How many CRNA schools did you apply to at a time per application cycle?
How many schools is reasonable to apply to? I am currently applying for two right now.
More about me... Overall BSN GPA: 3.75, Science GPA 3.4 (math classes not included). Certs: BLS, ACLS, PALS, CCRN, NIHSS. GRE 301, 4.0 writing.
1.5 years Level 1 MICU/SICU (preceptor and education classes here, no charge), 1 travel ICU contract, two months of ICU per diem work while getting married and moving for husband's military career. I am currently starting a full time job on a MICU/SICU with trauma, at a Level 2 teaching hospital.
I also have volunteer and shadow experience.
Where is the line between wanting to be selective on where you spend your time and money, but also not wanting to wait another year to apply again?
I got access for uptodate from my work. You could try to use you RN college email to sign up for it for free. Just a guess though.
I just downloaded headspace looks great. Thank you.
It really isn't hard to self direct interviews. Most the time they will ask an open ended question that you can take off with on a topic you are comfortable with. That being said study the conditions you see most and become an expert on. Instead of knowing a little to moderate amount on a lot of conditions. After all, you want to stand out not blend in and being an expert on a handful of conditions can be great to accomplish this. Most experienced ICU nurses know a moderate amount on most conditions. If worse comes to worse and someone is really pushing you on something you are not an expert on then simply say... I do not see a lot of that where I work. That generally is not looked down upon since most ICU nurses work in specialized ICUs and therefore don't see everything.
I got access for uptodate from my work. You could try to use you RN college email to sign up for it for free. Just a guess though.
I just downloaded headspace looks great. Thank you.
It really isn't hard to self direct interviews. Most the time they will ask an open ended question that you can take off with on a topic you are comfortable with. That being said study the conditions you see most and become an expert on. Instead of knowing a little to moderate amount on a lot of conditions. After all, you want to stand out not blend in and being an expert on a handful of conditions can be great to accomplish this. Most experienced ICU nurses know a moderate amount on most conditions. If worse comes to worse and someone is really pushing you on something you are not an expert on then simply say... I do not see a lot of that where I work. That generally is not looked down upon since most ICU nurses work in specialized ICUs and therefore don't see everything.
I will have to try the uptodate subscription and see if that works! That'd be awesome.
This is my first year applying and I’m casting a wide net. I don’t mind moving so that helps. I’ve applied to 7 schools total. My stats are good, but so are everyone else’s. Hopefully 7 schools is enough to get me in somewhere ??♀️
This is what I did as well. I was offered admission at the first place I interviewed, so I put my deposit down. I chose to accept the offer to interview at my dream school, but at least I know I'm in somewhere while I wait for the dream school to let me know if they want me or not.
I didn't want to wait a whole extra year to apply because I saw it happen to a few people in my unit in previous years. They only apply to 1-3 schools and be denied admission to everywhere they interviewed.
year 2-only two (interviewed at 1-waitlisted, didn't get in)
year 3-six. letters of recommendation were hard. herding cats is accurate. I started doing false deadlines ahead of when actual deadlines were--that helped. Cast that wide net early. I wish I would have done six on year 2.
This is my first year applying and I’m casting a wide net to 4 places. By all the dead lines and start of programs I’ll have over 1 year of experience. My only high point is I already Have a MSN so my last 60 hrs GPA is a 3.91. I’m focusing on schools with last 60 hours required for my net.
This was my first year applying and I got accepted into a school! I would say go for it and all they can say is you need more experience or you need to improve this or you need to improve that. A lot depends on how you present yourself in thee interview. The schools I applied for, I researched them to see their interview styles and made study guides for the interviews. My stats are overall GPA of 3.51, nursing GPA 3.2, GRE 290 writing 4.0, 2 years in a level 2 trauma icu, I failed my pharm class in my first semester of nursing school and also received 2 C's that semester, and I have a C in microbiology. I have my CCRN, TCRN, TNCC, and PALS. My advice is if you are weak in some areas, make yourself stronger in others. Apply to as many schools as you want, research them and make sure it is where you want to go, but the more experience with interviews the better! Good luck! Ps I have a post on everything I did to study along with a study guide that I made for an interview.
This was my first year applying and I got accepted into a school! I would say go for it and all they can say is you need more experience or you need to improve this or you need to improve that. A lot depends on how you present yourself in thee interview. The schools I applied for, I researched them to see their interview styles and made study guides for the interviews. My stats are overall GPA of 3.51, nursing GPA 3.2, GRE 290 writing 4.0, 2 years in a level 2 trauma icu, I failed my pharm class in my first semester of nursing school and also received 2 C's that semester, and I have a C in microbiology. I have my CCRN, TCRN, TNCC, and PALS. My advice is if you are weak in some areas, make yourself stronger in others. Apply to as many schools as you want, research them and make sure it is where you want to go, but the more experience with interviews the better! Good luck! Ps I have a post on everything I did to study along with a study guide that I made for an interview.
Thanks so much! I definitely already have creeped on this post and saved the books to my amazon wishlist! ?
Applied to 9 schools all over. My stats aren’t great but not bad. Kind of shows that you can’t let people tell you if you’re good enough or not, You have to know that you are good enough. I Got interviews at 4 so far and accepted to 4. I was denied 2 interviews and waiting on the rest but I’ve decided already!
I may be a bit of an outlier, but I decided which school I was going to apply to, and only applied to that one. I found the school that was right in all the ways: price, distance, clinical sites, and pass rate. I then focused 100% of my efforts there. It helped that I had gone to undergrad there and had some insight on the culture of the school, as well as had a reference from an (undergrad) program director. I focused my personal statement on why I wanted to go to THAT school. in the interview I focused on how I loved that school, and was proud of my undergrad education.
I think that helped quite a bit. I had a plan if I didn’t get in which involved six applications next year. But I was also honestly worried I would get into another more expensive program and not my first choice, and then would just be like “I got in let’s go”. Which wouldn’t have been the best long term situation for me.
CCRNRCIS, BSN, RN
38 Posts
Cast your net wide. You’re going against the best of the best...on paper.