If I don't get accepted, what should I do in the meantime?

Jennifer425RN2B · Apr 10, 2012

I went the route of community college and while awaiting my acceptance, I have been taking pre-reqs towards my bsn. The wait is killer!!!!!! Good luck!

NaomiD · Apr 10, 2012

I went the route of community college and while awaiting my acceptance, I have been taking pre-reqs towards my bsn. The wait is killer!!!!!! Good luck!

Hi Jennifer! Thanks for replying. I have already finished all of the pre reqs required by the majority of the nursing programs in Florida.. This is why I'm unsure of what to work on next. I did think of doing an ASN program at my current school (which is a state/community college) but I just always look at the fact that I could be graduating with a BSN in the same amount of time it would take me to graduate with the ASN. Geez! This is a bit frustrating.

Jennifer425RN2B · Apr 10, 2012

I know after realizing just how long it was going to take me to get my associates I looked into transferring to a university, but they want to you to start all over and take all your pre-reqs with them. I'm just going to have to wait it out and stick the community college, I have to much time and energy invested to start all over again! It is very frustrating, especially because all you can do is just wait!

dragonfly414 · Apr 10, 2012

First of all, good job on thinking ahead. :) Getting into nursing requires a lot of planning and thinking ahead. I started my journey at community college. I too earned an associates of liberal arts degree, mostly because I had the credits so I figured oh sure give me the diploma even though it wasn't planned. I declared a mental health and human services degree at my community college after finishing my first degree, but I continued to chip away at nursing prerequisites and nursing courses that I knew would transfer to the local state university required for a BSN.

Not long after getting my associates, I transferred to the state university. Since my GPA from community college was not quite high enough to apply to nursing I declared a Health Sciences major with a minor in Holistic and Integrated Health. Here in Maine, most nursing prerequisites are bio, chem, AP I and AP II. If you have already taken those courses, you could look at other courses required for the nursing program that you could sign up for with out actually being in the nursing program.

Declaring a Health Sciences major enabled me to sign up for courses that are also part of the BSN at my school like Emergency Response (Red cross CPR and first aid for the professional rescuer), Pathophysiology, Pharmacology, Microbiology, Nutrition, Health Related Research, and Concepts in Community health. In other words I completed every last course I could possibly complete with out being in the nursing program before I applied to nursing. Just be careful not to cut too close to meeting graduation requirements for a different BS degree other than nursing cause it will mess with your financial aid. My master plan back fired on me a little because I didn't know about this financial aid detail and I wound up meeting graduation requirements. If you meet requirements or are within a certain number of credits of meeting requirements you can't change your major and accept financial aid towards a second BS degree... the government considers it fraud. :eek: Definitely talk with someone who knows their stuff in your financial aid office.

So, I'm graduating with my Bachelors in Health Sciences and minor in Holistic Health in May. I applied to 4 different nursing programs including 1 MSN-options, an accelerated BSN, a regular BSN, and an ASN. I was not accepted to the first three, but was accepted to the ASN. I'm convinced all of the classes I have taken ahead of time for a BSN were the reason I was accepted at the ASN. My over all college goal was to earn a bachelors degree and thankfully I will have met that goal. It just so happens my BS degree is not in Nursing. Ooops! Thankfully I'm more than ok with it.

I could understand why you would apply to BSN programs, but as a back up I would apply to some ASN programs. Many of them have both Fall and Spring semester start ups or rolling admission so you might not have missed a deadline. I know it seems silly because a BSN takes you just as long as an ASN. I went through much of the same debate, and ultimately decided I just don't want to put my life on hold any longer hoping to get into a BSN. I've talked with many aspiring nursing students who also started to volunteer to boost up their resume. Many BSN programs look at stuff like that. You might also consider checking out what exams are required by other schools and sign up to take those or retake the exam you have already taken if you can. I've never understood why there isn't a more universal testing requirement for nursing. It seems like every school requires a different exam, and those darn things are expensive! ok, enough from me! Good luck. :hug:

WannaBNursey, ADN, ASN, RN · Apr 11, 2012

Why all the big schools? There are some community colleges that would have taken you, and some that still will! If you apply by May 15th out here you can try to get into Edison in Lee county. An RN is an RN, and the programs are usually easier to get into. Look into other schools and see if you can get your application in by the deadline. In the meantime, get your CNA and work. There are some schools that won't take you if you did not go through a state approved CNA program. Good luck!

bigboi · Apr 11, 2012

work on your GPA, or whatever it is you feel didn't make you competitive this year. A CNA doesn't improve your GPA, but admission is about considering the whole package of an application. Being a CNA means you're committed to being a nurse and you've taken the fortitude to do so. Although you're done with pre-req, I would take classes that might help me in nursing school, for instant a pharmacology class and work as a CNA.

DarkLotus · Apr 12, 2012

I will keep working as a CNA and apply to more than one school. You should re take any prereq classes you did not get good grades in rather than taking a bunch of filler classes with hopes of higher grades.

sandanrnstudent · Apr 13, 2012

Get CNA and work on bsn pre reqs if that is where u want to end up.Lib

Shinnichi, ADN, RN · Apr 14, 2012

Are you in central FL? Because I think with those results you might've had a shot in Miami-Dade College's BSN program. Like SuperMeghan91 said, 'why all the big schools?' Scout out the community colleges. Just because they don't have a football team doesn't mean they aren't worth checking out. GOOD LUCK!