Advice Needed

Published

I am looking for advice/tips and information to help me apply (successfully) to CRNA school..

First, a little educational background about myself. I graduated with a B.S(Biology) and like many others on this forum I did not take my undergrad course work (specifically the sciences) as serious as I should have. My undergrad GPA was a 2.79. Following undergrad I pursued a Doctor of Chiropractic degree and graduated with a D.C. (GPA 3.2) in 2007. However in during my chiropractic internship I began to feel that chiropractic was not a good fit for me, none the less I kept my nose to the grindstone and finished my degree.

After accepting a job in a multi discipline medical office in 2007 i wisely decided that a career in nursing would be a much better career for me than chiropractic. I graduated from an accelerated BSN program (while maintaining full time practice) in Dec 2009 with a 3.7 GPA. During my nursing clinicals I was fortunate to shadow a few CRNA's and spoke to them about the job (likes/dislikes etc) and I decided that my ultimate goal was to become a CRNA.

I am currently orienting in SICU in a large metropolitan teaching hospital. I am learning a ton everyday. In addition to floor orientation I also am in a critical care residency consisting of lectures and testing r/t hemodynamics/pulmonary/neuro etc.. Needless to say I am focusing all of time becoming the very best critical nurse that I can.

However I do feel I need to start taking the steps necessary to enhance my resume' to CRNA schools. I don't know if any of the CRNA schools will accept any of my graduate course work from my D.C. (anatomy and dissection/physiology/histology/biochm) toward my science GPA. I am anticipating that the schools will not thus I will need to take a few graduate science classes to raise my GPA and show my dedication to pursuing anesthesia as a career. My top choices for school are TCU/Newman/TWU/St. Johns (Springfield)

Can anyone offer advice r/t online graduate course work or any other tips to successfully apply to CRNA school?

Any input is greatly appreciated!

JREXRN

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Neuro & Trauma ICU.

Talk to the schools because a lot of my classmates have graduate degrees and I believe that their grades might have been considered. Afterall, they look at your last 60 hours of work regardless of the degree level it was obtained at. You'll need your CCRN, so about 1 year into ICU you can take that exam. Take any certifications you can & work the highest acuity pt's you can. The CCRN review book is great to study for the interviews. Good luck!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Hypnos-

Thanks for the advice.. I contacted the schools and they do consider all graduate work from accredited universities, which is great..

I am currently studying for the GRE. I plan to focus the last quarter of the year preparing for the CCRN.

Thanks again..

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion