chances of getting in?

rainkissedleaves · Sep 26, 2012

What is your pre-req GPA?

hopefulnurse24 · Sep 26, 2012

What schools are you applying to? That's very important, also...

phieud · Sep 26, 2012

my pre-req gpa is a 3.4

I'm applying to:

1) case western reserve university

2) western university

3) university of hawaii manoa

4) thomas jefferson university

5) boston college

6) ohio state university

7) university of illinois chicago

8) university of massachusetts medical school

9) seattle university

10) Vanderbilt University

If you guys think my statistics is good enough, then i would like to apply to less schools to save money. Also, I don't know if this helps, but I'm a 23 y.o. male. I heard male nurses get preference? I just recently switched from pre-PA to pre-nursing after I did some shadowing, so I don't know very much about the admission process for nursing programs.

hopefulnurse24 · Sep 26, 2012

What specialty are you interested in? Columbia, NYU, and Emory all have programs, also. It's hard to say what your exact chances are, but there are going to be people with overall GPAs of 3.5 and above, with 4.0 prereq GPAs, so it's important to keep that in mind...

If you're looking for a direct comparison of stats... my overall GPA is around 3.7, and my prereq GPA is about the same (I retook the class, so it honestly depends how the school factors that into GPA calculation... A few schools I'm applying to have told me that they only take the higher grade into consideration). I have a lot volunteer experience and leadership positions. I too, was pre-PA, until I fell in love with pediatric critical care. I am applying to 7 schools (Marquette, Duke ABSN, Northeastern, Johns Hopkins, NYU, UPenn, and a public school ABSN program at USF).

I was applying to many other programs, until I sat down and thought about places where I would really want to go to school, and also, where my exact specialty is offered. The issue is that majority of these direct entry MSN programs require you to pick your specialty during the admissions process, and not every specialty is offered at every school. This also requires you to be pretty certain of the field you want to work in when you are done with school.

rainkissedleaves · Sep 27, 2012

It is very important to know the average pre-req, overall gpa and gre scores of the schools you are applying to. This helps you distinguish between the schools that are way above your reach (for instance, for me its Yale) and for schools that you have a shot at. There are certain schools however that do look at your last 60 sem units/90 quarter units instead of overall gpa.

Essays and quality recommendations are equally important!

But the most important thing is to be positive. Your gpa is just a number that unfortunately does count towards your application. But there is no value to the passion and drive that you have towards the health field. So don't let your statistics worry you.

If I were you, I would focus on:

1) Studying long and hard for the GRE. Make that your focus!

2) Obviously, make sure to get stellar recommendations

3) ESSAY! Make it you! Make it outstanding! Revise!

4) If you can- intern a nurse practitioner and gain more knowledge towards the area of specialty that you're applying for! :)

Good luck! If you would like to know my stats- PM me! :)

phieud · Sep 28, 2012

Is there a list of the schools and their average gpa's? I can only find it on a few schools.

hopefulnurse24 · Sep 28, 2012

The best way to find out is to contact each individual school by phone. That's the best way to get ahold of all of the schools.

rainkissedleaves · Sep 30, 2012

Yeah, most schools won't list their last cohort's average GPA. I agree with hopefulnurse24; you should contact an admissions director/ adviser to get the most accurate answer :) Sometimes schools offer virtual discussions or an on campus event about the logistics of the direct entry program. You can get a ton of useful information from there as well!