Stony Brook BSN - Summer/Fall 2011 Applicants

PacoUSA, BSN, RN · Mar 30, 2011

I don't know about anyone else, but I've got next week in my mind for an answer. I hope so at least.

Are you waiting on undecided Accelerated BSN candidates to drop their seats or are you waiting on the 2-year BSN? April 1 is the deadline to accept the accelerated BSN I think for those that have not yet accepted the offers or to pay the deposit. After that, I believe the waitlist is activated. As for the 2-year, I am sure those decisions are imminent. Wasnt the deadline @ Jan 5? Because the accelerated deadline was Nov 1 abouts, and we heard something 3 months later in Feb. The timing is right for decisions to come very soon! :up:

kskirk1021 · Mar 30, 2011

I have been stalking this thread for awhile. I have also applied to the 2 year program. Now that it is almost April and I have already started going into my SOLAR account everyday/twice a day, I just wanted to wish everyone good luck that are in the same boat as me!!!

KJM-RN, BSN · Mar 30, 2011

Are you waiting on undecided accelerated BSN candidates to drop their seats or are you waiting on the 2-year BSN? April 1 is the deadline to accept the accelerated BSN I think for those that have not yet accepted the offers or to pay the deposit. After that, I believe the waitlist is activated. As for the 2-year, I am sure those decisions are imminent. Wasnt the deadline @ Jan 5? Because the accelerated deadline was Nov 1 abouts, and we heard something 3 months later in Feb. The timing is right for decisions to come very soon!

I'm waiting on the 2 year basic program. I don't have a bachelors degree yet so I couldn't apply to the accelerated. I figured we'd hear next week being they emailed us and said that they expect answers the beginning of April. I'm so anxious about it, I check solar everyday too now. Even though I don't know what I'm looking for, but I assume I will when something changes.

PacoUSA, BSN, RN · Mar 30, 2011

I'm so anxious about it, I check solar everyday too now. Even though I don't know what I'm looking for, but I assume I will when something changes.

Believe me, you will know when SOLAR "changes" for you - it's quite noticeable. When you log in now, you probably just see one or two boxes on your screen under "Solar System", one of them being Student Admissions where you can check the status of your transcripts and recommendations. If you're accepted, they add a LOT more boxes :eek: , particularly ones that say "For New Students" and "Student Records and Registration". I forgot where it's located, but you will want to find a tiny link under one of these boxes that says Application Decision, something like that. This is where you will find a letter with blue buttons to click to accept or decline the offer of admission. Waitlisters I know don't get screen changes like this, because a year ago mine never changed. So if you don't get the screen changes, don't fret right away, it could be a waitlist, not necessarily a "no."

I can no longer say for sure what the links exactly say, because my SOLAR has since changed little by little since I accepted, paid deposit and filled out student preferences.

Good luck, though!

cookie91 · Mar 31, 2011

Hi ladies and gentlemen!! First off congratulations to everyone! I 'am a 2012 hopeful. I am finishing up my Pre-reqs for stony brook. If you ladies and gentleman care to share with me what you think made you stand out as an applicant. Stony Brook receives thousands of applications and they only pick 60 that is just really intense.:vlin:. also do you think it matter what school you come from from? For those of you have gotten accepted what do you believe made the admission board say "WOW" we want her/him!

Thanks guys:redbeathe

KJM-RN, BSN · Mar 31, 2011

Hi ladies and gentlemen!! First off congratulations to everyone! I 'am a 2012 hopeful. I am finishing up my Pre-reqs for stony brook. If you ladies and gentleman care to share with me what you think made you stand out as an applicant. Stony Brook receives thousands of applications and they only pick 60 that is just really intense.:vlin:. also do you think it matter what school you come from from? For those of you have gotten accepted what do you believe made the admission board say "WOW" we want her/him!
Thanks guys:redbeathe

Just to clarify, although it is very competitive, they don't receive thousands of applications, but hundreds. When I attended their information session in November they said they had received 640 applications for the accelerated program, which is a little more competitive than the basic 2 year program. If you are in the area, you should call up and find out when they are having a session as it is very informative.

Anyway, although I haven't been accepted yet, I am waiting to find out if I am. The best way to stand out though is to have volunteer hours in, write an amazing personal statement, and get good recommendations. Grades are good too, but you want those other things in, in order to make them say "WOW". Good Luck!!

lisa_toronto · Apr 1, 2011

FYI: I was at the School of Nursing yesterday and apparently there's a delay. We probably won't even find out (on Solar) until late April!!! The decisions have been made and the notifications are coming out of the HSC side, not the SoN, and that's where the delay is. This totally sucks!!! The wait is killing me!!!!

rubysasha, BSN · Apr 1, 2011

FYI: I was at the School of Nursing yesterday and apparently there's a delay. We probably won't even find out (on Solar) until late April!!! The decisions have been made and the notifications are coming out of the HSC side, not the SoN, and that's where the delay is. This totally sucks!!! The wait is killing me!!!!

