LVN Nursing School Alternate List

DanielleNikole · May 16, 2015

Disclaimer: I'm hoping I've posted this in the right place.

I have a few questions about how most schools determine who makes the cut for nursing school and who doesn't. I know that every school is different, but I'm hoping some of you lovely ladies and gentlemen could give me some information about the experiences you or some of your friends or colleagues have had.

I live in a county with a population of about 62,000, but the administrators at the technical school I applied to told me that they were having trouble filling the seats in their LPN/LVN class because people had trouble passing the TEAS V. The requirements for the nursing program were as follows:

High School Diploma or GED - I have a diploma with a 3.76 GPA.

Transcripts from other institutes - I have a nursing assistant certificate with a 4.0 GPA.

3 professional references: I submitted 5.

A passing TEAS V score: I scored a 93.

After all of this, I was interviewed and it went exceptionally well. One of the RNs asked me what I would do if I wasn't accepted and when I told her I would try to improve my TEAS V score, she said she didn't think anyone could score any higher. :)

We were supposed to receive our letter on May 1st, but because of a computer malfunction, we did not receive our letter until today, the 16th. I was really happy because I thought for sure I would be accepted, but I was put on the alternate list because of "too many applicants."

I'm perfectly content to attend orientation and hope that someone gets accepted into a better school so that they give up their spot. But what worries me is that I have a friend who also applied and was accepted - despite the fact that we tested at the same time, she scored a 75 on the TEAS V, and she was actually in this same program last year but dropped out 6 months before graduation.

This is really discouraging. Should I call and be sure that this wasn't a mistake? Our envelopes were addressed by us (applicants) during our interviews, and the letters inside are not personalized with our names. I don't even know what number I am on the alternate list. One of the administrators told me that I scored the highest out of everyone who took the test this testing season. I'm glad I'm an alternate, I just want to know if anyone else has had a similar experience and why this could be? I was told that test scores weren't the only factor but they were the biggest deciding factor.

Thank you in advance to anyone who reads my post or replies back.