UMSON Spring 2015

[littlemango]

Hello everyone! I may be a little early with this, but here's a new post for all of you hoping to apply this September 2nd for the Spring 2015 semester at UMSON. You can post questions you have, helpful advice you would like to give (if you're already in the program), etc.

I specifically have a question for those who have already applied to the Spring 2014 semester and got in. When you applied last September, when in November did you get your acceptance letter in the mail? Was it the beginning, middle, or toward the end of November? I'm asking this because the other nursing school I am applying to only gives a 3-week time period after the end of October (when they let you know if you made it in or not) to accept or decline enrollment. So, if I don't make it into UMSON, I'd want to be able to give this other nursing school an answer before the 3-week time period runs out.

[hopeful 2015]

Ehhh, after all this time I got wait listed.

[hopeful 2015]

I am feeling a bit down. Even though I hated the wait, I was telling myself it will be worth every anxiety if I get accepted. I am already accepted at Montgomery college nursing program but I want to go to UMSON so much. It is a very good nursing school and on top of that it is a BSN. I am in my late 30’s and I don’t want to waste time waiting. And on the other side I tell myself one more semester is not that much of a wait. What do you think?

[blessedNhopeful]

@hopeful 2015 I am 30 myself so I definitely understand where you are coming from. I keep telling myself if only I had thought about doing this earlier I could have been finished. Don't beat yourself up about it. And if you really want to go there a semester might not be too bad. Maybe take the time to improve scores on the TEAS, volunteer at a hospital or medical setting. Just try and do things to help improve your application for next time. I'm applying for fall so I may be in the same boat come next summer or we may be in the same class!

[vigor145]

@hopeful 205

I am so sorry you didn't get in. That wait was surely drawn out for you and a "nail biter". I, too, am in my mid-late 30's. This is a second career for me. I personally had a back-up school and applied, and was accepted, there as well.

This is what I did:

In preparation for nursing school, last summer I got my CNA and this summer my CMT. I worked as a Nurse Technician/CMT in a Health Room in an Elementary School, providing first-aid and emergency care to Pre-K-5th graders, as well as emergency care to staff. I truly believe this helped me get in.

A couple years ago when I began my pre-req's I made sure, in addition to doing well in the classes, to get chummy with all my major science professors; they all knew me by name and on a very personal level (meaning they knew what was happening in my life). This truly reflected in my recommendation letters.

I had also volunteered in a community hospital. When my "term" was finished, I did not stay on. However, when I was in the process of applying to nursing school, I was just beginning to volunteer at the Univ. of MD Medical Center.

If you are not a strong writer, find someone who is who can help you with your essays. Writing is my strong suit; I am a multiple award winning essay writer actually, and again, I believe this helped.

I don't know why everyone suggests increasing the TEAS score...........unless the rest of your application is a bit weaker. I took it once, with no preparation, and the score was crappy. I wasn't even going to apply to UMSON with my TEAS score, but my father handed me $50.00 and said go for it; what do you have to lose.

MOST IMPORTANTLY....................DON'T GIVE UP!!!!!! You have some wait time. If you have a "C" on your record, retake the class until next application period. If you have read through this forum, you would have read about AFOWLER. Now this is someone who had quite some tenacity and fortitude to get into nursing school......specifically UMSON........and did not give up.

Good Luck!

[hopeful 2015]

Thanks muldrowtl and vigor145,

This will be my second career as well. I moved to the U.S. around mid of 2012. Going back to school was not an easy decision but once I made it, I put everything in it. I only worked part time and did all my prerequisite in a year and half (including the once I am taking right now). I have a 4.0 GPA in both the science and overall requirements. However, my TEAS score is in the lower 70’s and I am sure my essays need some patch up as well. Although I have never done any work in health care, I have more than 10 years’ experience in customer service and volunteer work.

I know being wait listed does not mean it is over. There is still hope of being pulled from the list. Like afowler77, I am persistent. I will use the time to re-think everything and weigh my options.

[bcandygurl]

hey hopeful2015,

Since you were accepted to Montgomery College nursing program, I would go ahead and do that if you aren't taken off the wait list. They have a partnership with Holy Cross Hospital so you should be able to get a job (if you have a GPA of 3.5 or higher) while you complete your RN-BSN later at UMSON. Why wait ?