Omg right now... They are killing me!!!! If they've made the decisions why can't they just put it on solar omg

PacoUSA, BSN, RN · Apr 1, 2011

Hi ladies and gentlemen!! First off congratulations to everyone! I 'am a 2012 hopeful. I am finishing up my Pre-reqs for stony brook. If you ladies and gentleman care to share with me what you think made you stand out as an applicant. Stony Brook receives thousands of applications and they only pick 60 that is just really intense.:vlin:. also do you think it matter what school you come from from? For those of you have gotten accepted what do you believe made the admission board say "WOW" we want her/him!
Thanks guys:redbeathe

In a nutshell, these factors in my opinion will give you the best shot possible in the admission process (meaning after doing all of these, there is nothing more you can do) ... and it is pretty much what I did:

(1) Get's A's in every one of your prereqs. Seriously, Stony Brook only requires 5 crucial prereqs (for the accelerated anyway), all in sciences. The basic program requires other prerreqs on top of those which we don't have to do because we have bachelor's degrees already. Kick ass on those and show that you can excel in the demanding sciences. I am sure there are people that got in with a B or two in these prereqs, but like I said if you want the BEST shot possible, getting a 4.0 in these courses gives you the most peace of mind. I did it ... and if you really want it you can do it too. You will never know what the other applicants are presenting in terms of GPA, so might as well go for gold.

(2) Get recommendations from people that will speak to your potential as a future nurse. A prereq professor (from the sciences) who teaches a course in which you got an A is excellent (and I say in which you got an A because think about what they would say about you if you got a B, won't be as glowing). Get 2 of those professors to write you recommendations. Your 3rd should be from someone who is related to the medical field in some way that has observed you work in a health care setting. If you volunteer @ a hospital, get your supervisor to write one (but I would make sure they know you for at least 6 months before writing it. Shorter time period does not look so good for content - how much can they really know you in that time?). They should be able to write about how well you work with patients and your dedication and potential for success to the field. Title of the person in the health care setting I think means nothing. If they don't know YOU and your potential enough to write glowing reviews about you, it's useless. Don't use someone as a reference that honestly does not have any remote connection to health care. I did this last year, and although I will never know for sure, I think it's probably one of the reasons I was waitlisted, among others I suspect.

(3) Kick ass essay! Answer those questions from your heart. Use personal examples where it will help, and stay away from the generic "I want to help people" answers. Be more creative than that. Make the freaking essay jump from the page and make people say it: Wow! Talk about the sick relative that you had to quit your job to take care of, for example (assuming of course that this was TRUE ... never lie!!). Find someone who is a good writer to help you revise and revise the essay. Never send in what you write in a first draft. My essay went through 4 drafts before I finalized it, thanks to a friend of mine pointing out things I did not see when I wrote it.

(4) If you're volunteering, keep volunteering! I like to believe that they like to see that you have demonstrated commitment to the industry by learning what you can. And by volunteering I mean something involving patient contact in some way, something that will help you speak to and interact with patients (and this is something that you should talk about in your essay). Don't work in the gift shop or information desk, that does not give you the exposure to patients that you need. I'm talking about working IN the emergency room, or something that gets you doing something with patients on the floors. That way your supervisor will see you with them and see the good that you can offer. By the way, DON'T start volunteering right before the application is due just to pad your application. That's just stupid and looks very obvious why you're volunteering. You want to establish a long decent history (at least 6 months I guess), and besides, if you want to volunteer for the exposure you get to see nursing up close, you will want to do it for a long time, not long enough to have it on your application. I was a volunteer for about a year and a half before I applied and I can tell you, volunteering does help you with patient interactions skills ... a LOT.

About what school you went to? I don't believe that matters, as long as your school is accredited. I did not attend high ranking schools before I applied to Stony Brook, none are Ivy League or big name schools but they all have decent regional reputations. I would worry more about the grades you get than the school you attend. After all, you're not applying to law school, which I know from personal experience DOES generally take school you attended as an undergrad into consideration.

Do all this, and send it all in and hope for the best ... that's all you can do at that point. Hope this helps! :up:

PacoUSA, BSN, RN · Apr 1, 2011

FYI: I was at the School of Nursing yesterday and apparently there's a delay. We probably won't even find out (on Solar) until late April!!! The decisions have been made and the notifications are coming out of the HSC side, not the SoN, and that's where the delay is. This totally sucks!!! The wait is killing me!!!!

Omg right now... They are killing me!!!! If they've made the decisions why can't they just put it on solar omg

You people are KILLING me :eek: ... I already know about me, now you're rolling me back into the waiting game by proxy, stop it!! :lol2: LMAO!

I waited for over a YEAR to get in and applied TWICE. What's another couple of weeks ??

lisa_toronto · Apr 1, 2011

You people are KILLING me ... I already know about me, now you're rolling me back into the waiting game by proxy, stop it!! LMAO!
I waited for over a YEAR to get in and applied TWICE. What's another couple of weeks ??

You're right...what's another couple of weeks? But regardless, my anxiety level is through the roof!! LOL....Paco, have you started packing? I hate packing because I always feel like I forgot something! Good luck with it!

KJM-RN, BSN · Apr 1, 2011

I swear everyone tells you something different there. I was told yesterday that decisions will be posted starting beginning of April and continue through the month.