not quite there

[s-whnp, NP]

Hello!

I'm sorry if there's any confusion but I'm actually still a senior in high school. I'm really interested in this nursing major and I really want to become a neonatal nurse practitioner but I guess that's still a while for me! Anyhow I'm not sure how tough this whole thing is. I'm sure I want to stay in Texas for school, and I've always wanted to go to UT Austin for nursing but seeing that I'm not in the top ten percent (we have over 1300 kids in our senior class) I was thinking about Texas Woman's University or UT Arlington?

I really don't know what my chances are to getting into a pre-nursing school. I've taken AP Biology (not sure if that helps?) and am currently taking AP Chemistry, my SAT score wasn't all that hot, and I've never volunteered or taken anything related to nursing.

I've looked around on these forums and it seems like getting into the actual nursing program is pretty tough. But if any of you guys could tell me about other nursing schools in Texas or other information in general I'd really appreciate it, Thanks! (:

[EricJRN, MSN, RN]

Smelo,

Welcome to the site! Thanks for stopping by. It sounds like you're off to a good start with your AP classes. One of my biggest pieces of advice would be to keep an open mind as you learn about all that nursing has to offer. You might try getting a hospital volunteer slot to gain more exposure to what nursing is really all about. Sometimes the reality of the NICU is pretty far from what people imagine it to be. Personally, I love it.

[joshuaclay]

typically, you are required to complete the pre-reqs before you are accepted into a nursing program. this will work to your advantage, since your performance in your pre-req classes will carry a heavier weight than your performance in high school. when you graduate and start school, keep your head down and do as well as you can in your pre-reqs. if you don't get into ut the first time around, do a year somewhere else and bag a 4.0. then transfer to ut. there's more than one way to skin a cat (who came up with that expression?).:)

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

There are some community college nursing programs that will accept one full year of college-prep high school chemistry in the place of one semester of college chemistry.