CRNA program RE-applicants 2021 start

Those accepted to multiple programs, please notify programs ASAP if you aren’t attending. There are highly qualified candidates on the waiting lists and they need a reasonable amount of time to prepare. It’s best for the profession to fill all seats and a real shame if a seat goes unfilled because someone held the seat and then didn’t attend.

I’m reapplying! I’m retaking a bunch of sciences courses (bye, money!) to hopefully make me stand out more. My top school I think will require me to re-write my essays and I’ll change around a couple of my recs as well.

I have nearly 7 years in the NICU, my CCRN, and a 312 on the GRE. Crossing my fingers for a successful 2020 for us!

Jeez. So i applied to 3 schools. Rejected. Have almost 2 years in the CVICU, CCRN, 3.7 gpa but have 1 C... retaking gen chem. Just took the GRE and the CMC, and I am going to rewrite my resume and personal statement. What else are you guys doing to reapply? And what schools did you apply to?

I was an applicant that didn’t get in last year and just got accepted this year!

Got 0 interviews last year and got an interview at every school but one this time.
Here’s what I did:

I took a bunch of classes my hospital offered and added each one to my resume such as ventilator classes, critical care courses and so forth. Took at least 2 a month.

Went to different conferences and attended the AANA conference last year. (That one really stuck out to almost every place according to the panels I interviewed with).

Became a volunteer EMT in a rural community, joined a committee, and obtained My ATCN cert by driving to another state (10 hour drive), FCCS cert. CCRN, took one grad level course and became a preceptor.

Doing something Different every month seemed to have worked despite my lower GPA!

I highly recommend reading watchful care and becoming super familiar with political points in the CRNA world, what they do, barriers to practice and your thoughts on it. Read everything you can about them, forums, AANA website, read it all and know it inside and out.

I'm a good essay writer, so let me know if you want me to take a look at any personal statements.

Alwayslearning, how long have you worked in ICU? The difference between 1 and 2 years is huge to programs, and going from 2 to 3 is significant.

You have a lot of good advice but I’ll give a different perspective. I would caution against spending a lot of time/money on conferences/classes. Those offered by your unit are great, and reading about the profession is outstanding. Also work as much as possible and know the pharmacology and physiology of your patients inside and out. Save money for the program.

Worked for 2 years when I got in, applied At 1 year and 6months or so.

i agree, good advice. Know your patients inside and out but I’ve only had one interview ask me about that which wasn’t bad.

I didn’t spend much money on conferences and classes. Hospital covered the grad class and most conferences were free/super cheap besides the driving and the AANA conference.

The extra year of experience is the most likely reason for your success the second time around. Very few programs will accept less than 2 years.

I think it contributed but from knowing people that got in after applying with less than 1 year (my mother included) makes me believe And hope it was more than just that lol

On 12/23/2019 at 8:00 AM, loveanesthesia said:

The extra year of experience is the most likely reason for your success the second time around. Very few programs will accept less than 2 years.

I was about 1 year and 8 months when applied this year and a program director from one of the schools told me I needed a solid 2 years experience but she’ll save my application and consider me for next cohort.

Best thing you can do is take a few DNP courses such as advanced patho, advanced pharm, role of the APN etc. these are core classes for all DNP's that grant NP or CRNA degrees. By taking these graduate level courses you will demonstrate your ability to succeed in grad level courses and you will be able to transfer these courses in (most schools allow 2-3 courses max to transfer in). The other huge benefit is since these are core classes and not anesthesia specific you will have a lighter load than your classmates when you do get in and trust me any way that you can make it easier on yourself will help tremendously. Most schools will allow you to enroll in these courses if you claim NP as your major...no big deal since you already know you are only doing that to transfer them in when you are accepted to CRNA school.

I'm also struggling with this.

BSN GPA is 3.75, but my undergrad science is 2.93 because my transcript is tainted with a D in org chem (B in the lab!) because I was 19 and decided to not to go to class after relationship drama happened. I've retaken gen chem I, II and Bio I to turn my B's into A's to help counteract the organic chem class. The other reason is because, if I do want to take organic, I won't be going in super cold.

I've been working in SICU for about a year and a half. I have a research fellowship, I'm involved in a lot of committees... I have at least 4-5 people look over my essays for my schools each time. Passed my CCRN in October, but I haven't taken the GRE yet since it wasn't necessary for 2/3 of the Philly schools. I volunteer my OT in CTICU, Neuro and MICU.

Got rejected in 2018, and it sounds like I won't get an interview from Jefferson this year as well, waiting to hear back from Penn. I was trying to move back home, but everyone keeps telling me that my biggest flaw is that I'm stubbornly trying to stay in one city. My only real plan is to take the GRE and to retake organic chem this year, and maybe expand my search.