So I got rejected from NP school...

[JeanettePNP, MSN, RN, NP]

Much better to be rejected from NP school but accepted into a nursing job, than the other way around. You're young, you have plenty of time to go for your master's. In the meantime focus on your nursing job and gain as much knowledge and experience as you can. It will only help you down the line when you're ready to pursue NP again.

[AbeFrohman, BSN, RN]

Here's what happened..

Admission Director:"Where's the pile of applicants that met the minimum requirements?"

Secretary: "On the left side of your desk."

Admission Director:"How many are we taking this year?"

Secretary: "75."

Admission Director: "Okay, grab the first 75 in the pile and send the rest a denial letter. Wow, I'm exhausted from all this work."

I'm not saying there aren't selective schools out their, but they are not the norm. I have been through the application process at several schools and friends all over. I'm telling you, it just SEEMS competitive because the person with a 3.9 GPA just had the bad luck of having their application seen after all the slots were filled. I've yet to see a person who met the minimum requirements not get in within at least on the second try, even at the same school.

ETA: I had a 3.5 GPA, ZIPPO experience, the GRE was waived for me (>3.2 GPA), and no interview, and UAB ACNP program took me without hesitation. Just to show schools that are online and take huge class numbers (despite being renowned medical institutions) are really easy to get into.

[linearthinker, DNP, RN]

My experience was different. The year I was admitted to the MSN-FNP program, we were given the following statistics about our class (from the welcome packet they gave us, which I still have here in my hot little hand):

the school accepted 9% of the applicants into the FNP program and 11% into ANP that year. Class avg GPA was 4.0 and GRE avg (still required there) was 1300, and the avg for practice experience was 7 years, 8 months.

65% of the class had achieved specialty certification in their area of practice, 48% were active members of their Nsg Association, and 38% had published something in a scholarly journal or participated in grant funded research projects.

So, different schools have different criteria, and if you want to go to that school, I'd ask them for the demographic data on the student body they did admit so you know what they are looking for.

good luck.

[JeanettePNP, MSN, RN, NP]

Those are highly impressive stats, linearthinker. However, in my experience most NP programs aren't nearly that selective.

[Corey Narry, MSN, RN, NP]

I say on shame on that institution for sending you a rejection letter without any explanation why you didn't qualify for admission to this year's batch. They basically left you to figure out on your own how you can improve your chances should you decide to reapply again. I've heard of rejections to NP schools recently, not sure if this is a new trend but in the cases I was aware of, the applicant was given reasons for rejection and strategies to improve their chances next time they apply.

[BabyLady, BSN, RN]

ChristineAdrianaRN said:

After 10 painful weeks of waiting, I got my rejection letter from (adult/geriatric) NP school.

It's pretty disappointing (I'm not a girl that gets rejected often!), but I figure it will give me time to really prepare to apply again next year. Applying for this fall was a last minute decision, that left me feeling rushed and only able to apply to one school before their deadline (though, really, I only wanted to apply to one school, as it was the only one I could afford).

I didn't anticipate getting rejected so I didn't worry about only applying to one school, but next year I will make sure to apply EVERYWHERE.

I'm also not entirely sure why I was rejected. Of course they give you no explanation. I'm hearing from a lot of people that NP school is incredibly competitive, so the only thing I can surmise is that they were going to pick a nurse that had more experience over me. I've got everything I needed - the grades, the recommendations, (some) floor experience as well as office experience, volunteer work, (what I thought was) a bangin' good essay re: why I wanted this...but going into the school year I will have only had one year's experience as an RN (seven months at the time I applied). I figured in a large pool of applicants where they are trying to pare down best they can, cutting me would be easy from that perspective.

How else can I prepare for next year?

I'm wondering about the essay - I guess knowing how competitive it is, I need to REALLY make sure my essay stands out (I whipped that bad boy out in about three minutes). What kind of things do I need to write about, besides why I want to be an NP? What do you think they're looking for?

Any other advice?

Thanks all!

Considering it is only the first week of May, you would be very surprised at home many will take applications after the deadline or if your application gets there a few days later, it is ok.

How competitive a particular NP program is, depends greatly on not only the quality, but the tuition, geographic location to other NP programs, etc.

[ChristineAdrianaRN, BSN, RN]

AbeFrohman said:

Here's what happened..

Admission Director:"Where's the pile of applicants that met the minimum requirements?"

Secretary: "On the left side of your desk."

Admission Director:"How many are we taking this year?"

Secretary: "75."

Admission Director: "Okay, grab the first 75 in the pile and send the rest a denial letter. Wow, I'm exhausted from all this work."

Okay, honestly, I can definitely see that happening. This particular school is not prestigeous by any means; legit, accredited, all that, but it is the cheapest in the area by a long haul (University of Missouri St. Louis) and I'm sure that attracted a LOT of people. Not to say you won't get a good education (I know a lot of great nurses that went there), but it's a state school. Fact. It's not like, say, Saint Louis University, which might look for more things like linearthinker mentioned. ?

Considering I met with the admissions director and she knew my credentials, and didn't say ANYTHING along the lines of needing more experience or academic/scholarly accomplishments, I could see the selection process really being that random (read: unfair). Especially since I got all my stuff in the day before the deadline.

I'm not too heartbroken because the extra year to really concentrate on my work experience and building up a good resume/application will be good for me. I'll just give it another shot next year...and be the FIRST application on that desk!

Thanks for your responses!

[canchaser, BSN, RN]

Have you checked into southeast missouri state. It will be a drive from STL its a state school and reasonable but they only take 12 a year. Deadline is august 1.

[ChristineAdrianaRN, BSN, RN]

Canchaser - I did not consider SEMO. Looking at their website, though, the only nurse practitioner track they have is for FNP (they have adult clinical nurse specialist but not nurse practitioner). It seemed to be the same for MU; I wonder why that is. Thanks for the thought, though. The deadline for the fall is August 1? Wow, that's surprising. An hour and a half drive would not be ideal, though! Only if I was really desperate!

[canchaser, BSN, RN]

Isn't the program only 5 semesters? U could be nearly done by the time umsl would start up again. Are u not wanting Fnp?

[ChristineAdrianaRN, BSN, RN]

No, I want adult NP. So, they don't have the program I want.