Anyone applying to 2008 UW MEPN Program?

U.S.A. Washington

Published

The October 15 deadline really snuck up on me, but I just turned in all of my materials. (Am I the only one who felt like they kept changing the instructions?) Just curious if there are any other hopefuls out there and what specialty/ies you applied for? What's your background, etc?

Hi Lc3,

I do have healthcare experience, but perhaps I didn't emphasize it enough in the application.

I applied to the independent NP track and the adult nurse practitioner track.

When you were accepted at Seattle U did you have the option to defer? I'm curious why you decided not to go there. If you have a chance I'd love to hear more about that.

Take care,

Jenni

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Hi Lc3,

I do have healthcare experience, but perhaps I didn't emphasize it enough in the application.

I applied to the independent NP track and the adult nurse practitioner track.

When you were accepted at Seattle U did you have the option to defer? I'm curious why you decided not to go there. If you have a chance I'd love to hear more about that.

Take care,

Jenni

Hi Jenni,

I did have the option to defer. I decided not to go to SU because I was accepted into UW. My main reason was based on UW's reputation and the emphasis on research and academics. UW was pretty organized with the application process and the program coodinator was great at answering my questions. I also did my undergrad at UW and worked at UW, so I was very comfortable with UW. My whole family went to UW (undergrad and grad). I was also told that UW always has the first dibs on clinical sites in the area. For example, this quarter UW students got morning shifts at clinical sites, whereas SU got the evening times.

SU was awful in answering my questions during the application process. They were a bit dismissive as well. Although, SU's interview process was really good. I connected really well with the faculty members that interviewed me. So, that made it a bit difficult to decline the offer. I also had a bunch of friends that got into SU too and so it was a built in support system.

The price between the 2 schools are pretty much the same and so price was not an issue. UW also has the DNP and Phd program. I'm planning on going on for further schooling and I thought UW's reputation would hold more weight.

If I didn't get into UW, I would have chosen SU even though I got into a bunch of different schools. I really liked SU's track in Psychiatric Mental Health w/ an addictions focus. This seem to be the perfect fit for me. They also have the FNP track at the master's level, whereas UW only offers FNP at the DNP level. SU did have many positives for me, but I thought UW had more positives than negatives.

SU's program is also shorter than UW's program. This can be good or bad depending on what you want. Do I regret my decision to go to UW? Well, sometimes. UW has their own issues which affects on the nursing students but I won't get into that.

Good Luck! I would be more than happy to answer any additional questions.

A bunch of folks helped me out during the application process, so I'm returning the favor. putting out some good karma, hopefully!

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Hi again,

Thank you very much for answering my questions. I am very grateful.

I do have some additional questions. Would you, by any chance, be willing to meet with me after the new year? I work at the UW and would be more than happy to buy you a coffee or lunch. UW was my first choice for the same reasons it was for you. I now need to decide, although I'm not sure I"ll be accepted at the other schools either, whether I want to go to one of them or hold out and keep trying for the UW. I would like to go on for a PhD or DNP as well but decided that getting a master's first would be the way to go in order to really get my feet wet in the field and refine my interests. I'm not sure whether having a master's from PLU or Seattle U would help or hurt my chances of continuing on in research at a school like the UW.

If you know any students at Seattle U or PLU I would absolutely love to contact them to hear their input.

Again, thank you, thank you, thank you. You are absolutely accruing excellent karma.

Hi Jenni,

I did have the option to defer. I decided not to go to SU because I was accepted into UW. My main reason was based on UW's reputation and the emphasis on research and academics. UW was pretty organized with the application process and the program coodinator was great at answering my questions. I also did my undergrad at UW and worked at UW, so I was very comfortable with UW. My whole family went to UW (undergrad and grad). I was also told that UW always has the first dibs on clinical sites in the area. For example, this quarter UW students got morning shifts at clinical sites, whereas SU got the evening times.

SU was awful in answering my questions during the application process. They were a bit dismissive as well. Although, SU's interview process was really good. I connected really well with the faculty members that interviewed me. So, that made it a bit difficult to decline the offer. I also had a bunch of friends that got into SU too and so it was a built in support system.

The price between the 2 schools are pretty much the same and so price was not an issue. UW also has the DNP and Phd program. I'm planning on going on for further schooling and I thought UW's reputation would hold more weight.

If I didn't get into UW, I would have chosen SU even though I got into a bunch of different schools. I really liked SU's track in Psychiatric Mental Health w/ an addictions focus. This seem to be the perfect fit for me. They also have the FNP track at the master's level, whereas UW only offers FNP at the DNP level. SU did have many positives for me, but I thought UW had more positives than negatives.

SU's program is also shorter than UW's program. This can be good or bad depending on what you want. Do I regret my decision to go to UW? Well, sometimes. UW has their own issues which affects on the nursing students but I won't get into that.

Good Luck! I would be more than happy to answer any additional questions.

A bunch of folks helped me out during the application process, so I'm returning the favor. putting out some good karma, hopefully!

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so patrick posted this about the interviews:

a bit about the interviews

posted: fri, 21 dec 2007 09:41:30 pst

as i mentioned before, the interview will be focused less on your resume qualifications (healthcare experience, leadership, international work, etc.) than your communication and interpersonal skills. don't be surprised if the faculty interviewers don't ask you about anything from your application. in order to keep the process as uniform as possible, we'll actually follow a script with the interview questions.

we'll be looking at your ability to express your ideas verbally in a pretty stressful situation. you will also be presented with a healthcare scenario (nothing that you'll have to have any specific nursing knowledge to assess) and asked to propose a course of action if you were the acting nurse. you'll repeat the healthcare scenario as a group with the other interviewers. in all cases, we're looking at how you interact with a group of peers and how well you can examine many potential aspects of the issue.

so like lc3, said, a group interview w/a scenario. bizarre. i guess the one thing that's still not clear to me is about they give you a scenario to assess somehow (individually?)... and then it's repeated? i assumed the group is there the whole time.

either way, it's not something i have any idea how to "prepare" for in any particular way. i guess that's the point!

