Does Your School Give Priority Registration to Certain People?

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I have become really frustrated with the fact that my nursing school gives priority registration to people in the military (even though they are most likely not active since they are in nursing school) and to people in the spirit club which is a 50% scholarship program that is only available to people who went to the local high schools of the area, which is somewhat odd because this is a BSN program. I qualify for neither of these categories. I am a second degree student who has 200+ credits yet I can never get the professors/clinical sites/schedule I want because people in the spirit club and military get to register two weeks before anyone else and take all of the good professors. Does anyone else's school have policies like this? I'm thinking of asking my school more about this and fighting it. I don't want to make waves but there is a mountain of difference between regular faculty and adjunct faculty at my school and I am so afraid of getting a subpar nursing education because so many people are getting an advantage ahead of me. Advice/Insight?

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

Sorry as a military veteran and wife of 20 year retiree from armed services, if this is true, I have no problem with it. Their service and records already show they are committed and hard-working and likely to succeed. I would want many of them in nursing, any day. I worked with them; I lived among them. I know what adversity they face in military life, whether active or reserve/guard or, as military spouses. Their lives are very hard and they must pull together to make it; these are often the best nurses who have these traits and abilities.......

Now in my case, No such preference was shown toward me in my very military town (1/2 of population was active military or family members). If it had, I would not have been rejected the first time I applied. So I got my 'ducks lined up' by finishing up all my prerequisite courses with the highest grades possible, and got good character references set up and then re-applied and made it in. It never occured me to worry what criteria or "preferences" may have been set up. I just made sure I did all I could myself to gain entry to nursing school. Find out EXACTLY what they are looking for, by asking them, and then do all these things, and more.

Just keep plugging away and try, try again.

Good luck to you.

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

PS : there is more than one way to enter nursing. IF this school is clearly not helping you, try another and you can always build your education later on....gaining what credentials you need to be competitive and well-rounded.

Best wishes.

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Instead of fighting a battle with the school over longstanding policies, you would be better off in using your energy to deal with your situation as it is or in finding a school where you are not faced with these facts every day you attend. My school did not have a preferential registration system but certain groups of students were obviously shown preferential treatment in class. It caused mild discomfort for me, but not to the point where I found it necessary to leave. If you are that put out by what is going on, then you would be more at ease at a school that does not employ these practices. You should spend your tuition dollar where you will feel comfortable.

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nomatter what the background, registration should be on an equal playing field. Not fair of the school to judge who would be a good student or not.

I would find another school!

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Specializes in Ante-Intra-Postpartum, Post Gyne.

At my JC, people that got priority registration were those with a disability, or those on financial aid. Their justification for people on financial aid to get priority registration was that people on financial aid have to take a certain # of units to get that financial aid and not any old class will do....I did not necessarily agree with this. The rest of registration went by unit #...if you have 200+ units you will get to sign up on Monday at 8pm, the guy with 75 units gets to sign up on Wednesday at 4pm, and the guy that just got into college gets the very last day...this is because people with more units have less units to graduate and therefore have less options (and time) than those with less units.

At the State college I am at now they give priority registration to those with disabilities. As far as I know of they do not give priority to those on financial aid. I am not sure about the military...they have their own program called Upward Bound. But what totally disturbs be is the fact that they give priority registration to athletes!! (all the rest of registration goes by # of units like I describe from my CJ)

You know, its all a matter of perception. I could argue that you should not get priority registration since this is your second degree, that you should have made a wise choice about what degree you wanted the first time around; and that those that are getting their first degree should have priority over you...not saying I believe this, just playing devils advocate here.

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At Austin Community College the more hours you have the earlier you can register. Fine with me.

Bo

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I have no problem with people with special needs and disabilities registering before me. And as a reponse to SmilingBlu Eyes I really respect and appreciate everything that people in the military have done for this country. I am so thankful and so grateful for their hard work and what they're going through in Iraq. I'm thinking about joining up once I graduate but I still believe that if you're in nursing school than nursing school should come first. If you don't have military service that conflicts with nursing school classes than why should you get priority over other people? Where does it stop? Should someone who has served in the Peace Corps wait in line behind someone in the military?

I am in the middle of my nursing education so I'm not about to go find another school. My school, like most nursing schools, has some really frustrating policies. Sometimes they don't like it when students make issues out of things and sometimes they welcome constructive criticism if you have a way to change things for the better. Call me crazy but I think when it comes to nursing school everyone, no matter what your background, should have an equal playing field. We have all worked our behinds off getting here, we've all gotten in, we should all be able to register at the same time and then whatever happens at least it was an equal shot for all.

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As a quick response to HeartOpenWide playing devils advocate I'm not trying to argue that I should get priority over anyone. My whole point is that no one should get priority over anyone. In fact I could argue that like most schools we should register according to who has the most credits which would benefit me since I have a lot of credits, but I don't think that's fair. I'm saying that we should all be able to register at the same time unless of course there is an illness or disability factor.

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

To answer a question you asked: It stops where the school decides to do so. As long as they follow equal opportunity laws, at least by all appearances, they can and will be arbitrary in the selection process and not much you can do about it. You may as well bang your head on a brick wall, then. If what you are saying is true, you may have a hard time getting in, unless there is more to the story.

It seemed things were not completely equal when I applied, from what I could tell, either. Every male applicant seemed to make it in, unless his grades were very poor. All the men that applied in the two years I tried, indeed were accepted. I felt it was unfair, but dealt with it and re-applied. I do understand, in part, your frustration. But again, there is not much you do except present yourself as the most-qualified applicant possible. That is all any of us can do.

Honestly and earnestly, I recommend you find another school or accept this policy and be patient. I do wish you the best.

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As a quick response to HeartOpenWide playing devils advocate I'm not trying to argue that I should get priority over anyone. My whole point is that no one should get priority over anyone. In fact I could argue that like most schools we should register according to who has the most credits which would benefit me since I have a lot of credits, but I don't think that's fair. I'm saying that we should all be able to register at the same time unless of course there is an illness or disability factor.

I disagree: Someone with one essential final nursing class to take could find the class full because someone with 3 sem hrs got the last open chair. The person with one class to go has shown they stick to the program whereas the new student may or may not even graduate. Making that person wait one semester to graduate ends up costing them tens of thousands of dollars in lost wages with that new job they missed by a semester.

Of course, our opinions don't matter since the college/university sets the policies.

Bo

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I don't think I'm being very clear. I'm in nursing school already. I'm talking about registering for next semester's classes not about getting accepted into nursing school. And there's always soemthing you can do. I can always talk to an advisor, ask the dean about it at our monthly lunch with the dean days, or I can request an appointment with our dean of students and ask her why the policy is this way. I just wrote to allnurses to see if other school were like mine. Regardless, I stand by my belief that unless you have a physical or mental disability no one should get to register for classes ahead of anyone else. Don't even get me started on people getting accepted over other people. SmilingBlu Eyes if you're trying to say that people in the military should be accepted into nursing schools over people who aren't in the military for no other reason than that they're in the military I have to say I couldn't disagree with you more.

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