Devastated :(

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In my scholarship interview last week, I told the judges that midwifery is what drew me to nursing, but for several reasons (which I explained to them clearly) I am not interested in midwifery anymore. This was in response to them asking what brought me to nursing. It wasn't something I outright volunteered. I was clear that I am hoping to become an FNP, which they do employ. This hospital does not have peds, l/d, or mother/baby. If I was clear about anything at all, it was that I genuinely do see my future with THEM, and even discussed in detail why. I absolutely nailed that part of the interview.

Anyway, I got this today:

"Good afternoon! The judges have come to a final decision, and unfortunately they have decided on two other candidates for the Nursing Scholarship. Normally we send out a generic letter, but I wanted to personally write to you to tell you how impressed the judges were by you. They thought you were an excellent candidate, and they commented on how great of a nurse they think you will be. What it came down to is that they believe you would be a better fit for Pediatrics (mother/baby ward), which we do not offer that service here.

It was wonderful to meet you, and hopefully in the future we will see you again here at *insert hospital name*. Good luck with your studies!

P.S. Your application was a big hit with the judges and really stood out from the rest. I would continue to do that with other employers/scholarship applications."

......how do I respond to that? They misunderstood a lot, I think. If this is the only reason I wasn't selected, I am absolutely crushed. Peds and mother/baby are not in my future by any stretch. I want to ask them to reconsider. I want to tell them that they misunderstood. By her email, this scholarship and job that I pretty desperately wanted were mine except for this one thing.

Hi! I can tell you that my experience has been that every opportunity I have "lost" in nursing school and with nursing jobs has led to a better opportunity more suited to me. Hang in there and keep pursuing your dream!

Specializes in CCU MICU Rapid Response.

You have received alot of great advice, and sounds like you did well with the interview. Emailing them other than to say thank you isn't going to change anything. Consider this practice for the multitude of job interviews and other scholarship interviews in your life. Dust yourself off and keep moving forward! Ivanna

Specializes in ..

This is really unfortunate. I hope this isn't a financial obstacle that prevents you from attending nursing school. If you need a scholarship or grant, there are others out there; the school's admission office might be able to guide you toward other forms of tuition assistance. Yes, as it was pointed out, they've already made up their minds, and nothing you say can change what has happened. Send them the kindest thank you note you can; it's better to maintain positive relationships than express disappointment, try to clarify your position, or plead for another chance--no matter how you word any of that, it would sound like sour grapes.

Specializes in critical care.

I thank you all for your responses. As I indicated earlier (albeit maybe not in a clear way) my op was an emotional unloading and I've come to my senses. :)

I thank each and every one of you for your thoughts, though. I was reading through each post as they came through on breaks during CNA clinicals, and didn't come back to say thank you, so, THANK YOU :) It's been helpful to have the thoughts of others to help calm the sting of the news. What it boils down to is this: I may be first chair clarinet material, but they're looking for a French horn. It is what it is. I am very flattered that they took the time to share their responses to me directly and I appreciate their feedback.

So now I'm back to square one. It's actually not a bad thing! The world is my oyster again. Maybe going into school without a specific track in mind will be better for me. And who knows.... Maybe my talents would be best served in peds.

I've been hearing from multiple people that it is very common to be turned down for something because the interviewers felt you had a talent for something other than the job that was applied for. The way in looking at it right now (and this is soothing the sting, too) is that these people see people like me all the time, and they can recognize talent for certain specialties, I'm sure. Some things are easier recognized from the outside as well. My instructor for CNA is in an ADN-MSN program now but hasn't chosen her track yet. She can't decide if she wants to go into patient care or stick with teaching. My opinion? If she doesn't stick with teaching, the nursing world will be losing an incredible educator.

So that's my long winded way of saying I get it. What you do with the news you relieve is what makes it good news of bad news, and I am very much a silver lining girl. There is a better opportunity out there somewhere that will make me happier. I'm going to find it. In the meantime, I just accepted my financial aid package yesterday. School is paid for, and I am thankful for that.

Specializes in critical care.

Esme: It is a BSN program that I am entering. The scholarship was through a hospital that has a service agreement, and my post-grad plans were discussed during the interview.

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