Competitiveness of MSN programs

Do you mean as far as getting into a program - or how MSN students act towards one another?

CRNA programs are extremely competitive. I am applying for an FNP program this Fall and I was told at an informational meeting that as long as you meet the requirements you will be admitted. Its best to contact each school that you are interested in and ask about their MSN admission stats.

I definitely must add that the above varies greatly school-to-school, especially for NP programs. Some schools have to be highly selective for their NP programs if they handle the clinical placements for you, since there may only be a set number of sites available for their students. Programs that allow you to find your own clinical sites - probably not so much. Also, the popularity of the program comes into play - I imagine the bigger name schools probably always have a lot more applicants than do smaller state schools - leading to more competition to get in. Just want to say, though, that it does not imply at all that the smaller state schools don't have top-notch MSN programs.

Thanks for all the responses. @Spacklehead I am talking about actually getting into a generic master's program. I was just thinking ahead. I have a friend who is taking this route after not getting in the BSN program at our school 2 yrs in a row and is about to graduate with a Health Science BS. I was just wondering was it a good idea and did she have a better chance.

To LadyEJ BSN, RN;4260586.

Would you mind to share what school told you that? I applied to South Alabama, I met all requirements; however, I did not admitted in summer , nor fall semester.

Thanks for all the responses. @Spacklehead I am talking about actually getting into a generic master's program. I was just thinking ahead. I have a friend who is taking this route after not getting in the BSN program at our school 2 yrs in a row and is about to graduate with a Health Science BS. I was just wondering was it a good idea and did she have a better chance.

FYI, you can't get a master's in nursing without an undergraduate degree in nursing. I believe there are some programs that you can do both BSN and MSN within the same program, but you can't have a master's in nursing without being a nurse. Nursing is not like other professions, where you just need a bachelor's degree in anything to get into a master's program.

Elkpark is 100% correct here.

You can find a list of the 65 Direct Entry MSN program at http://www.aacn.nche.edu/IDS/pdf/GENMAS.pdf. These programs enroll those with a BS/BS in another field directly into a MSN degree. Some of these programs generalist MSN, and others are specialty MSN tracks.

There are also a number of RN-MSN programs (enrolling someone with a Associate's Degree into a MSN program. Some of these confer a BSN degree along the way, but many do not award a BSN degree. A list of the 161 RN-MSN programs can be found at http://www.aacn.nche.edu/IDS/pdf/RNMSN.pdf.

Wow, thanks for the correction. I've never come across anyone with an MSN who wasn't a nurse. I can understand ADN to MSN programs, but it doesn't seem to make sense to me to be able to get a MSN without knowing anything about nursing. I can't imagine who would hire them, at least not hospitals. Maybe insurance companies or something? Y'all have made me curious now about these programs. Especially if the people applying to these programs are the ones who couldn't get into a BSN program.

They do become nurses. They do a crammed intense version of nursing school full-time in their first year, sit for the NCLEX, then do another year for the Master's piece. It looks pretty intense from what I have seen.

Sue, RN

It's is extremely competetive to get into CU-Denver FNP program. When asking their admission rate, they said "last spring 55 students applied and they only accepted 10" ....wish me luch in actually getting in for fall.

Does anyone know if admission to MSN programs (already having a BSN) are as competitive as direct entry (for those who are not already nurses) programs? I can tell from lurking on this site that admissions to the direct entry programs tend to be EXTREMELY competitve- very high GPA's/GRE's, from folks who often have bachelor's degrees in difficult majors or from very well known schools. I graduated with my BSN from a lesser known, smaller school, with a good (but not stellar) GPA, and again, good, but not stellar, GRE's. However, I do have 2 years of acute care nursing experience. Any thoughts???