Chances getting into nursing school?

[yogi26]

SO kind of in a pickle while on my road to getting into nursing school. Ive been discouraged about apply because of my grades. Im almost done with all my prerequisites for nursing school but in most of my classes I've made C's in except my science courses however I made a C in A&P 1. Besides my grades, I have tons of work experience ever since I was 18 and currently 21. I've worked for 2 oral surgeons and anesthesiologist and a plastic surgeon and I basically like a nurse but of course everything I do is supervised by a physician and they teach me a lot even with patients allow me to do so. I believed I have really good back ground for the medical field. I've heard so many mixed things about apply for nursing school and heard UT Health science center and TWU in Houston Medical center, they only care about your grades and not your experience or anything else while on the other hand UTMB looks at your grades, GPA, test scores AND your work experience. I also heard through the grape vine a friend of mine had someone in her college lab class who got into UTMB and she said she did not do well on her extrance exam and her GPA was below average but she has work experience in the medical field and she got an interview at UTMB and got in. They told her as long as if she passes the classes she was currently taking at the moment then she'd get in for the spring semester. So I know every school is different, but I need advice. Anyone know anything about these schools or just any helpful tip?

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

I was a bit shocked to read that you're functioning in a 'nursing' capacity without a license until I saw the context clues.... you're in Tx, were we still have permissive licensure that allows physicians to delegate just about anything to anyone. I can understand how this would provide a great way to prepare for nursing school, but I sure wouldn't want to be one of those patients - LOL.

As far as your question... I think you may have been mislead about UTMB. In my experience, they are more competitive than either UT-H or TWU-H. Maybe it is due to the selection ratio, (# applicants versus # slots) but I know of several students who were turned away by UTMB and accepted to the Houston programs.

And - I wouldn't take your friend's claim very seriously. There's no such thing as a verbal acceptance to UTMB, or any other competitive program .... unless maybe it's from the Dean of Admissions. This is because they won't know how you stack up in terms of the entire applicant pool until they actually receive all those applications. If you're unlucky, the cohort may be chock full of over-achievers who've never had a single academic mis-step.

[yogi26]

Well like I said I'm not doing MAJOR things like nurses but I do take patients back and do little things here and there but not anything with injections or anything like that. I guess kind of like a medical assistant. As for what I said about the girl who got accepted at UTMB, she got an interview and she did get accepted.

[AliNajaCat]

Glad to hear that you don't really think you are acting like a nurse, because not. even. close. If and when you ever get into and graduate from a real nursing program, you will learn that the "able to do injections and things like that" is not what makes the difference between a 21-year-old with OJT in office stuff and a real RN. I think this may be true even in TX, lol.

[emily34812]

You need to contact these schools admissions departments yourself, with official transcripts and whatnot. The hearsay you're getting isn't particularly helpful for you. You need to meet with people from the school to see if you're what they're looking for, and if not, look for other options or for ways to improve your chances. I would encourage you also to shadow a nurse in a hospital or other setting so you see what they do. Taking vitals and doing medical assistant-type work is not all RNs do.