Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) ABSN 2024

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Hello everyone!

I haven't seen a post for OHSU's 2024 ABSN program and figured I would start one!

Hey all! New to AllNurses and I love seeing the community. I'm trying for the Ashland Campus. I know our whole thing is shifted forward so I am trying not to get in my head due to lack of email... Has anyone who applied for Ashland heard anything after interviewing? I feel like I read somewhere that March 11th is around when we should be hearing back.

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C Class said:

Hey all! New to AllNurses and I love seeing the community. I'm trying for the Ashland Campus. I know our whole thing is shifted forward so I am trying not to get in my head due to lack of email... Has anyone who applied for Ashland heard anything after interviewing? I feel like I read somewhere that March 11th is around when we should be hearing back.

I applied to this campus as well! I have not heard anything though. 

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I applied to the La, Grande campus! I'm wondering how many other people applied for the La, Grande campus

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Anyone admitted to Portland (Fall 2024 & Winter 2025 cohorts) received OHSU's hospital fund offer?

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No. I was told via email by the director of admissions "We haven't confirmed that this scholarship will be available but if it is we will reach out to all eligible students." on 3/7. I'm really hoping it will be available. Maybe reach out to admissions and inquire so they know people are interested?

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Hi Everyone, 

I was offered a spot in the Winter cohort this morning, so just came off of the "highly likely" waitlist.

I want to share a little of my experience/thoughts for future (or current) applicants reading this.  I graduated in 2016 from a WA state school with a degree in EnvSci and a Math minor.  The last 6-8 years I have been sampling a lot of different careers/jobs/taking sabbaticals and got excited about nursing last Spring.  For several reasons, I think it will be a very good long-term fit for me.  I started working in healthcare as a patient care technician at Providence last October.  That was my only healthcare experience before applying to OHSU.

This Fall I started my prerequisites, so when I applied I only had 2/8 completed (BI 112, BI231 both at PCC), both with 'A's.  My undergraduate GPA was 3.85.  It included a full year or organic chemistry, I'm not sure how deep they dig into undergraduate coursework.  I think my admissions essays were generally pretty insightful, and I'm a strong writer. My feeling is that they were very important in my getting an interview.  It feels very good to be admitted, because I was told by an advisor at PCC that not having my prerequisites done would keep me from even getting an interview.  If you are trying to write good admissions essays, find a faculty member/professor that you trust to work with you on crafting strong essays.  I had a positive experience doing so during my undergrad.

So a message to my past anxious self: You can definitely get into an ABSN if you meet the minimum prerequisite requirements (for OHSU must have BI231 completed) and have only minimal healthcare experience.  I trust that the applicant review is actually holistic.

I am very hopeful that OHSU will offer the hospital fund.  Even if they don't though I think this will still be a better financial option than waiting for a CC program that is cheaper, because of the time trade-off of being able to start working as a nurse sooner (that time is valuable when you can easily make $40-60/hour as a nurse).  To elaborate, I was not eligible to even apply for any local community college ADN programs this cycle, because I don't have enough prerequisites done.  My judgment, correct or not, is that CC programs are very competitive in that they require you to "check the boxes" (I.e. grades, volunteer exp, shadow exp, prereq's completed), where the accelerated OHSU ABSN may be more of a holistic application.  They are both competitive in the PNW, in different ways.

Also, don't limit yourself to the PNW unless you really must... (I have a partner who works here in PDX, and we have a cat, and moving would be a pain in the butt...)  If you can easily pick up for 12-24 months, even if you want to return to PNW, take the opportunity to do so and get a new life/culture experience.  My older sister did her ABSN at MUSC.  Some of the east coast schools also have LOTS of money to give.

For anyone considering an ADN vs BSN, I think the ADN is generally a good choice financially, as long as you don't have to trade a ton of time waiting to start the program (also hospitals will hire ADNs, pay them what they pay BSNs, and pay for them to slowly get their BSN).  I made a spreadsheet to compare the cost savings of doing the soonest start ABSN vs the soonest start CC ADN program; The ABSN, even though more expensive, allowed me to start working sooner and was the financially better option in the long run.  I also think the career outlook is good for nursing, even if you have to swallow taking out a 60k loan for an ABSN.

