UW ABSN 2012

gimligaugi · Apr 17, 2012

Just look at the UW Academic Calendar. Orientation is the 11th and 14th and we start June 18th, 2012 and end August 23, 2013.

bobobijoux · Jul 14, 2012

Hi Abalone,

I notices from other posts that you applied to both the ABSN and BSN. Is one more competitive than the other to get in?

abalone · Aug 13, 2012

Sorry, Bobobijoux, I've been traveling and away from my computer. I was accepted into both UW's ABSN and BSN program. However, I'm not sure I can say which is more competitive. They are both VERY competitive. That said, the cohorts applying to either program are pretty different. ABSN students, of course, must have a previous degree which also means that many of them are older, have different life experience, and also tend to have more health care experience (TONS!). BSN students, on the other hand, are often 19-21 years old.... but many still have hundreds of hours of healthcare experience (many have much more). Plus, now that I've met a big section of the UW BSN 2014 class, I can say that a good number of them (myself included; I'm 23yo) are non-traditional students of one sort or another.

Both programs have a very limited number of seats. The BSN applicant cohort, is always larger, but there are more seats in that program.... I don't think the SoN released the admission stats for my cohort so I can't say how many applied vs. how many were accepted to either program. (But, I image you could email and inquire).

No matter what program, the admissions expects high grades, amazing communication skills, and a real understanding of what working as a nurse means. For me, getting into ABSN was like having a huge weight lifted off my shoulders;I knew I was going to nursing school! But, I really had my heart set on the BSN program for reasons related to cost and the possibility of gaining more experience (longer curriculum time and ability to work in summer before applying for my first RN job). That said, I did have the idea that the ABSN program was more difficult to get into (in the past they required 2x as many healthcare hours), so I thought "how could they accept me into the ABSN program and not accept me into the BSN program?" Not sure if that's true or not but, it turned out that applying for the ABSN was great experience and preparation for applying to the BSN program. I had to get my resume and essays done early which allowed me lots of time to further perfect them for the BSN. More important, I had to take the proctored essay and math exam for both programs. So, when I took it for the BSN program I was better prepared and already knew how things would work. (Although the essay question was different, I was still able to follow a very similar pattern to answer it.)

Everything I've said aside, it's completely up to you. If you think the ABSN program is a better fit, apply to it, or vice versa. If either will work for you, apply to both! Good luck! If you have any other questions just msg me!!

gcc8 · Sep 18, 2013

What other programs did you guys apply to?