admission into uic direct entry program

ICRN2008, BSN, RN · Dec 29, 2005

I was considering applying to the program last spring while waiting for an admissions decision for an accelerated BSN program. I ended up not completing my application but I did gather quite a bit of information.

The admissions process is very competitive, especially for specialties such as Women's Health NP, midwifery, and Family NP. Each candidate will interview with faculty in their prospective specialty area. These interviewers will expect that you know quite a bit about the specialty, and experience shadowing an NP or CNS will show that you've done your homework so to speak.

When I called I was told that they were recommending minimum GRE scores of 500 in verbal, 500 in quantitative and 4.0 in analytical writing. They were less clear about recommended GPA, but I imagine that higher would be better.

I spoke with Katie DiAna at one of the information sessions, and she was very helpful. She recommended that we consider applying to a less-competitive specialty if we thought that our application might be on the weak side. Of course she also said that if you have your heart set on one particular area (for example, Women's Health), then you probably won't be happy with any other specialty. I would suggest calling her or attending one of the info sessions to get some "face time". Also, I suggest that get your application in early, because they used a rolling admissions process after January 1st last year. Spots in some of the specialties were filled well before the March 1st deadline. I don't know if they're using the same process this year...

Loyola and Rush have accelerated BSN programs, and DePaul has a generic MSN program after which you could do a post-master's certificate.

Good luck and hope this helps!

jabez · Dec 30, 2005

Thank you BSN,

That was very helpful. I'll be taking my GRE this January so hopefully I will meet their expectations.