How competitive is entrance to NP school? CCRN or Med/surg cert

[42346_nurse_]

The deadline for application is October, I will complete my BSN that December, the term starts in Jan. I have 6 years experience, great letters of recommendation, and I have held an oncology certification, TNCC, chemo/biotherapy in the past. I let these go because I was not active in field. I now have ACLS/PALS, and curious which would look better, CCRN or Med/Surg certification for FNP application. I float between ICU and ICUSD, I have worked in MedSurg almost as much as I have ICU. My early school career was splotchy. Cs in A and P and lots of withdrawals, I made a D, I was really a poor student/shower upper then, I was a slacker! Nursing school saw some c's the first year. bs the second, even an A! Micro was a B. My BSN GPA is 3.4 currently. Hard classes ahead though. There is not a GRE requirement. The school is local to my work. So which certification would benefit me the most? Do I have a chance of getting in? In Jan? Ever? Thanks for reading all this!

[Corey Narry, MSN, RN, NP]

Without knowing which program you're applying to and their previous admission stats, it's impossible to give you a straight answer regarding your chances of getting admitted.

As an applicant with clinical experience at the bedside, you seem like someone who would fit well in transitioning to an advanced practice role such as an FNP. Grades are important for many program directors when admitting students. However, there are programs who evaluate applicants based on a variety of criteria and add points for each to come up with a final score in making a decision on who gets in. In many instances, low grades can be offset by clinical experience, good essay, recommendations, involvement in committtes and/or research, etc. The essay and the interview (if there's one) can be a good medium to explain why your undergrad GPA is not stellar. In short, it all depends on how this school you're interested in handles admissions and whether the number of applicants allow the school to be selective.

Certifiations can help as well but I doubt CCRN will mean a whole lot to a program director in an FNP track. It can matter if it's ACNP, PNP-AC, or NNP.