Hawaii Pacific University Level 1 acceptance

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Specializes in ED.

I found out yesterday I was accepted to the BSN program at Hawaii Pacific University (HPU). I would like to share the details about my journey and perhaps it can be of help!

About me: I have a BS in Microbiology and Biology and my GPA was a less than stellar 2.78 at NMSU. I earned those degrees about 10 years ago. Also, I took pre-nursing prerequisites at a community college in Virginia and received much better grades and had a 3.5 GPA (I took those within the last 4 years). I decided to hold off on applying because we were about to move (my husband is in the military). Also, I did earn my MPH and it didn't seem like HPU used it in their decision making. Although, I did use a snippet of my thesis for my writing portion when I applied to HPU as pre-nursing.

October 2013 I applied to HPU as a pre-nursing student and was accepted within a week of applying. Next, I took the TEAS test January 2014 and got a 84.7% which ranked me in the 95th percentile nationally and 89th for the program. My ATI academic preparedness level was categorized as "advanced". The National Mean was 64.3% and the Program Mean was 70.6%. I used ATI's online practice exams, ATI study guide book, and McGraw Hills TEAS V practice tests to prepare. The ATI online exams seemed to be the most helpful, yet using all of these books together helped overall. I spent about a month studying for the test. I took the ATI online practice exam at first to get a baseline for studying. It help me focus on my weaknesses.

HPU evaluates you once you are within a semester of finishing your prerequisite courses. After I had my transcripts evaluated, I only had one nursing prerequisite left - Economics. I am currently taking that online.

As part of the ranking process to determine who gets into the BSN program, HPU considers your overall GPA from all schools; your GPA for prerequisite science-based courses GPA; TEAS score; and how many credits you have taken at HPU. I do not know what their calculations for my GPAs were since I had transcripts from multiple schools. The minimum is 2.75 GPA. Also, I do not have any credits form HPU and am working on getting 3 credits from the Economics class.

As far as paying for my BSN, I fortunately am able to use the GI Bill. However, we will be out of pocket about $6K a year. The GI Bill pays $19K a year and HPU's BSN is $25K a year. I've been applying for scholarships and as a back up plan I did submit a FAFSA.

HPU does not expire science courses, which was a good thing, otherwise I'd be taking a whole lot more classes! I hope this information is helpful. Good luck!

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Specializes in L&D, infusion, urology.

Congratulations! I looked at HPU years ago, when I was planning to move out there. I hope the program goes well for you!

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Specializes in ED.

Thank you! Did you find another nursing school to attend instead of HPU?

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Specializes in L&D, infusion, urology.

Yes, I'm about to graduate from a university in California. There was a large time gap in between- my plans to move to HI fell through in 2007.

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Specializes in ED.

Congrats on graduating! What a relief I bet!

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Specializes in L&D, infusion, urology.

Thanks! Definitely a relief! :)

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Thank you for sharing your experience! I am currently a senior in high school and I'm graduating in June. I am all set to go to Hawaii Pacific as a pre-nursing student, however I am concerned about the direction in which the nursing program is headed. I have heard from current students that there is a new dean and that the program will be changing good and bad. I am not sure what those changes consist of. I'm really nervous about attending a school where I won't know if I'm in the nursing program until my 2nd year. I feel like if I don't get accepted into the nursing program, then I will have to start over. I did get accepted into the nursing program at Azusa Pacific and though its a phenomenal school, I really want a new adventure in a different state. It's hard making this choice between HPU and APU. Going to Hawaii would be a gamble for me. I'm a good student that's never had a C, but I'm considered about the system. How many pre-nursing students are there and how many actually get accepted into the program? What are the NCLEX pass rates for HPU? How was the teacher to student ratio in the nursing program? How were the professors and did you feel like they prepared you to be a nurse, not just to pass a test? Thank you!

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Specializes in ED.
Thank you for sharing your experience! I am currently a senior in high school and I'm graduating in June. I am all set to go to Hawaii Pacific as a pre-nursing student, however I am concerned about the direction in which the nursing program is headed. I have heard from current students that there is a new dean and that the program will be changing good and bad. I am not sure what those changes consist of. I'm really nervous about attending a school where I won't know if I'm in the nursing program until my 2nd year. I feel like if I don't get accepted into the nursing program, then I will have to start over. I did get accepted into the nursing program at Azusa Pacific and though its a phenomenal school, I really want a new adventure in a different state. It's hard making this choice between HPU and APU. Going to Hawaii would be a gamble for me. I'm a good student that's never had a C, but I'm considered about the system. How many pre-nursing students are there and how many actually get accepted into the program? What are the NCLEX pass rates for HPU? How was the teacher to student ratio in the nursing program? How were the professors and did you feel like they prepared you to be a nurse, not just to pass a test? Thank you!

Hbowden - first congrats! You have choices and that is always nice. As far where you want to attend, that is purely a personal choice and you'd have to consider many factors, i.e.: support network, costs, what you'd do in your spare time, traveling home during breaks, etc).

If you attend HPU for two years, it means you'd have two years of pre-reqs done towards a BS so don't think of it as a waste if it doesn't work out. So, let's say worse case scenario you do not get into the nursing program, you'd have two years of pre-reqs done and can stick with the BSN or change your major to another Bachelor's of Science. Or on the flip side, let's say you attend APU for a semester or two and decide you want to move back to HI, then you'd transfer into HPU as pre-nursing and go from there. Don't feel like you are stuck with whatever program you choose, but definitely continue to think long and hard about it.

Per the College of Nursing and Health Science Spring 2014 newsletter, "There are about 750 undergraduate nursing students (435 BSN majors and 315 in pre-nursing stages), almost 80 undergraduate health sciences along with 45 graduate students within the College of Nursing and Health Sciences this semester." When I registered for my fall level one classes, about 60 students registered for the same classes I did, but divided up into different sections (so about 30 per class). The labs/clinicals are going to be a lot smaller, approximately 10 students. I haven't started my nursing classes yet, so I can't speak about how it has prepared me. I can speak about the advisors and faculty - all of which have been helpful!

As far as the BSN program, I just moved to Hawaii last June and have heard mostly good things and some bad. Honestly, it is what you make of it. No program is perfect and just expect to work hard if nursing is what you really want to do.

NCLEX - passing is well over 90%. I attended a "Pre-Nursing" social in March and for the month of February it was over 90%. I cannot remember the exact percentage. At this social, current nursing students in all levels attended and they spoke about their experiences. All were good experiences and they all reiterated that you will be extremely busy studying and have no social life. But of course it is all worth it at the end.

I hope I've helped to answer some of your questions. Feel free to ask more if you have any! Again, congrats!!

Check out CNHS newsletter:

http://www.hpu.edu/CNHS/Documents/CNHS%20Notes%20Spring%202014.pdf

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Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.

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hello! doesn't everyone get into the nursing program at hpu? lol.

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I think so. It was confusing for me at first because my acceptance letter said something like "congratulations on your acceptance into the nursing program at HPU" which was kind of misleading. I wasn't accepted into the program, only as a pre-nursing major. I would have still had to applied once I finished their prereqs.

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I'm afraid not anymore. I've known people who got rejected from hpu's nursing program. I got into level 1 and there are only 58 of us from the hundreds of applicants that applied for spring 2015, including transfer students. The application process is totally different and a lot more strict.

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