GMU ABSN program 2017 applicants

U.S.A. Virginia

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Hello, everyone!

I am a prospective student for the GMU ABSN program for 2017. I am working on completing my A&P I and II before applying in January. I have already have a BA in Psychology from GMU. My overall GPA was not great due to an undiagnosed chronic illness that left me with many incompletes that I couldn't get done. But my last 50 or so credits were all As and I was on the Dean's List every semester. I don't know if it will help me at all to be an alumna or not. I am an older student (35 yrs old) and I have three little girls. My older two are already in elementary school and my youngest will eligible for Pre-K by the time the program starts if I'm accepted. I'm a little intimidated by the 1 year, intensive program. Anyone else thinking about applying for the same program? Any advice from those who have already started or completed it? Thanks!

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Specializes in Neuro ICU, SICU, MICU, Burn.

Hi Hope, I'm in the program now. I wouldn't stress your background too much, especially if your grades vastly improved. Your nursing pre reqs are going to mean the most overall anyways. If you're getting A's in A&P, that's a step in the right direction. Try to score as high as you can on your HESI because that will determine how well you'll do later on for NCLEX. I feel admissions takes a pretty holistic approach when it comes to admitting students into the program. I had a 3.4 GPA from my first degree (I didn't so hot in my first 2 years of college but shaped up later). All of my pre-reqs for the program were A's. I don't think being a GMU alumni makes a lot of difference truthfully. My HESI was a 90. I also encourage you really give your essay and video some thought - they really care about your presentation.

The program is extremely rigorous, there's no doubt about it, but there plenty of moms getting it done and doing a good job. The plus side is also the down side. You work your butt off for 11 months and you don't have much of a life in that time period BUT it's only 11 months and you have a BSN :). The struggle is still there for longer programs so I think it's worth pushing through it. You WILL feel helpless your first 6 weeks or so but then eventually everyone finds their groove, so to speak. It does get better :).

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Specializes in Oncology, OCN.

I'll be applying for Fall of 2017 and I'm 34 right now. Just finishing up my last pre-req right now, microbiology, and have scheduled my HESI exam for December. I finished by BS in Biology with a 3.3 GPA but have all A's in my pre-reqs right now, my Biostats class from my first degree counts towards the statistics pre-req which I have an A- in but not worried about grades. Just focusing the HESI exam and doing well on the essay and video now. Hopefully the topics will be posted soon, last time I checked it still said TBD.

Good luck to you.

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Is anyone taking their pre-reqs during the Spring 2017 semester? I'm planning to take 4 of the pre-reqs during the spring semester and still apply for the Fall 2017 cycle. Would this be a bad idea since everyone else would have taken all their pre-reqs before applying for the program? I'm just so afraid I might have to wait another year to apply...

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Specializes in Oncology, OCN.
Is anyone taking their pre-reqs during the Spring 2017 semester? I'm planning to take 4 of the pre-reqs during the spring semester and still apply for the Fall 2017 cycle. Would this be a bad idea since everyone else would have taken all their pre-reqs before applying for the program? I'm just so afraid I might have to wait another year to apply...

Somewhat depends on what those four classes are but its not really in your favor to have four pending classes. If more than one of them is A&P or micro then you aren't eligible actually. They need completed pre-reqs to evaluate you by. The recommendation when I attended the info session is to only have one pending pre-req max, better to have all classes completed.

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I just went to the info session yesterday and they said I could still take pre-reqs but didn't mention anything about pre-req max. Thank you for your input!

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Specializes in Oncology, OCN.
I just went to the info session yesterday and they said I could still take pre-reqs but didn't mention anything about pre-req max. Thank you for your input!

As long as you have completed 2 of the 3 science classes (A&P I/II, Micro) I believe you are eligible to apply. It's more an issue of they have 200-300 people applying for 50 spots. Those who have already completed all their pre-reqs look better on paper, there is more information to judge them by. So it's a similar situation to the minimum required GPA being 2.8 (or whatever it is) but the odds of actually getting admitted with a GPA that low are pretty slim. Absolutely go ahead and apply if you want I'm just warning you the odds are against you if you are missing 4 pre-reqs at the time of application. Good luck to you.

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Hi all, I currently hold a Bachelors degree in Communications and a Masters in Psychology, both from St. John's in NY. My GPA is pretty good at 3.7 and 3.5 respectively. I'm finishing this semesters pre-reqs at NVCC (A&P I, Nutrition and General Chem) and taking more next semester (A&P II, Micro). I'm planning on applying to GMU, as well as Marymount and some schools up in NYC.

My question is does it matter if I take Intro Microbiology or General Microbiology? Also, could you recommend any additional courses I should take? I can't seem to find Bioethics, which seems to be a requirement for many schools.

Thanks!

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Specializes in Neuro ICU, SICU, MICU, Burn.

Hi @ksmiley27. I don't believe it matters. I took intro to microbiology. I would just just be sure it has a lab associated with it. Also, I believe Bioethics is actually called Biomedical ethics at least at NVCC. They do offer it in a traditional classroom style or online (I took it online)..

Hope that helps!

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Specializes in Oncology, OCN.

Like Danishep said the micro class has to be 4 credits (with lab). The bioethics class at NVCC is in the philosophy department, available as an online course.

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Hi Hope! I will also be applying to Mason for the Fall 2017 program. I took the HESI yesterday and considering I just studied 6hrs the day before the exam, I was pretty happy with my 89%. Although, I really wish I had put more time into it to get a higher score. Have you taken the HESI exam yet? If not, I wish you the best of luck! I was seriously laughing when I was being prepped at the test center. They have security checks just like the airport! Crazy!

I am in a somewhat similar situation as you being a mom with kids. I have twin 2 year olds and a pretty good support system with my family living in the area. I have a B.A. in International Studies (3.2 GPA) and do not have any sort of medical background. I have two B's in the nursing pre-reqs and A's in the rest. I have finished all of the pre-req's for Mason but am taking extra for back-up universities.

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Specializes in Oncology, OCN.

Essay and video topics are finally posted. I can't decide if I dislike this essay topic more than last years or not, not a fan of either of them. This years topic I'm just struggling to figure out how to stretch it into a full essay response when my answer to the situation is really simple to me. Guess I'll have to dig deep into the why of my rational. Good luck everyone.

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