Hi there everyone. I didn't see a thread started yet, so I thought I would start one.
I am applying for the 2015 Accelerated BSN cohort (Portland campus) and am very nervous about the whole process with Nursing CAS and having transcripts sent to them.
I am also curious if anyone out there has an idea of what they are looking for and who will get interviews? It makes me nervous that there is no essay, so I assume that interviews will be based on grades alone. I have an undergraduate degree in Art History with a 3.64 GPA and a prereq GPA of 3.76 from PCC. Does anyone know if I even stand a chance? I have taken all of the prerequisites except for Micro, which I plan on taking in the winter.
It sounds like the interviews and no essays is a new thing? Does anyone know? Here's to hoping I at least get an interview!
Btw... I don't mean to say that anyone that has called about the waitlist is bothering or pestering admissions. I just mean to say that I haven't had a chance yet and if someone else HAS, I don't want to call in addition to your call. Just wanted to clarify...I don't want to sound like a jerk!
I just called Admissions. She said that as of now, both the summer and the fall cohorts are full because enough people have accepted their position there. In the chance that someone decides they don't want to attend, or accepts a spot somewhere else, then they will pull someone else up. Doesn't look very promising for us
I just called Admissions. She said that as of now, both the summer and the fall cohorts are full because enough people have accepted their position there. In the chance that someone decides they don't want to attend, or accepts a spot somewhere else, then they will pull someone else up. Doesn't look very promising for us
That's strange because I just called as well (I hadn't seen anyone else had) and I was told they were waiting on a few responses still. Those individuals have until 3 PM today to accept and from there they would continue to offer spots to others. I'm not holding my breathe but there still may be hope :)
Hi everyone! I was one of the fortunate ones to also be accepted to Linfield's ABSN program this year. I was also one of the moderate waitlisted folks for OHSU :/ Sounds like that ship has sailed. However, other than higher tuition rates I have found Linfield to be a great program option with no issues with admission questions or the process in general. I agree 110% with everything negative about OHSU. From the get go they have been unbelievably unhelpful through pretty much everything. Not to mention that their interview process was a complete joke. For a program that is supposedly as highly regarded as they are, this years interview set up was a complete failure in my humble opinion. They would have been better off doing a proctored essay only that allowed people to really show their strengths and what they have to offer, instead of random interview questions that told them nothing about a candidate other than what type of canned answer they had memorized the night before. Sorry for the rant, but I was completely deflated after working so hard over the last few years. If I didn't get in because there were stronger candidates then so be it, but the way they went about it this year was really really poor. Luckily I landed a spot in the Linfield program and I look forward to meeting everyone and beginning our journey together down this challenging road! If anyone has any other advice for scholarships or free money :) It would be greatly appreciated. So far I am only coming up with private loans as an option for financing the rest of my tuition It was frustrating to see that most of the scholarships that were a possible option had deadlines of March 1st or earlier. That was a month before we even knew if we were accepted! Anybody out there come across anything?
That's strange because I just called as well (I hadn't seen anyone else had) and I was told they were waiting on a few responses still. Those individuals have until 3 PM today to accept and from there they would continue to offer spots to others. I'm not holding my breathe but there still may be hope :)
Really?! That's good news. I'm not holding my breath either, but she made it sound pretty hopeless.
@ktulu19js - I'm surprised you had such a distaste for the interview process. I thought it was a pretty thorough interview. The panel interview questions were thoughtful and I think they were looking for how well rounded you are, rather than just asking "why do you want to become a nurse?" THAT would be a canned answer, for sure. Also, congratulations about being admitted to Linfield! Good luck and enjoy the ride!! :)
I'm glad that you had a better experience than I did. I just felt that the balance of the questions was way off for each individual. In my group it was really the luck of the draw on which questions you received. Some of my group members had great questions that allowed them to express their own personal experiences to show how well-rounded they were. I did not get any of those. Mine were very generic questions that really had nothing to do with finding out about a person. Not to mention that the 2 minute time limit was a little much. I was given questions that were very different from my peers, and it was nearly impossible to answer in that amount of time. Not to mention that there was a lot of disorganization with the timers that they tried to use. For how hard we all worked for this opportunity they could have extended their interview process another day to give them more time to interview people. I wouldn't have expected them to ask the traditional "why do you want to become a nurse questions" either :) I would have thought they would do a new style of interview questions to try and do something fresh. At least they needed to have the questions balanced more for each person. Oh well, I'm happy to go to a program that seems to be easier to deal with. Good luck to you though!
