What do I do now? I am so crushed!!

U.S.A. California

Published

I am preparing to apply to SDSU nursing program for Fall 2009 and I just found out today that they changed the admission requirements again. They decided to give 10-15 points to people who have a work experience like CNA, and medical assistant. I have none of those which means that I automatically lose 15 points. I have volunteer hours but that won't help much :( :( I can't believe it. I have been preparing this for years

What should I do now? Help please.

What!? Im currently a nursing student at SDSU and I for one and shocked that they did that.... I think thats stupid, Im sorry. I just dont think its fair. I guess they think we should be working as a CNA while trying to get As in the pre reqs? Theyre crazy..

ps. have you tried point loma nazarene, oklahoma university, san marcos?

.. the state program has switched from 6 semesters to 5... they did a complete face lift to the program. I was the last class to be in the 6 semester program...

ps. have you tried point loma nazarene, oklahoma university, san marcos?

.. the state program has switched from 6 semesters to 5... they did a complete face lift to the program. I was the last class to be in the 6 semester program...

Point Loma are too expensive. San Macros gave points for residency which I won't get that since I didnt go to school in California state. I cant apply to Oklahma University because i think you have to already have a bachelor degree or something. :(

Thank you for the encouragement. I still cant believe they did that. I got grades, volunteer hours..just not work experience :(

Ya, I just took a look at the admission requirements. I really feel your pain.... I know how stressful it is to get in there. If worse comes to worse I would apply to grossmont, ya its a 3 year waiting list or whatever it is, but maybe you could work as a CNA while you wait.

What about National? Perhaps thats to expensive as well...

Anyways, dont give up! I wish you luck.

Sorry.. One more thing I thought about. Why dont you get a job as a CNA, like NOW. It will take probably a year of full time to get at least 1000 hrs.... As long as your grades/teas score are good, that would be quicker than the waiting list at grossmont. A year in retrospect is not that much time. :)

Ya, I just took a look at the admission requirements. I really feel your pain.... I know how stressful it is to get in there. If worse comes to worse I would apply to grossmont, ya its a 3 year waiting list or whatever it is, but maybe you could work as a CNA while you wait.

What about National? Perhaps thats to expensive as well...

Anyways, dont give up! I wish you luck.

I just hope that most people who apply for Fall 2009 won't have experiences as well because 15 point is very significant and I hate to lose that.

Do you know if they give points for bilingual?

thanks again.

Sorry.. One more thing I thought about. Why dont you get a job as a CNA, like NOW. It will take probably a year of full time to get at least 1000 hrs.... As long as your grades/teas score are good, that would be quicker than the waiting list at grossmont. A year in retrospect is not that much time. :)

I cant get any job as CNA because I never take CNA classes. CNA classes are really hard to get in also.

I would try to find a hospital where you can take a CNA class. I think they are usually quicker than the semester-long classes at a school. You have about 7 months before everything is due, right? Worst case scenario, if you don't have enough hours, apply for spring. It might hit you hard if you lose those 10-15 points.

Oh, I also just looked at the admission criteria, and it says that you have to have a minimum of 100 hours if you happen to have less than 1,000 hours.

I sent in two letters of health care experience, one being my clinical experience as a student nurses aid. I never actually worked as an aid, but they said as long as I recieved clinical experience, I would get credit. I actually had been e-mailing back with the advisor, Dr. Nicodemus, about this relentllessly. She said as long as I had contact with ill patients in an acute care setting (I think I remember her stating also it shold have the "yuck factor") that it wold be fine. You might try contacting her, she is very nice and helpful. I had about 112 hours in the clinical setting, so this was enough for the admission criteria when I applied. They didn't require 1,000 hours when I applied. That is a bummer, I'm sorry. However, I actually think this is a good idea, as even the little bit of experience I had has been helping me tremendously.

So what I am trying to say is if you were to take a CNA class (which always includes a clinical portion) make sure the clincals add up to atleast 100 hours, and you have 10 points in the bag. It's not 15, but it's not 0! I had my clinical instructor write me a really nice letter of recommendation with the number of hours stated and what I had accomplished.

Just an FYI: this could be completely changed and they may not allow this anymore since they are making so many changes in the program already. Make sure you find out.

You sould call and plan to meet with someone about this. I highly recommend Dr. Charlie Nicodemus. If you can't meet anyone, she replies to her e-mails very quickly and is always willing to answer any questions.

Sorry for the long post. Good luck!

Oh, I also just looked at the admission criteria, and it says that you have to have a minimum of 100 hours if you happen to have less than 1,000 hours.

I sent in two letters of health care experience, one being my clinical experience as a student nurses aid. I never actually worked as an aid, but they said as long as I recieved clinical experience, I would get credit. I actually had been e-mailing back with the advisor, Dr. Nicodemus, about this relentllessly. She said as long as I had contact with ill patients in an acute care setting (I think I remember her stating also it shold have the "yuck factor") that it wold be fine. You might try contacting her, she is very nice and helpful. I had about 112 hours in the clinical setting, so this was enough for the admission criteria when I applied. They didn't require 1,000 hours when I applied. That is a bummer, I'm sorry. However, I actually think this is a good idea, as even the little bit of experience I had has been helping me tremendously.

So what I am trying to say is if you were to take a CNA class (which always includes a clinical portion) make sure the clincals add up to atleast 100 hours, and you have 10 points in the bag. It's not 15, but it's not 0! I had my clinical instructor write me a really nice letter of recommendation with the number of hours stated and what I had accomplished.

Just an FYI: this could be completely changed and they may not allow this anymore since they are making so many changes in the program already. Make sure you find out.

You sould call and plan to meet with someone about this. I highly recommend Dr. Charlie Nicodemus. If you can't meet anyone, she replies to her e-mails very quickly and is always willing to answer any questions.

Sorry for the long post. Good luck!

Thank you for the response. So the new admission criteria gives point for both volunteer and work experience. Well, I have been volunteering at the hospital so I know I will get 5 points for that. But for the work experience part, you have to be employed somehow. From you said, do you think if I have a nurse at the hospital write me a letter as an aid or something, would that help?

Since they just change the admission again, I just hope that many pre-nursing students wouldnt have many experiences either.

I guess they think we should be working as a CNA while trying to get As in the pre reqs? Theyre crazy..

A lot of us do that. It isn't really that hard...

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