OU Accelerated BSN May 2011 Start

paperdove · Feb 18, 2011

Hi julieann :) at least one other applicant reads this board - I'm also a 2011 OU ABSN applicant who's anxiously waiting for a letter!

I applied to both the Tulsa and OKC campuses, but I live in Tulsa so I'm hoping to be accepted there. After that crazy blizzard and the closings that resulted, I assumed that our letters would be postponed, but I also kinda thought we'd get an email to that effect announcing the new mailing date. I've thought about calling to ask when we can expect letters, but I've had to call a couple of times already because of my residency status and like you, I don't want to be a bother. I'm guessing we might not get a letter until next week or even March, but I really want to know rightthisminute if I got in or not!

How did you end up applying to this program, and deciding on nursing? Are you already working in health care?

I graduated from The Ohio State University with degrees in English and criminology, moved to NYC after graduation, and was about to start an MSW there when my husband and I had to (very) abruptly relocate to Tulsa because of his job...at first I was planning on waiting a year and applying to a local MSW program, but after getting a job working with social workers and nurses I found myself much more interested in nursing than social work, so after a year of taking the prerequisites I applied and now I'm just waiting anxiously by the mailbox! I didn't apply anywhere else (although I applied to both campuses to spread out my chances a bit) so I'm rather nervous, but my college and science GPA are comfortably above the accepted average so I think I have a good shot! I'll keep my fingers crossed for both of us!

juliaann · Feb 18, 2011

Oh my goodness I'm so glad to get a reply! It just makes me feel so much better that I'm not alone in this! I think my husband is getting tired of me calling him every day after I check the mail all bummed out. He actually suggested I post on "that nursing website where you waste so much time." LOL. How supportive, right?

Gosh I hope the letters don't take until March...I have a lot of financial stuff to get figured out if I get accepted, and need to get started on it right away!

My degree is in history, so I'm glad to know I'm not the only one coming from a non-science-y background! I went to the University of Nebraska. I've been in Tulsa for about 4 years now, and I've been working at a local hospital for most of that time. I'm currently working for our cardiology group and am love love loving it! I can't wait to be a nurse, I definitely want to go into a CV specialty like cardiothoracic ICU or cath lab or something. What kind of specialty are you interested in? I'm sure all this will change once we get into clinicals and stuff, haha. But it's fun to think about.

That's awesome that your GPAs are so good - try to be confident! Mine are also quite high, but I've had some issues with how my credits from Nebraska are transferring, so I'm sooo nervous that somewhere down the line someone is going to look at my transcripts and be like, "what the heck, this girl doesn't even have comp 1!" and throw my app in the reject pile. The sweet advisors at the OU Tulsa nursing advising office have reassured me it should be fine and I have all the requirements met, but I can't help but be so nervous about it!

paperdove · Feb 19, 2011

The story about your husband made me laugh! My husband keeps telling me to call OU and ask when letters will be mailed...he's even generously offered to call himself using a fake voice. Uh, no thanks, hon!

Hurray for huge land-grant universities! Is Nebraska in the Big Ten? How did you end up in Tulsa after college? I too am a little concerned about how my credits are transferring because Ohio State is one of the last universities to have quarters instead of semesters. And our course numbers are wacky - I hope that OU believes me when I tell them that ENG 367.02 is second-year comp and not something I just made up on the spot. But I'm sure the admissions committee must be used to seeing these sorts of oddities - not all applicants can be from OU or OSU, right? And if the advisors are telling you that you're fine, you must be golden! Plus, we're bringing diversity to the table by having degrees from out-of-state schools, right? :)

That's wonderful that you have a job you love so much! How did you end up in cardiology after studying history? I'm trying to keep my mind open about specialties because of just what you said - I'm sure it'll change ten times once we get into clinicals. I had been thinking about psychiatry after working at a suicide hotline for some time, but lately I've been reconsidering...it sounds like it can be pretty rough.

Here's hoping our letters arrive today!

juliaann · Feb 19, 2011

Nothing in the mail for me today. Well, a few pre-approved credit card ads, but that's not what I wanted at all, haha. At least I can TRY to relax and enjoy my weekend and not think about it until Monday morning! The closer finding out seems to get, though, the more anxious and goofy I get. I think I might have a breakdown if I don't find out soon, haha. :)

I am SO glad to hear about your similar credit transfer woes (not that you have them, of course, but that other applicants also have these issues, which is reassuring that the admissions committee DOES deal with these often and is likely competent at it). I had AP credit from high school that was showing up strangely, a pass/fail course that OU wasn't sure what to do with (I guess they don't do p/f?), and classes that TCC gave me transfer credit for that OU wasn't going to recognize, even though I had since taken classes that required those credits as pre-reqs. This past year has been such a headache of logistics between all my past, current, and future educational institutions! I think you may have me beat coming from a quarter system, though, I'm sure that's a nightmare to get to transfer to semester credit hours! Plus you're coming from "that other OSU," sure to cause confusion.

