Applicants to Portland/Salem Area Nursing Schools 2014

[efda2rn]

I know that it's early, but I really wanted to get a jump on this. I have read the past two years' threads from start to finish and have seen the amazing support given by everyone involved. Considering how competitive it is for nursing school admission, it is extremely informative and heart-warming. I will be applying to all the schools in the Portland/Salem area to which I will qualify. This next year is going to be rough, but ever since I started on this journey I have loved every moment.

A little about me:

• I am 33, married, no kids.
  
• I live in Salem and have taken the bulk of my prerequisites at Chemeketa.
  
• I have been working as a Dental Assistant for 2 years and feel that it is supremely unfair that many of the OCNE schools do not count dental assisting towards their "direct patient care" discretionary points. (I went to school for a year to become a dental assistant. I have dealt with medical emergencies, bodily fluids and have had my fingers in mouths on a daily basis! I'm grumbling, I know.)
  
• I have a 4.0 GPA (so far) for all of the OCNE prerequisites (My single B in one of three Chemistry classes will haunt me when I apply to Linfield)
  
• I am still one term away from finishing my prerequisites for the majority of the schools to which I plan on applying
  
• I don't really think that I will be lucky enough to be accepted to any of the Portland-area community colleges due to my lack of necessary discretionary points (if any of you CURRENT students have found otherwise, I would be very interested to find out what you know!)
  
• I will be applying anyway, because I know that I should at least make it onto a waiting list or two and as I have seen in previous threads - they do go through their waiting lists!
  
• I sincerely hope that all my hard work will pay off and that I will be accepted SOMEWHERE
  

Again, I know this is early, but I look forward to seeing the responses from everyone!

[VonE]

NursingCAS hasn't even processed my payment from two weeks ago. Maybe they are behind. Not to mention they were out a few days because of some inclement weather.

[Hustonc]

Couldn't agree more. I got my transcripts in to nursingCAS in October and it still hasn't computed my GPA:/. I checked with OHSU and they said all looks good. Just waiting on those computations. It seemed pointless when we had to do a concurrent supplimental application too. Not sure what the benefit of this new system is yet?

Anyone else finding that NursingCAS is kind of a pain to use? I have attended several schools over the years and ordered all of my transcripts, but because NursingCAS requires their Transcript Request Form to be sent with the transcripts, it is causing a few problems. I had to fax the forms to the respective schools a day after I ordered them online and I think that extra step has caused some wires to become crossed. Because I wasn't able to communicate with a person, I believe that the faxed forms were not associated with the ordered transcripts. As a consequence, 2 of my transcripts are still not showing up on the NursingCAS site even though they were all sent in the middle of December! It's just a hassle. I know that it might seem useful if you're applying to multiple schools that use this site, but as I'm doing all of this for only one school, it is merely an annoyance. Sorry, just needed to rant.

[efda2rn]

Thanks for the calming words, RASKL! My transcript statuses were all updated today and I can now breathe a sigh of relief. Thank goodness the non-accelerated BSN program only looks at prerequisite GPA! Having to enter all of my past mistakes when I was young and immature was quite humbling. The only aspect I'm questioning now is the section for the "Personal Statement." I spoke to OHSU staff at Western and they said that a personal statement wasn't a requirement or even a factor when they are reviewing applications, but the Nursing CAS system is listing it as a requirement for OHSU-Monmouth. I'll call again tomorrow so I don't become the "squeaky wheel!"

[RASKL]

Thanks for the calming words RASKL! My transcript statuses were all updated today and I can now breathe a sigh of relief. Thank goodness the non-accelerated BSN program only looks at prerequisite GPA! Having to enter all of my past mistakes when I was young and immature was quite humbling. The only aspect I'm questioning now is the section for the "Personal Statement." I spoke to OHSU staff at Western and they said that a personal statement wasn't a requirement or even a factor when they are reviewing applications, but the Nursing CAS system is listing it as a requirement for OHSU-Monmouth. I'll call again tomorrow so I don't become the "squeaky wheel!"[/quote']

I was speaking in reference to Linfield's accelerated BSN (ABSN)/second degree program looking only at pre-reqs. I'm sorry if this caused any confusion! I think for first degree students, they still wanna look at other grades. Again, sorry for any confusion!

[Hustonc]

Anyone have their NursingCAS GPA calculation change significantly from your official transcripts?

[VonE]

Mine were pretty much what I expected

[mamakac]

For the OHSU ABSN clinical experience, the first term was pretty low key and mostly in the SIM lab doing skills and assessments, witha few community events thrown in there. In our second term (for the Fall cohort) we are doing chronic illness in the hospitals (OHSU and Providence), which is interesting and we are enjoying putting our skills to work. Lots of long lecture days, reflection writing, and a lot of research exploring why nurses do what they do and how we can shape our own practice. There is talk of next year doing the chronic term half in a clinic in the community and then half in the hospital, tracking patients on the course of chronic illness. Our third term is spent with acute illness and leadership, our fourth term is population/community/public and more leadership, and then onto your practicum term. We did not have a choice as to where you were placed for chronic, but for the other terms you do have input about your placement and type of work.

Typically we have one day off a week (but this term we are going 5 days a week for a few weeks to complete our skills and SIM labs) Some days are half days, others are all day- plus studying, tutoring, etc. Awesome, supportive, wise faculty- amazing resources and opportunities, lots of networking- and I love my cohort, they make this experience what it is.

[Kathrin]

I e-mailed OHSU admissions about the personal statement section on Nursing CAS. They replied stating that personal statements are not required and will not be reviewed. I simply copied and pasted the e-mail reply into the "personal statement" section on Nursing CAS.

[efda2rn]

Kathrin, I contacted OHSU as well, and they informed me that I should simply put N/A in the Personal Statement field.

[missjordie]

I am applying this year as well. It's very overwhelming. I have a 4.0 in all prereqs and have completed them all, but little volunteer work. Many of my prereqs were completed out of state. I am really concerned that I won't be accepted anywhere. I am applying to OHSU and PCC for sure, but I'm unsure if I should apply to CCC as well. I suppose the more, the better.

My overall GPA is not good, so I hope that they won't be looking at my grades from when I was an idiotic 18 year old. (I am now 28). Any encouragement here? Am I reaching for something unattainable?

[efda2rn]

Miss horde, I'm kind of in the same place! I worked as a dental assistant, but have no volunteer and no "direct patient care" experience. And, like you, I have a less-than-stellar school record from when I was young and irresponsible. I am counting on the schools' policies that state that only the grades for the prerequisites will be considered. Have heart! Really focus on doing well on your essays and I believe that we'll both make it somewhere!

[missjordie]

Miss horde, I'm kind of in the same place! I worked as a dental assistant, but have no volunteer and no "direct patient care" experience. And, like you, I have a less-than-stellar school record from when I was young and irresponsible. I am counting on the schools' policies that state that only the grades for the prerequisites will be considered. Have heart! Really focus on doing well on your essays and I believe that we'll both make it somewhere!

I just wrote a lengthy reply and my browser froze.

Ugh.

To summarize- do you think it is even remotely possible to get in ANYWHERE with 52 OCNE points? I have been working on prereqs for 2 years and I am really discouraged that I am on the lower tier of applicants because I do not have my CNA license. I want this so badly, that I know I will keep trucking through this. I am just really disappointed. I read last night that there seems to be a cut off of 58 points or so for PCC's program.

I'm wishing for a miracle, I think.