I am going to be applying to 4 or 5 nursing programs in the coming months. As I check out their admissions requirements, I am dismayed by the fact that some of them have a strict numerical ranking system that doesn't leave much room for the applicant to "shine", if you know what I mean. For example, my local CC uses the following criteria:
30% HESI A2 Reading Comprehension
30% HESI A2 Overall Score
40% GPA in science pre-reqs.
That's it. No essay, no interview, no letters of recommendation. Just numbers. If I make the numbers, I'm good. If not, I'm not good. They couldn't care less that I have lots of experience dealing with real patients who have real illnesses. They couldn't care less that I have 2 advanced degrees. Frankly, they couldn't care less why I want to be a nurse!! I kept reading the application folder checklist over and over, thinking I must have just missed the checkbox for letters of recommendation, or an essay!!! :)
Some of the schools I'll be applying to *do* want essays, interviews and letters of recommendation, and they don't have such strict numerical scoring of applicants (or maybe they do, but they aren't so upfront about it). But others are like the one I have described above.
I would love to hear what other people's experiences have been, and what you think about "Admissions Strictly By the Numbers". Mind you, I know there's nothing I can do about this, and I know we all have to follow the rules; I was wondering if anyone else felt kind of dismayed by this process.
I cringed when I went to the Evolve/Elsevier website (the company that makes up the HESI A2 test), and saw the following quote on a page aimed at nursing school faculty: "It's never been easier to make your admission decisions!" Yep, just feed in the numbers into the spreadsheet and out come all your admittees. No need to ever actually sit and talk with an applicant again. LOL
That is how my school does it. You have to have a certain GPA, but all you need to really do is take the NLN Pre-entrance exam and have a high enough score to get in.
I'll be honest, I'm envious of the admissions process you speak of.
Here's you just have to meet a minimum GPA and then it's a completely random lottery. So you have no way of boosting your chance of acceptance. There is no preference to those on their 3rd, 4th, etc try so theoretically, you could play the lottery and never "win". It's incredibly frustrating.
IMO, they should rank by the numbers, take a certain percentage of those at the top and have a certain percentage of the rest of the pool (that meets min requirements) be placed in a lottery. So for instance, if you are a 3.0 student but with fabulous work experience, great bedside manner, etc, you still have a chance of getting in via the lottery but students with high GPAs also get that taken into consideration.
Now if only the state of CA would adopt my plan. lol
That would certainly help me sleep at night!!! LOL. Our admission packet is based on a point system and the points are only pertaining to the pre-req's and/or non-nursing courses that are under the nursing curriculum. So, it would seem that my school is the same way. We still have to submit our transcript but hopefully it will be disregarded.
I am going to be applying to 4 or 5 nursing programs in the coming months. As I check out their admissions requirements, I am dismayed by the fact that some of them have a strict numerical ranking system that doesn't leave much room for the applicant to "shine", if you know what I mean. For example, my local CC uses the following criteria:
30% HESI A2 Reading Comprehension
30% HESI A2 Overall Score
40% GPA in science pre-reqs.
That's it. No essay, no interview, no letters of recommendation. Just numbers. If I make the numbers, I'm good. If not, I'm not good. They couldn't care less that I have lots of experience dealing with real patients who have real illnesses. They couldn't care less that I have 2 advanced degrees. Frankly, they couldn't care less why I want to be a nurse!! I kept reading the application folder checklist over and over, thinking I must have just missed the checkbox for letters of recommendation, or an essay!!! :)
Some of the schools I'll be applying to *do* want essays, interviews and letters of recommendation, and they don't have such strict numerical scoring of applicants (or maybe they do, but they aren't so upfront about it). But others are like the one I have described above.
I would love to hear what other people's experiences have been, and what you think about "Admissions Strictly By the Numbers". Mind you, I know there's nothing I can do about this, and I know we all have to follow the rules; I was wondering if anyone else felt kind of dismayed by this process.
I cringed when I went to the Evolve/Elsevier website (the company that makes up the HESI A2 test), and saw the following quote on a page aimed at nursing school faculty: "It's never been easier to make your admission decisions!" Yep, just feed in the numbers into the spreadsheet and out come all your admittees. No need to ever actually sit and talk with an applicant again. LOL
Personally I like admissions strictly by the numbers. Leaves a lot less room for nepotism and discrimination (of most sorts), and it helped me to have a pretty good idea whether or not I would be accepted to my school. I knew exactly what I needed to get that large envelope and didn't have to worry about being passed over because I don't know anyone connected to the admissions office.
My Community College goes by your GPA of 2.5 or higher for all science classes, if you have finished all your pre-reques before you apply to the program and an Diagnostic Assessment test on English usage, Reading, Mathematics, Anatomy, Physiology and Microbiology and if you fail you have one m ore chance to pass the exam after completing additional course work. So I will make sure to bust my behind to get that 2.5 GPA or hopefully better GPA and hopefully take the Diagnostic only once!!! I will hopefully start my pre-reques this fall if not Spring for sure!!!:nurse:Nurses Rock!!!
In CA, nursing school admissions are about to get a lot easier for good students. Any ADN program which accepts funding from the CA Community College System will begin using a new admissions model called the Chancellor's Model for Nursing School Admission. It will use grades from Anat, Physio, Micro and English 1 and whether or not you have repeated any of them. Pop them into a spreadsheet and out pops a ranking score. Most colleges are using the score to figure the cut-off in their entering classes. Some use the score to get into the lottery pool. But bottom line, if you have good grades, isn't going to get easier to get in.
Check at the nursing website at San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton CA. They were one of the early adopters of the new model. They even post the spreadsheet used to compute the scores :)
The CC I attend uses a point system. I applied for Fall semester with a 3.53 and with A&P II and Microbiology in progess (all other pre-reqs were complete). My CC does not look at classes in progress, so, my Spring grades/credits (A&P II and Micro) were not considered in my Fall application. Because of that I lost 7 points in their system. Unfortunately, I was not accepted.
Their point breakdown is as follows:
1 point each for completed Intro to Psych, Human Development, Sociology 101, Math, English 101, Humanities/Arts (2 completed H/A classes required).
3 points each for As in A&P I, A&P II, and Micro. For Bs you get 2 points and for Cs, 1 point.
5 points for GPA of 4.0 to 3.75, 4 points for 3.74......and so on, I cannot remember what the break down in because I fall into the 4 point category.
1 point for already having a BA/BS or higher.
1 point for an application that has improvements (for example my Spring application will have "improvments" since A&P II and Micro are now complete), but this point can only be earned once (so if I don't get in for Spring 08, on a Fall 08 application I would not get the point again).
2 points for completing more than 16 credits at the CC. You get 1 point for having 8 to 15 credits completed. 0 points for less than 8 credits completed.
This semester I will have 23/25 points, with all pre-reqs completed, and a 3.647 GPA. I am hopeful that I will be accepted.
My University was a ***** to get in to. First of all you take a test, general knowledge. You have 45 questions, 25 minutes, and you have to score at least a 21, get a 24 or above for advanced placement.
Second, you take the NET. You have to score an 80 or above to get an interview with the Nursing Department chair.
Third, bring in 3 letters of recommendation, any transcripts MUST have a 3.0 in the classes that are considered pre reqs (A & P I and II, Micro, Algebra, English Lit and Comp, Computers and Speech)
If you don't have previous schooling you have to take pre reqs and maintain a 3.0 (or your are out) Once in nursing core you again must maintain 3.0. There are "weeder" tests every 3 months that you MUST make a 90 on our again you are out.
My school is very expensive (41,000 for 2 years of school) and they have a 95-97% first time NCLEX pass rate and they INTEND on keeping it that way.
:nurse:Nurses Rock!!!
LMRN10
1,194 Posts
That is how my school does it. You have to have a certain GPA, but all you need to really do is take the NLN Pre-entrance exam and have a high enough score to get in.