Good luck to everyone.  Don't be too hard on yourselves if you don't get in to your top choice program. Sincerely,

1
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jmpg said:

No. I was told via email by the director of admissions "We haven't confirmed that this scholarship will be available but if it is we will reach out to all eligible students." on 3/7. I'm really hoping it will be available. Maybe reach out to admissions and inquire so they know people are interested?

Thanks jmpg, I was told this morning:

"If that were to be offered, it would be offered to everyone in the cohort and is not based on certain eligibility criteria. It's also not linked to the SON Institutional Scholarship, but we certainly recommend completing that anyway."

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One more thing to add today:

I was told that there is a "switch list", so for example, if you accept a Winter spot but want a Summer spot, you can accept the Winter spot and get put on the switch list for if a Summer spot opens.

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NuFoLi said:

Hi Everyone, 

I was offered a spot in the Winter cohort this morning, so just came off of the "highly likely" waitlist.

I want to share a little of my experience/thoughts for future (or current) applicants reading this.  I graduated in 2016 from a WA state school with a degree in EnvSci and a Math minor.  The last 6-8 years I have been sampling a lot of different careers/jobs/taking sabbaticals and got excited about nursing last Spring.  For several reasons, I think it will be a very good long-term fit for me.  I started working in healthcare as a patient care technician at Providence last October.  That was my only healthcare experience before applying to OHSU.

This Fall I started my prerequisites, so when I applied I only had 2/8 completed (BI 112, BI231 both at PCC), both with 'A's.  My undergraduate GPA was 3.85.  It included a full year or organic chemistry, I'm not sure how deep they dig into undergraduate coursework.  I think my admissions essays were generally pretty insightful, and I'm a strong writer. My feeling is that they were very important in my getting an interview.  It feels very good to be admitted, because I was told by an advisor at PCC that not having my prerequisites done would keep me from even getting an interview.  If you are trying to write good admissions essays, find a faculty member/professor that you trust to work with you on crafting strong essays.  I had a positive experience doing so during my undergrad.

So a message to my past anxious self: You can definitely get into an ABSN if you meet the minimum prerequisite requirements (for OHSU must have BI231 completed) and have only minimal healthcare experience.  I trust that the applicant review is actually holistic.

I am very hopeful that OHSU will offer the hospital fund.  Even if they don't though I think this will still be a better financial option than waiting for a CC program that is cheaper, because of the time trade-off of being able to start working as a nurse sooner (that time is valuable when you can easily make $40-60/hour as a nurse).  To elaborate, I was not eligible to even apply for any local community college ADN programs this cycle, because I don't have enough prerequisites done.  My judgment, correct or not, is that CC programs are very competitive in that they require you to "check the boxes" (I.e. grades, volunteer exp, shadow exp, prereq's completed), where the accelerated OHSU ABSN may be more of a holistic application.  They are both competitive in the PNW, in different ways.

Also, don't limit yourself to the PNW unless you really must... (I have a partner who works here in PDX, and we have a cat, and moving would be a pain in the butt...)  If you can easily pick up for 12-24 months, even if you want to return to PNW, take the opportunity to do so and get a new life/culture experience.  My older sister did her ABSN at MUSC.  Some of the east coast schools also have LOTS of money to give.

For anyone considering an ADN vs BSN, I think the ADN is generally a good choice financially, as long as you don't have to trade a ton of time waiting to start the program (also hospitals will hire ADNs, pay them what they pay BSNs, and pay for them to slowly get their BSN).  I made a spreadsheet to compare the cost savings of doing the soonest start ABSN vs the soonest start CC ADN program; The ABSN, even though more expensive, allowed me to start working sooner and was the financially better option in the long run.  I also think the career outlook is good for nursing, even if you have to swallow taking out a 60k loan for an ABSN.

Good luck to everyone.  Don't be too hard on yourselves if you don't get in to your top choice program. Sincerely,

CONGRATS 🙂 First of all. And second, did you apply to Portland ABSN? or another OHSHU campus? Trying to grasp if we both were on the same "highly likely" list for Winter 2025.

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dskvr said:

CONGRATS 🙂 First of all. And second, did you apply to Portland ABSN? or another OHSHU campus? Trying to grasp if we both were on the same "highly likely" list for Winter 2025.

Oh, sorry for not mentioning.  I applied to Portland.

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Did they call you or email? Just curious 

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A Wri said:

Did they call you or email? Just curious 

email.

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