Western University MSN-E 2019

[teamplayer08]

I just submitted my application and wanted to start a thread for this year's application cycle. Through this thread we can lend each other advice, support, updates, and/or questions!

A little about me... I recently completed my undergraduate studies and realized nursing was my true passion. I went from pre-med --> pre-dental --> pre-PA and now I'm here! I'm super excited to have applied because I feel life I've finally found what I want to do with myself. I also barely found out that accelerated Master's programs in Nursing exist.

I read last year's thread and it said that people receive an email saying their "application has been forwarded to the admissions department" or something like that. Did anyone who applied already receive this email yet?

Cheers.

[Richforbroke]

19 minutes ago, lyw05 said:

I was wondering if you could tell us what the schedule was/is like per week, as specific as you can. I can only find the class list, but not their days and times. I’m still contemplating on whether I should stay at my current job and work per diem or if I should quit. I’m a NA at a magnet hospital and I love my coworkers, so it would be awesome to have my foot in when I graduate. However, I do want to do well in the program, it’s about an hour away from school, and it might be night shifts.

Any suggestions/info is much appreciated!!

Here is a screenshot of my schedule for Fall. Your schedule will be different since the curriculum has changed. The screenshot shows 4 lab times (We are only assigned to 1 lab time). However, we started clinical rotations in October and that was 7am to 3pm shift on Thurs, Fri, OR Sat. BUT like I said, I don't know how your schedule will be so use my schedule merely as a basic example.

As you can see, you will be on campus often. Eventually there will be less class time, and more clinical time. As an example, for summer, I have a 12-hour PEDs rotation on Mon, 12-hour OB rotation on Tues, 8 hours of lecture on Wed, 3 hour lab on Thurs.

I understand you want to stay at your magnet hospital and it really depends on how flexible your manager is. The people who still work have extremely flexible Per-diem jobs at hospitals where they might work as low as 1-2x a month or only during semester breaks. If you can, I would probably suggest not working, unless you have a very flexible relationship with management.

[trandynasty]

Hi @Richforbroke thank you for your insight on what our first-semester will be like! I was wondering if you could shed some light on how your cohort feels about obtaining a new grad position after passing the NCLEX? Do you think it will be harder for my cohort since the program is now shorter? Like @lyw05, I'm also working at a hospital right now but it's under new management so the flexibility is nonexistent. I'm told that "having a foot in the door" is really important for the future when I finish the program/pass the NCLEX.

[lyw05, MSN, RN]

On 5/24/2019 at 12:41 AM, Richforbroke said:

Here is a screenshot of my schedule for Fall. Your schedule will be different since the curriculum has changed. The screenshot shows 4 lab times (We are only assigned to 1 lab time). However, we started clinical rotations in October and that was 7am to 3pm shift on Thurs, Fri, OR Sat. BUT like I said, I don't know how your schedule will be so use my schedule merely as a basic example.

As you can see, you will be on campus often. Eventually there will be less class time, and more clinical time. As an example, for summer, I have a 12-hour PEDs rotation on Mon, 12-hour OB rotation on Tues, 8 hours of lecture on Wed, 3 hour lab on Thurs.

I understand you want to stay at your magnet hospital and it really depends on how flexible your manager is. The people who still work have extremely flexible Per-diem jobs at hospitals where they might work as low as 1-2x a month or only during semester breaks. If you can, I would probably suggest not working, unless you have a very flexible relationship with management.

Thank you! Another question: I will be out of the country for most of July and would like to get as much done as possible before I leave. Will we be asked to turn in or do anything else after registering for classes? And what is the materials list like?

Thanks so much again for taking your time to answer our questions, it’s much appreciated.

[Richforbroke]

On 5/25/2019 at 11:11 AM, trandynasty said:

Hi @Richforbroke thank you for your insight on what our first-semester will be like! I was wondering if you could shed some light on how your cohort feels about obtaining a new grad position after passing the NCLEX? Do you think it will be harder for my cohort since the program is now shorter? Like @lyw05, I'm also working at a hospital right now but it's under new management so the flexibility is nonexistent. I'm told that "having a foot in the door" is really important for the future when I finish the program/pass the NCLEX.

I think it'll be actually EASIER for your program to get jobs cause you will have the MSN degree in hand. As opposed to the current setup, I will have passed the NCLEX but MSN is still in-progress. Magnet hospitals want BSN or higher. So you'll actually be more competitive for job applications when you do apply in comparison to me.

The "advantage" for my program is that I get to apply for jobs after 4 semesters and can start earning some money sooner. Some people from Cohort 14 have gotten jobs at great hospitals including Pomona Valley and St. Joes.

