Direct Entry MSN programs for non-nurses?

[hamx93]

Hello, all. I am currently 24 with a Bachelors in Kinesiology (finishing with a GPA of 3.3), and have been working as an Advanced EMT for a 911 service in a busy urban area for the past year. Since early college, it has always been my goal to become a PA or NP. The idea of taking a one year ABSN program and then continuing directly into nurse practitioner is starting to sound more appealing; but admittedly, I do not know much of the requirements of that route. I'm not sure what my chances of getting into NP would be with my kind of low GPA. I currently need to take Microbiology, and may need to take statistics depending on whether my existing class transfers. I have primarily B's and A's in my sciences, with a bit of a struggle in chemistry that brought my GPA down from a 3.5.

So, my question is; what are my chances of getting into a good MSN direct entry program, with the assumption that I can pull out a decent GRE score? Will applying to programs with still needing a prerequisite hurt my chances? Will 1-2 years of 911 experience be of any significance to these schools? I know my GPA is probably poor in comparison to the competition out there.

So far, the programs I have looked into are Vanderbilt and Emory (which I live next to). Obviously, I am open to any program I can be accepted into. If ya'll have any suggestions, I am open! P.s. I apologize if this topic has been beaten to death.

[FutureNurseInfo]

Hi,

from my experience MDE programs, at least the first phase, produce RN generalists. This means you will become RN only without specialization. Some MDE programs do, however, have a second phase where you can continue on to obtain your NP/Specialty. However, from what I heard hospitals do not wish to hire MSN RN generalists due to the fact the hospitals will have to pay them more (since they have MSN). Obviously, it is a case by case basis, but this is what I was told by a recruiter at Columbia University SON regarding MDE.