton of legacy students here and white students from privileged backgrounds who bring their sense of entitlement into everything we do. There are also plenty of white students who are genuinely dedicated to learning what it takes to be culturally competent providers and culturally competent peers. But, things only change when we show up and because we are in the space, whether we are vocal advocates for our just treatment or just being ourselves in this space, because we show up, people have to step up and treat us with respect or recognize the hole in their soul for not treating us with respect.

I attended one of the most liberal, progressive PWIs in the United States for undergrad and still, the head of my department consistently called the only two black male PhD students interchangeably by each others' names and there were racist incidents on campus. If these things could happen there at my liberal, northeast alma mater, parallel things can happen anywhere. But I would say that on the spectrum of "safe places" to be a racial or social minority in the United States, VUSN, falls closer to "safe" on the spectrum than "unsafe."

Also, I think feeling like you matter to your professors and fellow students is an important part of the experience. It is very normal here for professors to know everybody's name, or try to, in classes of 30 or fewer students. Very parallel to the experience I have heard about at HBCUs, I have had faculty and staff notice I am having challenges that are not race related-- just life related and reach out supportively to me.

I appreciate this so much. Needed to read it

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Specializes in Pediatrics.

I just received my acceptance off the waitlist! Pre specialty for PNP-PC

1
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Specializes in BS in Medical Biology.
3 minutes ago, Niniinique said:

I just received my acceptance off the waitlist! Pre specialty for PNP-PC

Congratulations! I’m on the waitlist now and waiting patiently to hear anything! Did they call you? CONGRATS again!!

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28 minutes ago, Niniinique said:

I just received my acceptance off the waitlist! Pre specialty for PNP-PC

https://www.facebook.com/groups/8753174297/

3
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Specializes in Pediatrics.
56 minutes ago, ccyr26 said:

Congratulations! I’m on the waitlist now and waiting patiently to hear anything! Did they call you? CONGRATS again!!

I received a voice mail (never even received the call ?) at 9am, then an email at 10am. I called back around 12, she verified that I was willing to complete the second year at a distance, and then told me I should be receiving an acceptance letter later in the day. I received the letter around 5pm!

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9 hours ago, taylorhopelyn said:

Congratulations, this is so exciting! I'm also on the waitlist and was wondering if you could share a little bit about your experience? Did they call you? CONGRATS again, and I hope everyone is doing okay during these scary times in the world.

Thank you! And yes they called but I missed the call LOL. So they left a voicemail. I also received an email.

3 hours ago, Niniinique said:

I received a voice mail (never even received the call ?) at 9am, then an email at 10am. I called back around 12, she verified that I was willing to complete the second year at a distance, and then told me I should be receiving an acceptance letter later in the day. I received the letter around 5pm!

Yes same. Do you know how the distance clinicals work? Since I guess we won’t be able to do them in Tennessee, will they set them up for us?

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Specializes in Pediatrics.
33 minutes ago, ShellztheNP said:

Thank you! And yes they called but I missed the call LOL. So they left a voicemail. I also received an email.

Yes same. Do you know how the distance clinicals work? Since I guess we won’t be able to do them in Tennessee, will they set them up for us?

So they specifically mentioned my hometown (Chicago), and I told them that I would definitely be interested. It was explained that we would have to do our first year on campus, for sure... and then our second year would be at the location we chose (as long as it’s possible), with a few in person seasons per semester during our second year.

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