Admissions Essay: How much should I include?

jodispamodi · Jan 22, 2018

I'd say be honest with your story I wouldn't get heavy into details and focus more on what inspired you to be a nurse, the nurses who helped you. Good luck.

RainbowSprinkles · Jan 22, 2018

I would include it..its part of your life journey and the reason you want to go into nursing. Like the person above stated , I would indulge in the details of the abusive. Focus more on the nurses and also state why your a strong, resilient person no matter the obstacle. 2 FYI'S...(1)your experience does not make you mentally have issues and if so everyone walking around has mental issues. We all have experience something in life no matter what class, race, or gender. (2) if this school can't appreciate your story...maybe its isn't the dream school. Not saying this is the issue for the school but nursing includes real life stuff! I love the tone of talk in your post, stick to it.

idkmybffjill · Jan 22, 2018

I agree. I would think writing about your experience as the set up to your real focus, the nurses who helped you, would be good. I don't think you can really skip it if you want to be honest about your answer, as that part is a part of the story and it might be more awkward to be vague about why you were in the hospital in the first place.

One thing you could do is anticipate those possible concerns and address it yourself, talking about how your previous abusive relationship has made you stronger under stress, more compassionate, and perhaps more able to see subtle signs of abuse in your patients. Know possible reactions and work to counteract them in your answer.

Thin-ic3 · Feb 21, 2018

Thank you guys for all of your advice! I'm sorry for not replying earlier, but I took said advice into consideration and did end up including my experience in my admissions essay. I just found out last night that I got in to the program officially and will be starting this May! Again, thank you all!

Myrn90 · May 3, 2018

Thin-Ic3

Hi there! I tried to find a way to message you personally but I couldn't figure it out. I noticed on the Mane Fall 2018 thread that you applied and were accepted to Concordia 2018. I am in the process of applying right now for Fall start. I just wanted to ask you how things were going !! Any info on the program/applying would be great! Do you happen to know how students are ranked to get in??

Thanks

Thin-ic3 · May 12, 2018

Myrn90

Hey! Sorry for my delayed response, I'm just seeing it! And I would PM you too, but I think you have to "earn" the ability to do so on this site? Which I have not done, so I'll answer you here!

I actually decided to delay my start to the fall, so if you end up going there we'll be classmates! As a side note - the school was very willing to work with me on changing my start date (it was just a personal decision - I didn't want to go into the program feeling burnt out, so I figured I'd just ask to see what my options were) which personally makes me trust the school even more. In short they're letting me just switch to the fall as I felt that was the best long-term choice for me!

Anyways, to answer your questions - I applied for the priority deadline for the summer 2018 start (which was February 16th I believe) and I got an email the same day saying they had received the application and would let me know with their decision (but they didn't give a time frame). All of a week later (a week after the deadline) I heard back and I'd been accepted! In the acceptance email they included basic info on orientation (which was 2 weeks before the term start) and some other generic stuff. All the paperwork and such that they need was communicated to us several weeks later, closer to orientation and such. Since I changed my start date I didn't actually go to that orientation, but I had connected with a couple other people who are starting this summer, and they told me that we order uniforms, get ID badges, meet the professors/faculty and so on.

And as for how students are ranked, I really am not 100% sure. I've asked that myself and I know they don't actually use a specific ranking system (like the MANE schools do). As far as I know they make sure everyone meets the basic requirements, and then look at the applicants as a whole if that makes sense? Like if you're GPA is lacking but you have good references and a good essay then they'd still take you even if there are others with higher GPA's (I'm not sure if that makes sense, but thats how I think of it). Basically its not all or nothing - one bad aspect of your application won't necessarily drop you below another applicant. They look at you as a whole and decide based on that.

I'm not sure if you ever went to one of their nursing program open houses (they had them back in November/December I think), but the chair of the nursing program was leading it and said that one of the big things they look at is the personal statement/essay, and that she likes honesty as opposed to reading about what the applicant thinks she wants to hear if that makes sense? Like make sure your essay is genuine and not something generic you just think they want to hear.

I don't want to write a whole essay here so I'll keep it to that for now, but definitely let me know if you have other questions or want to try and connect somehow í ½í¸Š

Myrn90 · May 27, 2018

Myrn90
Hey! Sorry for my delayed response, I'm just seeing it! And I would PM you too, but I think you have to "earn" the ability to do so on this site? Which I have not done, so I'll answer you here!
I actually decided to delay my start to the fall, so if you end up going there we'll be classmates! As a side note - the school was very willing to work with me on changing my start date (it was just a personal decision - I didn't want to go into the program feeling burnt out, so I figured I'd just ask to see what my options were) which personally makes me trust the school even more. In short they're letting me just switch to the fall as I felt that was the best long-term choice for me!
Anyways, to answer your questions - I applied for the priority deadline for the summer 2018 start (which was February 16th I believe) and I got an email the same day saying they had received the application and would let me know with their decision (but they didn't give a time frame). All of a week later (a week after the deadline) I heard back and I'd been accepted! In the acceptance email they included basic info on orientation (which was 2 weeks before the term start) and some other generic stuff. All the paperwork and such that they need was communicated to us several weeks later, closer to orientation and such. Since I changed my start date I didn't actually go to that orientation, but I had connected with a couple other people who are starting this summer, and they told me that we order uniforms, get ID badges, meet the professors/faculty and so on.
And as for how students are ranked, I really am not 100% sure. I've asked that myself and I know they don't actually use a specific ranking system (like the MANE schools do). As far as I know they make sure everyone meets the basic requirements, and then look at the applicants as a whole if that makes sense? Like if you're GPA is lacking but you have good references and a good essay then they'd still take you even if there are others with higher GPA's (I'm not sure if that makes sense, but thats how I think of it). Basically its not all or nothing - one bad aspect of your application won't necessarily drop you below another applicant. They look at you as a whole and decide based on that.
I'm not sure if you ever went to one of their nursing program open houses (they had them back in November/December I think), but the chair of the nursing program was leading it and said that one of the big things they look at is the personal statement/essay, and that she likes honesty as opposed to reading about what the applicant thinks she wants to hear if that makes sense? Like make sure your essay is genuine and not something generic you just think they want to hear.
I don't want to write a whole essay here so I'll keep it to that for now, but definitely let me know if you have other questions or want to try and connect somehow ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½

Thank you so much for the reply!! You have no idea how much it's appreciated. Hopefully I will be accepted into the Fall 2018 cohort. I have submitted everything. I was initially told that my Chemistry transferred, but now it sounds like that might not be the case. So I am extremely bummed out right now but hoping for the best.