UAB Spring Admission

U.S.A. Alabama

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Specializes in ICU.

I am trying to do some research for a friend that is interested in entering UAB's SON. Does anyone happen to know what the average GPA is typically for Spring admission? She will be a transfer student with a GPA of approx 3.29 overall, with little healthcare work experience. She did shadow me for 60 hours this past semester. She was told the avg. gpa for admission this past fall was 3.46. She is worried that 3.29 will not be high enough. Any thoughts from those that have been through this at UAB?

I was admitted in Spring 2011 as a transfer student with a 3.43 and exactly 60 hours of experience. Last year the statistics I was told were similar. For Fall admission the average GPA is 3.4 and for the Spring the average is 3.2 so your friend definitely has a fighting chance. Healthcare experience (volunteering, shadowing, etc.) can be submitted to help her chances as long as it is at least 60 hours. The admission essay is VERY important to them. They've turned away students with 4.0 GPAs because of the essay so make sure she spends time making it the best she can! Feel free to message me if you need anything else. :) Good luck to her!

Specializes in ICU.
I was admitted in Spring 2011 as a transfer student with a 3.43 and exactly 60 hours of experience. Last year the statistics I was told were similar. For Fall admission the average GPA is 3.4 and for the Spring the average is 3.2 so your friend definitely has a fighting chance. Healthcare experience (volunteering, shadowing, etc.) can be submitted to help her chances as long as it is at least 60 hours. The admission essay is VERY important to them. They've turned away students with 4.0 GPAs because of the essay so make sure she spends time making it the best she can! Feel free to message me if you need anything else. :) Good luck to her!

Thank you for the information. I will pass it along. Now maybe she will calm down some before she drives me nuts. :uhoh3: I have helped her with the essay and I feel it is very good, well as good as it can be with the one page limit. Once again, thank you.

I was just doing some searching for UAB clinical sites because I would like to try and do clinicals in Tuscaloosa, where my wife and I live and I came across this post. I know its a few months old, but I thought my situation was a little different than the ones already posted. I just received my acceptance letter from UAB for the Spring 2012 semester. I applied without having Microbiology, A&P I, A&P II, or the Developmental Psych classes completed (I am currently enrolled in all of them this semester, because I'm either that stupid or that brave!). I also had no volunteer experience. I believe that the essay helped boost my chances, and possibly the fact that I am a second degree student (3rd degree actually, B.S. and MBA) If you factor in all the missing classes that I haven't completed yet, then my GPA would probably not be very competitive, so I have this suspicion that GPA is important, but not as much as some people would like you to think. I also did all of my previous school work at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, so I would not get the preferential treatment a UAB student would get during the application process. I hope this information helps anybody interested in the UAB SON program!

Specializes in ICU.
I was just doing some searching for UAB clinical sites because I would like to try and do clinicals in Tuscaloosa, where my wife and I live and I came across this post. I know its a few months old, but I thought my situation was a little different than the ones already posted. I just received my acceptance letter from UAB for the Spring 2012 semester. I applied without having Microbiology, A&P I, A&P II, or the Developmental Psych classes completed (I am currently enrolled in all of them this semester, because I'm either that stupid or that brave!). I also had no volunteer experience. I believe that the essay helped boost my chances, and possibly the fact that I am a second degree student (3rd degree actually, B.S. and MBA) If you factor in all the missing classes that I haven't completed yet, then my GPA would probably not be very competitive, so I have this suspicion that GPA is important, but not as much as some people would like you to think. I also did all of my previous school work at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, so I would not get the preferential treatment a UAB student would get during the application process. I hope this information helps anybody interested in the UAB SON program!

Congrats on your acceptance. My friend was not accepted. I was interested in entering UAB's RN-BSN Program. I may have to rethink that now. Nothing personal but I am not sure how I feel about a program that will turn down one of their own students with all classes completed, the recommended min. of experience, and a GPA of 3.3, but accept a transfer student that has no health care experience, and still has 15 semester hours left to complete in one semester, not to mention 12 of those are the major science classes needed.

No offense taken! Honestly I didn't think I had a chance in h*** at getting in. Strangely enough I was not accepted to Shelton State Community College's ASN program but was accepted at UAB. Every school has some different method for making their decisions. I honestly would prefer to go to UA's nursing school in Tuscaloosa because I live in Tuscaloosa, and I am not looking forward to the drive to B'ham everyday, but I couldn't take the chance of not getting in at Alabama either. They say they take 96 students on a strict GPA criteria in which the average GPA is between a 3.6-3.8. I honestly think those numbers are BS, based on a few friends who are currently in the program and knowing the type of student they were. In a perfect world, I think all programs would have the same acceptance criteria, and I really think all should require a face to face interview. I also have somewhat mixed emotions on programs like UAB that explicitly tell candidates that all honor students at UAB that wish to apply to UAB SON are automatically accepted granted that they maintain the proper grades. I don't think its fair to hinder a non-UAB student's chances just because they went somewhere else but wish to pursue their RN at a better program such as UAB. I don't know if I would reconsider not choosing a program based on someone elses acceptance situation though (mine for example - because they may have some different factors for 2nd degree students, who knows), especially when it is such a well known and respected program. I didn't mean to sound like I was bragging in my first post, just merely wanted to share a different perspective to those questioning whether or not they should even bother applying. As I previously stated, I had already convinced myself I would not be accepted, but applied regardless. There is no harm in it, just a few dollars worth of transcript requests. I realized after writing it that it may have come across in that way. I should have used some emoticons!

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