I'm feeling frustrated by what seems to be a pattern of conflicting information from OHSU regarding the waitlist, and also the overall lack of transparency for the selection process. The other school I applied to was very clear and upfront about how many points were awarded for each class, degree, grade, etc. I feel like the process with OHSU is just more confusing and unnecessarily complicated than it needs to be. Nursing CAS was a nightmare, and it seems like I wasted my time and effort for the interview when they seem to go almost entirely off GPA anyway- but even that is unclear, because I was never told which grades are important- did they count a crummy grade on a basic writing course I took decades ago, even though I got an A in WR227 last year? Do they average pre-req courses only? Who the heck knows? The interview process itself was okay, although I had a similar experience to a previous poster, where I noticed that all the other interviewees were asked a question on a specific topic but I was not. And now it seems like every other day I get my hopes up about the waitlist, then they are dashed. I really would prefer this program over the community college option, but if I do miraculously get in will the entire 15 months be more of this confusion and lack of clarity? Ugh. Rant over.
I'm feeling frustrated by what seems to be a pattern of conflicting information from OHSU regarding the waitlist, and also the overall lack of transparency for the selection process. The other school I applied to was very clear and upfront about how many points were awarded for each class, degree, grade, etc. I feel like the process with OHSU is just more confusing and unnecessarily complicated than it needs to be. Nursing CAS was a nightmare, and it seems like I wasted my time and effort for the interview when they seem to go almost entirely off GPA anyway- but even that is unclear, because I was never told which grades are important- did they count a crummy grade on a basic writing course I took decades ago, even though I got an A in WR227 last year? Do they average pre-req courses only? Who the heck knows? The interview process itself was okay, although I had a similar experience to a previous poster, where I noticed that all the other interviewees were asked a question on a specific topic but I was not. And now it seems like every other day I get my hopes up about the waitlist, then they are dashed. I really would prefer this program over the community college option, but if I do miraculously get in will the entire 15 months be more of this confusion and lack of clarity? Ugh. Rant over.
Ktulu19js and Adbivium,
I have to agree with your frustration. OHSU has been extremely secretive, unhelpful, provided consistent misinformation and hasn't come even close to transparent regarding their admissions criteria.
My interview process was very disorganized and with no consistency among the interviewers regarding how the progress should take place. The questions themselves weren't too bad; although I agree some of the questions provided increased opportunity for individuals to highlight their personal strengths and experience compared some of the more general, generic questions. As I understand it, the interview process is different almost every year. Overall I haven't been impressed with OHSU and their admission process. It's unfortunate they seem to be missing out on some qualified students evidenced by their/our admissions to other programs.
I TOTALLY agree snwbal41786. That was my main point regarding the interview process. Some of the questions were not bad, but they did not allow everyone to answer equally, which was not a fair way to do things. There's no reason that they need to be so vague regarding the process. They make excuses that they have so many applicants, but other programs have just as many or more. Between the standard BSN and the ABSN Linfield had close to 1,000 applicants this year for their programs and they are much more helpful. I think OHSU just likes to do things in the way that they do. They should contact every single person that interviews whether they get in or not. They should also let all the wait list people know one way or the other. I mean how hard is it to send an email? To me it's unprofessional and shows lack of compassion and understanding for what people are going through during a stressful time in their lives. After all, isn't that what nursing is all about!? Very disappointing for sure :/
I wasn't feeling very upset or frustrated with OHSU until I had to deal with this whole alternate list thing. Why are they so secretive about who they're pulling from it? Why don't they tell us how many people are on the "highly likely" and "moderately likely" list, and how many people have already taken a spot? I agree that it's not that hard to send out an email blast with info about it all. I would like to know if I have any chance in hell or if I should completely write that option off.
Funny...that thought crossed my mind when I posted it :) I did post another question wondering which program might be best for a single mom of 4 - but I'm not sure one actually exists! I have a feeling it might be a bit challenging :) lol
Also - don't give up hope! I have been reading that a lot of students choose Linfield over OHSU because they are offered more financial assistance. Linfield is suppose to mail out the financial aid packets tomorrow so hopefully I will have mine by the end of the week. My fingers are crossed for you all!!
Hey NursingMamma16, Just curious if you decided between Linfield and OHSU and what swayed you towards one over the other?
It was frustrating to see that most of the scholarships that were a possible option had deadlines of March 1st or earlier. That was a month before we even knew if we were accepted! Anybody out there come across anything?
ajw414, ASN, RN
69 Posts
Btw... I don't mean to say that anyone that has called about the waitlist is bothering or pestering admissions. I just mean to say that I haven't had a chance yet and if someone else HAS, I don't want to call in addition to your call. Just wanted to clarify...I don't want to sound like a jerk!