"Foot in the door" is important imo. I won't downplay that. It really depends on whether you can maintain doing well in the program while still juggling a work schedule. My personal opinion is if your work isn't flexible on scheduling, you'll end up not being able to fulfill their expectations and leaving a bad impression and/or possibly not doing as well as you'd like in the program.

Also, in reality, you already have the foot in the door. You would have met people at your current job and those connections may help you land an interview when the time comes. So build those connections now. Also, remember its not the end of the world just because you don't land that "Dream job" at the "dream hospital" as your first job. There are plenty of stories where people took a job and ending up falling in love with that department so be open-minded. Theres so much you can do in nursing.

Unfortunately, you are the only one who will know whether you can handle the workload/stress. I can only give you generalized advice. Also, it depends on your long-term goals. For me, I plan to apply to NP programs after I graduate so I wanted to keep my grades up to be a more competitive applicant. Hope this helps a bit.

[Richforbroke]

7 hours ago, lyw05 said:

Thank you! Another question: I will be out of the country for most of July and would like to get as much done as possible before I leave. Will we be asked to turn in or do anything else after registering for classes? And what is the materials list like?

Thanks so much again for taking your time to answer our questions, it’s much appreciated.

There was a list of immunizations, physical, and some paperwork to do. Just make sure to take care of it all before going out of country. There was a series of "Welcome" emails that keep you informed on the program. Just check your emails when you have WiFi (unless you're in an area that won't have WiFi at all?)

Just make sure you turn in all the required paperwork cause I think they might drop you if you don't finish it by the deadline? (Not positive on that though since I don't deal with any of that)

[My Hero is a Nurse]

Hello,

I just found out that WesternU has a MSN-E program and I'm looking forward to applying for the 2019-2020 cycle. I was wondering if anyone will be willing to share the 2018-2019 essay prompts with me along with the word limit. I wanted to pre-write some of the questions and be ahead of the game when application open. I was looking online and could not find the essay prompts anywhere.

I know this question may not be related to this thread cycle, but I'm just very excited and wanted to seek all of your help. Any help or insight is greatly appreciated! Thank you in advance!

[trandynasty]

@My Hero is a Nurse Here were the prompts! I don't remember what the word limit was though. I would say write as much as you feel you need to get your message across then when the application window opens, you can always condense it later!

• Describe why you want to attend WesternU College of Graduate Nursing.
• Explain your motivation for graduate study to become a nurse.
• Describe a situation when understanding someone else's perspective helped you understand them better.
• All health professionals should be educated to deliver patient-centered care as members of the interprofessional healthcare team. What do you see as the role of the master's prepared nurse in interprofessional practice settings?

@Richforbroke thanks for your insight!! I guess I will have to wait until school starts to see if I can balance school and work without compromising anything.

[My Hero is a Nurse]

@trandynasty-Thank you so much for sharing this info!

[lyw05, MSN, RN]

@Richforbroke, I know you guys are busy, but I’m wondering if you know approximately when the Facebook group will be created? I’d like to get my housing situation sorted out and would like to see if anyone else is looking for roommates. I’ve looked through the Western portal for listings but it seems as if a lot are being taken rather quickly. Or is there another way to contact the incoming cohort group?

Thanks again in advance for the help!

[Richforbroke]

On 6/23/2019 at 4:55 AM, lyw05 said:

@Richforbroke, I know you guys are busy, but I’m wondering if you know approximately when the Facebook group will be created? I’d like to get my housing situation sorted out and would like to see if anyone else is looking for roommates. I’ve looked through the Western portal for listings but it seems as if a lot are being taken rather quickly. Or is there another way to contact the incoming cohort group?

Thanks again in advance for the help!

Hi! I shared the FB link in a previous post (It's easy to miss the post in this long thread). Here is the link again:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/824907374556365/

[lyw05, MSN, RN]

4 hours ago, Richforbroke said:

Hi! I shared the FB link in a previous post (It's easy to miss the post in this long thread). Here is the link again:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/824907374556365/

I’m so sorry, I think I misunderstood you when you posted that. I thought it was just the current cohort in this group. Gah, I’ve been twirling my thumbs all this time. Thank you!

[anndreaa8]

On 10/21/2018 at 8:38 AM, sellopez said:

I believe if you still have classes in progress and you are accepted-- they'll have you send transcripts for whatever school you had classes in progress with. And when I graduated from undergrad, I had a 3.1 cumulative and I think my prerequisite GPA is around 3.4.

Hello did you get accepted to the program ?