Accelerated Florida State programs that care about more than first degree cum GPA

honeybadgerdontcare · Mar 28, 2013

UNF counts only your prerequisite GPA and TEAS score in determining who gets an interview, and after the interview it's the three scores (prereq, TEAS, interview) combined. Your cumulative just has to be above a 3.0 (I believe) for accelerated program, 2.90 for the regular prelicensure program.

hopefulnurse24 · Mar 28, 2013

I will be very honest and candid with you.

I go to an outstanding public school (the best one in the state), and have an incredibly high GPA... a 3.7 overall, and a 3.89 in my "upper division" (last 60 credit hours). However, I knew my chances were slim to get in to one of the Florida state ABSN programs. These programs don't take many people (I think UF's may be the largest at 50-60 people) and have huge numbers of applicants. I also had a few things working against me... I retook statistics (however, my 3.7 overall includes my first and second attempt at statistics, if that tells you anything) and I'm an average test taker (never took the TEAS but I got the bare minimum on the GRE, which is the test that UF's nursing program uses). My prereq grades are all good, I received all A's and two B's in them. However, I honestly ended up not applying anywhere in state. I knew my GRE probably wasn't high enough for UF, retaking statistics basically disqualified me from applying to USF (they only accept the first attempt grade for your prereqs, not to mention you aren't even eligible to apply until after you've received your bachelor's), and the other schools freaked me out because they don't accept letter of recommendations, resumes OR statements of purpose/essays (UNF and UCF). I wasn't interested in FAU, UM didn't appeal to me (may as well go to a private school or out of state for that cost), and I was missing a prerequisite for FSU.

Long story short, I feel that these schools are SO numbers based, which of course, grades and tests are important, but to be quite honest, I truly believe that there is a lot more that should go into the selection process. CNA/paid health care experience, relevant volunteer work, internships, level of coursework (your degree is awesome and an incredibly difficult one at that... do you realize you won't have an upper hand in admissions at all in the process though?! It's seriously ridiculous), leadership experience/positions, letters of recommendation, and of course.... your heart. Your essay is so important, and I also believe that interviews are important for this purpose alone. Who cares how high a student's TEAS score is if they can't articulate why they want to be a nurse? Or if they are just flat out not personable? I have a huge beef with the admissions process in Florida, and I personally have not even been affected by it. However, I've had a lot of close friends burned throughout the process. I have several friends who have high GPAs, good prereq grades, and great TEAS and/or GRE scores and are looking at waitlists or flat-out denials at every school they've applied to. It really is insane.

I received acceptance at a few top 10 nursing programs, which is really exciting. However, I'm looking at a pretty big price tag, which sort of sucks, but I'm okay with it. I've always wanted to go out of state for graduate school, and that was the plan for me, no matter what path I ended up taking once I received my bachelors. It's an investment in my education, and that's okay with me. This is the route I would suggest to many people, but I understand it's not for everyone, and not everyone is okay with debt or is in a financial position to where they can even take on a large amount of debt. Since my end goal is to become a nurse practitioner, I'm okay with some debt and like I said, going out of state for grad school has always been part of the plan for me.

Now that my spiel is done, I will tell you about some Florida nursing programs that may be a good fit for you. I honestly feel that UF's program is probably the best fit for you, as it is the most holistic out of all of the programs in the state. The application requires letters of rec, a statement of purpose, and a resume. With your mathematics major, I'm sure you'll score sky high on the GRE as well. Since you did so well in your prereqs, UCF and UNF would probably be fine as well and I'm sure the TEAS won't be a problem for you either. Chem 2 and orgo are not prereqs for any of the Florida schools, to my knowledge. Same with physics. And I am pretty sure most of the schools in state do not require bio... Have you taken microbiology yet? They all do require micro.