Most Competitive Resume

[SaraRN2012]

Hi, I am currently working on my master's and am trying to prepare for admissions to a DNP program. My question has to do with making my resume as competitive as possible, as I would like to apply to one of the high-ranked schools. I'd like advice from anyone who knows about/ has had experience with this. Basically just say which are important vs. which don't matter as much, or what could hurt my chances. Thanks!

The following are what I think would make me a competitive applicant, however, I'm not sure how important each is...And I would appriciate more ideas as well :)

GRE score

Length of time practicing as an RN

Working in various specialties

Published works

Attending a high ranked school for BSN

Recommendation letters

Research

Length of time working as a Masters prepared NP

Length of time living in that particular state

[linearthinker, DNP, RN]

I think it depends on the school. If you are applying to an institution that performs and values original nursing research and writes a lot of grants, etc, they would probably like research and publishing background. If you apply to a small program that doesn't do that, I think it would be less significant. A GRE score better than 1200 will impress anyone. GPA in your BSN program will be important, and letters of rec often make or break the candidate I've heard. I don't think length of time in the state is going to carry any weight at all. I don't know about the rest.

[SandBetweenMyToes, BSN, RN]

I would contact the desired schools directly and ask what they value most in an applicant. Tell them you are gearing up to apply there in the future. Then, honestly tailor your resume application to highlight those qualities. Give real life examples demonstrating how you excel in those areas. There's no sense in guessing or trying to be clairvoyant...ask!

Best of luck!