khalacey

I go to UM - Columbia and the nursing school acceptance rate is definitely NOT that high. That's the whole university's acceptance rate for incoming students of all majors. Mizzou's nursing school is really competitive. The average admitted student's GPA is a 3.6, I've heard they have diversity measures (one mentioned was 1/3 from rural areas) to make sure that there's more than just rich white St. Louis girls in the program. I know a girl who only got in via wait-list with a 3.5 and over a year of CNA experience in the University Hospital.

I'm currently a sophomore at a major state university studying a non-nursing degree in health science. I want to get into nursing but if I changed my major now it would take me at minimum another year to complete the prerequisites, and two years for clinical coursework. My school has very competitive admissions and due to one very difficult semester, I am not able to reach the desired GPA for my school and my chances of getting in are slim. Therefore, I have narrowed down to 3 options. There are two associates programs for RN's in my hometown. The relative cost for both would be equal to the cost per year of tuition+living expenses for my current university. These programs would take me ~3 years to complete and then I would work while studying to get my BSN. My second option is an accelerated BSN program. I have researched these and know I can complete the prerequisites on time, but the cost is so high for something that seems like a more lateral move, as I will already have a bachelors. My third option, and my favorite, is a masters entry program in nursing. There aren't many of these, however, and I am sure admissions are very competitive. The ones I am most interested in are in Chicago, but that is over 5 hours from my hometown and my family would not like my being so far from home. My ultimate goal is to be a nurse practitioner, so what are the pros and cons of each of these? Any advice or experience is helpful.