Nursing school application help

[Elizabeth Hanes, BSN, RN]

My apologies if this has been done to death. The search feature of the forums seems to be down.

So... I'm applying to an accelerated BSN program. As expected, the application requires written responses to several questions, one of which is (I'm paraphrasing so as not to reveal the school):

"The X and X University is committed to building a widely diverse educational community. What would you bring to the study body in this regard?"

I'm thinking, "I dunno." I'm not even exactly sure what this question is asking.

Please share your thoughts on what you think they're fishing for here.

Also, if anyone has any links to examples of nursing school essays, I'd love to read some. Thank you!

[karmyk]

What makes an ABSN program unique is the fact that all of its students have a unique academic and/or professional background that they can contribute to their class.

You might want to consider: What did you major in? What jobs have you held in the past? What volunteer experience do you have?

Then apply them to the following possible questions: How did these affect your decision to do a career change or educational change into nursing? How can you apply the things you've learned in the past towards your studies and your career? Are any of the unique things have you done (or learned) stuff that you can apply towards your class?

Maybe you had to work customer service or technical support, which made you learn how to deal with different people and situations that sometimes tested your patience or forced you to find creative solutions to problems... or maybe you had to be an engineer or computer programmer who had to use an extensive educational and theoritical background to design and build something extremely complex... or maybe you were a teacher or salesperson who had to learn how to explain something or advertise something to someone who had a different perspective or understanding than you.

I'm not sure if that's what they're looking for from you... but it's a start. =)

[Elizabeth Hanes, BSN, RN]

Wow, karmyk, thanks! This puts the question in a whole different light for me. I hadn't considered the perspective you've brought up, but that makes a lot of sense.

In fact, my educational, career, and volunteer backgrounds are very diverse. I can see where much of my past experience would contribute a great deal toward the nursing profession and my nursing education experience.

Your response has helped me re-frame another question on the application, too, namely, "What have you done to investigate or prepare for a career in healthcare?" In a certain way, my whole life up to this point has been preparation for making the switch to nursing. Before, I thought, "Uh-oh. I haven't volunteered at a hospital (yet) or worked in healthcare," but I see now that many of my life experiences have helped me "prepare" for nursing.

Your answer gives me a lot to think about, since I only have 300 words to respond to each of their questions. Thanks so much for your thoughts. I look forward to what others have to say about it.

Semisweetchick