[Abyy]

I'm sorry you didn't get in hopeful 2015. I know the wait is hard. It is even worst that we have to wait even more. There is still a possibility that you will get in. Don't give up!!!! My mother went to nursing school in her late 30s and she graduated from UMSON. Be patient, you will get there. Also, try other schools. Do you have a backup plan?

[hopeful 2015]

bcandygurl and Abyy, thanks for your words of encouragement. MC nursing program is my backup plan. You are right bcandygurl, if I don’t get picked up from the wait-list, I am going to go ahead and get my associate. But I won't give up until they say it is over. Abyy let's keep our fingers crossed and wait till the end.

[afowler77]

@fitkitty-

I was accepted for Spring 2014, but messed up my math credit, so I had to bow out in the middle if orientation. I immediately (within an hour of leaving orientation) registered for the proper math class. I also squared away my financial aid, and registered for a physics class. I was waitlisted for Fall 2014, so my back up plan was to apply to Towson, and prepare to become a Microbiology major, if I did not get accepted to either nursing program. I took Nutrition (an additional Nutrition class, required by only Towson) and trigonometry. I got into BOTH programs this time! I've been working the whole time I've been in school. I work grocery retail, but got a 2nd job this past summer, on an organic farm. I investigated research internships at NIH and NIAID, just in case I went the Micro route, instead of nursing.

I know it is disheartening and discouraging. But you won't get in anywhere if you give up. You just get right back on the horse and keep riding! As soon as I accepted the reality that nursing school may not happen, I opened up doors to many possibilities. You can always get a BS in Bio and then go for you BSN after that. There are many options. You just have to have will of steel and fierce determination. Regardless of the outcome, you will always benefit from such character development!

[fitkitty]

Wow @afowler77, thank you so much! I definitely needed your words of encouragement. I am very inspired. I wish you the best of luck at UMSON! I know you will become a great nurse :)

[afowler77]

Why, thank you. You made my day by saying that! Just remember, you made it THIS FAR, you are so close! There is no reason to give up now. You have worked really hard to get to where you are. Take a minute to be grumpy about being waitlisted; it's understandable. Then remember you didn't bust your butt for years, studying hard, investigating schools, applying, and most importantly, working towards your dream, for nothing. Stay on that waiting list, and we can be classmates! I operate on the belief that it's better to pull others up, rather than push them down. I hope I can help pull you up!

P.S.-

1-I didn't have a back-up plan until this fall. Then I didn't need it!

2- I'm 37, and my oldest child is a senior in high school. Make the most of the time you have, and you'll get there, one way or another. I hated it when people would tell me, "It's never too late." Well, it is when I had hoped to have my BSN before my son graduated, so I could give my kids a better life. Somewhere in there is a balance between hope and feeling like I wasted time. I definitely did not always use my time wisely. I sympathize with those of you who are hearing the clock ticking louder than ever before.

3- When I say "messed up my math credit," I mean, "ignored the possibility that my previous college algebra class wouldn't transfer, and didn't bother to investigate further, but instead opted to CLEP out of it at the last minute, waited to study, spent my entire Christmas and New Year's studying instead of celebrating, was nervous the whole time, and got a 48 (the passing CLEP score is 50." So it was no one's fault but mine that I didn't get to start nursing school last spring. It made me very humble! I don't want anyone feeling sorry for me for that one. On the plus side I didn't feel sorry for myself, other than just plain feeling ridiculous, and knew I had let myself down. It was a great way to teach myself a lesson. I learned that sometimes, you screw up BIG TIME and there is no time to feel any negative emotion, but to just keep moving ahead. It was raw and visceral. My only response was to take action and to repair the situation as quickly as possible. And that is my thoroughly embarrassing story on being a knucklehead and shooting myself in the foot.

[afowler77]

For anyone still waiting, here is one of my favorite quotes.

“Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark in the hopeless swamps of the not-quite, the not-yet, and the not-at-all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish in lonely frustration for the life you deserved and have never been able to reach. The world you desire can be won. It exists.. it is real.. it is possible.. it's yours.”

― Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged