Personal Statement Essay outweighs GPA!!

Nursing Students Pre-Nursing

Published

Hey there everybody!!!

I need help! lol, I have a 3.9 GPA :D

HOWEVER, I am not your most articulate writer. :(

I'm actually trying to get into USF's upper division nursing program (University of South Florida). Their grading system consists of 60% GPA and 40% essay. I've noticed a pattern in some threads of students with high GPAs, but they weren't accepted or put on the alt list due to a weak essay.

So this is what I would like help with:

If you have gotten into a BSN program, what is the writing style. (i.e. is it in Dear _____, format? Or the traditional intro paragraph with 3 body paragraphs, etc.)

I just need examples guys, I've tried googling personal statement nursing essays, etc, and it wasnt working for me.

Please help me out (and others too), I would greatly appreciate it :)

Thank you,

Olivia

The school I'm applying to is similar but on top of that, they put a word limit on you. So I have to write a good statement but also be concise. I've written 5 or 6 different essays so far but I think I'm close to my final one.

I'd recommend having people read over your statement. Make sure that you are utilizing good grammar and that your essay flows. Try to list your accomplishments and spin any weaknesses. You should also work on being fairly concise.

Good luck.

Same here! I've written so many different styles, but I just want to know which ones stand out the most positively to the instructors who read it. Its also hard to find people who enjoys reading essays and properly criticizing it! lol.

Specializes in Peds OR as RN, Peds ENT as NP.

I just graduated from USF. In talking with one of my professors, who reads the statements she says that multiple people read your essay and that I wouldn't believe the amount of "crazy" statements she gets. GPA is great but there has to be more to you than that hence the personal statement requirement. Since you are going to be writing papers in their program they want to make sure that you put a nice, concise statement together. They always used to say "You guys are the best and the brightest and that is why you are here." I believe my personal statement is what got me in because my GPA was around 3.4. I do not feel comfortable sending mine but if you post yours and let people see what you have so far and critique it I am sure it would be helpful. I had my professors critique mine, will not tell you how many drafts I had to do.:bugeyes:

Thanks CNA Sam!

That's really useful. I'm actually writing mine right now. I have a maximum of 2 pages single spaced and I just finished my first page. I'll probably post it once I clean it up. But I'd love to message it to you, if you want to read it and help me out.

If you dont mind me asking, was there anything particular that you wrote about, or that stood out?

I have a problem being concise. Which I am trying to work on, haha.

+ Add a Comment