TX-Brookhaven's Selection Process Rumors

jla623 · Nov 16, 2007

(disregard this message. I accidentally posted it twice.)

jla623 · Nov 16, 2007

I agree that the whole admissions selection process was very disorganized. I was right there with you with the loads of frustration beating me down.

As for the points, every year is going to be different. Last semester didn't have near as many applicants and they still had interviews at this point, so the points were a lot different. The lowest points that got in last semester was in the teens, but there were only around 100 applicants. Plus, with this selection process, someone with points in the teens may have a better interview than someone in the 20s or 30s. You never know. The semester before that, I believe the lowest points accepted was 26. I would like to know the lowest points accepted this time around as well. So you called and asked and they didn't tell you? I am not sure why they would do that.

I think that the whole deal with not returning phone calls/emails is something beyond their control. One secretary dealing with 300 students is basically impossible. When I had to talk to them, it took a great deal of effort on my part to contact anyone. I called multiple times, emailed, and even drove up to the nursing office just to get my questions answered. I tried to be understanding of that, although I was VERY frustrated because I just wanted to know when the emails were going out.

I did find the dispute period equally frustrating because they never followed up on the disputes and never told the students whether or not they would receive the points. To be honest, I still don't know to this day if I received the 2 points for my Pathophysiology class. They told me that they 'think' that they awarded people in the similiar situation as mine these points, so I just assumed that I got them.

Just keep in mind that they did have a lot of applicants (between 300 and 400) and this is the first time they have used this specific selections process. I am not saying that your frustrations are unfounded, because I can relate to some of what you are feeling, but I really don't think anything horribly corrupt went about. The few people that I know that got in had points in the 30s (myself included). I would be incredibly angry if I didn't get in and didn't get any answers about the lowest points accepted. I think they should make this information public.

And as far as discrimination goes, I wouldn't consider not being told accurate information and being unacknowledged a form of discrimination. I think this might have been poor planning and disorganization on their part. I don't think anyone knows the answers to these questions at this point. I do not think your friend lost points for her class due the admissions committee having something personal against your friend.

I can almost guarantee you that if you apply again with 31 points that you will get in. If you would like, I can try to find out the lowest points accepted. I would be very interested to know as well. I really do understand your frustrations. I would not be satisfied until I got answers either. I hate being left in the dark about anything.

tokkii girl · Nov 16, 2007

thanks for your input and sharing with us what you heard about the point system in the past years.

congratulations for getting in.

to clarify, i am not saying that being unacnknowledged is discrimination...

i have a friend who is already in the nursing program...i met with her yesterday at starbucks to talk about this.... the professor failed her. she couldn't believe it so she went to ask why.... and the professor said , "patients are sick, sometimes they are barely coherent. patients don't need nurses who don't know how to speak english properly.. your accent is too thick".

my friend is foreign.. english is her 2nd language but she speaks perfectly fine. her grammar needs work and her accent is heavy but i can understand her fine. i think it's unfair to base someone's grade on the way someone talks.

it should be graded based on her performance/participation/test grades/skills. i just felt really sorry for her because foriegn students pay 3 times more on tuition than american citizens. and now she faces the threat of being deported back to her corrupted country.

lastly, i will try and post threads that sound un-biased as possible. i am on the rejected end of students so i understand my thread sounds biased. i should be more understanding of brookhaven's nursing dept. but i have been pursuing nursing for over 6 years now and i deal with this EVERY semester so you can just imagine how im feeling.

jla623 · Nov 16, 2007

thanks for your input and sharing with us what you heard about the point system in the past years.
congratulations for getting in.
to clarify, i am not saying that being unacnknowledged is discrimination...
i have a friend who is already in the nursing program...i met with her yesterday at starbucks to talk about this.... the professor failed her. she couldn't believe it so she went to ask why.... and the professor said , "patients are sick, sometimes they are barely coherent. patients don't need nurses who don't know how to speak english properly.. your accent is too thick".
my friend is foreign.. english is her 2nd language but she speaks perfectly fine. her grammar needs work and her accent is heavy but i can understand her fine. i think it's unfair to base someone's grade on the way someone talks.
it should be graded based on her performance/participation/test grades/skills. i just felt really sorry for her because foriegn students pay 3 times more on tuition than american citizens. and now she faces the threat of being deported back to her corrupted country.
lastly, i will try and post threads that sound un-biased as possible. i am on the rejected end of students so i understand my thread sounds biased. i should be more understanding of brookhaven's nursing dept. but i have been pursuing nursing for over 6 years now and i deal with this EVERY semester so you can just imagine how im feeling.

