chococherry

I have a BS in biochemistry, then I went to an accelerated program, got my BS in nursing. Worked 2 years in ICU, then applied and got into CRNA program. There is no shortcuts here, you need critical care experience in order to make you a better candidate and get outstanding references. Plus, you really need to be familiar with critical patients before you attempt to be CRNA. If your grades from your bio degree are not so great, nursing school is a chance to redeem yourself, study hard and get your GPA up. Plus, accelerated programs are very rigorous, and they pull a lot of weight during the admission process. If you can complete an accelerated program with good grades, it shows that you can successfully handle a CRNA program. Good luck.

I'm excited too....but now I'm getting overwhelmed by financial issues, have to figure out a way to pay for school and living expenses. See you in the Summer!

This thread has been a very valuable read. Thank you all for good info and taking time to post.

I think letters are out- probably in the mail. I got mine last week. I'm starting summer 08.

Jbro, I would recommend just doing your best in nursing school, a good GPA can carry you over even with not-so-great GRE scores. Undergrad- 3.85 Grad school (core classes)- 4.0 GRE- 1060, writing 4.0 Experience- MICU 3.5 years, straight after undergrad. You really don't want to rush this. It takes a 1 year to get comfortable and another year to do it like "second nature" CCRN- didn't have time to do it, but I'm going to take the exam in few weeks. Letter of recommendation- once you're working, start developing good relationship with supervisors, physicians, so on. These letters count. Good luck.

Writing about yourself is hard. I believe it's important not to repeat in your essay the information provided in your CV. Your education and professional accomplishments are all in the CV- no need to repeat those. You want the panel to get a taste of your personality, so an essay should reflect that. They also want to know: what do you know about the profession, role, responsiblities? Did you shadow? Why do you want to pursue the career? What personality traits will help you be successful in the program? Why is this program a good fit for you? Like you said, honesty is good. You want to sell yourelf w/o being cocky. Also, including something in the essay that will make it stand apart from others is nice to have- such as a personal experience that ties nicely together with the overall feel of the paper. Good Luck.

Yes to Rush, received the letter couple days ago, I'm in- starting Summer 08.

I have mine in a couple of weeks...can you guys tell me more regarding the interview questions. I'm stressing myself out...what calculations did you have to do, like drip rates and so forth or something more advanced? Thanks in advance.

I'm not sure about other schools but Rush University offers a Post-Certificate Masters in Nursing Anesthesia, so basically you will not have to repeat your core graduate classes, it's for those who already have a MSN degree. I don't know the details or length of this program but it's something you can look into. Maybe other schools offer something similar.

I took their online biostats class, had no problems at all. A lot of people take the class from Kansas State online. If you were successful in other online classes, this isn't much harder. You just need to be on top if things as it moves fast. Good luck.