AustinNative

Towards the beginning of March we were sent an email that had all the information we needed for compliance through the website Castle Branch (shots, vaccine records, lot of small online safety stuff, CPR and First Aid, etc.). You will also be given permission to apply for School of Nursing scholarship sometime in March. You must have completed you FAFSA as part of the scholarship application, so you can start on that now. The school of nursing offers First Aid and BLS/CPR certification classes, so if you aren't certified you can sign up for that online. At the beginning of May you can purchase your parking permit most people park have a C lot permit or a Trinity Garage permit. Typically the SON follows the UT calendar so the first day of class will probably be June 6th for yall. It was June 1st for us. We had one week off at the end of the Summer semester before the fall semester started. Our orientation was May 23 and 25, then we started the following Thursday with classes. Hope this helps, let me know if you have more questions.

Summer schedule was Mondays: Skills class 8-12 and Adult Health 1-3:15. Tuesdays: Skills Lab 8-12 and Aging (first half of Summer, was asynch) and Nursing Management (second half of Summer, was in person sometimes and asynch some) 1-4. Wednesdays no class most days but a good time to do required Open Lab hours. Thursday 9-11:15 Adult Health and Aging/Nursing Management. Friday: 8-12 Fundamentals Theory for June and Simulation/Clinical days in July. We had 1 week off between the end of Summer session and the start of the fall semester.

@Texasgirly777 We submitted our applications on Oct. 1, so timing might be a little different for yall. The second week of November we got an email asking for our social security number and we had 4 days to respond - that gets sent to the Board of Nursing. Towards the end of November, they offered some people who weren't going to be getting an interview the opportunity to re-apply to LeaDS. On Dec. 1 got an email saying I got an interview. The interviews were about 10-14 days later. Dec. 23 everyone got an email about getting fingerprinted. The second week of January some people that applied to the NP/CNS tracks were offered the opportunity to apply to both. Mid-February we got the decision email. This was pretty much all the communication we got the entire time, so lots of long stretches of silence!

For those of your working on your CV, here are the parts commonly listed on a CV (If you don't have something for a category, just leave that category off). 1. Name/Contact Info 2. Education 3. Fellowships/Scholarships/Honors/Awards 4. Medical Experience (can be volunteer or paid, shadowing, caring for a family member - I listed "Doctor Mom" and described care experiences with my kids 5. Teaching Experience 6. Professional Experience 7. Mentoring and Tutoring Experience 8. Volunteer and Community Involvement (can be combined with Mentoring/Tutoring) 9. Publications/Research 10. Presentations (outside of required presentations for a class) 11. Certifications (UT offers CPR and First Aid classes throughout the year. I took it before applying so I could have something to put in this section) 12. Languages Also, here's the link to a YouTube video of a class about writing a CV. Not everything is applicable but I found it helpful while I was creating mine. Basics of Preparing an Academic CV and Cover Letter https://www.YouTube.com/watch?v=puDETdGvW5A

It is 2-4 people admitted for the PCPNP program. After the first year the PCPNP students join a cohort of about 6 grad students (that have a BSN, have been working as an RN, and are coming back to get their MSN as a PCPNP) for the rest of the course work. A few of the general MSN classes are taken with the whole AE group, but the rest are with the new PCPNP cohort (about 10 students total).

That's stinks that the time is shortened, however, the school of nursing website has most of the information you need as far as what you will be submitting (SV, statement of purpose, transcripts, prereqs). So, you can always start working on all those items now so all you need to do when the application opens is submit them and send out the letters of recommendation.

If you understood the content in the prereqs and you are a motivated learner you will be good. The course work builds on the prereqs, so take time to learn that information. I had no paid employment experience in healthcare. I did have 200+ hours in pediatric clinic shadowing/interning with a PNP. That person wrote one of recommendations for the application. I also have experience taking care of my kids medical issues and included that on my CV. PNP gets a large number of applications, but also has the fewest number of spots in the program.

It is definitely rigorous. The first few weeks were crazy figuring out all the different kinds of assignments. It's a lot of class/study/read/prep/quiz repeat. 7 weeks in, I think we are all starting to get the hang of stuff for the Summer. We hear fall will be even crazier since we start clinicals. The professors are great and really want you to succeed. They spend a lot of time going through applications and interviews so they are invested in us succeeding. There's a good mix of ages and life experience as well. A fair amount finished their undergrad degrees in May and started the program in June, but theres also a lot of us who have careers and are coming back to school. The professors discourage the AE students from working, but there are some who are still working their previous jobs part time or working as a PCT/CNA/MA part time in hospitals.

I'm in the PCPNP track. I just started this Summer. We were told in our interview that 56 people applied. They gave 15-16 people interviews and 4 were admitted. They usually take 2-4 for the PCPNP program. Some people that were not given an interview were given the chance to "move" their application to LeaDS and submit a new statement of purpose. Also, for those that were interviewed and not offered a spot in PCPNP, many of those were given the chance to interview for LeaDS.

The GRE was waived for those of us starting this Summer due to COVID. I have 4 kids with lots of medical issues and I also had over 250 hours shadowing/being taught by a PNP.

@munkyfusic I was accepted to the PC-PNP track. I had a 3.9 upper division GPA and a 4.0 prereq GPA. At the interview they said 56 applied this year, 15 were given interviews and they were planning to accept 3. I know some of the people who were not accepted were able to move their application to LeaDs (this happened earlier in the process, not in February when decisions came out).

I would watch the recorded Zoom Information session available on the UT School of Nursing website. Then also plan on attending one of the live virtual information sessions and you can get questions answered. They are open to giving specific stats for each track. Do you have any specific questions?

I lived at 3218 Harris Park Ave. Years ago when I was in undergrad. There were 4 units. The front building is a duplex with A and B units both being 2 bedrooms. It's still owned by the same guy. It was super affordable years ago and was the last time I checked. It's worth a try!

Yes there are scholarships/fellowships. Here's the website https://nursing.utexas.edu/academics/graduate/financial-support The scholarship application closes March 20th.

I was supposed to respond by Feb. 20, so probably after that there would be another round of acceptances. You could always email and ask what's going on with your application.