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so patrick posted this about the interviews:

a bit about the interviews

posted: fri, 21 dec 2007 09:41:30 pst

as i mentioned before, the interview will be focused less on your resume qualifications (healthcare experience, leadership, international work, etc.) than your communication and interpersonal skills. don't be surprised if the faculty interviewers don't ask you about anything from your application. in order to keep the process as uniform as possible, we'll actually follow a script with the interview questions.

we'll be looking at your ability to express your ideas verbally in a pretty stressful situation. you will also be presented with a healthcare scenario (nothing that you'll have to have any specific nursing knowledge to assess) and asked to propose a course of action if you were the acting nurse. you'll repeat the healthcare scenario as a group with the other interviewers. in all cases, we're looking at how you interact with a group of peers and how well you can examine many potential aspects of the issue.

so like lc3, said, a group interview w/a scenario. bizarre. i guess the one thing that's still not clear to me is about they give you a scenario to assess somehow (individually?)... and then it's repeated? i assumed the group is there the whole time.

either way, it's not something i have any idea how to "prepare" for in any particular way. i guess that's the point!

yes, the group is there the whole time. i was lucky they picked me to go first to answer. most of my answers were repeated by the rest of the group. so, if you are not first then you really have to be a bit creative with at least one response to standout. just be calm and collected but enthuastic.

i would really try to practice with your friends and come up a list of questions that you may think they will ask. like patrick said, it is not really going to be about your experience per se.

i believe the group they put you in is equally matched in credentials. for example, some of my classmates all interviewed together and was accepted as a group. in my group there was one other person accepted.

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Has anyone heard any details about the UW MEPN group interviews? They are supposed to have started today, 1/5. I am just curious since I cannot seem to gather any samples or practice questions. This is the only school that accepted me for an interview, so as you can imagine, I am scared to death. Any thoughts or tips or even practice websites would be much appreciated. Thanks!

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Hello All,

I just read all of your posts regarding UW....can anyone help me out here. I'm sadly very confused. I have a BS in Family Social Science. I would like to take a nursing track for my graduate program. From the online material, it seemed I could apply to the MEPN but there was another route, the MN?..Master in Nursing where the application deadline would be January 15th...am I completely confused or what? I'm just deciding on moving to Seattle and would like some advice as to what courses I could take prior to admission, and when to actually apply for the correct area of nursing. Also, what schools are recommended to take some courses having not enrolled fully for a program (to complete pre-reqs)?

Thank you very much for your help...sounds you all applied at the Oct deadline and are waiting to hear. I wish each of you best of luck!! Sounds very competitive...applying for Grad school is much more competitive than I remember when applying for just my undergrad degree.

Thank you for any help or input!

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Hello All,

I just read all of your posts regarding UW....can anyone help me out here. I'm sadly very confused. I have a BS in Family Social Science. I would like to take a nursing track for my graduate program. From the online material, it seemed I could apply to the MEPN but there was another route, the MN?..Master in Nursing where the application deadline would be January 15th...am I completely confused or what? I'm just deciding on moving to Seattle and would like some advice as to what courses I could take prior to admission, and when to actually apply for the correct area of nursing. Also, what schools are recommended to take some courses having not enrolled fully for a program (to complete pre-reqs)?

Thank you very much for your help...sounds you all applied at the Oct deadline and are waiting to hear. I wish each of you best of luck!! Sounds very competitive...applying for Grad school is much more competitive than I remember when applying for just my undergrad degree.

Thank you for any help or input!

Hey Indiglo,

I'm not from the area, so I can't give you any suggestions as to where you can take classes, but it does seem that UW is willing to accept courses from anywhere that's accredited and meets their criteria. All of us chatting in this thread were applicants to the MEPN program -- we have our bachelor's in something other than nursing and have completed all of UW's required prereqs -- A&P, chem, stats, nutrition, lifespan psych/development... and our goal with the MEPN is to become a master's prepared nurse in the role of NP, CNS, or CNL.

As far as I know, the MN program with the Jan deadline is a MSN program for people who are already RNs. You, like us, (unless you just didn't mention that you're a nurse) will have to take the Master's Entry route unless you want to get another bachelors (aka the BSN/RN route) before going on to a master's/doctoral program. The other option, if you didn't want to be in clinical practice but some other area of nursing, is to get an MS in nursing rather than the MSN.

Most of the MEPN/GEPN applications are due in October/November of the year before classes start -- some, like UW start in June, others nto until September.

I hope that helps at least somewhat. My interview at UW for the MEPN is Thursday -- wish me luck!

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also, this page is a quick rundown of the programs UW offers:

http://www.son.washington.edu/eo/

hope that helps.

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also, this page is a quick rundown of the programs UW offers:

http://www.son.washington.edu/eo/

hope that helps.

I know this is late... But how did the interview go? What was your overall experience?

Thanks!!!:yeah:

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I will be starting an NP program at UW in the fall. Anyone else in ID?

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I know this is late... But how did the interview go? What was your overall experience?

Thanks!!!:yeah:

Ahhh, well....

The interview went well enough. The hard part was that after the interview, they told the applicants that there was only one opening for a new student in my chosen speciality (Adult/Older Adult NP) -- needless to say, we were really upset.

I ended up being first on the waitlist and was eventually offered the spot, which I also declined for a variety of reasons. I'm going to Yale this fall instead. UW's a great school, but it ended up not working out for me.

If you have specific questions, let me know! I'm happy to help if I can.

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