Nursing Programs in Chicago

I am in the process of completing my pre-reqs for nursing school and hope to apply to programs that would start in the spring or fall of 2010.

Today on WBEZ (NPR) in Chicago, the dean from Loyola's Nursing School spoke about the "nursing shortage", but at the same time mentioned that of the 12,000 applicants they had last year, only 100 were accepted.

This rejection of 11,900 applicants makes me very nervous about my chances of getting in to Loyola's ABSN program or other programs in Chicago.

Are there other Chicago nursing students who read this board who could reply to this thread and speak a little bit about your nursing school applications (GPA, previous health-care experience etc.)?

I had a 3.8 GPA in undergrad at Loyola, and so far have 4.0 in all my nursing pre-reqs. Despite these good grades, I am super paranoid that I won't get in to any programs. 11,900 rejections is huge. Surely there were applicants in that group who had grades similar to mine.

Thanks!