University of Cincinnati FNP Fall 2018: The Application Experience

[rizahawkeye, BSN, RN]

Good day everybody. The purpose of this topic is to

1. Share my experience in applying for the MSN specialty I have chosen.

2. To remind myself of the things I have done.

3. To help and give anxious/nervous applicants an idea what to expect in applying to graduate school.

At the end of this topic, I will be happy to read y'all's experiences in applying, or if you have any questions, I'd be more than willing to answer.

My background and credentials:

1. I'm a US Citizen who grew up in the Philippines for 20 years (including my BSN education).

2. Moved to Texas in May 2014, passed my NCLEX-RN exam on December 2014

3. Employed in a chronic dialysis facility since July 2014, but started my RN position in January 2015. Total RN experience: 3 years and 3 months.

4. Recently passed my CDN certification in December 2017 for my own personal growth.

I've always wanted to pursue my career to the next level so I applied to UC for their FNP Fall 2018 online program. I searched online for forums of good online universities in a decent price. I started my application using the NursingCAS website, and checked more info at uc.edu webpage regarding the program.

The transcripts:

Since I finished my BSN degree in a foreign institution, I had to get my transcripts evaluated. I contacted the nursing representative of my university to process my transcripts for me so they can send it on my behalf. I initially made a mistake of telling them to send my transcripts over to NursingCAS. I corrected that mistake. I contacted my university again and this time I had my transcripts evaluated by the World Educational Services as instructed by the UC if you have foreign transcripts. I spent nearly $300 in total (expenses include: My university processing my transcripts, my university expediting the mail to W.E.S., the actual transcript evaluation and the W.E.S. expediting my transcripts over to NursingCAS). Everything was expedited but still took a month to finish everything, so I do suggest people who have the same situation as mine to start the transcript evaluation months prior the MSN application deadline in order to correct possible problems you might encounter with your transcripts. My evaluation report came to NursingCAS after 2 days (expedited). NursingCAS will not notify you if they received your transcript evaluation report from W.E.S. because they send that report to UC Admissions as well. Although you are free to contact them if they have already received it. Preferred method is to call them directly.

Personal Goal Statement:

You need to make sure that your goal statement should show the specific things the program is asking you. I researched a lot about the program, what are the roles of a Nurse Practitioner. Watching youtube videos from NP students or facts about being an NP helps. Read how others drafted their statements. Start as early as now in drafting your goal statement because believe me it will crack your brain. LOL! Starting my goal statement was probably the hardest thing I did.

My goal statement was composed of 724 words, which is within the 750 word-limit of the program. Goal statement should show your achievements, your motivations in pursuing that career and what have you personally done in order to prepare yourself in the program. Show, not tell. I came back to my essay every single day and it helped me a lot in revising my draft since everyday is a new day for me and it helps you think of what to add and/or what to delete, and improving your grammar. Read your draft all the time. Have somebody check it for you. Another set of eyes will also help.

References:

I had three references I requested to make a letter of recommendation for me. One was from my current manager and two from my former college professors. They were glad to help me.

GPA:

My GPA is 2.8. I did not meet the minimum GPA requirement which is what I am dreading about. One of the Nurse Practitioners that I work with who also finished FNP from UC said that she had a horrible GPA and was actually surprised that she got admitted to grad school. Although I think she was on probation period. I also saw another thread here in allnurses about somebody who did not meet the minimum GPA but still got accepted. That kind of made me feel a little better.

I submitted my NursingCAS application today, 4/12/18, and hoping get an email from UC to pay the UC app fee in a couple of days. I have read some threads here in allnurses.com about how long they receive their acceptance notification. I've been seeing that some people receive their notifications as early as two weeks. So I hope I hear something soon.

This waiting period is scary and I would like to know everybody's experiences or if you have any questions.

I will update this thread about my application.

Thank you for reading. :)