Out of State GN Application?

[klynette]

Hello,

I'm a Texas resident, from Austin, but decided to pursue my education in Pennsylvania. I had originally planned on staying there but have found that it's just not for me anymore, and I miss home. I'm going to be moving back in May when I graduate with my BSN and I'm obviously going to be applying to Seton and St. David's.

My question is, how badly does it hurt my chances that I attended college so far away? Does it help that I'm still considered a Texas resident? I'm afraid I'll be overlooked by students from UT Austin and the surrounding schools. But I have a very strong GPA, biology minor, awarded a couple scholarships, lots of extracurricular work, member of the NSNA and I'm expecting to be inducted into Sigma Theta Tau soon so I'm kind of hoping that will help... :/

Also, I won't be in town for Seton's open house but I still would really like to meet someone. I'm going to be home for 5 weeks in December/January, would it be okay to call and explain my situation and just ask to maybe meet with a manager?

And finally, do Seton and St. David's allow shadowing? I recently got to shadow in the OR and ER at one of the hospitals in Pennsylvania (granted, it was through my clinical, but still) and I loooved it. I wouldn't even care what unit, I just want to have more insight on how Seton and St. David's work and what it's like to be a RN there.

Any other tips would be greatly appreciated!

[Nurse SMS, MSN, RN]

As far as Austin is concerned, yes, it will hurt you not being local. Austin is the tightest nursing economy in Texas with tons of people wanting to live and work there.

My strong suggestion would be to find a rural position within a few hours of Austin, work a couple of years and then try to transfer into one of the local Austin hospitals once you have experience. However, even experienced nurses are not exactly finding it easy to become employed in Austin.

Best of luck.