Advice on Letters of Recommendation?

[PacoUSA, BSN, RN]

Hello,

I am applying to 4 accelerated BSN programs and 1 ADN that require letters of recommendation (the other two schools on my list don't require letters). I am pretty sure I know who I will approach for these letters but I am a bit anxious about approaching them to write so many letters/forms. For schools that want 3 letters, I will use two academic letters and one from my supervisor at the hospital where I volunteer.

My specific questions:

(1) I am definitely asking my A&P and my micro professors for letters. In order to ease the burden of letter writing I was contemplating asking my micro lab and my human nutrition professors for letters as well but was not sure if those would be legitimate academic letters considering the subjects they teach (meaning, I would think letters from the hardcore science lecture prereqs would be preferred by the schools). My micro prof is also the chair of the department so I am confident that is a good one to use and will reserve for the more prestigious schools).

(2) Has anyone successfully used a credentials service? I was thinking of doing this through my undergrad, which I believe is a small fee but I was not sure if nursing schools frown upon these type of letter submissions in lieu of their own forms.

I think I had another related question but I cannot recall - I will post later if I did. Thanks in advance for all replies!

(3) I just remembered ... When only 2 recommendations are required, are two academics OK or should I have one academic and one from the hospital volunteer supervisor? I applied to a school last year with 1 from my employer (non-health related), 1 academic and 1 volunteer sup., and I was waitlisted (still am, don't expect to get in) ... I am wondering if the employer one was one I should not have pursued, but I am positive it was not negative in any way - just because it was not too relevant perhaps.

[iPink, BSN, RN]

I will be applying to an Accelerated BSN program at the end of this month. I have spoken to my former supervisor and two career advisers to write my letters of recommendations. My supervisor has a PhD (non-health related) and my two advisers have 10+ years of nursing experience each; one is a CRNA and the other an NP. I think I'm good.

I'm not sure about your third point, because your 2 letters of recommendation may not have been the reason you were wait listed.

I personally chose not to get my professors to write my letters because I only know them for 3 months at a time. I needed people who knew me personally for more than 2 years and I wanted my letters to reflect that.

[UVA Grad Nursing]

I would recommend asking the Schools that you are applying to what they want. I am the Assistant Dean for the graduate nursing programs at my University, and we have specific advice/instructions for the various graduate programs in the Online Application. The instructions for PHD, DNP, MSN, Direct Entry MSN, and RN-MSN are all different and precise. For example, in our Direct Entry program we want only 1 academic letter (as well as one from someone who is a healthcare professional and one to discuss your leadership traits).

I would recomend asking this question to your 'top' schools regarding what they prefer for a competitive application.