RN to BSN application/personal statement

[Just_Kidney, ADN, BSN, RN]

I am a current ADN student and since I'm off for the summer, I'm working on a rough draft of my RN to BSN application which will be due in the spring next year (I know, I'm way ahead of schedule, but I'm one of those start-early kind of people).

There are three things we're supposed to cover in our personal statement:

1. What inspires your interest in continuing your nursing education in our program?

2. Describe your long term professional plans and aspirations.

3. How do you feel the BSN will help you towards those goals and/or enhance your nursing practice?

I haven't written a personal statement essay in a really long time (and even then, I think I've only written one or two), so I'm not sure how to go about this, exactly. I'm a good writer so that's not really the problem, but I want to know, do I need to answer the questions in order? Do I need to identify which questions I'm answering, or just address all the topics in a narrative form? To me, it makes more sense to work point number three into my discussion of points one and two because gaining a BSN in part of my professional plan and the reason I want to get the BSN from that program is tied in with why I want to get the BSN in the first place. So is it disorganized or bad to do that? Or should I remove all discussion of why I want a BSN from the rest of the paper and put it all at the end to specifically address point number three?

I'd appreciate any advice/feedback you may have!

I think you're fine writing a well-constructed essay in which each of those three items is addressed as the thesis for its own paragraph.

It is also fine to address #3 in the context of answering the first two but you should be certain that it's clear that that's what you're doing.

Don't presume upon the reading comprehension skills of the person reviewing your statement.

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

Judging by what see here, you are way ahead of most students on writing and critical thinking skills. While I agree with songinmyheart above, I think it quite likely that your essay/app/statement will probably be just fine. Good luck!

[Just_Kidney, ADN, BSN, RN]

Thank you all for your help. I will post on here for your critique when the essay is a bit more polished!