OSU Grad Entry 2018

Nursing Students School Programs

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Hello all! I hope to start this thread as the official Q&A for the applicants of the Ohio State Graduate Entry Masters of Nursing/Nurse Practitioner Program Summer 2018 enrollment! I am in the works of applying, getting my last letter of rec together and studying for the GRE. I'm so excited!! How about you??

Thanks guys! Good luck to everyone accepted!

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Awesome, thank you! I contacted the college today to see how to improve my application. They said the faculty noted I had a really strong statement and reference letters. My overall undergrad GPA ended up being 3.51 (3.6 during undergrad at osu but with classwork I took for a year at uc it average 3.51). They said ultimately that's why i wasn't accepted as the average GPA is a 3.53... so yeaaaaaa! They suggested taking graduate level coursework and reapplying next year. They didn't mention me needing more volunteer experience but it couldn't hurt.

I transferred after my freshman year, so I ended freshman year with a 3.2 and then completed 3 years at another school and ended that school with a 3.55, but when you combine the two my GPA was a 3.49, and I got accepted. If they didn't accept you because you were .2 points off their average then that's honestly absurd and I would absolutely try to appeal that decision!!!

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I transferred after my freshman year, so I ended freshman year with a 3.2 and then completed 3 years at another school and ended that school with a 3.55, but when you combine the two my GPA was a 3.49, and I got accepted. If they didn't accept you because you were .2 points off their average then that's honestly absurd and I would absolutely try to appeal that decision!!!

You know... it does kind of stink! i was really hoping for something more concrete that I could have done better... like my personal statement, extra curriculars, etc. But all he said was what most negatively impacted me was having a GPA .02 below the average and FNP being so competitive. Did you apply to FNP?

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You know... it does kind of stink! i was really hoping for something more concrete that I could have done better... like my personal statement, extra curriculars, etc. But all he said was what most negatively impacted me was having a GPA .02 below the average and FNP being so competitive. Did you apply to FNP?

I applied for women's health! and like i mentioned its an AVERAGE for a reason - some people may have below and some people may have above. like you said, .02 points is such a dumb reason to not accept. i would understand if you were waitlisted but to reject all together doesn't seem fair. i would seriously consider finding out if there is an appeal process.

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Specializes in Emergency, Disaster Medicine, Search and Rescue.
You know... it does kind of stink! i was really hoping for something more concrete that I could have done better... like my personal statement, extra curriculars, etc. But all he said was what most negatively impacted me was having a GPA .02 below the average and FNP being so competitive. Did you apply to FNP?

Did you go to one of the information seminars before applying?

I know that from the notes that I took the FNP program was specifically looking at applicant's personal statements, resumes and recommendation letters for:

-Strong collaboration and teamwork skills

-An understanding of the different patient populations that FNPs serve

-A history of Community or Global engagement

-Strong understanding of the FNP role

-Commitment to nursing

-Demonstration/history of leadership roles

-Personal growth and resilience

-Experience working with people across the lifespan

-A history of strong communication skills

-What about you makes you unique enough to add diversity off thought to the class

While some people have said that the interviews are not taken that seriously, Ms Pittman, the FNP program director said that she looked for several specific things from the interviews:

-Depth of answers

-Your communication skills

-Are you serious and professional?

-Did you take the interview seriously by preparing the setting and the background lighting?

-Did you dress professionally?

As for GPA, they said that they do care about GPA (just not as much as the statement, letters and resume), but that they do SPECIFICALLY look at your science GPA.

Maybe you did all of these really well, and just simply got unlucky. I don't say any of these things to kick you while you're down, but instead to try to encourage you and hope that you can make yourself a better candidate (not saying you weren't already a great one). Were there any of these areas that you were just ok on, where you could do something in the next year to make yourself stronger?

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Awesome, thank you! I contacted the college today to see how to improve my application. They said the faculty noted I had a really strong statement and reference letters. My overall undergrad GPA ended up being 3.51 (3.6 during undergrad at osu but with classwork I took for a year at uc it average 3.51). They said ultimately that's why i wasn't accepted as the average GPA is a 3.53... so yeaaaaaa! They suggested taking graduate level coursework and reapplying next year. They didn't mention me needing more volunteer experience but it couldn't hurt.

