How Competitive are Admissions UPMC Shadyside School of Nursing?

[RomanGrace]

How competetive are the admissions? I haven't taken the PSB yet, but have no doubt I will pass it. My main concern is my college transcripts. My GPA is above the 3.0 mark, but I have a few "F's" hanging around from 2 semesters I let go down the toilet a while back. The bad grades weren't at all do to inability with the material. I was working entirely too much and just went through a little "who cares" phase for a few months. Is there anyone out there that can relate? Has anyone out there been accepted with a "sketchy" college transcript? Thanks in advance for your replies!

[RomanGrace]

Wow, 2 days and no replies! With so many Shadyside threads I was sure I'd get a bite. Is this posted in the wrong area?

[audreyrasmusson]

I am in the process of applying to Shadyside. While I cannot answer your question in terms of Shadyside, I will say that people can overcome a bad period in their undergraduate education when applying for master's programs and even professional programs like law. It can be helpful to address these things head-on in your admissions essay. Perhaps one of your references has some knowledge of the mistakes you made and how you came back from them, learned from them, matured from them. Your admissions essay and your letters of recommendation should also emphasize any work, volunteer or personal experience you have had since your "bad time" that speaks to your commitment to the program you want to enter.

To give you a few tangible examples, I know a man who got all Fs one semester in an otherwise stellar undergraduate career in engineering. He was able to address this in his admissions essays. In addition, during the remaining semesters of his undergraduate education, he had begun working as a "lab grunt" who went on to impress his bosses and obtain good, solid scientific experience and the references that go with all of that. In the end, he was accepted into a Master's program in engineering at a prestigious school.

While I never had any Fs, I had a few very dismal semesters as an undergraduate. Like you, I did manage to keep my overall GPA over 3.0. A few years later, with some work experience under the belt that showed I was a "real grown up", I took the LSAT and did ridiculously well. I was accepted to a good law school. (And here I am, fifteen years later, leaving law for nursing, but that's another story!)

At any rate, if nursing is your dream and Shadyside doesn't work out, do some volunteer work in a hospital or work for a year as a Certified Nurse Aide, and reapply there as well as to other schools. A few Fs do not have to rule/ruin the rest of your life!

Good luck!