Hmmm...well I don't know all of the details about your friend's situation, but I would agree that as long as she is performing these basic skills and doing well on her tests, then failing her would be unjustified if it doesn't reflect her grades and performance. I would be angry and I would most definitely escalate the issue. Being able to communicate efficiently is very important though. She must be able to speak and write with proper grammar to be in a competitive college program such as this. That is a bad situation though...

And there is nothing wrong with being biased in your posts...You posted your side of an issue which you have every right to do. That is the entire point of having a discussion forum. You don't have to sugar-coat your feelings about an issue that you feel strongly about. It's just a place to express your feelings on a topic and seek others input. You have every right in the world to say what you said! I have been trying for a long time too....you are around my age so I can understand. I have been in college for 6 years now and I am JUST NOW getting into the program and being within reach of graduating. I did change my major several times (psychology to nursing to pre-med and back to nursing), but I know how frustrating it is to want something SO bad and then know in the back of your mind that it isn't even a sure thing. It made me feel kind of like a loser when I kept seeing all of my friends graduating and I was still not even in the nursing program and still working on my pre-reqs. But, you will get in! You just have to wait another semester.

coolpeach · Nov 16, 2007

I didn't get in either. I had 22.71 so slightly less than you. I knew it was unlikely just by looking at the odds with 300 people, and the maximum amount of points available. I was still crushed, but I guess thats part of it. I am upset that I didn't get in, but not at them at them. Its just the way it goes. I didn't have enough points, but next time I will have 3 extra points, the classes from this semester a 4.0 instead of a 3.7 etc, and I will get in. On the other hand I am mad at the way the delay was handled. I think it was unthinkable to leave us hanging for three days without a word. I think it made it much worse on everyone. I know I couldn't concentrate, couldn't sleep, got behind on work, didn't do as well on a quiz as I would have etc. By Wed afternoon my nerves were raw, my adrenals were shot, my head was pounding from stress headache, and I was mentally, and physically exhausted. It was truely a type of torture that could of, and should have been avoided. It would have taken them less than an hour to send out a GROUP email to everyone letting them know there was a delay, and not to expect the emails to go out until the end of the week. They emails were supposed to go out on Monday, so everything should have been done by Monday. I can almost bet they knew Friday afternoon when they went home for the weekend, the emails were not ready to go out Monday morning, and that there was problem. They could have even sent a group email then. By the time everyone was getting an email, and I wasn't I was physically ill. I sit there while still looking at an empty mail box in a mental/physical crisis that had accumulated over three days of intense stress with no climax. There was no "rejection letter" nothing at all (It finally came late Thursday). I had a miscarriage once, and in a way it was sort of like that. Your pregnant, you have baby things, you have a little belly, your life is different, and then boom. You go to the hospital, and when you come out you have NO baby, No belly, there's no funeral, and everyone pretends nothing happened. It like you life should be the same as before, but its not. This was like that I sit for three days with hopes, dreams etc, and then nothing. All of the sudden I am supposed to just go on. Monday I was mentally prepared for a rejection, and it would have been so much easier. I don't think I would have felt like that. I have been taking it easy since Wed. I am getting caught up on sleep, eating healthy foods, and getting my body, and mind back together so I can refocus. My whole week was down the drain. I can't help feel that this could have all been prevented simply by communication, and a small amount of decency, and kindness on their part. So I am a little upset over the way things were handled. It's hard to put in to words, but I just feel they don't care how they treat us. It scares me a bit considering that I have just about all my prereqs lined up to go to their school. I also wonder what caused the delay. On Friday they should have had all the applicants points, and on Monday they put them in order from the greatest amount of points to the least. The top 40 get an email. If there is a tie then what ever they decided before hand breaks the tie (more classes, highest GPA, best test score) etc. On our applications there was almost no other information so what else could they have been doing that took them 3 days. It makes no sense. I think they should tell us what the delay was. After what we had to deal with its the least they could do. In the future it would be nice if they communicated a little, and showed some basic respect for others.