Nebraska is actually beginning its first year as a Big Ten school in July. :) We just cut and ran from the Big 12 - and I think it was a great move from an academic and athletic standpoint, although that's not a popular opinion to have in the great state of Oklahoma.

Anyway, we ended up in Tulsa by strange mash-up of impulsiveness, youth, enthusiasm, and a healthy dose of poor foresight. We were accepted to intern at the University of Tulsa with a Christian college student ministry as newlyweds and new college grads with no other career plans at the time - which meant spending all summer trying to raise enough money to serve as a full-time salary + health insurance + expenses for both of us for the year, packing up and moving with 24 hours notice with NO place to live in Tulsa, never having been here, and only having 1 couple here as a connection to help us get "settled." Needless to say, this didn't turn out well. We didn't raise enough funds to both intern, so I ended up interning for a year (which was a disaster in many ways) while my husband took a "regular" job doing whatever he could find on such short notice.

Since then, we've been kind of "stuck" here...when I ended up without a job after that first year, we were in the middle of a year-long lease, and my husband had a job. When my husband got laid off around the time our lease was up, making it seem like an opportune time to move back to Nebraska, I was just beginning my job at the hospital and had a contract to work for them for a year in exchange for training. So it's just never worked out for us to get back to Nebraska and we're still trying to figure out how to make Tulsa "home" since it seems so darned fixated on keeping us here one way or another. :)

Oh man, life story time over for now. Can't you tell this waiting is getting to me? I obviously have nothing better to do on a Saturday than type this epically long reply.

So, your turn again! How was the transition from NYC to OK? Wow, that sounds intense. Which do you like better? Plan to stay in this area? Where did you do take your additional coursework needed to apply to the ABSN? Any kids (if that's not too personal to answer to an essential stranger online)?

newRNstudent02 · Feb 20, 2011

I applied to OKC, Tulsa and Duncan. Man, it seems like we have been waiting and waiting. Luckily, I've been accepted to a few ABSN programs, but my first choice is OKC. I called OKl nursing office and was told that the decisions had been made and were going to be mailed out that day. When I didn't receive anything in the mail 2 days later, I called again and was told that the letters never went out. Needless to say, this is frustrating....

I wish you all luck and hopefully, good news to report sometime next week!

newRNstudent02 · Feb 21, 2011

For any of you still wondering about your appl stat for OU, the Nursing Committee have made their decisions. For the Okl campus, they accepted 48 students and placed 48 students on the waitlist. For Tulsa, 32 accepted with 32 waitlisted. Waitlisted students will be admitted by a lottery system if space becomes available. All decisions are being mailed out tomorrow. If you don't receive anything by Monday you should probably call the school.

juliaann · Feb 23, 2011

I got my letter for OU-Tulsa's program - I got in!!!!

The letter was dated the 22nd and the envelope was postmarked the 22nd.

terac · Feb 23, 2011

You really had my hope up there, juliaann! But nothing in the mail for me today. I don't really want to post too public of information due to some work conflicts. I will say that I have applied to the OU ABSN, OU Traditional, Connors State, OSU-Okmulgee, and Tulsa Tech hoping that at least one will stick. May I ask what your GPA and science GPA was?

juliaann · Feb 23, 2011

Oh, I don't mean to bum you out - like I said it was dated yesterday -- I'm sure it's on it's way, I have no idea how I got mine the very next day, considering it probably came from OKC and I'm in Tulsa.

My overall GPA is a 3.86 and my science GPA is a 4.0. My previous degree was in History, so I ended up doing essentially all of my sciences at Tulsa Community College - but I guess the fact that they wern't at a research-level university didn't hurt me, thought I was worried it would.

I also applied in the past to TCC's ADN program and Tulsa Tech's LPN program - I was accepted to both but they needed me to commit before I would hear back from OU, and since OU is what I really wanted, I turned them down and crossed my fingers for OU's ABSN - I guess all that waiting and second-guessing was worth it!

terac · Feb 23, 2011

It wasn't really you that bummed me out. I'm just a little embarrased that I literally sat facing my window with the blinds open waiting for USPS to drive by. Haha! You've just settled some of my fears, though. I have a 3.89 overall and 4.0 science but took all of my science at TCC. I was also very worried about the university-level aspect, but aside from ORU or TU, there are no other options for that here! Hopefully I'll hear something positive tomorrow.

juliaann · Feb 23, 2011

Absolutely! I'm sure if I made it in, you'll be all set with a higher GPA!