MEPN 2015

Kwing_Nigyptian, BSN, CNA, RN · Aug 8, 2014

hi all,

I pretty much got like half of the application done, just need my GRE's, personal& goal statement, and couple more reccomenders which ill more than likely have by this weekend :nailbiting:

im starting to have writers block with the both personal and goal statements. I'm planning on taking the GRE's towards the end of August. @micromel how did you and roommate study the essay and the math section of the GRE. Im studying from magoosh, grebible and kaplan , but a few of my friends said it was much easier than the SAT's.

What track is everyone applying too. I'm deciding on either the Gerontology-Oncology track or Gerontology-Primary Care NP

Good luck to everyone.

Mammal · Aug 11, 2014

Lots of writing! I'm trying to come up with different material for each short answer question but it's tough!!!

artemisofephesus · Aug 13, 2014

Is anyone out there applying to the midwifery/women's health NP specialty? if so, what is your work/volunteer experience?

elefant3 · Aug 15, 2014

Hi all! I had accidentally made another thread for this year's application, so hopefully admins will delete that one :-/ I was beginning to think there wouldn't be any applicants - or they would all be lurkers.

I took the GREs two years ago. I got above the 50th percentile in everything and did really well in Verbal and Writing. I was also a humanities major, and spent about 3 months studying. Since I hit at least the 50th percentile in everything, I figured I didn't really have to take them again. I took a prep class and also studied independently.

I do not have a good GPA - definitely my biggest weakness - so I made sure to do well in the GREs and I also have a lot of volunteer experience. I'm applying to the Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Specialty.

I'm mostly done with the application. 3 out of 4 recommenders have submitted, I've filled out those short answer questions (tried to give slightly varied info from the statements), am done with my Goal Statement, have sent GRE scores, transcripts, etc. The hardest part for me has been the Personal History Statement. It was a struggle to write, but I got an alright first draft and am currently re-writing/editing thanks to some good feedback.

Also, UCSF is definitely one of my top choices. It pretty has the exact program that I want, but I do worry about the cost of living in SF and job prospects after graduation.

I am also applying to Columbia, Yale, Hopkins, and University of Maryland. Maybe one other school but I'm undecided about that right now due to $$$

ajt87 · Aug 15, 2014

I'm applying to the Pediatric NP specialty - anyone else? I have a Psychology B.A. and have been working at a school for the past few years. Excited to continue to work with children in some capacity.

Just took the GRE for the second time and am happier about my quantitative and verbal scores. I haven't received my analytical writing score yet though.

It seems most people are struggling with the written portions of the application, myself included. There is potential for a lot of overlap in the short answer questions. Are people using all 2700 characters? Or, do you think it's okay to have them a bit shorter to avoid redundancy?

tenta · Aug 15, 2014

It seems like it would be fine for the personal statement to be more concise than 2700 characters, as long as you say everything you think needs to be said. I just finished my goal and personal statements yesterday - I think a good way to frame it so they aren't redundant is that the goal statement is "why is nursing right for you" and the personal statement is "why are you right for nursing."

Does anyone know whether its better to wait to submit until your letters of recommendation have been uploaded? That's the only thing I'm waiting on at this point.

GuiltyLove · Aug 18, 2014

I'm applying to the pediatrics program as well. So far I have three out of four letters of rec done, but I don't know how supportive they are, haha...

I would love to get in this program, but I'm afraid that my chances won't look too good. I did volunteering when I was in college mostly over the summers and for half a year after I graduated when I was taking other pre-reqs for nursing school. Then I took the GRE, got 155 on Verbal, 164 on Quantitative, and 5.0 on Writing. I went overseas for a little more than a month to volunteer as well.

It's been really hard finding things to do ever since I got back. I've only done a few weeks of different types of jobs, and I'm afraid that will not look too good on my resume.

The personal history statement seems hard to write, and so does the goal statement! Pretty frustrating! I hope I can get accepted... my other choices are Columbia, Emory, Yale, Northeastern and some other programs in Massachusetts. My goal statement seems to barely meet the two page requirement, haha. I want to write a lot more but it's hard to condense everything. This is hard...

elefant3 · Aug 25, 2014

Hey tenta, did you ever find out if you could submit without your last LOR?

I really want to submit and I feel like if I don't, I'll just keep re-reading and changing my statements.

Also, I ended up putting some of the "less-personal" stuff from my personal history statement in the short answer questions.

tenta · Aug 25, 2014

Hi elefant3,

I totally feel you on the re-reading obsession. I just submitted yesterday (AHH!) and yes, you can submit before all your recommendations are in. You still have access to all the same pages as you would before submitting, you just can't edit them.

After a lot of consideration and some re-working of my goal statement I changed my MS focus from AG-CNS to AGNP. I'm nervous about the (what I perceive to be) higher competition in this specialty, but do think it is a better fit for my interests and goals. Does anyone else know if there is somewhere to look to see if they've received your GRE scores? Mine should have been sent about two weeks ago.

How are everyone else's applications coming along? Anyone else submitted? How are you going to keep your mind off of this the next few months until interview invitations come out in December?

GuiltyLove · Aug 25, 2014

I'm about to submit soon. I am just waiting on one last recommendation. I dunno how likely it is to get in... it seems to competitive! I'm applying to other schools just in case

The goal statement was really hard to write...

ajt87 · Aug 26, 2014

Hi elefant3, for the short answer questions, are you referring to the three questions under "other demographic information." I though they were important initially, but looking back at it, it says that data "will not be used during the admission process." I think those questions are optional/voluntary (although I will be including something). They are only considering the personal history and goal statements, right?

elefant3 · Aug 26, 2014

Yes, that section. That's why I took out the content from my personal history statement that wasn't really as personal, and put it there - especially since I was running out of characters in the PHS.

From the disclaimer at the top, I would say that technically yes, that would mean they are only considering the personal history and goal statement. But as an applicant, I'd rather use every written section of the application to improve my chances. I think every section is important, although some are definitely more important than others.