I have a mentoring and Medical English tutoring business, but I'm really in this forum just to stay up-to-date on things in the nursing world, and to be helpful when I can.
NursingMentorPRN has 8 years experience as a BSN, MSN, NP, CNM and specializes in NP Admissions and Interview mentoring.
I have a mentoring and tutoring business, but I'm really in this forum just to stay up-to-date on things in the nursing world, and to be helpful when I can. This forum was a HUGE help for me when I was applying to and starting out in nursing school. I'm happy to answer questions about Penn's program, moving to Philly, or the admissions process in general. I applied and was accepted to Penn, Hopkins, Yale, Columbia, and UCSF. I'm happy to share what I learned.
(Also, anything public health or health department related. All my jobs until now have been with free/sliding scale clinics through health departments.)
If you are interested in my mentoring services, you can book a free consultation here:
https://calendly.com/admissionsmentorprn/30min
And here's the link the Admissions Mentoring page of my website:
NursingMentorPRN replied to NursingMentorPRN's topic in General Students
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NursingMentorPRN replied to peach2218's topic in General Students
Hi there! Looking through posts I see that you went to UPenn and were accepted at Yale. These are my top two direct entry programs for CNM. Just looking for feedback on my stats before I start the application process to see if there is anything I can do to make me a stronger candidate. I am about to enter my senior year of my bachelors as a biology major. My cGPA is a 3.5 and my major GPA is a 3.3. I think what is bringing my GPA down is my C+ in organic Chemistry (which I retook at another school and received an A, but it does not show in my current schools GPA) and my C+s in A&P I and II. All of my other grades are Bs or higher with mostly pre-med type courses in biology and Chemistry. I also have over 2000 hours and counting of patient care experience working as a PCA, plenty of leadership through various clubs, and Im fairly confident in having strong LORs. I think where my application is slacking the most is volunteer hours (I only have about 50 documented), my C+s in A&P, and my young age. Let me know what you think! Also if you have any insight on the CNM programs at both schools I would love to hear. Thank you so much for your time!
Hi! Thanks for the message/post. Happy to weigh in with my thoughts. First, to directly answer your question: I wouldn't worry too much about your Chemistry. As for A&P, I think it depends on if you have other similar courses that can demonstrate that you understand the concepts covered in A&P. It's an important pre-req for nursing programs.
I think you've already done one of the key things, which is a self-evaluation of what the admissions committee will think of your application.
I can reassure you, GPA is probably one of the most overrated (by applicants) parts of the application. People spend SO much time worrying about this. I have a client who got accepted to a top 10 school and is waitlisted at another with a 2.7 GPA. Her GPA was low but we worked to make sure she told "her story" beautifully. She had original/interesting goals, and was able to tie them back to her previous experiences. Top schools mean it when they say they consider applicants holistically.
I've also had someone seek out my services last minute after she was rejected from Penn (and when she asked, had been told by admissions that her essay was weak and her LORs were "good but not great.") Happy to report after making some changes to her essay and C.V., she's been accepted to another NP Program.
I think you get where I'm going with this. haha What you write about yourself and how you write it matters. A lot. Although volunteer hours are great, and so is a high GPA, where you'll have the most impact at this point is focusing on "your story." Ask yourself what your past experiences have in common and tie it to your goals and try not to waste space explaining things that don't matter.
Re Penn and Yale: I loved my interview experiences with both schools. I ultimately chose Penn because I believed it would have more networking opportunities for me while I was in school because of the nursing school's relationship with other departments and its location in a medically-focused city. I was very happy with my experience at Penn. I wrote a novel about it for someone else recently. haha. I'll see if I can copy and paste it here soon.
Hope this helps!
Here's what I wrote when someone asked me about the pros and cons of Penn:
PROS:
Supportive Environment
For me, I had a really hard time choosing between Hopkins, Yale, and Penn. I loved the international public health reputation of Hopkins, the universal name recognization of Yale for future jobs, and the strong nursing and research reputation (and ranking) of Penn - but what pushed me over to Penn was actually the "vibe." Haha Interviews were in person, and when I went, I got a real sense of community from current students and support from faculty. I'm glad I trusted my intuition. I was right. The school of fostering an environment where community/camaraderie instead of competition and this made all the difference in my experience. Professors were also truly there to support me through the programs ups and downs. Although the program is rigorous (you need to maintain an 80% or higher on exams), I felt like they had my back. When my partner at the time got a tough diagnosis and needed surgery in the middle of a critical academic week, they did everything in their power to make it work for me (and checked in on me).
Clinical Placement & Sim Lab
With the exception of one clinical placement (great placement, horrible preceptor), I was very happy with my placements. I requested things specific to my career goals and for the most part, they made it happen. I cannot imagine having to secure clinical placement. (OMG whatever you do, try to avoid schools who do that unless you have your whole MSN lined up.)
Faculty also puts a ton of time and effort into sim lab, so I felt (as prepared as you can feel) for emergencies should they arise.
Philly & Networking
I feel like this is one of the most commonly overlooked aspects of selecting an MSN program. Because Penn also has a med school and a social work school, we always got phenomenal speakers and experts in the field to lecture the class. We also had great lecturers from outside the school. Philly has a bunch of med schools and residencies so it's great for this.They usually share their emails and offer for you to message them with questions. Because of this, if there's something that interests you, there are SO many opportunities to find your way into research projects, clinical placements, and future jobs that interest you.
Philly is just generally an awesome city to live in. Totally underrated. Easy to get around and meet up for study groups. More opportunities to meet people with shared interests outside your program as well. I read somewhere that Philly has more doctors per capita than any other US city. It's also a young and academic city. Go to pretty much any coffee shop in Center City, and it will be littered with grad students and residents.
Name Matters
You can obviously get a job without a degree from a top 10 school, however I do think it makes it easier and Penn is a well recognized name. I happen to know (because they told me) that I was invited to interview for my first job because I was a Penn grad. They were familiar with the work of one of the faculty members and also felt like they knew that I would be "well prepared."
CONS
Cost
OMG the cost. I don't even know what to say here. I don't think I fully appreciated how much debt I'd be taking on. I was just so excited to get in. Even with lots of scholarship money... I still don't know how it can even be a thing to charge this much for school. Also, something weird happened with my first semester with loans and I had to get a private loan. But I've been talking to others and I'm not the only one. I don't know how common this issue is with other schools. But ouch. If I could do it again, I would apply for a HRSA scholarship and get it all paid for in exchange for working in less than ideal circumstances for a couple years.
I'm trying so hard to think of something else bad right now. I can't.
Home Birth
Okay, I thought of one. I will say that the program prepares you well for being a hospital or birth center midwife, but if I had planned to do home births, I might have felt a bit less prepared. (I have a feeling this is true of a lot CNM programs though.)
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