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Discussion

ABSN programs: a few questions

Hello,

I'm curious if the admissions staff at ABSN programs generally put any weight on what university their applicants got their undergraduate from and if they do, how much. I'm going to get my undergraduate at a fairly good school—UC Davis—and I'm wondering if this will help me at all when applying or if it's more or less irrelevant. Again, I'm asking for the general trend: I'm sure there are extremes that don't follow whatever that trend may be.

Also, I'm curious if ABSN programs put any weight on what an applicant's undergraduate degree is actually in. My major is Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior (the degree that most pre-meds take here, AFAIK) and I will be getting a BS. Will this carry more weight than a less relevant and/or less rigorous degree?

Finally, the impression that I get after reading a few threads here is that GPA is, for many ABSN programs, the most important factor in determining whether an applicant is accepted or not. Is this generally the case? What other factors are weighted very highly and what factors are relatively less important?

I apologize if these questions sound rather general. I hope to learn more as I read and participate more on this forum. Thank you.

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    It really varies on the program. Each program has a different set of requirements.

    The ABSN programs in my area require an overall GPA of 2.5 from your previous degreee, a GPA of 3.0 in your prereq courses, a personal statement in response to an essay question they provide, and an interview process if you are selected as a potential candidate.

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    It really varies on the program. Each program has a different set of requirements.

    The ABSN programs in my area require an overall GPA of 2.5 from your previous degreee, a GPA of 3.0 in your prereq courses, a personal statement in response to an essay question they provide, and an interview process if you are selected as a potential candidate.

    Interesting, I expected all of them to require at least one letter of recommendation. That's not the case for the ABSN programs you know of in Indiana?

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    Interesting, I expected all of them to require at least one letter of recommendation. That's not the case for the ABSN programs you know of in Indiana?

    Some of them might. As I said, it varies between programs. Not all programs require a LOR.

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    It really truly varies. I applied to two programs, one that didn't require much to apply and one that required several letters of recommendation, personal statement, and interviews (although they said based on my outstanding application they waived the interview and accepted me). I had classmates with a variety of majors. My original degree was a material science one and I had classmates who were teachers, others who majored in history, public health, communications, chemistry...it was a very eclectic mix. Some already had masters degrees in different areas. Some of us had been out working for a while before deciding to switch careers and we had some students who had literally just finished their first degree.

    A lot of places put a lot of emphasis on GPAs and some will look at the last 60 credit hours and weight the prereqs more heavily if the GPA wasn't quite as good (if students showed significant improvement).

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    It does not matter. The point of the ABSN is a career change. What matters is your GPA and your scores on your pre reqs. My first degree was business admin and we had people with all degrees who were high performers on their first degree. You will be taking around 21 hours a semester and they need to know you are a serious and capable student. Just go ahead and apply.

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