How many of you got into nursing school with the first try?

onesmartgirl · May 12, 2010

I got in my first try, to the Accelerated Masters program (CNL) at CSUDH. I targeted the program I wanted, it was the only program taking conditionals this year, and I worked my butt off to get in. I studied like a maniac to keep my grades up in the 2 years I spent getting my prerequisites at a tough community college (there are easy ones, but they know which ones they are), and ended up with about a 3.70 (the math was tough for me), have work experience that includes management and teaching, have a 3.85 on my previous BA, and wrote amazing essays from my heart following all the guidelines carefully. One of the conditions was to show I could live for 2 years without working, as we are not allowed to have jobs during the intensive accelerated program, and I had planned for this. I also did volunteer work in a unit of a hospital, working directly with nurses in patient care who later helped and recommended me. I am older, and worried that age might be a hindrance, but was told by others that most programs want some older students as we tend to be calming forces on the cohort. Maybe that was true, because I got in.

My advice is to want this more than you have ever wanted anything, focus all your energies on it. If you can't or won't, I suspect you won't succeed in this competitive academic market--or in the job hunt that follows.

TIP: Every program I talked with gave lots of weight to working CNA's. If you can take the training and get even part-time work while you prepare, that might be a real leg up for you.

Good Luck!

fullofenergy · May 12, 2010

Yes, I got into two schools on the first try. One was a private school with an Accelerated BSN to the MSN and the other was a local community college. I did not, however, get accepted to UCI program for genetic counseling or the Masters in Occupational Therapy at Loma Linda. I think it is because my undergraduate grades were only a little above 3.0, but when I took my prerequisites for nursing, I got all A's. It was different for me then. I take it as nursing might be the better fit for me. I know it is very hard to get in some of these programs. My advice is to diversify and to keep trying until you succeed.

StarryEyed, RN · May 19, 2010

I only applied to Samuel Merritt University's ABSN program and got in on my first try. I even applied way past the deadline (oops). My problem was that i was too scared to apply anywhere for fear of receiving a rejection letter. SMU (Sac campus) was the first one where I received very timely responses from admissions and was even able to talk on the phone w/admissions a few times before I finally send in my app. I sent it in because I felt that I had a chance.

I definitely advise people to apply to more than one place though. I dont' know what I would've done had I not been accepted. Deadlines for all the other schools for that coming term had already passed. On another note, I have two cousins who have more recently applied for nursing program for the next school year. One in socal, one in texas. Each I think applied to just the one and got accepted.