Howdy! UT Austin upper division hopefuls?

HorseHey · Jul 4, 2011

Bump. Is there really no one on here attending UT or a UT Austin Upper division hopeful?

livi66 · Jul 5, 2011

I am! After searching for over a year, I have not run into many UT nursing students at all on here. I am new on here so it could be that I am not searching right.

Anyways, so I have just got accepted to UT's pre-nursing program for fall 2011. I transferred from ACC with 48 hours. If you have any questions or anything at all, feel free to ask. :) Best of luck to you and it is nice to see another potential UT nursing student on here.

HorseHey · Jul 5, 2011

Omg hello! I thought I was all alone! Well I am happy you responded. I have a theory on the small number of UT hopefuls - I think most ppl prefer the ACC ADN bc it is cheaper, and still a very good program. You can get your BSN later, but with less money up front, after you have a job skill (and hopefully a job!)that may help you pay for your later education. I do have a few questions :) Are you taking only the required courses at UT this semester before transferring to upper division? Also, are you volunteering anywhere? I really would love to know what your UT classmates are like, activities and stats-wise, but I'm sure they are tight lipped about personal info since it is so competitive. You'll be in the upper division program for about a year before I get there so I may have to ask you a few more things! Thanks in advance!

livi66 · Jul 5, 2011

Yes, that is so true about ppl wanting to just go for their ADN degree. When I attended UT orientation a couple weeks ago, there were only about 25 of us there for the nursing school compared to hundreds there for other schools within UT. Personally, I just want to get my BSN so I can get into a CRNA program down the road.

Actually, I still have quite a bit of pre-reqs to take at UT in the lower division. Have you attended any info sessions for the nursing school there? (You can find info on UT's SON website) When I had attended that session, they stressed that they wanted transfer students to take the hard science classes there at UT to increase their chances of getting into the upper division. So, I took that advice and saved all my sciences till I got to UT except for anatomy. By doing that, it added on a extra semester of pre-reqs but that is ok if that will improve my chances for the upper division. Now I still have all this next year and fall 2012 to take pre-reqs before I can apply to the upper division.

As for volunteering, I volunteered at Dells Children for about 2 months last summer. I have been trying to get back in there but it is taking a long time to hear back from the volunteer coordinator. She told me they have a lot of ppl wanting to volunteer there for the summer. So now I am going to see if I can volunteer at this free clinic in Round Rock while I am waiting to hear back from Dells.

I did meet a couple students that had taken all the pre-reqs except for the required ones but I have no idea what their stats were. I know one girl said she had worked in a doctor's office but hated the sight of blood. LOL

So, I would say just to keep your GPA as high as possible and get some volunteer hours in and you will be fine to transfer.

HorseHey · Jul 5, 2011

Well good luck to your blood fearing classmate. I saw the info sessions on the calender on the SON site, but I was thinking it was too early in the process for me to attend. Thank you for suggesting that, because it makes sense that there may be information I need to plan efficiently. I hope the Dell coordinator gets back to you soon, and good idea about the clinic in RR.

I'm in the same boat with graduate plans- most certainly research (also a narrow and hard to find thread on here) and very possibly nurse practitioner. I'll be sure to keep you posted!

HorseHey · Jul 5, 2011

I'm sorry- I never said congrats! I am very excited for you :)

livi66 · Jul 5, 2011

Yea, You should def sign up for one of those information sessions. It is never too early to be prepared. That is great that you want to go beyond a BSN degree. That is a BIG plus at UT! Thank you so much for the congrats. Good luck to you and keep me updated!

annbananz · Aug 12, 2011

Hey there HorseHey!

I'm currently in the same boat as you. I really had my eyes set on going to ACC's ADN program (finished all co- and pre-reqs, took the HESI and applied for Spring 2012) but I'm not so sure I'll get in the first time around since there has been a shortage in the staff for ACC's ADN Program (I believe they only accepted 108 students for Fall 2011 instead of the usual 140-150 which will push me back to Fall 2012 if I'm lucky). I wanted to go through ACC's program and then do an ADN-BSN bridge right after. But now since it looks like I won't be getting in to ACC's program till the Fall I'm looking at other schools like UT Austin or Texas State.

I was wondering if you'd be able to share the stats on UT's admissions to the upper division sequence. I always heard from other classmates that people with a 4.0 GPA still don't get in so that kind of crushed my dreams. Now maybe there maybe a possibility since you stated that it doesn't seem unrealistic.

Any help you can provide will be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

annbananz · Aug 12, 2011

Hey there livi66!

Congratulations on your acceptance to UT!

How was the process of applying to UT? I've been on the website and I know you have to apply to UT's pre-nursing program first, get accepted, and finish out UT's pre-reqs before you can apply to the upper division sequence. I was trying to see when the deadline is to apply for their Spring 2012 pre-nursing program but I can't seem to find it. It's OK though....I'll give them a call tomorrow and find out.

Also, if you don't mind me asking, what was your GPA when you applied? I really want to attend a nursing info session but the one that is coming up is only for UT students

I'm currently attending ACC to finish out my core classes (history, government, art, and lit) and I've already completed all my science courses at ACC so I hope that doesn't hurt me in the long run.

Any advice you can give me will be greatly appreciated! Congratulations again and Best of Luck to you!

livi66 · Aug 30, 2011

Hi Annbananz,

Thank you for the congrats! The process of getting in to UT was very stressful (IMO) but very much worth it in the end. The deadline for applying to UT is October 1st. If you have a strong GPA, then the essays don't matter as much as oppose to you having a weak GPA. There is a lot of good information from past transfer applicants on the college confidential website. Just goggle 'UT Austin college confidential' and it should pop up.

My GPA was 3.89 when I applied. I have not really had the chance to talk to other pre-nursing transfers because the first week of school has been pretty hectic! So, I could not tell you what the avg GPA is for the school of nursing.

When I went to the info sessions they said that they encourage students to take the hard sciences at UT. I am guessing because the professional sequence is very competitive right now. So, the higher the UT GPA and the number of UT hours the better. The avg number of hours at UT that those accepted to the professional sequence was around 40 hrs.

GPA is one of the most important factors when transferring. If your GPA is not that great, then write really good essays. Be honest in your essays and show them that you really want it. I wish you luck and I really hope that you get in to UT. It is truly an amazing accomplishment!

Hopefulleslie · Nov 20, 2011

I got into 2012 spring pre-nursing program @ ut austin! Does anyone know how likely we are to actually get in the upper division nursing? My letter says I am accepted to school of nursing...does anyone know what that means?

How hard is it to get into UT Austin pre-nursing and what are odds of getting into upper level nursing school? Please help.