Saint Mary’s Minnesota CRNA

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Anybody applying for 2021?

58 minutes ago, S3682 said:

Not only that, but not able to get any feedback of why is tough.  It’s like...what else do I do 

I know, they don’t really tell you much. 

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Specializes in Nurse Anesthesia.

Good morning,

I am reading the comments and I do want to share that we are looking very closely at the science and math GPA worksheet that each applicant submits. We go through and make sure you listed all of your science and math classes, but errors do happen on your part or ours. The reason why we look at that GPA specifically is because sometimes people go to college and into a career and find it isn't for them, but they may not have gotten very good grades. Then they mature a little bit, go into nursing, and their grades significantly improve! We try to throw out the classes that will not really impact your success at St. Mary's, but of course the overall GPA does impact if you can be admitted to the school. Our overall requirement for SGPP is 2.75, which is generous.

Secondly, we are one of the last master's programs in the country, so we are very competitive, nationwide. This is not a referendum on you as a nurse or a candidate. The competition is fierce right now. The average science and math GPA was 3.5. 

Third, we are looking for one full year of ICU experience at least before you apply to the program. If you went right to the ICU after graduation, and have not been in the ICU for a full year already, there is a good chance we set your application aside until next year, should you choose to reapply.

Lastly, we are looking for that Chemistry class that we require to apply to our program. You can still apply, as Daniel Lawrence will tell you, but it does make us wary of those candidates. If your GPA was very very high and your experience was amazing we might still look at your file, but we are scrutinizing everything even more closely. If you want to be guaranteed to be looked at, you do need to take the class. We don't have time to monitor Chemistry classes for 32 new students over the next nine months. If for any reason someone doesn't get a 'B' or higher, we cannot admit them. This is a huge gamble for us as a school.

Thanks everyone! We will start interviews this week, and once we know our DNP is a go I will post here about a new opportunity to re-apply. You are all amazing candidates, so do not give up hope. The best of us apply more than once and persist until we achieve what we want!

 

Dr. Gordon

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What do we do if we have not heard anything either way? 

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Specializes in Nurse Anesthesia.

I have asked the admissions department to send letters. It sounds like they come in the U.S. mail. I will confirm tomorrow.

 

Thank you!

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Dr. Gordon,

If you don't mind answering, for the math/science worksheet was it assumed that we would 1. Only include math/science courses? and 2. Include each course including repeated courses?  For example, should we have included both our Chemistry course taken over 5 years ago as well as our recent Chemistry course taken to meet application requirement even if they were the same Chemistry course? Also, if science courses were repeated to improve GPA should we still be including previous science courses and are the initial grades included in the GPA calculation along with more recent or improved grades?  Thanks!

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Specializes in Nurse Anesthesia.

Hi there, thank you for the question.

I am copying the instructions below. For the purpose of this worksheet I had also created an accompanying sheet that detailed exactly what we count as a math or science class. I listed multiple subjects and courses on that document. If you did not see it, it is possible that you (or other candidates) completed last years math and science class worksheet which is different that the one I created and used. We only noted a few people that did that, and when we caught it we asked them to please complete the correct form.

These are the directions: 

The attached math and science GPA worksheet will be used by the application committee to calculate your science and math GPA, which is what we consider when selecting candidates for the program. We require that you complete the math and science worksheet based upon all of your post high school educational transcripts and to the best of your ability. We reserve the right to review your transcript and add or delete courses, so please use your best judgement and we will make modifications if necessary, upon further document review. The list on page 2 details the different professional health schools and the courses we will consider when calculating the science and math GPA. As each academic institution is different, pass/fail work will not be converted into GPA points. Accompanying lab course grades are not to be included or counted.

To calculate your science & math GPA, use the following steps:

List each course you took or plan on taking and how many credits it is worth. Please list the required Chemistry course for admission first.

If you retook a course, please list the highest grade earned only.

For each course, list the earned grade only (do not list expected grade).

Multiply the number of credits by the grade to get the “Grade Points” for each course.

Add the Grade Points for each course together to get Total Grade Points.

Divide the Total Grade Points by the total number of Credit Hours attempted. Credit hours = the total number of credits you earned and attempted.

___________________________________________________________

Many schools do not necessarily tell you that they are looking at your science and math GPA, and they do the calculation for you without your knowledge or participation. We put it out there so you know we are doing it, and allow you to assist us with calculating it so you are not in the dark.

I hope this helps. There are many factors at play.

Dr. Gordon

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Specializes in RN-BC, CCRN, TCRN, CEN.
On 9/11/2020 at 3:40 PM, S3682 said:

I’m bummed.  This is the 10th school. I’m done 

Same. I screwed up in undergrad and have been taking classes for 3 years now to make up for it. I'm not sure I still have the drive I used to when I started ??

On 9/11/2020 at 5:13 PM, Yele1993 said:

I know, they don’t really tell you much. 

Yes, I've received the same generic letter saying all accepted applicants have had a science in the past XYZ months, etc. I was hoping that 3 apps in a row would count for something but it's hard to compete with 4.0 GPAs and years of ICU experience.

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20 hours ago, FlyMurse said:

Same. I screwed up in undergrad and have been taking classes for 3 years now to make up for it. I'm not sure I still have the drive I used to when I started ??

Yes, I've received the same generic letter saying all accepted applicants have had a science in the past XYZ months, etc. I was hoping that 3 apps in a row would count for something but it's hard to compete with 4.0 GPAs and years of ICU experience.

I have ICU experience and my GPA is over a 3.5 and I didn’t qualify for an interview. Just got my denial letter by mail today. 

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After 10 rejections, it’s hard to be optimistic.  Also it’s difficult to try To figure how to improve.  Other than continued experience...I’m at the end of options. I’m so bummed after 3 years of working towards this dream. 

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Did anyone interview today? How was it?! ?

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How were the interviews? As stressful as we think they will be?

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Specializes in Peds Trauma+ Cardiac ICU.

Has anyone else not received an email to interview, or a letter with a rejection? With it coming close to 9/30 and the end of interviews, I’m curious to how many haven’t heard one thing either way?

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