Advice for Applying to Watts School of Nursing

[lcat]

Hi all!

So...I graduated from UNC with a degree in Journalism back in 2011. I've been working in the magazine industry since I graduated, and it's just not the field for me. I have always wanted to be a nurse, even in undergrad, but once I realized it was my true passion, it was way too late in my schooling to change majors...ugh. So I went ahead and graduated with my journalism degree, and now I'm ready to go back to school for nursing.

I'm looking into Watts School of Nursing, and it's getting me so excited! But also terribly nervous and overwhelmed. I'm going to try and go to an Information Session very soon, but I'd love some input from other applicants/acceptees!

-I know the school accepts two cohorts for the prerequisites at Mount Olive -- one in January, and the other in May. I'm taking my CNA Exam (which I know isn't required for admission) on Sept. 14th, and I'm hoping to get a part time CNA job soon after, so that I can build a relationship with the supervising RNs and get good references for Watts.

Is that a waste of time? I could take the admissions test soon (after studying, of course...all the posts about that test are stressing me out!), and then after (hopefully!) passing, get all my application info in to maybe start at MO in January. But my references if I do that will be people outside the health industry -- I work in magazine publishing. Is that a big deal...how hard is it to get in, if you pass the admissions test and submit everything correctly? Obviously I would love to start at Watts sooner rather than later, but I don't want to screw myself over with references that wouldn't strengthen my application.

If I went ahead and took my admissions test, could I wait til closer to the May start date to send in the rest of my application?

Any input on the whole application process would be GREATLY appreciated!!! And sorry for the rambling...I'm just so nervous about the entire thing! Thanks :)

[Rach2610]

Hi! I just received my acceptance letter from Watts today:) My application process was a breeze. From beginning(psb test) to end(today) was a little over a month an a half. My three references were a Member of the clergy, a Nurse and my school counselor. As long as you use educated people, ie Doctor, teacher, nurse, or even police officer you should be fine.

The PSB test freaked me out too. I swore I had flunked it. It was all basic math, and antonyms. along with the reading part. The reading section is what freaked me out the most. We were given paragraphs to read and answer 40 questions in 15 minutes. I answered about 10 out of the 40 and still got 83 as my score. I scored 90 on the other one.

IMO you should go sooner rather than later. At the information session Ms. Hawkins will tell you that going to WSON and having a job is almost impossible.