How I got into CRNA school.

melch79 · Jan 30, 2014

Wow, Awesome to hear your story.

I just became interested in nursing and I am taking the nursing pre-reqs right now. My sister who is becoming a CRNA has been pointing me into this direction and it sounds really cool. After peaking my interest, I changed my major from an intel analyst to the BSN.

I just left my previous job as a defense contractor working for the NSA, as an intel analyst for the Predator mission. I have absolutely no medical experience except that I was certified as a combat life saver in the Army before my last deployment.

Since starting my research and reading as much as I can about nursing programs, careers and specialties, you gave the most candid account of the process. Thank you, because the whole CRNA process was starting to seem a little daunting.

Powertrip · Jan 30, 2014

Thank you melch, and yes it is daunting. It is something you will have to devote some time and effort to, but in the end it will all be worth it. Good luck in your endeavors.

icanrn · Jan 30, 2014

Hi powertripccrn,

how much ICU experience did you got before starting the program? thanks

Powertrip · Jan 30, 2014

Hi powertripccrn how much ICU experience did you got before starting the program? thanks[/quote']
I had 2 years of experience when I applied.

Ultraposh · Jan 30, 2014

Hii. Love your post. I have a few:

1. What orgaizations did you join? Which didn't you join but would recommend?

2.What schools did you get accepted and which did you choose to attend?

3. What is it about CRNA school that makes SOME CRNA's cocky/arrogant/I'm better than thou you simple LPN?

I l o v e wtbcrna t o o!

Powertrip · Jan 30, 2014

Hii. Love your post. I have a few: 1. What orgaizations did you join? Which didn't you join but would recommend? 2.What schools did you get accepted and which did you choose to attend? 3. What is it about CRNA school that makes SOME CRNA's cocky/arrogant/I'm better than thou you simple LPN? I l o v e wtbcrna t o o!

1. I became a member of both the ENA ( emergency nurses association) and the AACN ( American association of critical care nurses). 2. I got into UAB, Chattanooga, Union, and MT. I chose to attend Union after doing research into their pass rate on boards, the students satisfaction level with the school work and professors, and the size of the class ( I did not want to be just a number). 3. I cannot speak to this, as it would require me to understand those who are like this. I can say that getting into CRNA school takes a lot of effort, and you do gain a feeling of pride when you get in. If you are of certain personality types, you could get boastful about it and it can make you "cocky". Once again, that is an educated observation, not proven fact. I have met RN's, LPN's, and just people in general with "cocky" attitudes. Just ignore it and push on to your goal.

mh0712, MSN, RN · Jan 31, 2014

So I see a lot of people that have been posting about getting into CRNA school and a lot of the posts have a hopeless feel to them. I am here to tell you this is not an impossible task and would love to boost your confidence a little. So a little about me. (I made it into a TL;DR, you can skip the quotations and not miss the point) "I was in school for four years to get a BS in biology with the hope of becoming a dentist. It never even crossed my mind that I may not like being a dentist, until in my senior year I shadowed one. When I realized this was not something I wanted to do, I was lost. My grades started to plummet, as I thought to myself I was doing this for nothing. I thought about other careers in the medical field, but could not find one appealing to me. I finally started looking to others for help and advice. I found my calling after talking to a man that was the biochem professor for the CRNA program at the university I was attending. He told me about the job and I got somewhat interested so I did research, lots of research. I found that it was going to take a lot of work to get into CRNA school if that was what I decided to do, so I needed to make sure it was what wanted. I started calling around to see if I could shadow as a college student, and after talking to 8 hospitals, only 1 was willing to help me out (liability reasons). So long story short I shadowed the CRNA for 12 hrs and fell in love with the career." Knowing what I needed to do to get into CRNA school came next, I was like everyone else here. I would post asking about is my GPA good enough, is this class worth more, how long do I need to be in ICU. I would ask advice on writing my letters, getting recommendations, and retaking classes. To be honest, WTBcrna has helped me a lot here, and he will never know how appreciated he is. Anyways, I want to let you know that my GPA was barely 3.0 when I was ready to apply, that the GRE was something that was not the easiest for me (I took it more than once, having to leave the first time due just to me being so nervous), and that I was so unsure of myself that I thought that I would never get in anywhere. Moving to the present day, I have been accepted into 4/5 schools that I applied to and I had to choose where to go. So what did I do? I worked, and I worked hard. I retook classes (A&P 1, A&P 2, microbiology), retook the GRE (after walking out due to nerves), earned CCRN and CMC, joined organizations, became a leader in the workplace (charge nurse, unit council, helping with fund raising), spoke with CRNA schools in person and on the phone. talked with students, and researched all the schools I might want to attend. It was a lot of hard work, but I did it in 2 years, and it DID pay off!!!! What I want you to take away from this is that it is not as impossible as you might think to get into CRNA, but do not think that sitting down and doing nothing is going to get you there. You may have to work harder than you have in a long time, and push yourself, but you CAN do it. It will take sacrifice, even if you are a 4.0 student. So what I am going to do is leave this open to questions, I do not mind answering them, but they may take me some time to get to all of them. I will quote you when I answer.[/quote']
Hey I just wanted to say congratulations! I'm so happy to hear a good success story. There is nothing like getting into school and the relief you have of knowing that the only hung left to do is pass. Yes it will be hard, demanding, and tiring- yet you are in and that was a good part of the battle. When I got accepted it was like a weight off my shoulder! It still feels surreal to me. So happy for you and hope you continue to be successful.

Powertrip · Jan 31, 2014

Thank you very much mh. I look forward to school and feel I will enjoy the challenge.

UABsleeperSRNA · Feb 1, 2014

Congrats PowertripCCRN on getting in! I'm a second semester SRNA student at UAB and and i didn't have my CCRN but i did have a pretty good GPA and a ton of drive! I will say that one of the biggest influences on one getting into a CRNA school is having a great essay of why you want to be a CRNA and when you get an interview make sure you show them your drive and passion for the profession how hard you will dedicate yourself to achieving your life long goal! that is something they really look for.. Also i would like to add that i applied to about 5 different schools on my second year out of school and didn't get into the first school i interviewed and when i asked why they said i didn't show enough confidence.. so i will say that when you interview be sure to be a little bit cocky not obnoxious but maybe tell them stories about patients where you stood up to the doctor in a situation for your patient.. in order to prove to them that you can stand up for yourself in the OR when the occasion arrises!! again good luck everyone! and great post PowertripCCRN school is tough but if you are like me and love a challenge and to learn you will do fine!!

msxdbsk · Feb 2, 2014

Thanks for the post!!!!

I'm currently a nursing student graduating this May and am determined to be a CRNA.

I'm trying to do the best I can in my nursing courses so far and have a GPA of ~3.6/7. I am doing my Senior Practicum at ICU and am planning to apply to as many ICU as possible so I can get a job as a GN in ICU and apply in 1 or 2 years to CRNA school.

What is a Good GPA and what can I do right now to prepare myself to raise my chance of acceptance in to CRNA school?? Thanks so much! !

Powertrip · Feb 5, 2014

Thanks for the post!!!!
I'm currently a nursing student graduating this May and am determined to be a CRNA.
I'm trying to do the best I can in my nursing courses so far and have a GPA of ~3.6/7. I am doing my Senior Practicum at ICU and am planning to apply to as many ICU as possible so I can get a job as a GN in ICU and apply in 1 or 2 years to CRNA school.
What is a Good GPA and what can I do right now to prepare myself to raise my chance of acceptance in to CRNA school?? Thanks so much! !

What is considered a competitive GPA at the schools I applied to was 3.5 to 3.7, but you can get in as long as you had a 3.0 and things to compensate (let’s face it, some people were party-goers when they first started college). You do have to realize that the school you apply to will consider your GPA from multiple angles. I will say the standard is that they look at your overall GPA vs your last 60hrs vs your science GPA.Each school's requirements are different and to know what angles they will look at, you will have to do research into what school you want to apply to. I would highly suggest this site ( CRNA Schools )when looking for schools in your area. This site helped me to make some decisions I needed to make. As for ways to increase your chances of getting in, try to get that job in ICU right out of school if you can. Getting into an ICU right away will get you in the critical thinking mindset and also get that ICU requirement you need to apply to CRNA school out of the way. If your program was not a BSN program, you can get your BSN online as you are working. Start studying for the GRE right away as it has NOTHING to do with nursing care or knowledge. Take this after studying for 2-3 months and you feel comfortable. Most schools want you to make 300 or better on this. You can take it multiple times, but it is expensive. (Some will tell you to concentrate on your nursing care and that is important, but I could multi-task and concentrated on work at work, and getting into CRNA school at home)

After you get all the REQUIRED things out of the way it is time to do some things to beef up your Curriculum Vitae (which you should also being working on right now and add things as you go). I would begin by joining the ENA and/or the AACN (if you chose just one, go with the AACN). This shows that you are passionate about your job and shows motivation to improve your practice. It also denotes a sort of professionalism. Also, even though it is not required, it will be a good idea to get a CCRN book and study it when you are done taking the GRE. This will not only help you with the test, but with your ICU nursing knowledge as a whole. I was amazed how much I learned (Believe me it shows in your practice) and may have been the reason I got promoted to charge nurse so quickly. Once you are getting 80 and higher consistently on the practice tests and you have enough ICU hours to take the CCRN, do it. After gaining your CCRN, you can also add CMC to the end of it later if you want to look even better. The CMC is much easier than the CCRN and the study material is more concentrated on one field. These two titles speak to the kind of person you are.

Finally, do easy things that show your motivation. Some courses will be required for you to work in an ICU such as ACLS and BLS, but go above and beyond. Get your PALS, get TNCC, join committees at your hospital. Just get involved. Don’t be scared to teach classes when you get enough knowledge to do so. Make sure you also include on you curriculum vitae all the honors you have received. There are many things that you can do here, just make sure that you show that you are trying to be a leader in the work place.

In the end there is one thing to remember, you are nothing but a piece of paper on a desk when you send in an application. You really need to stand out above the other papers. The schools I got into had over 300 people apply to each one, and every school selected about 50 to interview. They then slecected 20-24 for the class. Get the odds in your favor by going the extra mile. Also if you don’t get in, don’t get discouraged. Find out where your weakness was, and improve. Remember it is not hopeless, and keep going.