Needing a little encouragement

[vandydani]

Hi all,

First, I want to say that the allnurses family has been so supportive and wonderful for me in this time of uncertainty. I am currently applying to nursing schools after being rejected from a few programs prior. I think that I was honestly unsure of my path when I was applying and this came out in my essays and interviews.

I decided to take some time to explore my options and think about my future. I have an intern position at the children's hospital in my area and am very active in learning about the nursing profession, shadowing, and fulfilling my work expectations as an intern.

I am so passionate about entering the nursing field and attending nursing school. My family and close friends know how hard I'm working and persevering to fulfill my dreams. However, I find myself feeling rather downtrodden and discouraged. I am working as hard as possible and I am doing everything I can think of to be a more competitive applicant but I find myself doubting. Other people outside of the situation have more or less told me to give up and find another career path. I know that they are wrong and they do not know my situation or history but it's hard to not let their doubt get me down.

I just need a little encouragement that I'm doing what I need to be doing and if you have ANY suggestions of anything else I could be doing with this time off to get a more comprehensive view of the nursing profession I would LOVE to hear it.

Thank you all :)

[guest699183]

Hey I recognize you, I am also applying to Duke. For what it's worth from a pure numbers stand point your odds of getting into Duke during the Spring are better. The fall gets 400 applications verses 200 for the Spring - at least this has been the trend for the last two years. And with them dropping the ABSN tuition reimbursement I wouldn't be surprised if that lowers the #s applying.

I can only speak for Duke since that's the only BSN program I am applying to (if I don't get in I will do the ADN at a local CC and do the BSN online. Duke Hospital hires ADN, they own Watts which is a diploma program). When I attended the info session and Duke Days they seemed to focus on a few things:

1)Leadership - so call out areas in your personal essay, resume, and during your interview. This doesn't need to be limited to healthcare/nursing

2)Diversity - They focus on this in a variety of areas. They want people from all over the country. They want people from a variety of majors. The Director mentioned she was a music major. Previous majors they listed were the standard psychology and biology but also Art History, Dance, Fashion, Business. Basically demonstrate how you are unique, it doesn't need to be focused on nursing/healthcare.

3)Not all their students have healthcare experience but there was some sort of life experience that drove them to nursing - sick family member, getting involved in an organization etc. You may want to read their latest nursing magazine they have a whole article about 2nd career nursing students.

Duke Nursing Magazine | Duke School of Nursing

Good Luck and I think Duke really looks for people who were previously successful in another career and now show a passion for nursing.

[vandydani]

Thank you so much for your advice! I really appreciate the time you took to reply and provide me with some information. I'm still waiting to hear from Duke. With the resignation of an admissions officer, parts of my file were lost and there was a huge miscommunication about my application completion. I will hopefully hear by tomorrow if I will be able to interview. I actually attended Duke Days for the fall program in January and I was blown away by the program (which is why I am holding on and persevering through all of this miscommunication). I am hoping that they will see that even with the "short" amount of time that has passed I have really cemented my passion and I know my personal traits and abilities that would make me a great student.

I'm just hoping that I have better luck this time around. I know what I want to do and I have more experience under my belt. Also, I have trouble bringing up accomplishments and I kind of shyed away from bragging about personal abilities and strengths but I know now that I really need to stress what I bring to the table and my unique abilities and not think of myself as an "average" applicant.

Thank you again and best wishes!! Hopefully I will see you there in January :) (wishful thinking and crossed fingers)