CRNA School (UAB and Samford)

[RNdiscipulus]

I will be finishing my ADN shortly and have managed to keep a 3.5 GPA in my nursing classes thus far. I am planning to attend JSU RN to BSN mobility program as I hear it is very informative. I have a friend there now that said its a breeze to make A's as long as you put your time in, he made A's the first semester. I have a science GPA of 4.0. I plan to eventually apply to UAB and Samford's CRNA schools after my BSN completion. The GRE wasn't that great for me as I scored a 1040. Worst case scenario if I make mostly B's finishing out my BSN I will maintain about a 3.4 in my last 60 hours GPA, 4.0 in my sciences, and a combined of about 3.65-3.7. I should be able to do better though, hopefully. At the time of application due dates I hope to have around 1 years experience working in the ICU. Is there anything that I could be doing in the mean time besides keeping my grades up to better my chances at CRNA school? If I can stay on this track should I be competitive for UAB and Samford? Just looking for a little direction here...haha...thanks everyone.

[KCRN79]

Make sure you get an ICU job where you will work with invasive lines, hemodynamic monitoring, and drips. Having your CCRN certification is beneficial. It's also good to shadow a CRNA before applying to show the panel that you have seen first hand what the job entails. I was asked about my shadow experience in all of my interviews. I don't know much about Samford's program (I didn't apply there), but I will be starting UAB this fall. Try to do as well as you can in nursing school... the higher your GPA the better. You could try the GRE again to see if you get a higher score. Every school has a minimum GRE score, but many of the applicants have much higher than the minimum. Hope some of this info. helps. Good luck to you!

[RNdiscipulus]

I appreciate the info!...I have a good friend who is going to help me get on SICU. I hear they like that experience. I will shadow because I do have the opportunity. I am also volunteering with an anesthesiologist and a family practice MD. Do you happen to know what the average stats (gpa,gre, etc.) are for people accepted at UAB? Thanks again!