crocogator

@Medic6758, congrats on your acceptance! I'll be starting the 2nd degree program this summer. I agree with you that while grades are important, the essay is weighed heavily. At a Stampede Into Bull Nursing (SIBN) panel discussion with the professors who evaluate the applicants, they shared that they would be weighing the essay at 50%, with the overall GPA and pre-req GPA components at 25% each.

Hey @Medic6758, good to hear from someone during this calm before the storm of the first semester! I am very happy with my placement at Bayfront. I understand it's a Level II trauma center, and my preliminary direction/goal is to work in critical care. How about you?

@MorganB29, I won't want to lead you one way or the other -- I'm sure that's a difficult decision to make. I wish you the best! If you decide to come to USF, I'll be in your class, as I just accepted my seat in the ABSN program. My understanding is that the program is actually 16 months in length (4 semesters). That may be an important consideration.

Thanks @tabularawsa! Any time your status changes, it is reflected in SOAR and a message is sent to your email address on file.

Woo hoo -- I'm accepted to the 2nd degree program! My wife and kids have lived here in the Tampa Bay area for many years, so I had all of my eggs in the USF basket and am very excited to take my seat. BTW, I did receive a denial for my upper division application. I remember being told that I could be accepted to both and then have a choice, but that does not appear to be true. The email states, "Your application for the Upper Division program has been denied because you have been admitted to the Second Degree/Accelerated program." As someone who has trolled this site for a long time, I know others may be interested in stats: I had a 3.81 GPA overall with a 4.00 in the pre-reqs. Remember that they're now weighing the essay at 50% of the evaluation, so grades are not everything. Good luck and Go Bulls!

I applied to both the accelerated and upper-division programs, but so far only my accelerated app has moved to committee status.

Genonurse, I remember being told by an adviser that there is more competition in the fall. I believe it has to do with the incoming waves of freshmen; they end up entering the CON two years after their initial fall term.

Greetings, everyone! I'm excited that it's almost time to apply for USF's Summer term ABSN program. I'm a non-traditional student (i.e., old guy with a wife and 5 awesome kids) coming into a mid-life career change but very excited to be here. This week I finished my last pre-req (Microbiology), and it was by God's grace that I have managed a 4.0 in all of them. (My overall GPA is 3.82.) Of course 40% rides on our essays, competition is tight, and there are no guarantees. I too had considered applying to both programs (ABSN, Upper Division). However, I received conflicting information about whether applying to both might skew my chances toward one of the two programs. I really prefer the 2nd degree ABSN program, but one of the advisors thought that applying to both might open me up to the possibility that the evaluators would push me in one direction or the other. On another occasion, a different advisor wrote me, "The evaluation process is separate for each sequence. Generally, your application will be evaluated for each program’s applicant pool." In the end, I was unsure what to believe, so I decided to pursue only the ABSN for Summer. If it doesn't work out, I'll apply to both programs for Fall. BTW, one bit of helpful advice that she did share: "If admitted into the Upper Division program, generally we will not allow students to go into the Second Degree Sequence." This is why I'm leaning toward applying solely to the ABSN sequence.