Hmmm.. interesting because my gpa was 3.4 for undergrad. But I also got my degree in engineering??? Not sure why they told you that when you're so close to the average.

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I am so surprised they cited GPA as their reason for not accepting you, your GPA is so strong!! I was accepted into FNP with a 3.4, so I am not sure why they would care that you were .02 off. OSU seems to really look at candidates holistically, so maybe you should try reaching out again to see if you get better feedback from someone else. I hope you still apply next year!!

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May I ask whether you guys received an email offer or just your application status changed to accepted? My status still shows pending and the waiting is killing me.

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I thought for sure it would be an issue with my personal statement but according to them, it was primarily GPA that negatively impacted me...*shrugs* I am sure there was other factors that impacted their decision, though. I think community engagement is a big deal and like I said, I did not have a lot of recent volunteer experience. Most of mine was during undergrad. Obviously, there was just more well-rounded applicants than myself and if this is something I want to pursue, I'll have to spend the next year (UUUUUGGGGHHHH!!!!) better preparing myself.

This is the email they sent me:

"Generally speaking, you application was very competitive. The faculty noted that both your statement and letters of recommendation were strong. Based on previous coursework, your cumulative undergraduate GPA was determined to be a 3.5. The average undergraduate GPA of an applicant admitted to our program was 3.53. The FNP specialty is more competitive than others and with limited seats, a GPA that is just below the average, is mainly what negatively impacted your application. If you think you may reapply in the future, consider completing some graduate-level coursework as a non-degree student. High marks could show your potential for success in a graduate nursing program."

Anyhow, you all had excellent suggestions for improving my application if I decide to reapply next year. I truly appreciate it! Good luck everyone!

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Did you go to one of the information seminars before applying?

I know that from the notes that I took the FNP program was specifically looking at applicant's personal statements, resumes and recommendation letters for:

-Strong collaboration and teamwork skills

-An understanding of the different patient populations that FNPs serve

-A history of Community or Global engagement

-Strong understanding of the FNP role

-Commitment to nursing

-Demonstration/history of leadership roles

-Personal growth and resilience

-Experience working with people across the lifespan

-A history of strong communication skills

-What about you makes you unique enough to add diversity off thought to the class

While some people have said that the interviews are not taken that seriously, Ms Pittman, the FNP program director said that she looked for several specific things from the interviews:

-Depth of answers

-Your communication skills

-Are you serious and professional?

-Did you take the interview seriously by preparing the setting and the background lighting?

-Did you dress professionally?

As for GPA, they said that they do care about GPA (just not as much as the statement, letters and resume), but that they do SPECIFICALLY look at your science GPA.

Maybe you did all of these really well, and just simply got unlucky. I don't say any of these things to kick you while you're down, but instead to try to encourage you and hope that you can make yourself a better candidate (not saying you weren't already a great one). Were there any of these areas that you were just ok on, where you could do something in the next year to make yourself stronger?

I appreciate the feedback! I did attend the info seminars and I had very similar notes as to what they were looking for in the personal statement and did my best to touch on all of those subjects. I did not have a lot of recent community engagement. If I decide to reapply next year, I think I'll definitely try to seek out more volunteer opportunities to improve that part of my application. I did not feel great about the interview but I didnt feel terrible about it, either. I did hear that next year applicants will have to have all the pre-reqs completed prior to applying to the program so that might thin out the applicants and make my chances more favorable. Thanks, again! Appreciate it.

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Specializes in Emergency, Disaster Medicine, Search and Rescue.
May I ask whether you guys received an email offer or just your application status changed to accepted? My status still shows pending and the waiting is killing me.

My status changed from "pending" to "decision" somewhere between Friday night at midnight and Saturday morning at 4am (I got up to feed my daughter and saw the change). I accepted Saturday morning around 4am. I got an acceptance email on Monday. If you are still pending, you are probably like 1 person away from getting in. There were a few people that said they weren't sure if they'd accept. I think they only have like 2 weeks to accept, so, you should probably know very soon!

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I am applying next summer for WHNP Grad Entry at OSU. Could you tell me about your stats to those who have successful been accepted to the WHNP program?

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